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American Airlines is suing a travel website that sells tickets that let people save money by exploiting a quirk in airline pricing.

American sued Skiplagged Inc. in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, this week, accusing the website of deception. It threatened to cancel every ticket that Skiplagged has sold.

In a practice called skiplagging and hidden-city ticketing, travelers book a flight that includes at least one stop, but they leave the plane during a layover. Generally skiplagging is not illegal, but airlines claim that it violates their policies.

Last month, Americanbooted a 17-year-oldfrom a flight and banned him for three years when he tried to use the tactic to fly from Gainesville, Fla., to Charlotte, NC, on a ticket that listed New York City as his destination. For the teen, that was cheaper than booking a flight directly to Charlotte.

In the lawsuit, American accused Skiplagged of tricking consumers into believing they can tap some kind of secret loophole. American said the website poses as an ordinary consumer to buy tickets, and warns its customers not to tip off the airline about the arrangement.

American said Skiplagged, which is based in New York, has never been authorized to resell the airlines tickets.

Skiplaggeds conduct is deceptive and abusive, the airline said in the lawsuit. Skiplagged deceives the public into believing that, even though it has no authority to form and issue a contract on Americans behalf, somehow it can still issue a completely valid ticket. It cannot. Every ticket issued by Skiplagged is at risk of being invalidated.

There was no immediate response to a request for comment left with Skiplagged.

Skiplagged has been sued before.

United Airlines and online travel agency Orbitzaccused Aktarer Zaman, who was in his early 20s when he started Skiplagged around 2014, of touting prohibited forms of travel.

Zaman, whostarted a GoFundMeto pay his legal costs, settled with Orbitz, and the Unitedlawsuit was dismissed.

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Entertainment

Kanye West criticised over Super Bowl ad for website selling swastika T-shirt

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Kanye West criticised over Super Bowl ad for website selling swastika T-shirt

Kanye West has been criticised over a TV advert directing people to a website selling a swastika T-shirt during the Super Bowl.

It shows him lying down, telling viewers: “I spent all the money for the commercial on these new teeth, so once again I had to shoot it on the iPhone… go to Yeezy.com.”

The site now features nothing but a single T-shirt with a swastika on the front – alongside the code “HH-01” – believed to be a reference to “Heil Hitler”.

The advert was shown in the Los Angeles area during the big game, but not nationwide.

The listing is the sole item on West's website
Image:
The listing is the sole item on West’s website

It comes after West deactivated his X account after more antisemitic posts last week.

The rapper’s final entry stated: “I’m logging out of Twitter. I appreciate [X owner] Elon [Musk] for allowing me to vent.

“It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board. It was like an Ayahuasca trip.”

“Love all of you who gave me your energy and attention. To we connect again [sic]. Good afternoon and goodnight.”

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Kanye’s wife shocks at Grammys

West made multiple posts on Friday, including statements such as “I love Hitler” and “I’m a Nazi” – with the Campaign Against Antisemitism calling on Mr Musk to ban him.

The group said the T-shirt listing was another damning example of West’s dangerous prejudice.

“The swastika is the symbol adopted by Hitler as the primary emblem of the Nazis,” it posted.

“It galvanized his followers in the 20th century and continues to threaten and instil fear in those targeted by antisemitism and white supremacy.”

West – also known as Ye – has been suspended from Twitter at least twice before.

In October 2022, his account was restricted over antisemitic comments but he returned the following month. The outcry prompted Adidas to end their lucrative trainer deal.

Two months later, he was locked out again after posts including one appearing to show a swastika inside a Star of David.

Elon Musk, who rebranded Twitter as X in 2023, said at the time the suspension was “for incitement to violence” but the account was back up and running the following summer.

Read more:
Friends star urges Musk to remove West
West and Adidas reach settlement after years of lawsuits

West’s wife, Bianca Censori, also made headlines last week when she wore a fully transparent dress at the Grammy Awards.

The couple posed for several minutes on the red carpet before reportedly being escorted away.

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Business

Gas prices at a two-year high, putting pressure on already expensive energy bills

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Gas prices at a two-year high, putting pressure on already expensive energy bills

British wholesale gas prices have reached a more than two-year high, risking yet more expensive energy bills.

Low rates of gas storage in Britain and across Europe, combined with cold weather, have increased demand for gas to heat homes.

It’s brought the price up to 140 pence a therm (a unit of heat used to measure gas), a high not seen since January 2023.

Higher gas prices can bring up household bills as electricity costs are linked to wholesale costs.

Money blog: The 10 jobs crying out for applicants

Britain is reliant on European gas imports and has less storage capacity than its neighbours.

Last month, the owner of Britain’s largest gas storage site said levels in the country were “concerningly low”.

European storage levels have been depleted by cold weather and are now at approximately 50% capacity, well below the roughly 70% level recorded this time last year.

Gas is bought during cheaper periods, including when demand is lower in the summer, and then stored for use during times of high demand.

Britain is still reliant on the fossil fuel to generate electricity and heat homes and so is vulnerable to volatile prices.

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Gas and electricity bills became even more expensive in January

Global trade tensions have stoked fears of more supply shocks. On Monday, China slapped a 15% tariff on US gas in response to Donald Trump’s tax on Chinese imports.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago gas costs have increased as Europe sought to limit its use of Russian supplies. Russia, however, remains a key source of gas for the continent.

Already expensive bills

Energy bills have already been going up. At the start of last month, energy regulator Ofgem brought up the energy price cap, which limits the unit cost of energy, amid forecasts of a further rise in April.

The energy price cap is revised every three months. A final decision on the cap for April, May and June will be made on 25 February.

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Environment

New York awards $60M to Revel to install 267 DC fast chargers

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New York awards M to Revel to install 267 DC fast chargers

New York Governor Kathy Hochul today announced it would loan $60 million to Revel to triple its EV charging infrastructure across New York City. 

NY Green Bank (NYGB), the state’s clean energy investment fund and a division of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), is providing the loan to Revel, New York City’s largest provider of public DC fast-charging. It’s NYGB’s first EV charging infrastructure transaction.

The loan will allow Revel to more than triple its current New York City public fast-charging network in 2025. It will pay for the construction of 267 new charging stalls across nine sites and support the design and build of EV charging stations.

Revel will complete construction of the below 178 sites in the next 12 months, with the remainder to be completed by 2027. (Those with asterisks are in disadvantaged communities):

  • 60 charging stalls in Maspeth, Queens, which will be the largest fast-charging station in the Northeast US
  • 44 charging stalls near LaGuardia Airport, making it the largest fast-charging station near an airport in the US*
  • 24 charging stalls at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), making it the largest charging station at the airport*
  • 30 charging stalls in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
  • 20 charging stalls in the Port Morris section of the Bronx*

Revel broke ground in November at JFK Airport, adjacent to the main rideshare vehicle waiting area, with support from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. With funding from NYGB, Revel will now be able to complete the construction of the 24 charging stalls. That site will open in Q1 2025 and is expected to be one of the busiest EV charging stations in the country.

NYSERDA’s president and CEO, Doreen M. Harris, said, “Increasing the state’s charging capabilities is a step forward in ensuring New Yorkers can plug in and drive clean, and we commend Revel’s leadership in this regard in a major hub and in high-impact locations such as major airports.”

Revel charging stations are open to the public on a 24/7 basis for any make and model EV. All chargers installed at future locations will have speeds of at least 320 kilowatts (kW).

Read more: Dandy Mini Marts chooses Tesla to install its first EV chargers


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