United Airlines Sues Site That Found Loophole for Cheap Tickets

United Airlines Sues Site That Found Loophole for Cheap Tickets - by Steve Dent/ Engadget.com

"You know how it's often cheaper to fly from Chicago to Paris by booking a flight to Dubai, and then just getting off at the stopover, which happens to be Paris? Well thanks to a lawsuit from United Airlines and booking site Orbitz, you do now -- the airlines are suing a site called Skiplagged, which arranges "hidden city" connection discounts. Here's how it works: airlines often charge more for popular routes like Chicago/Paris than for less popular, but much longer, multi-connection routes like Chicago/Dubai. The site susses out such routes and steers you to the cheaper tickets -- you just need to get out at the "hidden city" stopover..."




Richard

You can do this on your own with some time and effort, but it requires taking a carry-on only (because your luggage will be tagged to continue on to your final destination). Also, the airline can and will cancel your return trip if you try this on the flight out.

They will also sometimes cancel your FF Account and eliminate any miles you might have there if they find you did this.

Cheers

And if your BOS-SFO-SEA flight gets changed to BOS-DEN-SEA I hope you enjoy your stay in either Denver or Seattle.

I can see why airlines dislike it but it doesn't appear to be illegal or true fraud. I hope they lose the lawsuit.

This would only affect a small number of travelers who might be willing to try it. They have to find the wanted connecting city, plan a one way trip, and not have checked luggage. I'm surprised that United is bothering. The lawsuit just alerts more people to the possibility.

MY FIL once booked a round trip ticket because it was quite a bit cheaper than the one way. He just never took the return trip.

Why Airlines Hate Hidden City Ticketing - by George Hobica/ Founder and President of Airfarewatchdog.com a TripAdvisor Company/ linkedin.com

"You've probably already heard the David vs. Goliath "hidden city airfare" story that's been all over the news.

Briefly, a sweet faced 22-year-old tech whiz kid in his spare time designed a website called Skiplagged that shows people how to cheat the airlines out of revenue using an insider strategy that's been around for years.

For the uninitiated, here's how it works: a nonstop fare from Los Angeles to Dallas might be over $300 one-way on a given day, but a fare on the same airline from LA to Austin with a stop in Dallas might be $150. So you buy the flight to Austin and ditch the plane in Dallas.

And before we go on, let me say that I am not an airline apologist or shill, as this article (outlining 12 new regulations we need) should demonstrate. And I fully support Skiplagged's First Amendment rights to publicize fare savings. However, the way Aktarer Zaman, the site's founder, designed and monetized his website leaves some murky questions, as I'll explain in a minute, and there may be unintended consequences for consumers..."


Richard

MULTIZ321 said:

Why Airlines Hate Hidden City Ticketing - by George Hobica/ Founder and President of Airfarewatchdog.com a TripAdvisor Company/ linkedin.com

Richard

Click to expand...

Some good points in there discussing why perhaps we shouldn't like it, either.