Ruling on using points offered by airline companies
Question I am a student who has been sponsored (by the government) to study in Canada and I travel a great deal, approximately once a year. There are several airline companies that offer flights from Saudi to Canada and vice versa. A number of these airline companies seek to attract customers by offering points that…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
What appears to be the case is that there is nothing wrong
with you using these points that are offered by the airline companies and
benefitting from them to reduce the price of the airline ticket, because
this comes under the heading of selling the tickets for less than the usual
price, if he is going to pay some of the price. This is permissible
according to the majority of scholars, because sales and rentals are based
on mutual consent from both parties. Allah, may He be exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning): “O you who
believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves unjustly except it be a
trade amongst you, by mutual consent” [an-Nisa’ 4:29].
If the seller agrees to sell his product for less than the usual price, that
is permissible.
See the answer to question no.
7842.
Al-Hawaafiz at-Tijaariyyah by
Dr. Khaalid al-Muslih, p. 160-167
A similar case is if the customer will get the tickets for
free after some time. This is also permissible, because it is a gift from
the seller to the purchaser. Ibn Rushd said: There is no problem with being
easy-going with regard to the price when selling, or reducing it.
See: Al-Hawaafiz at-Tijaariyyah, p. 164
However it is essential to be careful in that regard and
ensure that the price of the original ticket from this company was not
greater than the price from similar companies, because the purchaser is only
tempted to buy because of what he was hoping for of advantages or discounts
after that.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was
asked:
We have a car repair workshop and carwash; we have printed
cards on which it is written: Collect four cards for oil change and car
wash, and get a car wash for free. Is there anything prohibited in what we
are doing? Perhaps you could give us some guidelines with regard to contests
and the like?
He replied:
There is nothing prohibited in that so long as the price has
not been increased for the sake of offering this gift.
But if the customer will either be a winner or a loser, then
this is not permissible, because if he will be either a winner or a loser,
then it comes under the heading of gambling. But if he will either be a
winner or will lose nothing, then he will not be harmed at all; either he
will gain something or he will not gain anything, but he will not lose
anything.
End quote from al-Liqa’ ash-Shahri, 1/25
For more information please also see fatwa no.
22085
And Allah knows best.
