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“Skiplagging” is a money hack for travelers looking to save lots of on airline tickets — but travel experts warn the practice comes with big risks.
Also often called “hidden city ticketing,” the practice is a solution to leverage a quirk in airfare pricing.
Here’s the fundamental concept: Reasonably than fly nonstop to a desired city, a passenger would as a substitute buy a multi-leg flight with a connection of their desired city. The traveler would disembark on the layover stop as a substitute of flying the ultimate leg.
Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet, said travelers could be “surprised” to find out how often skiplagging is cheaper for fliers than buying a direct flight to their end destination.
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Nevertheless, the practice also peeves airlines. The truth is, many prohibit it — with a various degree of consequences if a passenger is caught.
Skiplagging has “been around for some time,” said David Slotnick, senior aviation business reporter at The Points Guy.
Nevertheless, “it’s controversial,” he said.
“I feel it reveals a bizarre and counterintuitive way the airline-pricing model works,” Slotnick said. “But when it comes to having the ability to reap the benefits of that to lower your expenses, it’s a brilliant big risk and you almost certainly shouldn’t do it unless you fully understand what you are doing.”
Consequences include canceled flights, airline bans
It has grow to be easier to interact within the practice because of online travel bookings, including via sites like Skiplagged.com that specialise in such bookings, French said.
Skiplagged.com has a series of regularly asked questions that talk to a few of the associated risks, and advice for working around them.
“That is perfectly legal and the savings might be significant, but there are some things to pay attention to,” the corporate said in a single FAQ response, adding: “You may upset the airline, so don’t do that often.”
The risks were illustrated earlier this month when a youngster tried using the practice. The teenager was scheduled to fly from Gainesville, Florida, to Latest York, with a stop in Charlotte, North Carolina; as a substitute of disembarking in Latest York, the passenger planned to accomplish that in Charlotte.
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The carrier, American Airlines, reportedly discovered the traveler’s intent and canceled their ticket.
Along with getting a flight canceled — after which having to re-book last-minute, likely erasing any initial cost savings — travelers could get banned from an airline’s frequent-flier program and lose all its accompanying perks, Slotnick said.
Carriers may additionally ban travelers from flying that airline in the longer term, he said. Additionally they can theoretically take a traveler to court for damages.
When booking a flight, travelers conform to airlines’ contracts, or conditions of carriage. These contracts set rules for passengers, and infrequently forbid skiplagging (though generally don’t use that specific term), experts said.
American Airlines’ contract, for instance, states: “Your ticket is valid only when travel is to/from the cities in your ticket and in your trip record.”
I feel it reveals a bizarre and counterintuitive way the airline-pricing model works.
David Slotnick
senior aviation business reporter at The Points Guy
More explicitly, it also prohibits reservations “made to use or circumvent fare and ticket rules,” examples of which include: “Purchasing a ticket without meaning to fly all flights to realize lower fares (hidden city ticketing).”
United Airline and Orbitz filed a lawsuit against Skiplagged.com’s founder in 2014, but a judge dismissed the case the next yr.
Carriers generally do not like the practice because, for one thing, they will lose revenue. They might have been capable of sell an empty seat to a different passenger, or perhaps sell a dearer nonstop ticket to the skiplagging passenger, for instance.
Moreover, when travelers deviate from what’s expected it messes with airlines’ internal planning, flight scheduling and data science, for instance, Slotnick said.
“They are not offended that individuals save $20 on a flight,” he said. “It’s more the predictability in the information set.”
Skiplagging only exists “because of this of airlines’ own pricing schemes,” Dan Gellert, chief operating officer of Skipplagged.com, said in an e-mail.
“Airlines have monopolies on certain hub airports and their pricing reflects that. Hundreds of individuals book Skiplagging or hidden city tickets each day and we generally hear of no issues from any of them,” Gellert said.
There are other risks, inconveniences to skiplagging
Travelers who use hidden city ticketing could also be exposed to additional inconveniences. For instance, you possibly can’t check your bags, which is able to go onward to the ultimate destination as a substitute of the connecting city, French said.
Bringing a bag on board as a carry-on can be of venture: If a plane’s overhead space is full by the point you board, chances are you’ll be forced to ascertain your bag, French added.
Passengers would also must book separate one-way tickets. That is because an airline would likely cancel a return ticket when you were a no-show for any leg of your flight, experts said.
Moreover, flight schedules are “very unpredictable,” French said. Airlines may opt to reroute your flight through a unique city — meaning your layover destination (where you’d intended to go) could change.
“There are many [other] ways to seek out good deals on flights,” especially for travelers willing to be flexible on trip timing and placement, French said. Alternatives include using services like Google Explore and Going, which permit consumers to set flight alerts, she said.
