[_neil]

I think it refers to the Hunter S. Thompson quote:

"No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride."

Basically meaning you may be getting in over your head, but you'll probably have a good story to tell if you don't end up dead. Similar to the idiom, "in for a penny, in for a pound."

[Zikes]

I'm more inclined to think they were drawing a comparison between buying a ticket to ride a plane vs placing a bounty on a ticket/bug to be fixed.

[_neil]

I'm inclined to agree with you. The bounty part of it didn't cross my mind.

[zeckalpha]

Or the plane ticket / bug ticket distinction.