As premium cabin airfares continue to rise, many travellers rely on reward points or upgrades to experience business class. One passenger, however, says he was able to fly in a premium cabin worth ₹3.6 lakh without paying anything after the airline transaction disappeared from his credit card statement and was never charged again.

The traveller shared the experience in a Reddit post, saying there were “no tricks” involved and that it appeared to be a matter of luck.

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“This is not another story where I spent ₹93 crores on my credit card to get a free flight,” he wrote. “I actually got a free flight — no money or points spent.”

Read the viral post here

Payment vanished days after booking

The passenger said he booked a round-trip business class ticket with a foreign airline around 45 days before departure. The fare reportedly cost ₹3.6 lakh and included what he described as “one of the best current business class products” on one leg of the journey.

He used an Axis Bank M4B credit card for the purchase and initially believed the payment had been processed normally.

However, while checking the Axis Bank app for reward points, he noticed that the transaction continued to appear as “in process” even after a week.

“On the 8th day, the charge disappeared from my credit card,” he wrote.

Concerned that the booking might be cancelled, he contacted Axis Bank customer support. According to the traveller, the bank informed him that the merchant had not claimed the transaction and that such payments are automatically reversed after a week if left unclaimed.

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Airline confirmed booking remained active

Fearing the unpaid transaction could disrupt his travel plans, the passenger checked the airline’s website and found that the booking was still active.

He said the airline portal displayed a receipt confirming payment had been received. After contacting the airline’s helpline, he was reportedly told that “everything is in order”.

The traveller said he continued monitoring the booking in the weeks leading up to departure.

“It seemed like this wasn’t unheard of,” he wrote, adding that he had read about similar cases in which airlines later charged passengers shortly before travel.

No payment requested during travel

The passenger said he expected the issue to surface at check-in, but no payment was requested.

“Finally, it was the day to board my flight… and my card was still not charged,” he wrote.

Even after completing the first leg of the journey and receiving frequent flyer miles, he said no amount had been deducted from his account.

“Maybe, once their accounting team reconciles their accounts, they’ll come back to me asking for the money,” he wrote. “But it seems increasingly unlikely.”

“NGL, I enjoyed the heck out of the flight knowing that it was completely free lol,” he added.

The internet reacts

The post quickly attracted attention from other Reddit users, several of whom shared similar experiences while cautioning that the airline could still attempt to recover the payment later.

One user asked whether the booking had been made directly with the airline or through an online travel agency, before recalling a similar experience involving an airline upgrade.

“The upgrade went through. I even got an invoice,” the user wrote, adding that the payment was later refunded because the airline never claimed the amount.

Another commenter described the incident as “insane luck”, joking that the traveller had received a “₹3.6L business class experience sponsored by accounting desync”. The user also advised him to leave the amount untouched in case the airline later reconciles the transaction.

A third Reddit user said a similar situation had once occurred with an Airbnb booking. According to the commenter, the company later sent an apology email and requested the payment through a bank transfer.

Published on: May 15, 2026 9:30 AM IST