I did, once when I lived in Kodiak.

Wien Air Alaska used to do this all the time, years ago.

I partied too much in Seattle once and found out that I had no way to get back to Kodiak, so I called the bar I called home in Kodiak and had the bartender take up a 'collection', really a bunch of small loans. He sent someone down to the airport when the plane came in and paid for a ticket. I wasn't allowed to leave the plane until the ticket was paid.

I paid the loans back after I got back to work.

Another guy I knew did the same thing, but he didn't manage to get enough money scraped to buy him out of hock, so he had to fly back to Seattle!

I sure had fun when I was younger.

From the thread title, I thought you were boxing yourself up and flying "cargo class"! (Now, THAT's a cheap ticket!)