Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Purposefully skipping/inventing a destination city...

Hi Everyone,

I am booking SFO<->LHR and hoping to do so in business class.

This is what's crazy. If I do SFO<->LHR, the cheapest fare is Virgin Atlantic, at about $6000.

If I do SFO<->BER, with a stopover in London, the cheapest fare is Virgin Atlantic at $1200 less. And since the LHR<->BER part is on a different airline (British Airways), I wouldn't actually have my Virgin Atlantic reservation forfeited. I would not actually travel to Berlin at all.

I found this on Kayak, which found it on Vayama.

Any advice on these "hack" fares? Is Berlin even the best destination to invent such a discount? I wouldn't do this if the reservation were on the same airline, but given that Virgin and BA are competitors, I can't imagine this would be one unified reservation...

My actual itinerary is SFO->LHR, LHR->EDI, EDI->LHR->SFO. I'll probably go from London (LHR or nearby airport) to EDI on a separate itinerary, but want to go back on one itinerary because there's only 1-2 flights that get me back to LHR in time to catch the SFO flight.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Alex

Is this a one way or round trip? If round trip, your returning flight will most likely be canceled. Virgin Atlantic and British Airways not having the same reservation system doesn't mean they don't talk to each other.

Roundtrip. The only way to get this fare is Vayama.

Is this a one way or round trip? If round trip, your returning flight will most likely be canceled. Virgin Atlantic and British Airways not having the same reservation system doesn't mean they don't talk to each other.

While the basic premise is often repeated on FT, this is the first time I have seen it phrased in this manner.

Skipping a connecting flight not involving the same airline or even the same alliance?

Waiting to hear what others say....

if the entire trip is on 1 record, skipping one flight results in canceling the rest....so don't try it....if you buy a 1 way out, to lhr-stopover-ber then you can do the no show....

if the entire trip is on 1 record, skipping one flight results in canceling the rest....so don't try it....if you buy a 1 way out, to lhr-stopover-ber then you can do the no show....
+1 - About a 95% chance the remainder of the itinerary is cancelled and OP is stuck buying a walk-up OW back to the States.

+1 - About a 95% chance the remainder of the itinerary is cancelled and OP is stuck buying a walk-up OW back to the States.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I won't try it. I just wasn't clear how the cancelation would actually happen since this is just an OTA manually assembling two different itineraries.

Case in point: neither Virgin, BA, nor Amex would/could book this itinerary.

I originally found this fare because I might go to Berlin. Now it's unlikely but the fare remains...

+1 - About a 95% chance the remainder of the itinerary is cancelled and OP is stuck buying a walk-up OW back to the States.

This is correct. I wouldn't risk it.

Case in point: neither Virgin, BA, nor Amex would/could book this itinerary.

I originally found this fare because I might go to Berlin. Now it's unlikely but the fare remains...

Remember that most legacy airlines have interline agreements, which means that you can have flights with multiple airlines on one airline's ticket stock. This is not quite a codeshare, but it's similar. Just because neither airline could book this for you doesn't mean that they are two separate reservations. In fact, if you found it on Vayama, it's most likely one reservation.

Given that you are booking this itinerary via an Online Booking agency, I am moving your thread to the FT Onine Travel Booking and Bidding Forum.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I won't try it. I just wasn't clear how the cancelation would actually happen since this is just an OTA manually assembling two different itineraries.

Case in point: neither Virgin, BA, nor Amex would/could book this itinerary.

I originally found this fare because I might go to Berlin. Now it's unlikely but the fare remains...
Your analysis might be correct if you were purchasing a SFO-LHR RT and a LHR-BER RT, but that first RT would then fare at the higher price you are trying to avoid. Given that the fare is contingent on SFO-BER (via LHR), it's almost a certainty that it's: 1) an error in which case it won't actually ticket or will become subject to an add/collect; or 2) it's a single PNR itinerary which is contingent on flying each of the 4 segments in the order booked.

Take a look at the full Y for LHR-SFO and compare that to the $1,200 you might save if it worked. The downsides far outweigh the upsides.

Looks like they removed it anyway! Guess that problem is now "solved" ;)

Your analysis might be correct if you were purchasing a SFO-LHR RT and a LHR-BER RT, but that first RT would then fare at the higher price you are trying to avoid. Given that the fare is contingent on SFO-BER (via LHR), it's almost a certainty that it's: 1) an error in which case it won't actually ticket or will become subject to an add/collect; or 2) it's a single PNR itinerary which is contingent on flying each of the 4 segments in the order booked.

Take a look at the full Y for LHR-SFO and compare that to the $1,200 you might save if it worked. The downsides far outweigh the upsides.