TOKYO - As the year-end travel season approaches, a growing problem involving airline tickets has begun to surface, drawing attention from major carriers. Last week, Japan Airlines posted a warning on X stating, "Japan Airlines prohibits the transfer or resale of airline tickets to third parties." The airline said prohibited acts such as ticket resales and transfers are spreading across social media platforms.
On X, users have been seen posting offers to sell tickets they cannot cancel, with messages such as, "Non-refundable, looking for someone to take it. Asking 35,000 yen." Some users have even created hashtags like "airline ticket transfer" to facilitate these transactions. One passerby said they had seen such posts before and felt that people were casually passing tickets on to others.
Japan Airlines prohibits the resale or transfer of tickets, but does this constitute a crime. According to lawyer Kitagawa Takahiro, airline terms of service require that only the person named on the ticket may use it, which becomes critically important in the event of an accident or other trouble.
Kitagawa added that if a seller purchases a ticket from the outset with the intention of reselling it, the act could constitute fraud. He also warned that buyers may face legal risks as well, explaining that using a ticket issued in someone else's name, going to the boarding gate, deceiving the airline and receiving its services could amount to fraud against the airline.
Japan Airlines is urging travelers not to resell or transfer airline tickets to third parties.
Source: TBS
