Orbitz, United Airlines Sue 22-Year Old Over Ticketing Loophole

(RTTNews) - United Airlines Inc. and Orbitz Worldwide LLC have filed a lawsuit against a 22-year old to discontinue his travel website Skiplagged.com which helps customers buy cheap flight tickets by taking advantage of a loophole in the booking system.

Aktarer Zaman, the 22-year old man from New York city, founded Skiplagged.com last year. Skiplagged is an airfare search engine that helps travelers book cheap flight tickets by using a loophole called "hidden city" ticketing, a travel arrangement where the passenger's intended final destination is not the final arrival city on his or her itinerary, but rather an intermediate or connecting city.

Using this strategy, travelers book one-way tickets that has a layover at their actual destination and get down their before the flights reach the booked final destination. For example, a passenger who wants to go from City A to City B, will purchase a flight ticket that goes from City A to City B to City C, but does not travel beyond City B.

Orbitz and United have accused Zaman of "intentionally and maliciously" using Skiplagged.com to damage their businesses and of "promoting prohibited forms of travel." United Airlines is a subsidiary of United Continental Holdings (UAL) and Orbitz Worldwide LLC is a unit of Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (OWW).

The complaint also says that the process that Zaman uses to promote "hidden city" ticketing and prompt purchases of "hidden city" tickets constitutes a deliberate attack on Orbitz and United Airlines' trademark rights.

Orbitz and United Airlines filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division. Both companies are are demanding, among other things, damages in excess of $75,000 from Zaman.