United Airlines faces a ticket issuance scheme that gives travellers cheaper fares.
Airlines hate what's called tickets in a hidden city. They
believe this violates their tariff rules and threatens their businesses. But
are they too aggressive to try to avoid this?
United Airlines wants airport agents to track what it calls
the "growing trend" of so-called hidden city tickets, or passengers
who book cheap tickets to cities they don't want to visit to save money. United
asks its agents to denounce potential scammers for the security of their the company, according to a new internal memo.
Selling tickets in a hidden city is not new. Experienced
travellers know that they can often save money by booking a cheap one-stop
ticket, for example, from United Airline From Newark to Santa Ana, from United Airline From California to SanFrancisco, and in the medium term. The airlines have hated him for a long time,
claiming that this violates his transportation contract. If a customer buys a
ticket in San Francisco, they must do so on a plane.
"This practice can offer discounts on air tickets and
[does not] comply with the United Transport Agreement," the airline told
the airport's customer service agents. "As the practice develops, we must
ensure that we support our clients and properly enforce United's contractual
rules and policies."
This growth occurs when the sites market the practice. The
most famous site is Skiplagged, a consolidated site that tried unsuccessfully
to find four years ago and helps consumers find the benefits of a hidden city.
Oliver Dluhey, CEO of Kiwi, a large online travel agency, told Skift that his the site could follow him.
United is not the only operator trying to avoid this
practice. Many carriers monitor repeat offenders, and at least one, Lufthansa,
has sued the passenger. The airlines claim that they charge the tickets
according to the starting point and destination, indicating that the cargo
system is defective if passengers can get off in the middle of their trip
without any consequence. Others, such as Aktarer Zaman, the founder of
Skiplagged, say that customers who buy tickets can do whatever they want, even
stop the trip before.
In an email, United spokeswoman Jonathan Guerin said the box
office in the hidden city violated United's rules. "Our ticket issuance
policy is against the purchase of an additional segment without the intention
of flying," he said.
He added that United sent a reminder "to remind our
employees how to solve problems that arise when customers buy tickets to a
hidden city and travel with checked luggage."
PROBLEMS
For airlines, issuing tickets in hidden cities
poses two problems.
First, the loss of income. It depends on the route, but
passengers can save a lot by repeating this practice. Last year, the blog No
Mas Coach! He issued a letter to the passenger by the United Corporate Security
Department, accusing him of having bought 38 city tickets hidden for several
years and requesting a refund of $ 3,336.76 for lost revenue.
If the person did not respond within 10 days, United stated
that it could take a number of steps, including transferring the case to the collection agency, cancelling that person's loyalty account or denying entry to
United, according to United. the letter. The eyeglass holder recently pointed
out that American Airlines sometimes sent such letters to its customers.
Tom Bacon, former vice-president of revenue planning at
Frontier Airlines, said the money lost from selling tickets in hidden cities is
probably minimal, given that United had won over 41 billion dollars last year.
However, according to him, the airlines could have "real intruders"
that they would like to take, so they regularly remind airport employees to
monitor fraud.
There is a second problem. Customers who inadvertently
purchase tickets in hidden cities via Skiplagged may not know what they are
buying and check in their luggage at their final destination. In this case,
they will come out in the middle of their path, but the stock market will continue.
(Skiplagged warns customers not to register luggage on their site).
United must deliver the bag where the passenger is at his
expense for the customer to recover. When this happens frequently, this can
cause logistical problems for the airline. It can also annoy passengers who do
not know why their bag did not follow them.
Qiwi's Dlugi discussed the stock market problem previously
when he explained why the site had not yet sold tickets to hidden cities. He
said he is worried that customers will not know what they are buying, so they
should check the bags and catch them.
Agents who must pay attention
After the incident with Dr Tao in April 2017, when United
Airport agents in Chicago hired security guards who pulled a passenger out of a jet plane, United asked his staff to demonstrate caution in a collision.
In this updated guide, United asks its employees to review
the customer's situation before billing tickets in hidden cities. "Ask
questions and understand the client's situation," says the note.
Perhaps, said United, the client should have left earlier
due to a medical situation. Or maybe the passenger decided to change plans
because intermittent operations, such as a cancelled or delayed flight,
prevented the customer from continuing.
But if that's not the case, United said, the agents should
alert the airline's security department.
"Our priority is to safely deliver our customers and
their luggage to their final destinations, so you must always try to understand
the situation of your customers and avoid clashes when handling hidden ticket
purchase cases in the city", indicates the note. "Enterprise security
has more power to monitor the situation and take appropriate measures to ensure
that customers comply with the rules of the contract of carriage and United's
policies."
But Charlie Leoja, president of Travelers United, a consumer
advocacy group, said in an email that carriers should seek to make their
reservations more transparent, rather than harassing intruders.
"I do not sympathize with airlines," he said.
"They created this plane crash and should live with it. The more
passengers with hidden reservations in the city, the better, to my knowledge.
But passengers must remember that airlines can be vindictive and return to creative
passengers, cancelling frequent flyer miles and future bookings. "
