United Airlines sues 22-year-old who found method for buying cheaper plane tickets

originally posted by: defcon5

originally posted by: Oldsguy
What is stopping someone from booking a flight with a layover to Chicago and then having a death in the family down in Indy and he leaves the flight in Chicago and rents a car to Indy thus not completing the full flight.

It has to do with an old FAA rule, one from even before 911, that says you cannot allow someones bags to remain on the aircraft if they get off the flight. In the case of an emergency, they will go through the time and effort to work with the passenger, but they won't do it to save you a few bucks on your ticket price. Bags are loaded according to the final destination and any transfers they might have to make. If you bought a ticket to go the full length of the trip, its probably buried behind things that have to come off the plane first. That may not sound like a big deal, but on a full narrow-body aircraft, you can be talking 20 to 30 minutes to retrieve a bag, and on a wide-body you might be talking about having to have the ramp unload an entire set of containers taking upwards of an hour.

You are assuming that they check baggage.

That dude's website is AWESOME! Vegas I shall see you more often!!!!

Best of luck to the dude. Hopefully a level headed judge gets this case.

I don't think the airlines have a case. They are hoping they can scare the kid into shutting down the site with legal fees. Frequent travelers have been doing this for decades. Skiplagged just automated it and exposed the flaw in the system to middle America. The airlines will probably lobby regulators to make it illegal under the guise of "safety". The airlines don't lose money from the abandoned leg, but they lose money from you not buying the proper ticket.

We also used to do something similar with round trip tickets, but I think they finally set up their system so you couldn't fly the return leg if you didn't fly the outbound leg of the ticket.

I have ZERO sympathy for the airlines. Their pricing model is designed to squeeze every cent of revenue out of passengers in a predatory manner. I wish the industry wasn't so capital intensive and regulated so more customer focused airlines could start up and have a chance.

a reply to: Oldsguy

They do - and you will occasionally find a flight delayed when someone doesn't board and they have to offload the bags.

a reply to: t114forever

Fortunately, I think so few people took advantage of this, it couldn't cause a 'significant' adverse effect.

I agree. How many people fly one way without luggage?

By the way, welcome to ATS!

a reply to: TommyD1966

In this case the airline should be happy. It just made more money for the same seat.

Aren't Airlines public corps that need to pay dividends to their shareholders ? Meaning they will do anything they can to turn a profit ? I think the loop hole is just an unintended consequence of their business model.

On a small scale , like at a supermarket , sells food that they know is fresh - and a customer comes buys expensive meats or fish. Decides it's quite expensive after eating some and decides to return it. The supermarket to save its reputation will accept the return of a product that they can't resell. One time they just let it go but after a few times they notice the pattern and just tell the shopper , don't come back , you are hurting our business. Or puts up a sign that says all returns on meats or fish will only be accepted in its original form within 3 hours.

Can't airlines just see who are over exploiting that loophole and just say sorry, you cannot fly on this flight. Only one way trips. Then the business exploits their own loophole. Banning those fliers or saying once boarded the ticket is no longer refundable since your seat has been reserved for the full duration of the flight.

I can see that happening. Not sure if it's legal for a public corporation to do but its logical.

a reply to: Dryad2

Oh right I also went to the same school as the kid , a bit older though and the school has a lot of very bright intelligent people and cutting edge tech.

There is a silver lining; the kid could never have hoped for such a promotional boost from all the free reporting. His website is now displaying a message that it's experiencing higher than normal traffic. The legal suit will have the opposite effect and blow up in their faces, inadvertently advertising the very technique they are trying to suppress.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: t114forever

Fortunately, I think so few people took advantage of this, it couldn't cause a 'significant' adverse effect.

I agree. How many people fly one way without luggage?

By the way, welcome to ATS!

Without a CHECKED bag.

I rarely check a bag anymore, and opt to fit everything in my carry-on. Even my suits go in my carry-on, and I just press them with a steam iron them when I get to my destination.



...By the way, on the subject of whether or not they will take your checked luggage off of a plane until that plane's final destination, I have a semi-related yet rare example to share.

I was on my way back for someplace (I don't remember where) to my regional airport in Scranton, Pennsylvania. As is often the case, I would have needed to fly through Philadelphia first, and then get on a flight to Scranton, because there are not a lot of cities serving Scranton with direct flights. However, bad weather in Philadelphia made us circle for a while, but we could not circle forever, so they sent us to another airport to make a temporary stop to wait for the weather to clear -- but that airport happened to be Scranton, which was my final destination anyway!

I explained to the gate attendant there that I was where I wanted to be, and there was no reason for me to get on the flight again when it eventually continued on to Philly. The first gate attendant I spoke to when we stopped in Scranton told me that I may not be able to NOT reboard the flight. She said that even though I was home, I may be required to get back on the plane when it was ready to fly back to Philly, then board another plane back to Scranton!

Thankfully, I spoke with a second gate attendant, and cleared that up right away.

The second gate attendant said that was fine with them if I didn't continue on with the plane, considering I was at my final destination. HOWEVER, they then they told me that while I can get off the flight, my checked luggage could NOT be taken off the plane, and I my luggage would go back to Philly, and then be put on another plane back to Scranton (ostensibly the flight I had originally booked). That meant I would have needed to go back to the airport later that night to get my bag; and if the weather was bad, there was a chance that flight delays could cause my bag to not make it back until the next day.

There were a few of us in the same position as myself (a few of us had Scranton as our final destination), so the airline ultimately decided it was worth their time to get our bags off the plane then, rather than flying them to Philly and back again.

a reply to: Box of Rain
There in is the problem. If this catches on, and masses of people start pulling it, then everyone can't carry on their luggage. There is a reason why there is a baggage bin on the aircraft, and things are supposed to be counter or curb checked, the whole system is set up to handle it that way. When too many people start trying to carry on luggage, then they have to be gate checked, and put in the cargo hold anyway. There are also size and weight restrictions as to what can be carried on, and people will always try and push that limit. Basically, if too many start to do this, it screws up the whole system that's designed to efficiently handle the baggage.

a reply to: defcon5

Since my airport is a regional airport, I almost always have connections when I'm going someplace -- connections through Philly, Charlotte, Newark, etc., where I then board a second flight to my final destination.

All too often, weather or other reasons causes delays in my original flight, and I therefore sometimes only have a few minutes to run through the connecting airport to get to my next plane. I may be able to do that in a few minutes, but my checked luggage often did not have enough time. Meaning that when I got to my final destination, my bag was not there (i.e., it wasn't on the plane with me). Sometimes the luggage would be on the next flight, which could be only a couple of hours --- but sometimes it wasn't until the next day.

If I was heading someplace for work, it is usually the case that I need my luggage THAT DAY, not the next (if I was heading home, it isn't as critical that I get it right away). Therefore, I now carry-on my bag almost exclusively.

..."Fool me once...", and all that.

Nice Job United

I fly once a month and sometimes my wife flies 2 times a month.....

Guess who were going to use now

If airlines can hike their rates up to obnoxious prices for no damn good reason (we use to call that price gouging and is illegal in most industries) Then we have the right to get them as cheap as we can.......

Prices from DFW to BOI normally are around 350 or so, during some summer months, spring break, or holidays they jump to over 1200 and ive seen em as high as 1400 .......for a single round trip ticket......

That should be against the law.....thres no excuse for that....

So good for this guy , I hope he rapes them in court

a reply to: Box of Rain

Without a CHECKED bag.

Thanks for "checking" me. And the story. What a bureaucracy.

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask

Prices from DFW to BOI normally are around 350 or so, during some summer months, spring break, or holidays they jump to over 1200 and ive seen em as high as 1400 .......for a single round trip ticket......

It's not just seasonal, but also sometimes can depend on the time of day.

I have seen itineraries that leave at 7 AM or 8 AM ( a preferred time for many business travelers to leave) that are 2, 3 or even 4 times higher than flights to that same destination that leave at 2 PM or 3 PM.

originally posted by: Box of Rain
a reply to: defcon5
Sometimes the luggage would be on the next flight, which could be only a couple of hours --- but sometimes it wasn't until the next day.
..."Fool me once...", and all that.

It's not a matter of what plane your bags end up on, its a matter of intent.
If you show that you intend to get off the plane, they want your bags off that plane as well for fear that you may have left something malicious in it and had no intent to travel along with it. When you get on your connecting flight and your bag doesn't make it, you still intended to travel with your bag, and honestly didn't know if your bag made it to the final destination until you get there.

a reply to: Box of Rain
That's done to encourage those who can travel off peak hours to do so. Its a reward for taking a less opportune flight and helping the airlines manage the traffic, not a punishment to those who have to fly peak hours. Airlines is a complex business, and you can't just have unlimited planes all at one place for just one rush, then let them sit somewhere else doing nothing, or flying empty, for the rest of the day until the next peak.

To be quite honest with you guys, airlines take losses carrying passengers. Passengers are a waste of fuel and space, and a full plane of passengers will barely cover the costs of the gas alone. Smart airlines become freight haulers, and that's why passenger airlines supplement flights with hauling freight and mail.

originally posted by: defcon5

originally posted by: Box of Rain
a reply to: defcon5
Sometimes the luggage would be on the next flight, which could be only a couple of hours --- but sometimes it wasn't until the next day.
..."Fool me once...", and all that.

It's not a matter of what plane your bags end up on, its a matter of intent.
If you show that you intend to get off the plane, they want your bags off that plane as well for fear that you may have left something malicious in it and had no intent to travel along with it. When you get on your connecting flight and your bag doesn't make it, you still intended to travel with your bag, and honestly didn't know if your bag made it to the final destination until you get there.

I understand. I'm just saying why I decided to always use a carry-on exclusively. I've been burned in that past during times that I have a very tight connection (due to weather delays, etc) in which I physically made my connecting flight by running through the airport, but my checked luggage did not.

The way I fixed that problem is to carry on when I can.

When I travel with my family (and they, of course, need to check bags, because they are women with stuff, stuff, and more stuff), I try to find flights that may have longer layover times, or we would drive to one of the two large airports in relative driving distance (Newark or Philadelphia, which are both less than 2 1/2 hours away from me) to find a direct flight. When I travel on business, I usually leave from my regional airport -- hence the need for connecting flights.

originally posted by: TommyD1966

originally posted by: dismanrc
a reply to: nydsdan

Skipping a leg as no bearing on their model. They can't use the seat anyway, it is yours for that trip. If you choose not to sit in it; it is still booked and can't be given to another person.

-snipped'-

That is not quite correct. If you skip a segment of your trip, and there is a standby passenger waiting at the airport where you decided not to get on, the gate agent can give your seat away if you are not on board just before the door closes.

Exactly, and depending on the time/date/flight, there will most likely be someone on standby with a paid ticket. This means more revenue for the travel company on top of the person who gave up their (paid) seat on the flight.

a reply to: Kuroodo

A: they can't track people as easily if they do this.
B: they really can't track people easily if everyone starts doing this.
C: "Aktarer Zaman" muslim terrorist confirmed.