Overview

• Users on 4chan coordinated instructions to open airline checkouts on India–US routes and leave them idle for about 15 minutes to lock seats without paying.
• Posts urged use of multiple tabs and automation scripts, with participants boasting of “100 seats locked,” and included racist language directed at Indians.
• Reports described crashes, timeouts and temporarily unavailable inventory on busy corridors such as Delhi and Mumbai to New York, Chicago and San Francisco.
• Fares on routes like New Delhi to New York roughly doubled during the rush, with coverage linking the spike to panic buying and the booking‑hold campaign.
• The White House later stated the $100,000 fee applies only to new H‑1B applications, while companies including Amazon, Microsoft and JPMorgan had already advised staff to return or avoid travel.