Skiplagging is a way of booking a flight with a layover and ending the trip on that layover.
This technique is not illegal, but it raises ethical, environmental and legal concerns.
It’s also not without risk.
With inflation, travelers are interested in any method that can help them save money on plane tickets. The technique of skiplagging is not new and has many followers around the world, especially in the United States. But is it really effective and above all risk-free? Here’s what you need to know about this trick.
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What is skiplagging?
To understand what skiplagging is, there is nothing better than giving you an example. You book a flight from Paris, France to Bangkok, Thailand with a scheduled stopover in Doha. But your final destination is actually the capital of Qatar from the beginning: you never intended to visit the Asian country. So you get off in Doha and pay less than a direct flight. We can talk about savings in the order of hundreds of euros. This is the case with most journeys, but there are always exceptions. This is how the skiplagging method can be summarized. You might be wondering why a direct flight always costs more than a connecting flight. There are more reasons.
It is mainly about the principle of supply and demand. It is naturally more practical, convenient and faster for passengers to choose a direct flight. This is why airlines allow themselves to raise prices. In addition, the use of correspondence platforms, called hubs, allows them to reduce operating costs. So even if the flights are longer for passengers, they can offer them reduced prices. If from an economic point of view this technique can attract many travelers, specifically, what are the risks of practicing the skiplagging method?
Risks associated with the skiplagging method
If the technique is legal, it raises ethical, environmental and legal concerns. An airline may take action against one of its passengers who books a ticket to practice this method. In July 2023, American Airlines banned a 17-year-old American teenager involved in skiplagging from flying for three years. When agents on board saw his driver’s license from North Carolina, his stopover, they realized the scam.
Airlines can also force you to buy a full-price ticket, withdraw loyalty points if you are enrolled in their program, close your loyalty account and even take legal action against you. Finally, if you have checked baggage, there will not be a stopover in the city, but it will go directly to the final destination airport of your ticket. Practicing this method therefore risks losing luggage.