This is no more inherently scammish than my relationship with my credit card company or any time one agrees to pay later (which is the norm of how businesses with supply chains operate).

The point is there’s no need to use some ill defined concept of weird. Where is the money going and what is the purpose? If someone is giving you an unbacked check and requesting a wire transfer to themselves it’s a scam.

While agreeing to be paid later for an unrelated good or service has some amount of risk it isn’t a scam.

And there are clear benefits to booking your own plane tickets.