Skipplagged Owner Aktarer Zaman, 22, Seeks Help After United Airlines, Orbitz Sue Him for Helping Travelers Find Cheaper Flights
Aktarer Zaman, a 22-year-old New Yorker who founded a website called skipplagged.com that helps consumers purchase cheap "hidden city" airline tickets, is now seeking help from the public in fighting a civil lawsuit from United Airlines and Orbitz which have charge that his website is undercutting their sales.
"Our mission is to make it easier to experience the world. We find flights that cost up to 80 percent less than the cheapest on any other website!" Skiplagged proudly proclaims on its Twitter page.
Orbitz and United Airlines, however, cried foul against the "hidden city" ticketing practice Skipplagged utilizes in the lawsuit they filed against Zaman last month.
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"In its simplest form, a passenger purchases a ticket from city A to city B to city C but does not travel beyond city B," the companies noted in their complaint explaining the concept of "hidden city" ticketing, according to Bloomberg. "'Hidden City' ticketing is strictly prohibited by most commercial airlines because of logistical and public-safety concerns."
The companies are now seeking to recoup $75,000 in lost revenue from Zaman who insists that there is nothing illegal about his website.
"Skiplagged's sole purpose has always been to help you become savvy travelers. We have been doing that by exposing pricing inefficiencies for air travel, among other things," Zaman explained in a message on a gofundme campaign seeking to raise $10,000 for his legal defense fund.
"Unfortunately, we have been doing too good of a job so United Airlines and Orbitz recently teamed up with a lawsuit to get in the way. Everything Skiplagged has done and continues to do is legal, but the only way to effectively prove this is with lawyers. Please show your support for Skiplagged by donating toward this campaign to help fund our legal team," the message ended.
Zaman has already raised more than $9,000 of the $10,000 he's seeking and his website has been attracting a lot of new attention, according to a tweet Tuesday morning.
Wow, a lot of people are trying to use Skiplagged right now! If the site looks down, try again later. Sorry about this--I'm trying my best
— Skiplagged (@Skiplagged) December 30, 2014According to CNN Money, the "hidden city" travel strategy only works if the ticket is for a one-way flight and there are no checked bags.
Airlines, however, said there will be consequences, not just for Skipplagged but for consumers caught exploiting the "hidden city" practice. Several of them have told Orbitz "hidden city" travelers could have their tickets voided without refund, according to Bloomberg.
American Airlines, in a letter to travel agents on its website, suggested that they continue to lose money from the "hidden city" ticketing.
"Purchasing a ticket to a point beyond the actual destination and getting off the aircraft at the connecting point is unethical. It is tantamount to switching price tags to obtain a lower price on goods sold at department stores. Passengers who attempt to use hidden city tickets may be denied boarding, have the remainder of their ticket confiscated and may be assessed the difference between the fare paid and the lowest applicable fare," warned the airline in the letter.
The letter then explained that the pricing structure for different destinations vary because of competition.
"Because we compete with other airlines with different route structures, we sometimes find it necessary to give a traveler who is traveling beyond a connecting point a better price than travelers who are just traveling to the connecting point," it noted.
"Although the issuance and usage of hidden city tickets is not illegal in the sense that one could be fined or sent to jail by the government, it is unethical and a breach of a passengers contract with AA. … If American Airlines continues to lose revenue as a result of hidden city transactions, the fares we charge must inevitably rise," it ended.
