A plane passenger recently revealed in a post on X that he saved hundreds of dollars using a “risky” hack method.
Mike Bolin, a California-based real estate investor, received more than 6.2 million views on his social media page after he shared this “wild” way to buy a plane ticket.
Bolin figured that instead of booking a nonstop flight to St. Louis for $564, he could buy Airline ticket To Atlanta with a stop in St. Louis for just $198.
“Why don't you just grab the luggage and get off the plane at the STL? Me too!” He wrote on the X along with a photo of the airline's website.
He tried the hack “and it worked well, there were no problems,” Bolin told Fox News Digital.
While this hack may have been new to Bolin, who noted that he'd never seen anyone test it before, it turns out the hack has been around for a while.
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It is often referred to as “throwing” or… “point farther” tickets, According to Gary Leff, a Texas-based travel industry expert and author of the “View From the Wing” blog, he told Fox News Digital via email.
Instead of booking an expensive one-way flight ticket, passengers are taking a risk and trying this “wild” flying tactic, which is cheaper but may have questionable ethics. (Istock)
On Liv's blog, he noted that people will book a flight with a connection running through it their intended destination, But instead of jumping on the second flight, they got off at the stop site.
Nonstop tickets typically cost more than a connecting flight, so the goal of a “nonstop ticket” is to save money on the total cost of the trip.
“The ethics of express tickets have been debated for decades. It comes down to airlines believing that a flight from A to B to C is a fundamentally different product than a flight from A to B: you buy one thing and consume another,” Lev wrote.
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“This goes against the prevailing idea that if you buy seats on two flights, it's up to you what you do with them. It's all a result of complex pricing that regular customers initially find confusing and unfair,” he added. .
One risk of using your stopover location as your final destination is that your carry-on bag may be checked at the gate and directed to the ticket's final destination. (Istock)
Although the cost of the flight may be less than a direct flight, there may be practical risks when attempting this travel hack, Lev noted.
For example, you may have to check your carry-on bag when boarding the plane. Also, airlines can automatically redirect you to a new route based on what the airline believes is the destination printed on the original ticket.
Airlines can actually cancel your mileage calculation or even serve a travel ban on the passenger, Leaf added.
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“The airline can close your frequent flyer account or even… Prevent you from flying (with them) in the future. “It's something to consider occasionally, not something to do every week,” Leif wrote on his blog.
This hack has been used by flight passengers for decades, and is often referred to as “speed ticketing” or “point bypass ticketing.” (Istock)
“If you're going to issue fast tickets, at least consider adding miles to a partner airline's frequent flyer account, even though that may not protect you, but why is it easier for them to track you?” Lev pointed out.
This hack has received attention in recent years, with some airlines going after Skiplagged.com, an “airline ticket search engine.” For cheap flights, Hidden ticket trips appear in the city,” according to the website.
The airline even wrote on its website: “Our flights are so cheap, United sued us…but we won.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Skiplagged.com and United Airlines for comment.
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“It's unclear how widespread this practice is, because this is not something the airlines disclose,” Leaf told Fox News Digital.
Gary Leff warns that people should be careful if they use this hack too often because the passenger may be flagged or even banned by the airline. (Istock)
“However, since it's rarely necessary to purchase a round-trip ticket to get the best prices anymore, it's easier than ever to do so (since these work best when booking one-way tickets).”
If you look past the potential risks involved flying hack, Lev noted that some may find this hack to have two viewpoints when it comes to the ethics of the procedure.
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Although you can save money by trying this travel hack, it's important to know the potential risks. (Istock)
Either you “agreed” to the airline's “contract of carriage” and broke the agreement when you bought the ticket, or the “contract of carriage” doesn't carry much force, so the airline's “view is inconsistent with sound ethics,” Leaf wrote. On his website.
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“There are practical/consequential considerations that may discourage you from this practice or at least from engaging in it frequently,” he said.
