The World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) is calling on airlines to stop penalising travel agents for skiplagging, arguing that agents are bearing the financial consequences of a consumer practice they have no power to prevent.
Skiplagging involves booking a cheaper flight with a connection at the traveller’s intended destination and deliberately skipping the final leg. The practice has grown as airfares have risen, with a survey by passport-photo.online finding that more than 64% of American flyers skiplag at least 25% of their flights each year, with the trend spreading among younger travellers through platforms such as TikTok.
“Skiplagging is a long-standing issue in the travel industry that we do not support, but travel agents cannot control customer behaviour once travel is underway,” WTAAA executive director Otto de Vries said.
Airlines have largely failed to enforce penalties against consumers who skiplag. A 2019 Berlin court dismissed Lufthansa‘s attempt to sue a passenger for more than $2,300 in fees avoided through the practice. But under IATA Resolution 830a, airlines can issue Agency Debit Memos through the Billing and Settlement Plan system, fining agents whose clients break fare rules without the agent’s knowledge.
Agents not liable
De Vries said the uneven treatment was pushing some agencies toward closure. “While airlines struggle to punish direct booking consumers legally, they readily fine agents, sometimes contributing to agency closures from the financial impact,” he said.
WTAAA said agents have a duty to advise clients about the risks of skiplagging, which can include voided return flights, loss of frequent flyer benefits and account bans. But the alliance argued that agents should not carry the financial cost of decisions made by passengers after booking.
De Vries called on airlines to address the root cause by closing the pricing gap between hub-to-hub fares and tickets to final destinations, which creates the incentive to skiplag in the first place. “It’s time airlines play a straight game on pricing without huge markups for hub-to-hub tickets versus to final destinations, which would diminish the incentive for skiplagging,” he said.
WTAAA called for open dialogue between airlines and travel agent associations to find solutions that protect consumer choice while ensuring agents are not unfairly penalised.