I almost got banned from American Airlines for 'skiplagging.' I was terrified when my boarding pass was flagged, and I'll never do it again.
Cassie Aran bought a hidden-city flight from Skiplagged.
An American Airlines agent told Aran she would be barred if she missed the last leg of her flight.
Right before entering security, Aran decided to cancel her ticket and rebook a proper one.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Cassie Aran, a TikTok creator known for her travel videos. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Skiplagging or "hidden city" ticketing is when you book a flight with a layover and then once you make it to your layover — the place you actually want to go — you don't head to your final destination.
For example, I wanted to fly to Washington, DC, so I bought a plane ticket to Boston with a Washington layover. It was never my plan to head to Boston. Skiplagging is done as a way to save money, which is why I was doing it.
The first time I tried skiplagging, everything went great. It was a success, but during my Washington trip, it all went terribly wrong.
After arriving at the airport, I received my boarding pass on my phone. When I opened it, there was a note on my pass asking me to head to the ticket counter.
I had never experienced that before, and I quickly became concerned. When booking my tickets on Skiplagged, I remember the website telling users that they shouldn't tell the airline that they booked through Skiplagged.com.
I was worried that I had been caught.
When I got to the counter, the woman looked at my pass and called over her supervisor. After a minute, she approached me again. She asked if I had bought my ticket through Skiplagged.
Quickly, I lied. I didn't want to get in trouble. Still, she warned me, saying that their system had flagged it.
She also said that if I didn't get on my flight to my final destination, I would be banned from American Airlines altogether.
I didn't know the consequences would be that serious.
What made it worse was when she asked me where my final destination was, I couldn't answer her. I didn't remember, and that made me look suspicious.
The whole situation really scared me. Since I didn't want to get banned from the airline, I had two options: I could either fly to my final destination, or I could cancel my flight.
After walking away and right before I entered security, I decided to cancel my Skiplagged ticket. Then I bought my ticket the right way on my phone. By doing so, it prevented me from getting banned.
I was so terrified when this happened, I decided not to do it again. Instead, I now just buy my tickets the right way.
If this is something you're considering, I would suggest that you don't do it. Otherwise, you might run into the same issues I did.
For me, skiplagging wasn't worth the risk.
American Airlines did not respond to a request for comment from Insider.
If you have a travel hack or regret and would like to share your story, email Alyshia Hull at ahull@insider.com.
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