Is Skiplagging Doomed?

If you’re a frequent traveler, you’ve likely heard of skiplagging and possibly even tried the money-saving practice yourself. It’s very frowned upon by airlines, and many of them have sued over the travel hack, saying it’s not fair for them to be losing money on empty seats that they can’t sell. Most of these lawsuits have been dismissed, but the latest from American Airlines could have adverse consequences for Skiplagged, a company that aids customers in finding these “hidden-city” tickets.

Interestingly, this particular lawsuit claims that Skipplagged is deceiving the customers themselves. “Instead, Skiplagged often charges consumers more than if they had booked a ticket directly with American or through an authorized agent of American…even though it has no authority to form and issue a contract on American’s behalf, somehow it can still issue a completely valid ticket,” the lawsuit says.

I’ve browsed Skiplagged before, and it’s certainly true that you can sometimes get a better deal by going to the airline directly. However, I’ve also found hidden-city fares that are significantly cheaper than the cost of a direct flight. So as with any smart travel booking process, shopping around is typically key to finding the best price — aka no one should solely rely on Skiplagged for the best possible fares on every single flight search and my guess is that most people who use the website know that.

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But the lawsuit goes further, saying it “seeks an accounting of all sales of American flights made by Skiplagged, an accounting of all sales of American flights made by Skiplagged through any other travel agencies, statutory damages, as well as all actual damages that American has incurred as a result of Skiplagged’s actions,” according to The Guardian.

American’s customer deception argument is certainly interesting, as it seems like the company is trying to frame its lawsuit differently than past court cases that have been dismissed. United Airlines and Lufthansa have both lost lawsuits with the courts reiterating that skiplagging is legal. And it’s true — skiplagging isn’t illegal, although most airlines argue that it violates their policies.

Could American Airlines’s lawsuit be the end of skiplagging? I suppose it depends if they have enough evidence that says customers have actually been swindled into paying higher prices for airfare on their platform, rather than snagging a deal. Either way, brave fliers can look for their own hidden-city fares, so long as they aren’t checking a bag and aren’t afraid of potential repercussions from the airline in question.