The Not-So-Legal Way to Save Money on Flights
Taylor Rains September 12, 2019
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When it comes to saving money on plane tickets, travelers are getting more and more creative. Whether it is opening numerous credit cards to reap the bonus miles, or buying tickets at the airport to waive the passenger handling fee, travelers will find a way to save a few bucks. One of the more popular, yet risky, travel hacks is buying a plane ticket to one city, but getting off and staying in the layover city. This is considered “skipping a flight leg” and it will get you into trouble if you are not careful.
What Is Skipping a Connecting Flight Leg?
Let’s say you’ve spent hours searching the internet for a cheap flight from New York to Paris. You realize that airlines know that travelers are willing to pay more for time and convenience, so nonstop flights are $700+.
After doing some research, you find a cheaper, $548 ticket to Dublin with a layover in Paris. You plan to simply get off in Paris instead of continuing on to Dublin.
Seems like a win-win, right? You save $171, get to fly nonstop to Paris, and the airline would be none the wiser. However, this is skipping a flight leg as you never intend to fly to Dublin, and airlines are not letting passengers get away with buying “throwaway” tickets anymore.
What Happens If I Get Caught?
Consequences for skipping or missing any portion of your flight itinerary is one of the hardest rules airlines enforce. I have personally seen a passenger show up for his flight at the airport in Charlotte to find his return leg had been canceled because he skipped his connecting flight in Atlanta. He had to cough up the money for a flight home, and that last-minute plane ticket likely cost hundreds more than if he had just bought the nonstop ticket to Atlanta.
Why Do Airlines Care and What Are They Doing About It?
Most airlines, especially major carriers such as Delta and Lufthansa, have a policy built into their Contract of Carriage (you know, that really long statement that you’re supposed to read before buying a plane ticket, but no one ever does) that states that you must fly on all legs of your purchased itinerary and may incur higher costs if you decide to skip any leg. Those costs can include the cancellation of your return trip, the responsibility for the cost of the leg that you skipped, or the deactivation of your frequent flyer account.
Some people may argue that airlines set themselves up for this hack because they charge less for connecting flights, but because they outline the requirement to complete all flight legs in their Contact of Carriage, travelers are bound by that contract and can be penalized for breaking it. Some airlines are harsher than others – American Airlines are in their right to cancel the remainder of your flight itinerary and cancel your frequent flyer account, while Lufthansa is known to take customers to court for exploiting their fares.
You may ask, how could airlines truly know that I intended to get off in the connecting city? What if I truly missed my flight or had a family emergency? I’m sorry to ruin your argument, but airports are highly secure with cameras recording every square inch of the airport and airlines are staffed with teams of investigators dedicated to identifying fraud. They can use cameras and time stamps to determine if you truly missed your flight or if you simply walked out of the terminal.
Is This Illegal?
The short answer is ‘no’. As of right now, I am unaware of any countries that have federal laws against doing this. Airlines mostly see this as a contract dispute, but in most cases, you will not be sued for this type of fraud. Some airlines will take legal action, but it is more cost-effective for them to cancel your frequent flyer miles rather than to pay for a legal battle.
So, Should You Still Take the Risk?
Although there are costly risks with skipping a flight leg, you could still manage to pull this off without any repercussion if you follow a few of these tricks:
- Do not check your luggage. In terms of security, checking your luggage and getting off the plane can suggest there is something in your bags that may pose a threat to the aircraft. At that point, the cancellation of your return flight is the least of your concerns.
- Buy two one-way tickets on different carriers. I have never personally tried this approach, but hypothetically if you buy a one-way ticket home from Paris on Norwegian and a one-way ticket to Dublin via Paris on Delta and get off in Paris, then there is no return leg to cancel as Delta does not control Norwegian’s reservations. However, this still may be more expensive than flying nonstop.
- Plan to skip your connecting flight on your way home. If you skip the very last leg of your itinerary, then the airline has nothing to cancel (however, still be aware of the potential responsibility for the cost of the skipped flight leg).
- Book on airlines that you do not have a frequent flyer account with. By booking with an airline you have never flown, they have no miles or rewards to take away from you. It takes that consequence off the table.
- Be creative without breaking the contract. You could complete your full flight to Dublin and then buy a $20 roundtrip ticket to Paris on a low-cost carrier, such as Ryanair or EasyJet, and still save over $100. Sure you’d be spending a lot more time on planes than exploring the city, but isn’t that the benefit of the nonstop in the first place?
Tips and tricks aside, airlines are no longer tolerating this technique and this hack is a gamble that can cost you a lot of time and money. I personally do not recommend trying this, but if you want to take the risk, make sure you understand the consequences.
There is a well-known parody "explaining" the reasons for all this, entitled "If airlines sold paint": IN A HARDWARE STORE: Customer: Hi. How much is your paint? Clerk: We have regular quality for $12 a gallon and premium for $18. How many gallons would you like? Customer: Five gallons of regular quality, please. Clerk: Great. That will be $60 plus tax. FROM AN AIRLINE: Customer: Hi, how much is your paint? Clerk: Well, sir, that all depends. Customer: Depends on what? Clerk: Actually, a lot of things. Customer: How about giving me an average price? Clerk: Wow, that's too hard a question. The lowest price is $9 a gallon, and we have 150 different prices up to $200 a gallon. Customer: What's the difference in the paint? Clerk: Oh, there isn't any difference; it's all the same paint. Customer: Well, then, I'd like some of that $9 paint. Clerk: Well, first I need to ask you a few questions. When do you intend to use it? Customer: I want to paint tomorrow, on my day off. Clerk: Sir, the paint for tomorrow is the $200 paint. Customer: What? When would I have to paint in order to get the $9 version? Clerk: That would be in three weeks, but you will also have to agree to start painting before Friday of that week and continue painting until at least Sunday. Customer: You've got to be kidding! Clerk: Sir, we don't kid around here. Of course, I'll have to check to see if we have any of that paint available before I can sell it to you. Customer: What do you mean check to see if you can sell it to me? You have shelves full of that stuff; I can see it right there. Clerk: Just because you can see it doesn't mean that we have it. It may be the same paint, but we sell only a certain number of gallons on any given weekend. Oh, and by the way, the price just went to $12. Customer: You mean the price went up while we were talking! Clerk: Yes, sir. You see, we change prices and rules thousands of times a day, and since you haven't actually walked out of the store with your paint yet, we just decided to change. Unless you want the same thing to happen again, I would suggest that you get on with your purchase. How many gallons do you want? Customer: I don't know exactly. Maybe five gallons. Maybe I should buy six gallons just to make sure I have enough. Clerk: Oh, no, sir, you can't do that. If you buy the paint and then don't use it, you will be liable for penalties and possible confiscation of the paint you already have. Customer: What? Clerk: That's right. We can sell you enough paint to do your kitchen, bathroom, hall and north bedroom, but if you stop painting before you do the bedroom, you will be in violation of our tariffs. Customer: But what does it matter to you whether I use all the paint? I already paid you for it! Clerk: Sir, there's no point in getting upset; that's just the way it is. We make plans based upon the idea that you will use all the paint, and when you don't, it just causes us all sorts of problems. Customer: This is crazy! I suppose something terrible will happen if I don't keep painting until after Saturday night! Clerk: Yes, sir, it will. Customer: Well, that does it! I'm going somewhere else to buy my paint. Clerk: That won't do you any good, sir. We all have the same rules. Thanks for flying--I mean painting--with our airline.
The FAs match boarding pass count with pax head count. Since your BP is not scanned at the gate you won't show up in the pax list. So you won't be reported dead in the event of a crash. People miss flights all the time, that is why airlines overbook.
Turning the tables a bit here ...We flew American Airlines LHR to Richmond via Philadelphia, The leg from PHL to Richmond was cancelled and AA rebooked us on a flight at noon the next day , We rented a car and drove home to Richmond. taking us 41/2 hours to drive versus waiting 16 hours in PHL . Would this be considered a breach in the conditions of carriage contract too ?
I did this. Wanted to book a flight from Amsterdam to Cali, Colombia. Flying from Amsterdam (stop over in Panama) with KLM was € 1.600. Flying from Barcelona with stop-overs in Amsterdam and Panama also with KLM was € 950! The stop over in Amsterdam was also very long. Arriving 8pm and depart the next day to Cali at 9am. So I bought a ticket a return ticket from and to Barcelona (I live in Amsterdam) Also bought a ticket with Ryanair or Easy Jet from Amsterdam to Barcelona for € 30. Flew to Barcelona without luggage, had lunch, visited the Picasso Museum and then boarded the KLM flight to Amsterdam. Went home, packed my bags, and the next morning the flight to Cali. 2 weeks later flew back. Asked the woman at the counter to get my luggage only to Amsterdam because I had to leave the plane in Amsterdam. She did it. Flew back, left the plane in Amsterdam. Collect my bags. Went to the counter of KLM and told them that I was no going to Barcelona. The plane was overbooked, so as a reward they gave me a few 1000 FF points. :)
Its (one of) the airline's war on common sense.