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.)

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.