A financial disclosure by the political action committee of former President Donald Trump indicates his team has used Skiplagged to engage in hidden city ticketing to reduce travel expenses.
Trump Super PAC Uses Skiplagged To Save On Airfare, Underscoring Its Widespread Use
As noted by View From The Wing, Trump’s Save America PAC just filed its midyear disclosure, revealing it has spent more than $40 million on legal fees (and with three new indictments yesterday and more likely to come in Georgia, those bills will keep on coming…).
But relevant to this blog, the disclosure also revealed that the team uses Skipplagged to book travel, suggesting it engages in hidden city or throwaway tickets. You can read more about what that is here, but in short, airlines charge a premium for nonstop flights. Often, if you are traveling from A to B it is cheaper to buy a ticket to A to C via B and then just walk off in B. There are risks to doing that, including the inability to check luggage, frequent flyer forfeiture, and the chance of being rerouted in case of flight irregularities. However, it can save you hundred of dollars on a one-way ticket.
Nevertheless, this trend has caught thanks to websites like Skipplagged, which focus on highlighting hidden city ticketing opportunities.
The former president, of course, has his own Boeing 757 jet that he uses to fly to campaign events and conduct other business. It’s not Trump himself who is engaging in hidden city ticketing.
But with staff traveling to Washington, DC often, the most likely culprit is staffers traveling to Washington National (DCA) using hidden city ticketing on American Airlines. AA routes many flights via DCA which are much cheaper than flying into DCA directly. Flying from Miami to Washington to Boston is often much cheaper than just flying Miami to Washington.
This is newsworthy because it demonstrates how mainstream “Skiplagging” has become.
I could make a point here that this practice fits perfectly in a pattern of “rules for thee but not for me” but I will only say that I see no ethical issues with throwaway ticketing and have long-argued that if you buy two pieces of cake it should be your prerogative whether you eat both slices or just one. But I know others vehemently disagree and the point here is not to debate the ethics of this practice.
CONCLUSION
Even Trump’s Super PAC engages in hidden city ticketing…another indicator of its widespread use. While there are dangers to booking these sorts of tickets, the fact that you can save so much money by booking them suggests there will be no let-up in people booking them, even with the occasional horror story about interrogation and cancelled tickets at the airport.
image: Gage Skidmore
Just one small example of the rampant lawlessness that infests anything involving Trump, his businesses, and his family. All of it is nothing more than a continuing criminal enterprise.
I guess you are entitled to your opinion.
Ryan,
Better tell your buddies to indict him over that too….. at a certain point this all becomes ridiculous to us independents. We are at that point!
I guess “independents” like you aren’t big on accountability. So if you commit over a certain amount of crimes you should be given a free pass because it’s “ridiculous” to prosecute all of them. Interesting
@BillyBob,
Yes us independents (I have never and will never vote for Trump) can see quite clearly that when 3 indictments all come down within a 4 month span as it’s become clear that he’s the frontrunner on the republican side it becomes pretty evident this all stinks whether or not it’s deserved, it’s timed to interfere with the 2024 election, to say otherwise is gaslighting. If the indictments came down a year ago it would’ve looked above board. The simple fact of the matter is attempting to put your leading political opponent in jail is stuff of banana republics but the Democrats can’t help themselves. This is why I’m much more comfortable with divided government and gridlock. You guys turn me off to voting Democrat when you do crap like this!
Sigh. Another example of the grave crisis in American civics education.
The Democrats did not indict President Trump. Grand juries did so. They followed the exact same process that any potential defendant undergoes prior to being charged. Police investigate. Prosecutors review the results of investigations, determine if charges are warranted, and then seek indictments through grand juries. Grand juries decide to hand up indictments. Prosecutors prosecute defendants based on grand jury indictments. Judges determine calendar, make evidentiary issues, and oversee the proceedings. Juries convict or acquit. Judges then sentence in line with sentencing guidelines established by the legislature.
I guess by that logic Trump should start personally killing all his opponents… he’s running for president so he can’t be charged!
BB
Accountability is great, but you have to have to appearance of legitimacy and fairness while you are pursuing it (even if the subject might not deserve it). The DOJ is doing a crap job at the latter that’s all….. which just makes the division worse. Ask most independents and even some democrats and you’ll find agreement with that.
How could it be any more fair? Read Ryan’s post. A grand jury indicted him, not the DOJ.
Most of the critics will admit they haven’t read the indictment, for example, Ron DeSantis. How can you say it’s political when you don’t know what’s in it? That’s called ignorance
I see that somewhere someone has mentioned Donald Trump and like clockwork loser Billy Bob is on the case.
Just like when someone mentions 50 year old virgins your ears start burning
You’re clearly on the wrong side of this Billy Bob. It’s obvious to everyone that this is nothing but thuggery from the “justice” department (and don’t give me that garbage about the grand jury)
Also that 50 year old virgin comment is just lame – you disappoint me, just like you disappoint everyone else in your miserable pointless life.
Politics aside, I’m not surprised in this as well. Many people use it for the savings. Personally, I’ve used it a lot as well especially when it first came up when I was in college. I was given a stipend from the university as part of my financial aid to specifically fly home from the East Coast to Chicago during breaks and it often didn’t cover unless I used skiplagged.
Bet the comments are going to be wholesome and worthwhile on this one!
At the end of the day, hidden city fares are caused by how massive and complicated airline pricing is.And if the airlines want this kind of complexity, they have to accept the other side of some loophole. Airlines should not be able to reprimand the passenger in the form or cancellation. A passenger bought two tickets on two flights and only used one. But I do believe that is is the airlines right to not issue frequent flyer miles, status, and especially not to deliver bags to the passenger if they are forced to check it. That is the risk the passenger has to play with if they choose to go down this path.
And this coming from me, an employee in Pricing at a major US airline
Lmao. It’s in character though ain’t it?
One of the craziest skiplagging opportunities I’ve seen is flying United from EWR to Tokyo. For the day I’m looking at, Polaris is $8000 one way, but just $3700 if you book to Singapore via Tokyo.
Oh no! I am just like Trump, I use hidden city ticketing but not lately due to travel patterns. With frequent flyer programs giving so few miles nowadays, why not? Just forfeit the miles or create a dummy ff account so that they will possibly close it.
Just collect miles with an alliance partner.
Everyone needs to tell their parents to double their donations to president TRUMP, so he can afford to pay full fare for his staffers. If you’re reading this blog, you don’t need their inheritance.
Came across a skiplagging opportunity with an ocean liner this summer.
To book from NYC to Hamburg via Southampton is 20% less than NYC to just Southampton,
Not sure if Charles III would appreciate Yankees showing up unannounced!!
Skiplagged rocks. Blame the airlines for making their fares an elaborate scam. Credit consumers for working around it.
I always check bags usually…so skiplagging is not for me.
nevermind I seldom pay cash.
An overnight connection or one that requires a change of airport (e.g. flying into CDG with a connection from ORY, or to LGW connecting to a LHR flight) tends to be sufficient to resolve the issue.
@PM … or an overnight change of airport from Narita to Haneda , and the trains are out-of-service ?
What if it is a connection airport ? For example , Orange County to Chicago , with a connection in Denver . I get off in Denver , but on the way to the other gate , I fall on the moving walkway , and hit my head , so I never make it to the connecting flight . Will the airline punish me for not using the entire ticket to Chicago ?
Heck, I’ve ditched trips because the city I was connecting through had things worth seeing and doing. I booked a Turo as the wheels touched down in Miami and let my friend know I was meeting him at a local bar. My travel companion completed her portion of the trip home.
People who are legitimately connecting will probably try to contact the airline to rebook the rest of their trip if something comes up.
Trump tried to reduce travel expenses ? Had it been Biden, it would have been called prudent. If this is the best they can do…..
Somehow I think the indictments are bit more important.
This is a REALLY GOOD Catch! Back in the day, late supreme court justice Anton Scalia openly disclosed he used the trick airlines created for his benefit. As long as airlines continue to deceive flyers as to the true value of an empty seat, flyers are free to use any means available to them to secure fair market value. Hidden city tickets brings to seat distribution what short sellers bring to equity markets- balance. Prices can’t just rise without underlying fundamentals.
The origins of hidden city tickets and airfare deception are chronicled at https://www.i-reroute.com by the Father Of Hidden City tickets…. 🙂