[bogomipz]

I'm not following this strategy. Did he need to buy an outbound ticket to go collect his lost bag?

[boulos]

To get on the other side of security. Presumably this was in the international baggage pickup or something.

[fennecfoxen]

The slightly cheaper tactic may be to actually to buy a fully refundable fare (usually for thousands) for much later in the day, and then cancel it and ask for a full refund.

(This is also how airport lounge abuse is done.)

[panda88888]

Fully refundable tickets are awesome. My old company had a contract where all international business travels to customer sites must purchase fully refundable business class tickets. I remember someone had to cancel their travel just before boarding, and the airline refunded everything no questions asked.

[kgwgk]

To get through security and make his way to arrivals from within the airport, I guess.