Warning to budget travellers as child is detained at airport for viral flight hack
A TEENAGER was detained at an airport after he was caught trying to use a popular money saving trick on his flight.
The hack known as “skiplagging” involves passengers buying cheap indirect flights, with the layover airport their actual destination.
Instead of catching the connecting flight, passengers get off at the layover and leave the airport there.
It is also known as “hidden-city” or “throwaway” ticketing and airlines have been fighting against for some time, despite it being legal.
Teenager Logan Parsons from Charlotte in America was caught out trying to use the technique on a flight from Gainesville in Florida to New York, with a layover in his home town in North Carolina.
The indirect ticket was cheaper than a direct one, with Logan intending to get off the plane and leave the airport in Charlotte instead of completing the full journey.
However, his North Carolina ID card alerted airport staff, who took the teen to a security room where he was interrogated, according to his father, Hunter.
He said he had no issue with his son using the method, and that his family had frequently used it many times before.
He told Queen City News: “We’ve used skiplagged almost exclusively for the last five to eight years.
“They kind of got out of him that he was planning to disboard in Charlotte and was not going to make the connecting flight.”
After he had been caught out, Logan’s family were forced to buy him a new direct ticket, with the airline, American Airlines, cancelling his original flight plans.
Though the practice is not illegal, American said it is against their terms and conditions, which is why they were able to cancel the tickets.
In a statement following the incident, they said: “Purchasing a ticket without intending to fly all flights to gain lower fares (hidden city ticketing) is a violation of American Airlines terms and conditions and is outlined in our Conditions of Carriage online.”
A representative for the airline told Sun Online Travel: “Our records indicate the customer was questioned about their travel at the ticket counter while attempting to check-in for their flight.
“A member of our Customer Relations team has been in touch with them to address their concerns.”
The controversial hack is legal and can be much cheaper than booking a direct flight, however it’s worth checking airline’s terms and conditions to make sure similar incidents don’t occur.
There is even an entire travel service dedicated to the hack called Skiplagged.com, which informs users of “ridiculous travel deals you can’t find anywhere else”.
They also claim to “expose loopholes in airfare pricing to save you money”.
The service works by giving travellers the option to search for a route which includes their desired location as a “hidden-city” layover destination.
Some airliners have dubbed the practice “unethical” and have taken a firm stand against it.
In 2019, Lufthansa tried suing a passenger for skiplagging, with the airline claiming the passenger exploited the ticketing system, Daily Mail reported, but the case was eventually thrown out.
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