Airport scams

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Paris

Paris

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Father from Solon has been trapped for months in Thailand


UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — It sounds almost too bizarre to believe.

A father from Solon has been trapped for months in Thailand after a bullet was allegedly found in his bag at the airport. He said it was not his.

“It sounds crazy,” Tanya Jones said.

Her son, Mike Jones, had been spending the week of his 37th birthday in Thailand in December, only to have trouble at the airport in Bangkok when it was time to return.

“And they said ‘Oh you have a bullet. A single bullet in your duffel bag,’” Tanya Jones said.

Her son had been detained and called her from a holding room at the airport. She, in turn, called the embassy which put her in touch with an attorney, who told her that Jones could spend up to 30 years in jail unless he got an attorney.

It was not cheap.

“A lot,” Jones said. “Thousands and thousands and thousands. A lot. A whole lot.”

She estimates she has spent more than $20,000 so far. The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help.

This week, the situation appeared to improve when Mike Jones went before a judge, who cleared him, but there was still a catch. The court has 30 days to appeal the ruling before returning his passport.

Despite the appeals of U.S. lawmakers, Mike Jones’ situation is hardly unique: Last year, a bullet was allegedly found in the checked luggage of Pennsylvania fire chief, Michael Morra. His family said he spent time in what they described as “a prison with unsanitary and unsafe conditions” before his release.

Jones’ family is confident of his return, adding he will have one more hurdle when it happens. He is likely to be quarantined in either Texas or California due to possible exposure to coronavirus.

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Certainly not a new one, I remember a few years ago that this happened to a couple of passengers flying out of the Philippines.

Have you ever been scammed at the airport? (I expect plenty of comments on the price of the car park being ridiculous)
 

Just came through Frankfurt airport. Wanted to pay for beers on contactless.passed card to barman. Barman made weird effort to "touch" the machine. Very quickly said its not working. Then he put my card in the machine and asked for my pin!
He got four letters rather than four numbers but after an 11 hour overnight flight it would be so easy to fall for that.
 
Everything about airports in the uk is legalised scamming with authorities consent.

Odd that we live in a modern society where social justice warriors furiously attack anybody who makes an innocent mistake over gender, says something that just ONE individual might twist as being racist, sits in the centre over equality rather than being ultra feminist - yet there is silence at corporations repeated and merciless exploitation of the stupid, gullible or innocent.

Seems you can get away with a lot in the uk so long as you're collecting money- it's good business, its innovative, it entrepreneurial.
 
chrismpw said:
Everything about airports in the uk is legalised scamming with authorities consent.

Odd that we live in a modern society where social justice warriors furiously attack anybody who makes an innocent mistake over gender, says something that just ONE individual might twist as being racist, sits in the centre over equality rather than being ultra feminist - yet there is silence at corporations repeated and merciless exploitation of the stupid, gullible or innocent.

Seems you can get away with a lot in the uk so long as you're collecting money- it's good business, its innovative, it entrepreneurial.
Click to expand...
Weird direction you’ve gone with that one...
 

chrismpw said:
Everything about airports in the uk is legalised scamming with authorities consent.

Odd that we live in a modern society where social justice warriors furiously attack anybody who makes an innocent mistake over gender, says something that just ONE individual might twist as being racist, sits in the centre over equality rather than being ultra feminist - yet there is silence at corporations repeated and merciless exploitation of the stupid, gullible or innocent.

Seems you can get away with a lot in the uk so long as you're collecting money- it's good business, its innovative, it entrepreneurial.
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Everything? You reckon absolutely everything to do with airports is a scam?

I'm guessing you don't fly much.
 
-Rob- said:
Everything? You reckon absolutely everything to do with airports is a scam?

I'm guessing you don't fly much.
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Last flight was 1998.

Airport parking
Airport drop off (new)
Connections
Booking fee
Airport tax
Duty free (profit max)
Food
Drink

Not absolutely everything though you're right. Currently breathing is still free.

Is there a landing tax now as well? Some sort of environment tax too I imagine.
 
Paris said:
Certainly not a new one, I remember a few years ago that this happened to a couple of passengers flying out of the Philippines.

Have you ever been scammed at the airport? (I expect plenty of comments on the price of the car park being ridiculous)
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The best thing is to find out how much the bribe will be as soon as possible before it gets further down the line in these situations.
 
Paris said:
Certainly not a new one, I remember a few years ago that this happened to a couple of passengers flying out of the Philippines.

Have you ever been scammed at the airport? (I expect plenty of comments on the price of the car park being ridiculous)
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Well, apart from the classic non-metered taxi scams at most Chinese airports I've never had any dodgy airport experiences. I've flew in and out of the Philippines at least 15 times and the only unpleasant experience has been the awful, awful queues at Manila airport. You really need to be careful with your luggage in that part of the world though, as your post displays.
 

chrismpw said:
Odd that we live in a modern society where social justice warriors furiously attack anybody who makes an innocent mistake over gender, says something that just ONE individual might twist as being racist, sits in the centre over equality rather than being ultra feminist - yet there is silence at corporations repeated and merciless exploitation of the stupid, gullible or innocent.
Click to expand...
Well-that-escalated-quickly.jpg
 
chrismpw said:
Airport parking
Airport drop off (new)
Connections
Booking fee
Airport tax
Duty free (profit max)
Food
Drink
Click to expand...
Airport parking - The prices are openly advertised and you can get reasonable parking off-site at most airports
Airport drop off (new) - Yeah, every time you get dropped off, a Nigerian Prince takes your life savings
Connections - Genuinely can't think of how you get scammed by catching a connecting flight
Booking fee - Prices are openly advertised and booking fees aren't unusual
Airport tax - Taxes have been around for thousands of years and again are openly advertised
Duty free (profit max) - Unless you're buying a bottle of voka and a toblerone for your Nigerian Prince then you're not forced to buy anything
Food - See above
Drink - See above
 
-Rob- said:
Airport parking - The prices are openly advertised and you can get reasonable parking off-site at most airports
Airport drop off (new) - Yeah, every time you get dropped off, a Nigerian Prince takes your life savings
Connections - Genuinely can't think of how you get scammed by catching a connecting flight
Booking fee - Prices are openly advertised and booking fees aren't unusual
Airport tax - Taxes have been around for thousands of years and again are openly advertised
Duty free (profit max) - Unless you're buying a bottle of voka and a toblerone for your Nigerian Prince then you're not forced to buy anything
Food - See above
Drink - See above
Click to expand...
Plus the Boots meal deal for 4 quid is actually pretty good value!
 
-Rob- said:
Airport parking - The prices are openly advertised and you can get reasonable parking off-site at most airports
Airport drop off (new) - Yeah, every time you get dropped off, a Nigerian Prince takes your life savings
Connections - Genuinely can't think of how you get scammed by catching a connecting flight
Booking fee - Prices are openly advertised and booking fees aren't unusual
Airport tax - Taxes have been around for thousands of years and again are openly advertised
Duty free (profit max) - Unless you're buying a bottle of voka and a toblerone for your Nigerian Prince then you're not forced to buy anything
Food - See above
Drink - See above
Click to expand...
Im wondering if you work in the industry or have been hypnotised into disagreeing with what seems a fairly blatant rip off and my commonly accepted point of view!

Openly advertised - when you're effectively operating a profiteering monopoly with price fixing between airports does not equate to value or reasonable costs - ergo rip off.

Sure you have choice not to travel having seen the prices (add ons in small print legally exploiting those with poor eye sight or those who struggle to read or comprehend reams of terms and conditions) - but the peer pressure amongst a population who look at you oddly if you choose not to fly around the globe to satisfy a whim to sit by a pool and get drunk is pretty intense.

Car parking is by far the biggest ripoff - leeching off the back of the extortionate cost of rail travel.
 

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