Business lounge freeloader gets the boot

Have you tried Lufthansa’s leberkas meatloaf and sausages with sweet mustard? It goes perfectly with the rush of conning your way into the airline’s business class lounge.

At least that was the line of thinking for a man who used the flexibility of the airline’s one-way fare from Munich to Zurich to gorge himself on the spoils of Lufthansa’s Munich lounge.

The scam seems easy enough. Buy the ticket, hang out in the lounge and rebook when you’re full up on Auntie Lufthansa’s meatloaf. Ultimately, the airline caught him and the court ordered the airport freeloader to fork over $1,875 for the 35 free meals – more than twice the cost of the initial ticket.

While the airport Robin Hood may be living out the dream of anyone who’s fantasized about sticking it to an airline, don’t expect to pull the same scam at Air Canada’s Pearson Maple Leaf lounge.

Unless, you’re willing to fork over big bucks for the Executive Flexible ticket in the name of free airport food, using the Maple Leaf lounge at Pearson with the other flexible ticket – Latitude – is going to cost you $25. You’re probably better to splurge at Susur Lee’s restaurant in Terminal 1.