Skiplagged was launched in 2013 with the goal of helping consumers become savvy travelers by making an airfare search engine that is capable of finding hidden-city opportunities. It is all about about itineraries where your destination is a layover and actually cost less than where it’s the final stop, potentially saving consumers up to 80% on their typical travel costs.
For example, a direct flight from Milwaukee to Detroit on December 11 costs $407, but Skiplagged shows there are flights from Milwaukee to St. Louis stopping in Detroit for $104—$303 less. You would book the MKE to STL flight and just not get on the connecting flight after it lands in DTW. Despite the money saved, there are certainly risks and inconveniences. Firstly, you won’t be able to check in your bags because it will end up on the ticket final destination city. Secondly, you would only want to do this for the 1st leg of a one-way flight in case of weather or other delays that could reroute the flight to another connecting city. Thirdly, airlines do not approve of this hence the lawsuits filed by US Airlines and Orbitz’s lawsuit against Skiplagged.
A number of travelers have tried and tested this method and have found that it will generally only work on one-way tickets. If you book a round-trip and try it, there’s a good chance your ticket for the return flight will have been canceled.
If you’re willing to take those risks, Skiplagged, as long as it doesn’t get shut down by the airlines and other online travel sites, makes finding those hidden, cheaper fares much easier.
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