There are many forbidden practices associated with air travel. Most are (rightfully so) associated with safety.
But there’s another one that might save you money, or it might get you permanently banned from flying with an airline.
That is skiplagging. That’s where you book a ticket with a layover in the city you actually want to travel to, and just skip the second leg of the flight. In some cases, it could be cheaper than just booking a direct flight to your intended city.
I’ve never done it myself, but I’ve noticed the potential savings and been tempted to try it. However, I know that the downside can be severe, especially for someone like me, whose home airport is a central hub for a major airline.
Before you try skiplagging, you should know how this controversial hack works, what the potential consequences are for future travel plans, and why it’s just not worth it.
In this article
What Is Skiplagging?
Skiplagging, also known as hidden-city ticketing, is the practice of booking a flight with a connection through your actual intended destination.
But instead of boarding the final leg of your ticketed flight, you grab your carry-on and walk out of the airport.
This can save you hundreds of dollars in some cases. For example, a one-way trip from New York to Chicago may cost $350. However, a flight from New York to Denver with a connection through Chicago could cost $250. This fare anomaly, a longer flight for less money, exists because airline ticket prices are driven by demand and route competition, not the distance you travel. Carriers charge a premium for the convenience of nonstop flights, especially between hubs, but often discount connecting routes to compete with other airlines flying to the final destination.
The Limitations of Skiplagging
Skiplagging only works if you understand the limitations of the hack.
Most importantly, hidden-city tickets only work on one-way bookings. When you miss any leg of a flight, airline systems will mark you as a no-show and cancel the rest of your itinerary.
So, if you attempt skiplagging on a round-trip ticket, you'll find yourself stranded at your destination without a return flight home.
Similarly, if you attempt this, you can only travel with carry-on luggage. That’s because when you check a bag, it's checked through to the final destination on your ticket and won’t appear on the carousel at your layover airport. In other words, if you're skiplagging from New York to Chicago in the aforementioned scenario, your checked luggage will continue on to Denver. This is also a problem if your carry-on item gets unexpectedly gate-checked—a nightmare scenario for a skiplagger.
When Your Itinerary Doesn’t Go as Planned
As with all airline bookings, a hidden-city ticket is at the mercy of airline operations, which, as any traveler knows, rarely go to plan.
When you book a ticket, the carrier's contractual obligation is to get you to your final listed destination. If severe weather affects travel or a mechanical issue requires an equipment change, you could end up on a direct flight to your final destination or be routed through a different hub altogether.
In our New York-to-Chicago skiplagging example, if O'Hare is socked in by weather, you could be routed through Atlanta or Dallas to reach Denver, only to end up stranded in a city hundreds of miles from where you want to be. The airline would owe you nothing.
Potential Consequences of Skiplagging
If you choose to skiplag, you risk more than just an unexpected reroute or troublesome baggage claim. A lot more, as hidden-city ticketing is actually a breach of most airlines' contracts of carriage.
Delta's contract of carriage, for example, outright prohibits "Hidden City/Point Beyond Ticketing," which refers to buying a ticket to a point beyond your actual destination... i.e., skiplagging.
American's and United Airlines’ carriage contracts contain near-identical language. If you get caught violating these provisions, the consequences can be severe, including voiding your ticket, confiscating frequent flier miles, stripping your elite status, or even banning you from future flights on the airline. And if you live in a hub city, getting banned from your airport's main carrier would be hobbling.
Better Ways to Save on Airfare
The risks of skiplagging are too high for me, so I rely on more traditional ways to save on airfare.
A far safer strategy is comparing one-way and round-trip fares to your destination across different carriers and departure and arrival airports, which can often yield savings over a basic round-trip ticket on a single airline.
If you can be flexible with your travel dates, you can also save big on airfare by shifting the start and/or end dates of your trip by a day or two. You might also do a simple side-by-side comparison of basic economy fares across airlines, which can reveal big price differences.
Using strategies like these will help you save money on flights without breaking the rules—or ruining your flying reputation.
The Shortcut
The travel hack of skiplagging is when you book a flight ticket with a connection, intending to depart the trip at your connection.
This only works with one-way tickets, and you must use carry-on luggage and be comfortable with considerable risk, as you’ll have no recourse if your flight is rerouted and does not stop in the connecting city you intended as destination.
Hidden-city ticketing is prohibited by most airlines in their contracts of carriage, and if you’re caught, the consequences can range from losing frequent flier miles or elite status to being banned from the airline.
