Cranky on the Web: Iran, Summer Airfare, Skiplagging

Mar 14, 2026

More Reading on This Topic: Cranky on the Web, The Air Show

How the Iran War Could Affect Your Summer Airfare: What You Need to Know and When to Book – Investopedia

This isn’t the only outlet asking me what will happen to fares now that we are in a war with Iran with no end in sight. Of course, I don’t know the answer to that, but I can sure help explain how the airlines will think about it. If they lower capacity, fares will rise. They might be waiting to see if they can glean any more insight into where this is whole mess is going first.

Skiplagging Flights Is Not A Travel Hack – It’s Theft – Forbes

Amen. The airlines set the rules about how you can use their product, and because of that, you should obey them. Skiplagging –better known as hidden-city ticketing — is not allowed.

Jon is back on the pod this week, and he led us through the stormy waters surrounding the invasion of Iran. What exactly does this mean? What will be the impact? Talk it through with us.

Brett

11 responses to “Cranky on the Web: Iran, Summer Airfare, Skiplagging”

Dan

Mar 14, 2026 at 8:23 am

RE United’s skiplag wording: “Tickets may not be purchased and used at fare(s) from an initial departure point on the Ticket which is before the Passenger’s actual point of origin of travel, or to a more distant point(s) than the Passenger’s actual destination being traveled…”

First, how does one, as per the Forbe’s example, have an initial departure point before the Passenger’s actual point of origin of travel, which in this case is DFW?

I’ve never used a skiplag, simply because it can be complicated and time consuming, and I buy F, so I don’t need to save a few bucks here and there. But given airlines’ constant manipulation of both Federal and their own regulations and rules, I also dont blame people for trying to work those same systems to their own benefit. Enjoy the following:

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/why-airlines-can-get-away-with-bad-customer-service/523011/

https://viewfromthewing.com/american-airlines-gives-away-your-seat-if-they-think-youll-be-late-then-denies-compensation-when-youre-not/#:~:text=American%20Airlines%20gives%20away%20your%20seat%20if,be%20late%2D%2Dthen%20denies%20compensation%20when%20you're%20not

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240222-air-canada-chatbot-misinformation-what-travellers-should-know

From compulsory arbitration and other contractual fiats the consumers cannot argue with, small wonder that the average citizen feels every encounter with large corporations is an adversarial one.

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Anon

Mar 14, 2026 at 8:34 am

Not convinced on the argument around skiplagging being theft. I see very little real measurable harm being accrued to an airline when somebody on one-way hand luggage only no-shows for a 2nd flight. I see it instead as contractual overreach with puffed up claims of tort damage when it’s more a case of trying to spout cockomaney BS.

I await a ruling from a court with a high level of authority (ie federal, not a village court) to give a clear opinion on a one-way no-luggage, no-air-miles, no-weather-disruption flight case between passenger (not a commercial company trying to monetise the situation) and an airline.

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Jerry

Mar 14, 2026 at 4:49 pm

The real theft is an airline holding the passengers of a fortress hub captive and blocking new entrants. A loss of potential profit due to airline extortion is not a crime.

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1990

Mar 16, 2026 at 7:32 am

On Iran, no one knows, and anyone who claims they do is guessing at best. Could be over in a week; could be WW3. I know I wouldn’t route via ME anytime soon. I’d also reconsider routes that require the narrow paths north or south of it, given the other conflicts (Russia-Ukraine). If China goes for Taiwan, let’s all just stay home for a while, no?

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Pilotaaron1

Mar 16, 2026 at 7:32 am

Interesting thought with airlines now not wanting to give any miles or benefits to basic economy passengers, will this cause an increase in skiplagging?

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1. Brett
  
  Mar 16, 2026 at 9:40 am
  
  Pilotaaron1 – I don’t know why it would. The same fare rules apply across the network. I can’t imagine someone deciding to go from BE to regular economy on a skiplagged ticket just to get the miles.
  
  Reply
  1. Anon
    
    Mar 16, 2026 at 12:33 pm
    
    I think the question is more…. if you don’t get any loyalty points, and don’t benefit from logging into the airline website as a regular flyer rather than appearing to be a new customer, then why not just skiplag and go for the cheapest possible fare ? After all the people in basic economy are the ones most likely to be travelling hand-baggage only and the ones most wanting to save some money on the air fare.
    
    If you fly one-way, hand luggage only, don’t connect your latest ticket with any previous bookings, and put your credit card address on the airline website payment system as 1600 Pennysylvania Avenue and the payment goes through… then an airline is unlikely to do much against you.
    
    Reply
    1. Brett
      
      Mar 16, 2026 at 2:04 pm
      
      Oh I see, the point is that if you aren’t earning miles or caring about any of that, why not just do it because the potential for any penalty is low… well then it comes down to ethics. If you do business with a company and you know the rules and break them, that’s not very ethical. I have no doubt some will argue that the rules aren’t fare, etc. But these are the rules and they aren’t illegal, so it’s just the way it is.
      
      Reply
    2. Kilroy
      
      Mar 17, 2026 at 4:18 am
      
      That’s a lot of caveats that you mentioned, and that excludes the vast majority of travelers. That said… If the mandatory name/DOB/gender isn’t enough to exactly identify one particular traveler (and in most cases it probably is, unless perhaps that traveler is literally named “James Smith”, “John Smith”, or similar), the TSA Known Traveler # (to go through PreCheck) would be.
      
      If they really wanted to, airlines could require DL/passport # (or even an image or video of the traveler’s ID, held next to their face, as I had to do for a credit card application recently) upon booking for certain “suspicious”/common name combinations for verifying passengers’ identities for “security purposes”.
      
      In my opinion (without getting into the argument of the ethics/legality of it), airlines want to make the process of skiplagging APPEAR to be as inconvenient and risky as possible, such that only the most diehard travelers attempt it, while regular travelers decide that it’s not worth the risks.
      
      There will be some travelers who skiplag that the airlines won’t catch, just as there are some people who drive 90+ mph on the freeway who don’t get pulled over, but so long as 99+% of the flying public is either ignorant of skiplagging or doesn’t think it’s worth the risks/hassle, that counts as success.
      
      In that regard, I’d argue that the airlines have done a pretty good PR job of walking the line between hunting down skiplaggers, running media against it (such as the article that Brett was quoted for), and still avoiding (to some extent) the infamous “Streisand effect”.
      
      Reply
Brian

Mar 17, 2026 at 11:15 am

Since airlines overbook as a means to maximize revenue, I have no problem with customers taking advantage of hidden city tricks.

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DP

Mar 17, 2026 at 12:34 pm

The article compares skiplagging to picking up an organic bag of apples and ringing it up as a non-organic bag to save money. I think skiplagging is more akin to buying an organic bag of apples (and thus paying for it), just eating one, and throwing out the rest of the bag if that is less expensive then buying a single apple.

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