also called fuel dump booking (mileage trick)
A niche booking tactic using cheaper fuel-surcharge or partner award constructions, not the aviation procedure of dumping jet fuel.
In points and miles circles, fuel dumping is a booking trick that uses clever fare or award combinations to shrink or cancel out a fuel surcharge on a ticket. It has nothing to do with the aviation procedure of a plane actually dumping fuel to land safely, which shares the name and causes real confusion. Because the phrase is overloaded, misreading which one someone means leads to failed bookings or alarmed misunderstandings.
You see forum posts about fuel dumping and think people are describing something dodgy or unsafe with real jet fuel. They are actually talking about stacking fare components to strip a surcharge off a ticket, and until you sort out which meaning is which, the instructions make no sense.
In points communities the phrase is overloaded; misunderstanding it leads to failed bookings or illegal/unsafe confusion with actual fuel jettison.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
LOOSELY DEFINED. This term is used widely but not consistently, and its precise meaning shifts by country and by who is speaking. Treat it as a lead, not a rule.
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