Skiplagged to Pay American Airlines $9.4 Million
A federal jury in Fort Worth, Texas has awarded American Airlines $9.4 million in its lawsuit against Skiplagged Inc, which was filed in 2023. This is a website that promotes bargain fares through what is known as a “hidden city” trick.
Skiplagged has been ordered to pay $4.7 million in actual damages for copyright infringement and an additional $4.7 million in disgorgement of “ill-gotten” revenues derived from its activities related to American Airlines.
American Airlines was also seeking damages for trademark infringement, but the jury did not award any damages for that claim.
Skiplag tickets are also known as “hidden-city” or “throwaway” tickets. If you’re not familiar with the terms, it is a somewhat risky way of savings on airfare. This is when you book a flight with a connection at the city which is you real destination. So if you’re looking to fly from A to B, then sometimes it might be cheaper to book a flight from A to C with a connection at B. You can then at the layover airport in B and skip the remaining connecting flight or flights.
American Airlines has agreements with authorized travel sites such as Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity and Priceline, that prohibit the booking of hidden city tickets. The lawsuit accused Skiplagged of deceiving travelers by selling American Airlines flights without a proper agency agreement, putting the tickets at immediate risk of invalidation.
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