---
source_url: "https://www.smartertravel.com/airline-sues-customer-for-hidden-city-ticketing/"
title: "Skiplagged: This Airline Just Sued a Customer for \"Cheating\" with Hidden-City Ticketing"
mirrored_at: 2026-08-16T03:01:41.889Z
host: www.smartertravel.com
cited_in_42a: true
mirror_canonical: "https://index.42a.ai/www.smartertravel.com/airline-sues-customer-for-hidden-city-ticketing/index"
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> **Original source:** https://www.smartertravel.com/airline-sues-customer-for-hidden-city-ticketing/

When it comes to outlawing hidden-city ticketing, the airlines claim they're on legal high ground because hidden-city ticketing and sites like Skiplagged raise the overall cost of airfares for everyone. Most airline contracts of carriage do specifically forbid hidden-city ticketing, so when it comes to skiplagged lawsuits, the airlines claim they're just enforcing the fine print.

Consumers, on the other hand, argue that they're not obligated to consume 100 percent of anything they buy: If they buy a meal at McDonald's and don't eat all the fries, McDonald's can't charge them the difference between the bundled and separate-item price total. If they buy a gallon of paint but use only three-quarters of it, the paint store can't legally demand that they pay for three quarts at the quart price.

**Related:**[12 New Airline Routes for Cheap Flights in 2019](https://www.smartertravel.com/new-airline-routes/)

Legally, courts seem to be on the travelers' side. A lower court denied Lufthansa's initial filing against the customer who took advantage of hidden-city ticketing, and United lost a 2015 lawsuit against Skiplagged, the website that searches for hidden-city airfare opportunities in a well-known case that has become known in the travel industry as the "Skiplagged lawsuit." A court in Spain even specifically ruled that Skiplagged and hidden-city ticketing is legal. In the [_New York Times'_ “Ethicist” column](https://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/nate-silver-guest-ethicist/), the noted statistician Nate Silver also defends Skiplagged and the practice of hidden-city ticketing, for whatever that's worth.

Historically, reports indicate that if airlines want to enforce the nitty-gritty of their contracts, all of which include restrictions against hidden-city ticketing, they typically target travelers they view as frequent offenders. And they also go after travel agents who sell the tickets, as well as websites like Skiplagged.

To the best of my knowledge, no airline has ever won a lawsuit against an individual traveler demanding payment for revenues lost through hidden-city ticketing—yet. But airlines do use intimidation and threats, and it would be hard to find information about how often travelers cave into those threats, or how many travelers caught using Skiplagged and hidden-city ticketing methods have lost frequent-flyer credits and status.

Regardless of the law and ethics, if you're considering hidden-city ticketing, you need to know the pitfalls: