American Airlines is taking legal action against a travel site that offers discounted tickets through the exploitation of a pricing anomaly, aiming to save customers money, filing a lawsuit against Skiplagged Inc. in a federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, recently. They claim that the website engaged in deceptive practices and warned that all tickets sold by Skiplagged could potentially be canceled.

Skiplagging and hidden-city ticketing are practices where travelers book flights with layovers but intentionally get off the plane during the layover instead of continuing to their final destination. While skiplagging is generally not considered illegal, airlines argue that it goes against their policies.

In the previous month, an American airline expelled a teenager who was 17 years old for using a clever trick to travel from Gainesville, Florida, to Charlotte, North Carolina. The teenager had purchased a ticket with New York City listed as the destination because it was more cost-effective than booking a direct flight to Charlotte. As a result, the airline not only removed him from the flight but also imposed a three-year ban on him.

American has filed a lawsuit against Skiplagged, alleging that the website deceives customers by making them believe they have access to a hidden “loophole.” According to American, Skiplagged disguises itself as a regular consumer when purchasing tickets and advises its customers not to reveal this arrangement to the airline.

American Airlines stated that Skiplagged has never received authorization to resell the airline’s tickets.

The airline expressed in the legal case that Skiplagged’s behavior is misleading and harmful. The airline claimed that Skiplagged creates the false impression that it can issue legitimate tickets on American’s behalf, despite lacking the authority to do so. However, according to the airline, every ticket issued by Skiplagged is at risk of being invalidated.

On average, longer flights tend to be more expensive compared to shorter flights. However, there could be a unique scenario where the opposite holds true, especially when there is substantial competition among different airline carriers on longer routes leading to price competition,versus shorter routes, where one or two airlines may operate the shorter route.

Skiplagged, a New York-based company, has faced previous lawsuits.

United Airlines and online travel agency Orbitz alleged that Aktarer Zaman, who founded Skiplagged in the early 2010s when he was in his early twenties, promoted “forbidden travel methods.” Zaman established a GoFundMe campaign to cover his legal expenses, and he reached a settlement with Orbitz, resulting in the dismissal of the United lawsuit.