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Comment by justinsb | Hacker News Reader

Ignoring the merits of the lawsuit, I don't see how Skiplagged could ever be a big business. If it succeeds, it will result in its own destruction: the airlines will either eliminate hidden-city ticketing (i.e. reduce the 'hub premium') or otherwise prevent people from doing this (e.g. charge people extra if they don't complete their flight).

I actually thought that airlines have always threatened to 'claw back' the fare difference from travelers that did this, but I may be mistaken.

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Many companies trying to enter a market with a big markup (like travel) will do things like this. Find a differentiator, build a user base, and in the end become another comparison booking site that just passes people off to an agency for a big cut.

If you look back in the history of the big and small comparison sites, most started with (if the don't still operate) a gimmick but really are making their margins by being a step in the user's path to buying an airline ticket-- or better, a hotel reservation.

The airlines will go after passengers who abuse hidden-city ticketing but will generally let it slide if you only do it once or twice. There are stories on FlyerTalk about repeat offenders being banned from certain airlines.

It's probably the most frequently asked question on that site.

SkipLagged doesn't make any revenue, it was just a project to help consumers.

You're presuming that skiplagged wouldn't then branch into other ticketing angles using all the publicity / usage it acquires prior to losing the original product.

TravelZoo is worth $192 million, and has $158 million in sales. Why couldn't Skiplagged enter that turf with its momentum? (in this hypothetical)

Not every business needs to be big. If they make a profit on a flaw in the system and eventually leave the world a better place as they gracefully shut down operations, win-win.

If only businesses worked with this sort of mindset...we wouldn't be having near the wealth disparity and stagnant wage issues that are plaguing the world these days.

But, they absolutely do not think in these terms...it's "exploit every dollar possible and pay us at the top and our shareholders every penny we scrape, to hell with anyone not like us."

That would be like a casino clawing back estimated losses from a card counter. While the airlines and Orbitz use the word, "prohibited," like card counting it is not actually illegal and only contravenes their ticketing policies.

According to saryant's comment, sounds like you get banned from the airline, just like (winning) card counters get banned from casinos.

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