United Airlines faces a ticket issuance scheme that gives travellers cheaper fares.

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. "