Have any airlines ever banned anyone for exploiting hidden city or throwaway ticketing?

Question

On a related question Jim MacKenzie writes that:

If you did this a lot, it's possible an airline might ban you from flying it

Likewise another question mentions that:

if you ditch they have the right to cancel the rest of the ticket, fine you and even ban you from the airline. Though the only times they would ban or fine would be for repeat offenders.

But have any travelers actually been banned with a particular airline for exploiting hidden city or throwaway ticketing in the past decade? Links to authorative references rather than hearsay are welcome.

Note that for the sake of this question simply banning someone from the frequent flyer program doesn't count. I'm only looking for cases where a person could no longer take a flight on a given airline for exploiting their pricing.

Answer 1

Here is a reference I found: Restricting Airline Ticketing Rules Unlikely to Help Consumers, a US-government study on the issue concluding that openly allowing hidden-city ticketing is not generally desirable

I haven't found any concrete cases of passengers being banned for the practice. In honesty, I suspect it would have to be done to an extreme case to be a problem.

It does cause airlines some operational issues. Flights can leave sooner if all passengers have arrived, but passengers that intend not to arrive, of course, never arrive. This prevents flights from departing as quickly. Also, there may be standby passengers whose reservations can be confirmed more quickly and their bags loaded more rapidly, helping airlines maintain their schedule.

I read a lot of posts at FlyerTalk (a web forum) and have found lots of discussion about the issue there, including some flyers who have been warned that if they continue hidden-city ticketing, that they will face repercussions, but have not found any evidence that repercussions actually happened. (I suspect the passengers stopped doing the practice, or changed airlines.)

Answer 2

As of 2025, I've found only a single reported case of an alleged ban taking place:

A teenager, detained following a "skip lagging" incident earlier this month has now been banned from flying with American Airlines for three years, according to his family.

The purchased flight for Hunter Parsons' 17-year-old son was from Gainesville, Florida to New York City with a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina. The plan was for the teen to get off the plane in Charlotte, where he lives, and not continue to New York City.

Parsons told Nexstar's WJZY his family has used skip lagging resource Skip Lagged for the past few years, but noted he never would have put his son in this predicament if he knew what would happen.

I say 'allegedly' because no concrete evidence was ever provided to verify this incident, nor did American Airlines officially confirm the ban. However, since there's no evidence proving the teenager was subsequently permitted to fly with AA, we can reasonably assume the report is accurate.

Additionally, several travelers have reported receiving warnings about potential bans for skipping connecting flights, such as this Reddit user:

I just wanted to give everyone some information on what not to do. I used a hidden city flight website to book my AA ticket at a lower price. I attempted to check in online before my flight, but I was presented with an error message. I came to the boarding check-in, and they informed me that if I didn't reach my final destination, I would be banned from the airline.

It's important to note that this user never confirmed an actual ban was implemented — this was merely a verbal warning without any reported official follow-up. Such warnings likely represent empty threats from check-in personnel, given the lack of subsequently reported "You are banned!" emails. Confirmed bans remain extremely rare, which is why I personally wouldn't hesitate to continue employing the "hidden city" trick if it offered significant cost savings on my itineraries.

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In related news, in October 2024, American Airlines won their lawsuit against Skiplagged:

On October 15, a jury awarded American Airlines $9.4 million in damages from an August 2023 lawsuit filed against Skiplagged — a website airlines hate because it makes it easier for customers to book "hidden-city" fares, also known as "throwaway ticketing," to save money. The practice is not illegal but directly contradicts airlines' terms of service.

Specifically, the company was ordered to pay American $4.7 million for a copyright infringement for using American's logo on its website and another $4.7 million for repayment of "ill-gotten" revenue.

While the payment is a hit to Skiplagged, which has 20 employees, the website can still conduct business as usual, minus American's logo, CEO Aktarer Zaman told Business Insider.

As promised by their CEO, Skiplagged continues to operate as of March 2025 and even suggests the very same 'hidden city' fare that got the 17-year-old mentioned above banned from AA :-)