The Hidden-City Ticketing Hack:
A Smart Travel Trick or a Risky Gamble? In the Evolving World Of Air travel, The Hidden City Ticketing Hack, Passenger’s Attempts to Save Money on Flights have been A Point of Contention on Social Media Platforms, Especially After A Post Made By Californian Real Estate Investor Joe Bolen. Joe Bolen’s Post on X Showed a Great Airdrop and Lowered His Travel Budget by Virtually Hundreds. At first, the strategy feels like a not-so-good gamble, but let us focus on the details first.
What is Hidden-City Ticketing?
Throwaway ticketing, or hidden city ticketing, occurs when someone purchases a less expensive flight that has a connecting point in the location they want to visit. Instead of taking the first leg of the flight, they merely get off at the connecting city. An example of this is Bolen’s viral post. He wondered why traveling directly from California to St. Louis was approximately $564.
In the year this document was prepared, American Airlines charged travelers $564 for a flight to Atlanta, while travelers were only willing to pay $198. He booked the flight to Atlanta and decided to drop the last segment. In this way, booking a ticket to Atlanta allowed him to skip the last leg and still save more than $350. That is why American Airlines ticketed the flight at $564 during the busy season of trips to Atlanta.
What makes direct flight tickets more expensive compared to connecting flight tickets?”
Calculating airfare can be tricky, expensive, and quite out of budget. The pricing of every individual flight is based solely on competition and demand, not on distance. The pricing strategy is more challenging and most frustrating on direct flights, which tend to cost more due to their convenience, unlike connecting flights. Airlines often face an imbalance in demand and jump at the opportunity to fill in seats, which is, in turn, beneficial for them.
Some learned travelers rely on multi-leg bookings, needing to switch planes to circumvent the pricing demand for single-fare legs. While these strategies sound fantastic and offer significant savings, the risks may not be worth it.
The Risks of Using Hidden-City Ticketing
Despite any expectations savings can provide, this low-cost strategy is not without risks. Here’s a list of some essential risks travelers should be aware of before using the said strategy:
- Baggage Issues
If you’re using checked baggage, this hack will not work. Large pieces of luggage are sent to the last destination when check-in is made, so you’ll have to go to the corresponding city on your ticket. You might only have a carry-on, but gate agents sometimes ask you to check your bag upon boarding. Ultimately, the bag can still end up in the wrong destination.
2. Airline Rebooking Policies
Flights are constantly changing, canceling, and delaying. If an airline decides to change your route, you risk having your entire secret route strategy become ineffective because you will be stranded in a completely different layover city.
3. Frequent Flyer Consequences
Hidden City booking is a frequent flyer account bane. Although this technique allows you to save time, if exploited, you may no longer be able to earn rewards miles. Some outed airline customers had their mileage accounts canceled or even faced an immediate flight ban due to disregard towards hidden-city ticketing.
4. Ethical Considerations
Wider society tends to accept the practice of hidden city ticketing as justified, an effective means to counter the hostile nature of airline carriers. On the contrary, airlines argue that the practice of hiding city ticket purchases violates the spirit of service. They firmly believe that not showing up for a booked flight is tantamount to a breach of contract.
The Legal Landscape: Can Airlines Take Action?
The term hidden city ticketing might be considered illegal, but there aren’t any laws against it; however, just like many airlines do, it goes against the policies set by most airliners. Some carriers, particularly United and Lufthansa, have sued Skiplagged.com, the site that attempts to exploit hidden city tickets for travelers, but virtually all such suits have been unsuccessful.
Still, however, the ability to impose a penalty on single travelers rests with the airlines. Anyone caught runs the risk of losing miles, having their ticket canceled, or, worst case, being barred from flying with some airlines.
Should You Try It?
Hidden-city ticketing can be one key strategy to reduce the cost of air travel, but as the adage goes, fortune favors the brave, so hidden-city tickets should be used very judiciously.
Caution is recommended:
Please do not show off the hack or discuss it with any airline staff members.
Make sure to book one-way flights: This helps safeguard your return flight from auto cancellation by the airline in case you are expected to miss one of the legs.
Use different suppliers: If you are a frequent flyer of a particular airline, do not apply this trick to that airline; otherwise, your account could get flagged.
Conclusion:
Is it a Brilliant Travel Hack or an Unacceptable Way of Traveling?
Hidden-city ticketing is an intriguing travel hack that consumers and airlines have debated for years. While it has the potential to save many travelers a significant amount of money, this method does not come without risks and consequences.
Ultimately, it’s up to the user to decide if this method is worth pursuing owing to their comfort with violating airline policies. If you decide to go for it, remember to proceed cautiously and expect to be faced with consequences.
The real and far more complicated question is: Will airlines continue to be even more restrictive, or will there be a shift in the pricing model to remedy all this?
Reference
‘Throwaway ticketing’ is risky flight tactic that could save you money but comes with consequences
‘Throwaway ticketing’ is the risky travel hack to score cheaper flights: ‘Why would you not?’
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