Schoolboy, 17, who was busted for skiplagging, now banned from flying American Airlines for three years
Logan Parsons, 17, slapped with three-year ban by American Airlines The North Carolina teenager was caught last week using a ‘skiplagging’ hack, the practice of booking a cheap layover trip and departing before the destination.
A North Carolina teenager caught using ‘skiplagging’ tactics to fly cheap tickets has been banned from American Airlines for three years.
Logan Parsons, 17, was caught last week trying to hack a flight from Florida to New York, where he planned to depart in North Carolina during a layover stop instead.
The teenager’s father Hunter revealed to Insider that after being detained and questioned, Logan is now banned for using a $150 layover ticket instead of paying the full price.
‘His ticket was canceled and he was banned from the AA for three years but never actually did anything wrong,’ he said. ‘He never even got his boarding pass.’
Logan Parsons (pictured) has been slapped with a three-year ban from American Airlines after he was caught using a ‘skiplagging’ hack on a flight last week
The 17-year-old’s father Hunter Parsons (left) defended his son and said he had ‘done nothing wrong’
Logan was caught attempting to commit fraud last week after buying an American Airlines ticket from Gainesville, Florida to New York JFK with a stop in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The teenager wanted to visit Charlotte, but had to buy a cheap indirect ticket to New York, which his father said his family had been doing for years.
Flying by himself for the first time, Logan used cost-cutting techniques, and Hunter defended his son as he ‘didn’t know he was doing anything wrong’ for his first solo flight.
‘He was left to fend for himself 500 miles from home,’ she added. ‘He has never violated any policy or broken any contract. He simply went to a counter to collect his boarding pass.’
Logan’s American Airlines ticket was canceled and he was forced to buy a direct flight after being caught, and has now been banned from American Airlines for three years.
Hunter said she has no concerns about letting her son fly solo, as she and her family have used skiplagging ‘almost exclusively for the past five to eight years,’ she told WVNS-TV.
At the gate, however, Logan’s North Carolina ID raised a red flag with the agent, and the teenager was later taken to a security room for questioning, Hunter said.
‘They got out of him that he was planning to disembark at Charlotte (sic) and wasn’t going to make the connecting flight,’ the father said.
Speaking to Queen City News after her son’s arrest, Hunter said the family was unaware that skiplagging was frowned upon.
He added that not only was an American Airlines representative canceling the ticket, but the way the situation was handled was not a concern.
‘Our concern is that he is a minor and was released to fend for himself several states away,’ Parsons said.
His lament over the situation was echoed by an airline attorney who also spoke to the outlet, who described the response as ‘harsh’.
‘It’s his first time flying and he really doesn’t know what he’s doing,’ said Bruce Brandon. ‘It seems a bit harsh to me… I just don’t understand why they would do it.’
Although not illegal, the hack – also known as ‘hidden city ticketing’ – is frowned upon in the industry and violates some airlines’ codes of conduct.
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