• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Home  >  Law In Travel • Southwest Airlines  >  Southwest Airlines Sues Skiplagged For Violating Terms & Conditions It Never Agreed To
Law In TravelSouthwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Sues Skiplagged For Violating Terms & Conditions It Never Agreed To

Matthew Klint Posted onJuly 30, 2021November 14, 2023 3 Comments

airplanes parked on a tarmac

An interesting case is brewing that pits Southwest Airlines against Skiplagged, the website that helps consumers compare fares and book hidden city ticketing in order to save money.

What Is Hidden City Ticketing?

Hidden city ticketing, also called skiplagging as a testament to the growth of the Skiplagged website, is a practice where you book a connecting flight(s) via your intended destination in order to save money on the “nonstop” flight. Since airlines tend to charge a premium for nonstop service, this can save hundreds of dollars.

For example, New York to Chicago may be $300 but booking New York to Chicago on the same flight with a connection to Las Vegas may drop the fare to $189. A savvy Chicago-bound flyer might book the connection to Las Vegas then step off the flight in Chicago.

There are catches, of course. First, you cannot check bags since U.S. airlines do not bags to be “short-checked” in most situations. Second, you risk your frequent flyer account by affixing it to the reservation, since this is one way airlines can punish passengers for engaging in skiplagging. Third, you may run into issues in the case of irregular operations. A flight delay or cancellation may suddenly lead to a different or direct routing which will be harder to undo.

Southwest Airlines Sues Skiplagged

Southwest Airlines does not offer this arbitrage opportunity nearly on the scale of U.S. legacy carriers, but such hidden city tickets do exist on Southwest too.

But the problem seems less about hidden city ticketing and more that Skiplagged displays fares from Southwest Airlines, something that Southwest tightly controls and views as a competitive advantage to keep customers in the dark when price shopping airfare.

Skiplagged helps customers make an informed choice by showing Southwest Airlines fares in its meta search data. Southwest is opposed to this for two contradictory reasons:

It claims Skiplagged:

  • Displays incorrect pricing of Southwest Airlines flights and therefore turns customers away
    • since Skiplagged does not have direct access to Southwest Airlines spaces, it uses kiwi.com, also the subject of a Southwest Airlines lawsuit, which does not always offer real-time fare information)
    • of course that often works to the advantage of Southwest Airlines as well, when lower fares are displayed than are actually available
  • Does not have the right to display Southwest Airlines fares

Southwest cites its website terms and conditions, which state:

“Any unauthorized use of any Confidential Information or the Service for any purpose is prohibited.”

That includes:

  • Use of the Southwest website or Company Information for any commercial purpose, with the exception of authorized Southwest travel agents/agencies
  • Use of the Southwest website for or in connection with offering any third party product or service not authorized by Southwest
  • Engaging in any activity with the Service or Company Information that is false or misleading

In short, Southwest Airlines is suing Skiplagged on the basis of the terms and conditions on Southwest.com even though Skiplagged did not agree to them implicitly or explicitly. Remember, Skiplagged does not scrape space from Southwest.com and has entered no formal agreement with the Dallas-based airline.

That’s a fascinating legal question – can a company or individual be held liable for violating terms and conditions it never agreed to on a website it does not directly use?

CONCLUSION

Hidden city ticketing aside, I view Skiplagged as a valuable resource to compare fares, including on Southwest. Do not mistake Southwest’s actions: it is not about protecting customers. The occasional incorrect price displayed on the search screen is rectified when clicking through to purchase. Rather, it is about cutting off access so customers cannot fully understand their options. In that sense, I tend to be skeptical of the argument that the price of an airline ticket on an open market is propriety. Consumers should know that Southwest is rarely the best deal, even with its generous baggage allowance.

(H/T: View From The Wing)

Previous Article Why Do Airlines Use Knots Instead Of Miles Per Hour?
Next Article United Airlines Closing Flight Kitchens, Outsourcing Catering

About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

Related Posts

  • a sign on a door

    Family Sues American Airlines Over Flight Attendant Who Placed Camera In Lavatory To Surreptitiously Film Teenage Girl

    December 2, 2023
  • American Airlines Attack Miami

    Deranged Man Launches Bloody Attack Against American Airlines Ground Staff In Miami

    December 2, 2023
  • Tourist Prison Cursing Dubai

    British Tourist Imprisoned In Dubai For Cursing At Airport Attendant Over Wheelchair

    November 30, 2023

3 Comments

  1. Chris Reply
    July 30, 2021 at 10:29 am

    My semi uneducated guess is that Skiplagged/Kiwi is in the wrong here. If you are pulling any sort of information from a website then you have to agree to their terms of service. It can be worked that “by connecting to a website you agree to their terms of service”.

    I think this will be settled outside of court in Southwests favor.

    • Frank Reply
      July 30, 2021 at 10:54 am

      I think Southwest absolutely will win their case against Kiwi, but I doubt there is privity between Southwest and Skiplagged. In fact, I would bet Skiplagged’s lawyers have made sure to give the site advice on exactly how to make sure there is no privity (don’t link to Southwest.com, don’t pull your data directly from Southwest, don’t use any of Southwest’s trademarks). In the end, Southwest won’t get any damages from Skiplagged, but if they can shut off the data flow through Kiwi, the end result is basically the same: no Southwest information on Skiplagged’s site.

    • Tim Reply
      July 31, 2021 at 7:26 pm

      Strongly disagree here. All information displayed by Southwest is in the public domain until a customer enters their personal information or explicitly agrees to a price disclosure. The only way Southwest gets away with any proprietary argument is by displaying a disclaimer before allowing any user access to pricing information. I think Southwest will lose this case.

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

Hot Deals for December

Note: Please see my Advertiser Disclosure

Capital One Venture X Business Card
Earn 150,000 Miles Sign Up Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 60,000 Points
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles!
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Earn $750 Cash Back
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 120,000 Membership Reward® Points

Recent Posts

  • Delta skymiles changes
    Delta Skymiles Changes Is A Gift To Every Frequent Traveler December 3, 2023
  • 24-Hour Australia Trip
    Introduction: A 24-Hour Trip To Australia On Qantas December 2, 2023
  • a sign on a door
    Family Sues American Airlines Over Flight Attendant Who Placed Camera In Lavatory To Surreptitiously Film Teenage Girl December 2, 2023
  • American Airlines Attack Miami
    Deranged Man Launches Bloody Attack Against American Airlines Ground Staff In Miami December 2, 2023

Categories

Popular Posts

  • a woman with blonde hair holding a blue sign
    United Airlines Faces Another “Young, White, Blonde” Charter Flight Lawsuit November 4, 2023
  • a row of seats in an airplane
    15 Hours In Qantas A380 Premium Economy Class… November 6, 2023
  • United Airlines Flight Attendants Jumpseat Rule
    Why Service Will End Earlier On Your Next United Airlines Flight November 16, 2023
  • a woman in uniform standing in a doorway
    American Airlines To Flight Attendants: No Special Favors In Economy Class November 8, 2023

Archives

December 2023
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Nov    

As seen on:

facebook twitter instagram rss

Privacy Policy

© Live and Let's Fly All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Live and Let's Fly with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.