A recent flight passenger revealed in X’s post that he saved hundreds of dollars using a rather “dangerous” hack.
California-based real estate investor Mike Bolen has racked up more than 6.2 million views on his social media pages after sharing his “wild” way to buy plane tickets.
Bolen discovered that instead of booking a direct flight to St. Louis for $564, he could buy a ticket to Atlanta with a layover in St. Louis for just $198.
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“Why can’t I just bring my carry-on and get off the plane at STL? Yes!” he wrote on X alongside a photo from the airline’s website.
Bolen tried the hack and “it worked out without a hitch,” he told Fox News Digital.
The hack may be new to Bolen, who noted that he’s never seen anyone test it before, but it turns out the hack has been around for a while.
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This is often referred to as “single-use” or “beyond the point” ticketing, according to Gary Leff, a Texas-based travel industry expert and author of the blog “View From the Wing.” He told Fox News Digital via email.
Instead of booking expensive one-way tickets, passengers are taking risks and testing out these cheaper, but potentially ethically questionable, “wild” flying tactics. (iStock)
In Leff’s blog, he noted that people book flights with a connection that passes through their intended destination, but disembark at a layover instead of taking a second flight.
Since direct flights generally cost more than connecting tickets, the purpose of a “single ticket” is to save on the overall cost of the flight.
“The ethics of single-use ticketing have been debated for decades. “An airline that believes that a flight from A to B to C is a fundamentally different product than a flight from A to B ends up buying one and consuming the other,” Leff wrote.
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“And that goes against the common sense notion that if you buy seats on two flights, it’s up to you what you do with it. “This is all a result of complex pricing that regular customers find confusing and unfair to begin with,” he added.
One of the risks of using a layover as your final destination is that your carry-on baggage may be checked in at the gate and then passed on to the final destination on your ticket. (iStock)
Leff points out that while the cost of a flight may be lower than a direct flight, there can be real risks when attempting this travel hack.
For example, you may need to check your carry-on baggage when boarding. Additionally, airlines may automatically reroute you to a new route based on what the airline determines is the destination printed on your original ticket.
Leff added that airlines may actually cancel mileage accounts or issue travel bans on passengers.
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“The airline may close your frequent flyer account or ban you from flying with that airline in the future. It’s not something to do every week, but something to consider occasionally,” Leff wrote on his blog.
This hack has been used by airline passengers for decades and is often referred to as “one-time ticketing” or “point after ticketing.” (iStock)
“If you’re going to do one-time ticketing, at least consider accruing your miles to a frequent flyer account with a partner airline. That doesn’t give you any protection, but why not make it easier to track them?” Lev pointed out.
The hack has gained attention in recent years, with some airlines going after Skiplagged.com, an “airfare search engine for cheap flights that reveals ticketed trips to hidden cities,” according to the website.
The airfare site said on its homepage, “United sued us because our flights were so cheap…”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Skiplagged.com and United Airlines for comment.
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“It’s unclear how much more widespread this practice has become because it hasn’t been disclosed by the airlines,” Leff told Fox News Digital.
Gary Leff warns that passengers should be careful as using this hack too often could result in them being reported or banned by the airline. (iStock)
“But it’s easier than ever to do so because you no longer need to buy a round-trip ticket to get the best fare (it works best when you book one-way tickets).”
Looking at the possible risks associated with flight hacking, some people have pointed out that there are two views regarding the ethics of this procedure.
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Trying these travel hacks can save you money, but it’s important to know what the possible risks are. (iStock)
Either you “agreed” to the airline’s “contract of carriage” and broke the contract when purchasing your ticket, or the “contract of carriage” had no significant effect, “making the airline’s view contradictory to common sense morality,” Leff wrote. On his website.
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“There are practical/consequentialist considerations that can lead to discontinuing the practice, or at least not engaging in it as often,” he said.
