Hidden city ticketing - Revision history

Editor: Editor moved page Hidden City Ticketing to Hidden city ticketing without leaving a redirect

2021-02-19T04:42:44Z

Editor moved page Hidden City Ticketing to Hidden city ticketing without leaving a redirect

Editor: /* The more exhaustive way to search */

2021-02-13T01:01:52Z

‎The more exhaustive way to search

Editor at 19:33, 12 February 2021

2021-02-12T19:33:38Z

Editor at 19:52, 22 January 2021

2021-01-22T19:52:26Z

Editor: /* The more exhaustive way to search */

2021-01-22T19:43:22Z

‎The more exhaustive way to search

Editor at 23:11, 25 April 2020

2020-04-25T23:11:35Z

Editor: /* The more exhaustive way to search */

2020-04-25T23:09:12Z

‎The more exhaustive way to search

Editor at 23:08, 25 April 2020

2020-04-25T23:08:40Z

Editor at 23:04, 25 April 2020

2020-04-25T23:04:20Z

Editor at 22:57, 25 April 2020

2020-04-25T22:57:40Z

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-{{Next|advanced air strategies}}
+{{Next|separate tickets}}
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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{DISPLAYTITLE:{{Title|hidden city}}}}
-{{Page|article|Airfare Strategies}}
+{{Page|article|Save on Booking|Airfare Strategies}}
 Airline ticket pricing can sometimes seem counterintuitive. An airline might charge more money for a flight to a city than they would for a longer trip that flies to that city and then continues on to some further destination. In other words, it is cheaper to fly from City A to City B and then to City C, than it is to fly just from City A to City B.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{Page|article|Airfare Strategies}}
-Airline ticket pricing can sometimes seem counterintuitive. An airline might charge you more money for a flight to a particular city than they would for a longer trip that flies to that city and then continues on to some further destination. In other words, it is cheaper to fly from City A to City B and then to City C, than it is to fly just from City A to City B.
+Airline ticket pricing can sometimes seem counterintuitive. An airline might charge more money for a flight to a city than they would for a longer trip that flies to that city and then continues on to some further destination. In other words, it is cheaper to fly from City A to City B and then to City C, than it is to fly just from City A to City B.
 {{Image|HiddenCity.png|420}}
-On the surface, it doesn’t make sense that the airline charges you less overall money when you add an extra flight. However, the airline's pricing is based on their competition. Rather than charging you roughly based on the distance you are flying, they maximize their revenue by charging you the most they can get for their flights given the competition.
+This happens most often when an airline is the only one that offers nonstop service to your desired destination. Since people prefer to fly nonstop, they can charge more for that trip.
-This happens most often when an airline is the only one that offers nonstop service to your desired destination. Since many people prefer to fly nonstop, they can charge more for that trip. At the same time, they need to offer lower prices to other destinations, especially if they need to compete with another airline that offers nonstop flights to that location. Therefore, they charge less for a trip connecting through one of their hubs than for a trip that ends there.
+At the same time, they need to offer lower prices to other destinations, especially if they need to compete with another airline that offers nonstop flights to that location. As a result, they charge less for a trip connecting through one of their hubs than for a trip that ends there.
 <blockquote>
-You can often save remarkable amounts of money by booking a flight that makes a connection in the city that you really want to visit, rather than ends there. You then simply skip the final flight from your desired city to the official destination.
+You can often save remarkable amounts of money by booking a flight that makes a connection in the city that you really want to visit (rather than ends there). You then simply skip the final flight from the desired city to the ticketed destination.
 </blockquote>
 This is called “hidden city” ticketing and is frowned upon by the airlines. But it can frequently save you a ton of money on your flights.
 {{TOC}}
@@ Line 26: / Line 25: @@
 {{Main|article}}
 === Some examples ===
-For example, rather than booking an expensive ticket from Cleveland to Washington D.C., you can book a cheap ticket from Cleveland to Tampa, which just happens to connect in Washington. When you finish the first flight, you just leave the airport (skipping the final leg between Washington and Tampa). For this example, based on a post from [//www.pointswithacrew.com/book-hidden-city-ticket/ Points with a Crew], the price of the one-way ticket dropped from $420 to $114.
+For example, rather than booking an expensive ticket from Cleveland to Washington D.C., you can book a cheap ticket from Cleveland to Tampa, which just happens to connect in Washington. When you finish the first flight, you just leave the airport in D.C. (skipping the final leg between Washington and Tampa). For this example, based on a post from [//www.pointswithacrew.com/book-hidden-city-ticket/ Points with a Crew], the price of the one-way ticket dropped from $420 to $114.
 For another example, one of us was looking for cheap tickets to Belize for spring break. Unfortunately, we weren’t having any luck. The return flight was particularly expensive—the most convenient routing through Dallas was priced at over $700:
@@ Line 47: / Line 46: @@
 <li>'''You’ll need to book one-way flights'''. As soon as you miss a flight, any additional part of your itinerary will be cancelled. Each flight you plan to travel must be booked separately.</li>
-<li>'''You’ll need to bring carry-on luggage, because checked bags will be checked all the way through to the official destination'''. The only exception occurs when you are required to go through customs at your desired destination (the connecting city). In that case, you’ll temporarily receive your bags to take them through customs and can hold onto them, instead of rechecking them.</li>
+<li>'''You’ll need to bring carry-on luggage, because checked bags will be checked all the way through to the official destination'''. The only exception occurs when you are required to go through customs at your desired destination (the connecting city). In that case, you’ll (usually) temporarily receive your bags to take them through customs and can leave the airport with them, instead of rechecking them.</li>
 {{ImageX|OverheadBin.jpg}}
@@ Line 66: / Line 65: @@
 It’s not that easy to find good opportunities to save money with hidden city ticketing. You'll need to check flights to many different destinations that might route through your desired city and narrow those down to the ones that actually connect where you want. But there are some shortcuts.
-'''[//skiplagged.com/ Skipplagged]''' is a website which was specifically designed to uncover good hidden ticketing opportunities. You just enter your travel details, like you would for any other travel site, and they will try to find hidden city routes that offer lower prices than the normal flights.
+'''[//skiplagged.com/ Skipplagged]''' is a website which was specifically designed to uncover good hidden ticketing opportunities. You just enter your travel details, like you would for any other travel site and they will try to find hidden city routes that offer lower prices than the normal flights.
 {{Image|SkiplaggedResults.png}}
@@ Line 76: / Line 75: @@
 Skiplagged doesn’t always uncover the lowest-cost hidden city options.
-'''A better, but more complicated approach is to search for flights yourself, using [//matrix.itasoftware.com ITA Matrix]'''.
+'''A better, but more complicated, approach is to search for flights yourself, using [//matrix.itasoftware.com ITA Matrix]'''.
 The Dan’s Deals website helped us understand how to do this efficiently.  The trick is to add as many different destination airport codes as you can into the “Destination” box, click on the “advanced routing codes” button, and enter the airport code for your desired destination into the “Outbound routing codes” box. To make this easier, Dan’s Deals has published [//forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=45539 sets of destination codes] that you can copy and paste into ITA Matrix.

@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 Skiplagged doesn’t always uncover the lowest-cost hidden city options.
-'''A better, but more complicated approach is to search for flights yourself, using [//matrix.itasoftware.ocm ITA Matrix]'''.
+'''A better, but more complicated approach is to search for flights yourself, using [//matrix.itasoftware.com ITA Matrix]'''.
 The Dan’s Deals website helped us understand how to do this efficiently.  The trick is to add as many different destination airport codes as you can into the “Destination” box, click on the “advanced routing codes” button, and enter the airport code for your desired destination into the “Outbound routing codes” box. To make this easier, Dan’s Deals has published [//forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=45539 sets of destination codes] that you can copy and paste into ITA Matrix.

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 You can often save remarkable amounts of money by booking a flight that makes a connection in the city that you really want to visit, rather than ends there. You then simply skip the final flight from your desired city to the official destination.
 </blockquote>
 {{TOC}}

← Older revision	Revision as of 04:42, 19 February 2021
(No difference)

@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 '''A better, but more complicated approach is to search for flights yourself, using [//matrix.itasoftware.ocm ITA Matrix]'''.
-The Dan’s Deals website helped us understand how to do this efficiently.  The trick is to add as many different destination airport codes as you can into the “Destination” box, click on the “advanced routing codes” button, and enter the airport code for your desired destination into the “Outbound routing codes” box. To make this easier, Dan’s Deals has published [//forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=45539 sets of destination codes] that you can copy and paste into ITA Matrix/
+The Dan’s Deals website helped us understand how to do this efficiently.  The trick is to add as many different destination airport codes as you can into the “Destination” box, click on the “advanced routing codes” button, and enter the airport code for your desired destination into the “Outbound routing codes” box. To make this easier, Dan’s Deals has published [//forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=45539 sets of destination codes] that you can copy and paste into ITA Matrix.
 {{Image|ITAMatrixSearch.png|600}}

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{Page|article|Airfare Strategies}}
-Airline ticket pricing can sometimes seem counter-intuitive. An airline might charge you more money for a flight to a particular city than they would for a longer trip that flies to that city and then continues on to some further destination. In other words, it is cheaper to fly from City A to City B and then to City C, than it is to fly just from City A to City B.
+Airline ticket pricing can sometimes seem counterintuitive. An airline might charge you more money for a flight to a particular city than they would for a longer trip that flies to that city and then continues on to some further destination. In other words, it is cheaper to fly from City A to City B and then to City C, than it is to fly just from City A to City B.
 {{Image|HiddenCity.png|420}}
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 {{Main|article}}
 === Some examples ===
-For example, rather than booking an expensive ticket from Cleveland to Washington D.C, you can book a cheap ticket from Cleveland to Tampa, which just happens to connect in Washington. When you finish the first flight, you just leave the airport (skipping the final leg between Washington and Tampa). For this example, based on a post from [//www.pointswithacrew.com/book-hidden-city-ticket/ Points with a Crew], the price of the one-way ticket dropped from $420 to $114.
+For example, rather than booking an expensive ticket from Cleveland to Washington D.C., you can book a cheap ticket from Cleveland to Tampa, which just happens to connect in Washington. When you finish the first flight, you just leave the airport (skipping the final leg between Washington and Tampa). For this example, based on a post from [//www.pointswithacrew.com/book-hidden-city-ticket/ Points with a Crew], the price of the one-way ticket dropped from $420 to $114.
 For another example, one of us was looking for cheap tickets to Belize for spring break. Unfortunately, we weren’t having any luck. The return flight was particularly expensive—the most convenient routing through Dallas was priced at over $700:
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 {{Image|GoogleFlightsResults543.png}}
-But, there is another convenient route from Belize through Houston on United airlines. When we were checking for prices for that route, we found something interesting. Taking the same American airlines flight between Belize and Dallas that we were looking at above, and including an additional leg to Houston, dropped the fare from $543 to $190!  We could pay only 1/3 as much, throw-away the Dallas-to-Houston ticket, and fly back to Seattle on a different plane from Dallas.
+But there is another convenient route from Belize through Houston on United airlines. When we were checking for prices for that route, we found something interesting. Taking the same American airlines flight between Belize and Dallas that we were looking at above, and including an extra leg to Houston, dropped the fare from $543 to $190!  We could pay only 1/3 as much, throw-away the Dallas-to-Houston ticket, and fly back to Seattle on a different plane from Dallas.
 {{Image|GoogleFlightsResult190.png}}
@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 {{ImageX|OverheadBin.jpg}}
-<li>'''Unforeseen events can wreak havoc with this strategy'''. If there is no room on the airplane left for your carry-on bags, they will be checked through to the official destination, rather to the connecting airport. You might persuade the gate agent to check them only part of the way.</li>
+<li>'''Unforeseen events can wreak havoc with this strategy'''. If there is no room on the airplane left for your carry-on bags, they will be checked through to the official destination, rather than to the connecting airport. You might persuade the gate agent to check them only part of the way.</li>
 {{ImageX|Irrops.jpg}}
-If the flight is cancelled or overbooked, you might get re-routed on flights which don’t connect in the original connecting city (the city you are really trying to get to). For example, if you were planning to get off in Chicago, you might find yourself re-routed through New York and then on a different flight to the official destination. If this happens, you can try to tell the gate agent that you need to meet someone at the connection city and can’t be re-ticketed on a different routing. But, you never know how that will go.
+If the flight is cancelled or overbooked, you might get re-routed on flights which don’t connect in the original connecting city (the city you are really trying to get to). For example, if you were planning to get off in Chicago, you might find yourself re-routed through New York and then on a different flight to the official destination. If this happens, you can try to tell the gate agent that you need to meet someone at the connection city and can’t be re-ticketed on a different routing. But you never know how that will go.
-<li>'''Doing this is against the rules of most airlines (but not Southwest) and they may take it out on your frequent flyer account'''.  It is obviously easy for an airline to recognize that you didn’t board the connecting flight. If you frequently take advantage of this tactic, there is a slim chance that the airline might retaliate against your frequent flyer account. Thus, some online sources suggest that you should keep your frequent flyer account off the reservation or at least credit the flight to a partner airline.</li>
+<li>'''Doing this is against the rules of most airlines (but not Southwest) and they may take it out on your frequent flyer account'''.  It is obviously easy for an airline to recognize that you didn’t board the connecting flight. If you often take advantage of this tactic, there is a slim chance that the airline might retaliate against your frequent flyer account. Thus, some online sources suggest that you should keep your frequent flyer account off the reservation or at least credit the flight to a partner airline.</li>
 <li>'''Don’t book through an online travel agent like Expedia'''. Otherwise, the airline may come after the travel site you used, charging them the higher price for just the leg you flew. The travel site will pay them and then come after you. You are better off dealing directly with the airline, rather than a third-party that has lost "real" money.</li>

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{Page|article|Airfare Strategies}}
-Airline ticket pricing can sometimes seem counter-intuitive. For example, you’ll often need to pay more money for a flight to a particular city, than for a trip that includes a flight to that city, plus an additional flight from that city to some further destination.
+Airline ticket pricing can sometimes seem counter-intuitive. For example, you often need to pay more money for a flight to a city than for a trip that includes a flight to that city plus an additional flight from that city to some further destination.
 In other words, it is cheaper to fly from City A to City B and then to City C, than it is to fly just from City A to City B.
-On the surface, it doesn’t make sense that the airline charges you less money, when you are taking an extra flight. However, the airline's pricing is based on their competition. Rather than charging you roughly based on the miles you are flying, they are maximizing their revenue by charging you the most they can get for flights to any given city, considering the competition.
+On the surface, it doesn’t make sense that the airline charges you less money when you are taking an extra flight. However, the airline's pricing is based on their competition. Rather than charging you roughly based on the miles you are flying, they are maximizing their revenue by charging you the most they can get for flights to any given city, considering the competition.
 {{Image|HiddenCity.png|420}}
-This is most common when the airline is the only one that offers nonstop service to your desired destination. Since many people prefer to fly nonstop, they can charge more for that trip. At the same time, they need to offer lower prices to other destinations, even if the flight connects through the more expensive city, especially if they need to compete with carrier that has nonstop flights to that other location.
+This is most common when the airline is the only one that offers nonstop service to your desired destination. Since many people prefer to fly nonstop, they can charge more for that trip. At the same time, they need to offer lower prices to other destinations, even if the flight connects through the more expensive city, especially if they need to compete with carrier that has nonstop flights to that location.
 <blockquote>
-You can often save remarkable amounts of money by booking a flight, which makes a connection in the city that you really want to visit, rather than ends there. You simply skip the additional flight from your desired city to the official destination.
+You can often save remarkable amounts of money by booking a flight, which makes a connection in the city that you really want to visit, rather than ends there. You then simply skip the final flight from your desired city to the official destination.
 </blockquote>
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 {{Main|article}}
 === Some examples ===
-For example, rather than booking an expensive ticket from Cleveland to Washington D.C, you can book a cheap ticket from Cleveland to Tampa, that just happens to connect in Washington. When you finish the first flight, you just leave the airport, and skip the final leg between Washington and Tampa. For this example, based on a recent post from [//www.pointswithacrew.com/book-hidden-city-ticket/ Points with a Crew], the price of the one-way ticket would drop from $420 to $114.
+For example, rather than booking an expensive ticket from Cleveland to Washington D.C, you can book a cheap ticket from Cleveland to Tampa, which just happens to connect in Washington. When you finish the first flight, you just leave the airport (skipping the final leg between Washington and Tampa). For this example, based on a post from [//www.pointswithacrew.com/book-hidden-city-ticket/ Points with a Crew], the price of the one-way ticket dropped from $420 to $114.
-For another example, one of us was recently looking for cheap tickets to Belize for spring break. Unfortunately, we weren’t having any luck. The return flight was particularly expensive—the most convenient routing through Dallas was priced at over $700:
+For another example, one of us was looking for cheap tickets to Belize for spring break. Unfortunately, we weren’t having any luck. The return flight was particularly expensive—the most convenient routing through Dallas was priced at over $700:
 {{Image|GoogleFlightsResult702.png}}
-We decided to check what just the ticket from Belize to Dallas would cost, figuring we might be able to combine that with a separate cheap flight back from Dallas. No such luck, the combined ticket would cost the same, or even more money.
+We decided to check what just the ticket from Belize to Dallas would cost, figuring we might be able to combine that with a separate cheap flight back from Dallas. No such luck, the combined ticket would cost the same or even more money.
 {{Image|GoogleFlightsResults543.png}}
@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 <ul class="bulletlist">
-<li>'''You’ll need to book one-way flights'''. As soon as you miss a flight, any additional part of your itinerary will be cancelled. Each flight you need, must be booked separately.</li>
+<li>'''You’ll need to book one-way flights'''. As soon as you miss a flight, any additional part of your itinerary will be cancelled. Each flight you plan to travel must be booked separately.</li>
-<li>'''You’ll need to bring carry-on luggage, because checked bags will be checked all the way through to the official destination'''. The only exception occurs when you are required to go through customs at your desired destination (the connecting city). In that case, you’ll temporarily receive your bags to take them through customs, and can hold onto them, instead of rechecking them.</li>
+<li>'''You’ll need to bring carry-on luggage, because checked bags will be checked all the way through to the official destination'''. The only exception occurs when you are required to go through customs at your desired destination (the connecting city). In that case, you’ll temporarily receive your bags to take them through customs and can hold onto them, instead of rechecking them.</li>
 {{ImageX|OverheadBin.jpg}}
@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 {{ImageX|Irrops.jpg}}
-If the flight is cancelled or overbooked, you might get re-routed on flights which don’t connect in the original connecting city (the city you are really trying to get to). For example, if you were planning to get off in Chicago, you might find yourself re-routed through New York, and then on a different flight to the official destination. If this happens, you can try to tell the gate agent that you need to meet someone at the connection city, and can’t be re-ticketed on a different routing. But, you never know how that will go.
+If the flight is cancelled or overbooked, you might get re-routed on flights which don’t connect in the original connecting city (the city you are really trying to get to). For example, if you were planning to get off in Chicago, you might find yourself re-routed through New York and then on a different flight to the official destination. If this happens, you can try to tell the gate agent that you need to meet someone at the connection city and can’t be re-ticketed on a different routing. But, you never know how that will go.
-<li>'''Doing this is against the rules of most airlines (but not Southwest), and they may take it out on your frequent flyer account'''.  It is obviously easy for an airline to recognize that you didn’t board the connecting flight. If you frequently take advantage of this tactic, there is a slim chance that the airline might retaliate against your frequent flyer account. While probably not legal for the airline to do so, you don’t want to get in a fight with the airline. Thus, some online sources suggest that you should keep your frequent flyer account off the reservation, or at least credit the flight to a partner airline.</li>
+<li>'''Doing this is against the rules of most airlines (but not Southwest) and they may take it out on your frequent flyer account'''.  It is obviously easy for an airline to recognize that you didn’t board the connecting flight. If you frequently take advantage of this tactic, there is a slim chance that the airline might retaliate against your frequent flyer account. Thus, some online sources suggest that you should keep your frequent flyer account off the reservation or at least credit the flight to a partner airline.</li>
-<li>'''Don’t book through an online travel agent like Expedia'''. Otherwise, the airline may come after the travel site you used, charging them the higher price for just the leg you flew. The travel site will pay them, and then come after you. You are better off dealing directly with the airline, rather than a 3rd party that has lost "real" money.</li>
+<li>'''Don’t book through an online travel agent like Expedia'''. Otherwise, the airline may come after the travel site you used, charging them the higher price for just the leg you flew. The travel site will pay them and then come after you. You are better off dealing directly with the airline, rather than a third-party that has lost "real" money.</li>
 </ul>
 === Seeing whether you can save with a hidden-ticket trip: The easy way ===
-It’s not that easy to find good opportunities to save money with hidden city ticketing. You'll need to check flights to many different destinations that might possibly route through your desired city, and then filter those down to the ones that make the right connections. But there are some shortcuts.
+It’s not that easy to find good opportunities to save money with hidden city ticketing. You'll need to check flights to many different destinations that might route through your desired city and narrow those down to the ones that actually connect where you want. But there are some shortcuts.
-'''[//skiplagged.com/ Skipplagged]''' is a website which was specifically designed to uncover good hidden ticketing opportunities.  You just enter your travel details, like you would for any other travel site, and they will try to find hidden city routes that offer lower prices than the normal flights.
+'''[//skiplagged.com/ Skipplagged]''' is a website which was specifically designed to uncover good hidden ticketing opportunities. You just enter your travel details, like you would for any other travel site, and they will try to find hidden city routes that offer lower prices than the normal flights.
 {{Image|SkiplaggedResults.png}}
@@ Line 77: / Line 77: @@
 '''A better, but more complicated approach is to search for flights yourself, using [//matrix.itasoftware.ocm ITA Matrix]'''.
-The Dan’s Deals website helped us understand how to do this efficiently.  The trick is to add as many different destination airport codes as you can into the “Destination” box, click on the “advanced routing codes” button, and enter the airport code for your desired destination into the “Outbound routing codes” box. To make this easier, Dan’s Deals has published [//forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=45539 sets of destination codes] that you can copy and paste into ITA Matrix, to help you search many different possible routes at the same time.
+The Dan’s Deals website helped us understand how to do this efficiently.  The trick is to add as many different destination airport codes as you can into the “Destination” box, click on the “advanced routing codes” button, and enter the airport code for your desired destination into the “Outbound routing codes” box. To make this easier, Dan’s Deals has published [//forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=45539 sets of destination codes] that you can copy and paste into ITA Matrix/
 {{Image|ITAMatrixSearch.png|600}}
-When you run this search, you’ll usually find many more alternatives than you will through Skiplagged, some of which may be better options.
+When you run this search, you’ll usually find many more alternatives than you will through Skiplagged, some of which may be better options for your trip.
 {{/Main|article}}