by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:25 AM ET, Fri August 18, 2023
American Airlines filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Skiplagged.com, accusing the website, which offers tickets for flights with the layover city intended as the destination in a move known as “skiplagging,” for deceiving travelers by selling flights on the airline without an agency agreement and copyright infringement for using the airline’s logos.
According to Business Insider, the airline called it “a classic bait and switch,” and requested an injunctive relief to prevent the site from using American Airlines’ logos or publishing information about its flights. It also requests damages to be paid.
"Many of the fares displayed on Skiplagged's website are higher than what the consumer would pay if they simply booked a ticket on American's website or through an actual authorized agent," the suit says. "It is a classic bait and switch: draw consumers in with the promise of secret fares, and instead sell the consumer a ticket at a higher price."
“Skiplagging” is the term for buying a connecting series of flights and intending to use only one. This is seen as damaging to airlines and is nearly totally banned in purchase agreements when travelers buy their flights, because it means that at least one flight is going to have an empty seat, which could’ve been filled by someone who needed it.
The skiplagging trend seems to be on the rise this year. Back in May, TravelPulse covered news of how rising airfare is leading some travelers to attempt to get away with it—with support from Skiplagged.com.
Last month, a 17-year-old boy was banned from American Airlines for three years for attempting to skiplag on a flight from Florida to New York, trying to get on the connecting flight from Charlotte, not Florida. They were able to figure out that he was skiplagging only because a gate agent noticed his North Carolina ID.
Skiplagged COO Dan Gellert told Business Insider that by banning the teen from flying the airline, "American has effectively banned [the teen] largely from traveling out of Charlotte—and largely traveling, minus the handful of destinations offered by other airlines," because, as is independently verified, American Airlines owns 90 percent of the market in Charlotte.
American Airlines isn’t the first to sue Skiplagged. United Airlines and Orbitz sued the company in 2014 for unfair competition and deceptive behavior. In 2021, Southwest Airlines did the same because the website wasn’t authorized to show the airline’s fares or sell its flights. United’s case was thrown out while Southwest and Skiplagged settled earlier this year.
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