It would seem that missing a flight is not every traveller’s worst nightmare, as some cheeky travellers actually miss flights on purpose so they can score cheaper airfares.
It’s called ‘skiplagging’ or ‘hidden city flights’ and it’s becoming an increasingly commonplace method for cheap flight hunters to find low-cost airfares.
Sometimes booking a flight with a connection is less expensive than booking a direct flight to your desired destination. And if that connecting flight happens to be in the city or country you really want to visit, well, why not book it and skip the last leg of the flight?
According to Abby Hepworth for Pure Wow: “The concept is pretty simple. Let’s say you want to fly from New York to Denver. A direct flight costs $400, but there is also a flight from New York to Los Angeles with a layover in Denver that costs only $275. Technically, you can save over a hundred bucks by booking the flight to LA and simply skipping the second leg.”
However, airlines look pretty dimly at anyone using this method and, if they suspect you are using it to score cheap flights, you could be banned from flying with them.
You also won’t be able to fly with checked baggage, because it will end up at the place you’re not, and also, if you skip any leg of a flight, the rest of your itinerary will most likely be cancelled.
But, it’s not stopping many crafty travellers willing to take a risk on bucking the system to save hundreds on flights.
While we’re not advising you to do this, knowledge is power. And knowledge can either land you a cheap holiday or a lifetime ban on an airline.
Would you ever employ such a method for scoring cheap flights?
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