Trade Me clamps down on air ticket impersonators

The listings asked buyers to tell airline staff the name on the ticket, rather than their own, in order to use non-transferable tickets. File photo / NZ Herald

Trade Me has clamped down on sellers encouraging flight ticket buyers to impersonate them at check-in to bypass airline security rules.

The listings asked buyers to tell airline staff the name on the ticket, rather than their own, in order to use non-transferable tickets.

Some listings gave specific instructions, such as "you need to be a woman" or "you need to be a child".

Trade Me trust and safety manager Chris Budge said the site had removed 89 of the 159 ticket auctions listed on the site since ticket sales were introduced on September 6.

Less than a dozen of those listings encouraged direct misrepresentation, while others were removed for potentially breaching airline rules, or because buyers may have been turned away from check-in.

"We stamped on it straight away because that's just unacceptable," Budge told NZPA.

It was not immediately known how many of the 34 tickets sold since last month were non-transferable.

The site announced yesterday that airline tickets would now be included on its list of restricted items.

Only fully transferable tickets could be listed, and sellers would need to confirm tickets were transferable.

The changes were made because bypassing ticket transfer rules created security issues, Budge said.

"It was not done for commercial reasons at all, it was purely done for safety reasons and also concerns of misrepresentation."

Trade Me had been proactive by recognising the issue and discussing it with Air New Zealand, which had advised the site on terms and conditions, flight security, and check-in rules, Budge said.

"The words of advice to sellers is if you can't transfer them by the terms and conditions on the airline ticket, it's not a good idea to tell someone to impersonate them," he said.

"If somebody actually does impersonate another person getting on a flight, my understanding is that's a criminal offence."

Mr Budge said potential buyers should ask questions, and should not bid if there were any doubts.

Most listings so far have been for Air New Zealand flights, while some were for Jetstar.

- NZPA