Photo: Getty Images
A North Carolina teenager was detained at an airport for using a layover hack to book a cheaper flight.
Logan Parsons booked an American Airlines flight from Gainesville, Florida, to New York City with a layover in Charlotte, his actual intended destination, his father, Hunter, told Daily Mail. The teenager, who had never previously flown alone, realized that booking the additional stop at JFK Airport in New York City and instead 'skiplagging' the second flight was significantly cheaper than booking a direct flight back to Charlotte.
Parsons was, however, stopped by security after providing his identification at the gate and taken into a security room to be interrogated. The teenager's ticket was canceled and his family needed to purchase a direct ticket back to North Carolina.
"They kind of got out of him that he was planning to disboard (sic) in Charlotte and not going to make the connecting flight," Hunter said via Daily Mail.
Skiplagging isn't actually illegal, but is frowned upon in the aviation industry and violates some airlines' codes of conduct, according to Daily Mail.
American Airlines' website lists one-way direct flights from Gainesville to Charlotte in July as costing between $255 and $547 based on varying departure times, while Skiplagged.com, the website the Parsons previously used to book flights, lists flights with a layover in Charlotte for $159.
"We've used skiplagged almost exclusively for the last five to eight years," said Hunter, who claimed he wasn't worried about his son being stopped for the booking process.
American Airlines said it was strongly against the process of skiplagging in a statement obtained by Daily Mail.
"Purchasing a ticket without intending to fly all flights to gain lower fares (hidden city ticketing) is a violation of American Airlines terms and conditions and is outlined in our Conditions of Carriage online," the statement read.