The Pros and Cons of Two Popular Flight Hacks

What to Remember Before Booking

At our Newark Airport parking company, we’ve always been in favor of traveling on a budget and when it comes to flight prices, it can be difficult to get a good deal. Here are two popular flight booking hacks and the pros and cons of each:

Hidden City Ticketing

Hidden city ticketing refers to when a traveler deplanes their flight during a layover and doesn’t continue on to their next destination. This can come in handy when it comes to flight prices. For example: If you’re traveling from San Francisco to Newark, you may find a one-way flight for $224. However, search for a flight from San Francisco to Boston and you may find a one-way flight for $172 with a layover in Newark. This essentially means you could book the flight to Boston and save $52 while still being able to get to Newark.

While the biggest benefit of hidden city ticketing is the money you can save, there are a couple reasons you may not want to try this. One is luggage – because you’re not continuing on to the final destination, your checked luggage won’t arrive at the right airport. Because of this, hidden city ticketing is only beneficial if you’re traveling light and can keep your luggage to a carry-on.

The Invented Layover

When an airline has a flight sale, they tend to only discount certain certain routes. (For example, Chicago to Boston or Orlando to Philadelphia.) If you’ve ever taken a look at these certain routes and have thought “I wish I was going to that city,” there is a flight hack you can look into. At our Newark Airport parking company, we call it “the invented layover”. Essentially, a traveler books a one-way sale flight to a “layover” destination and books a second flight from that destination to the place they really want to go.

Again, this hack is great for saving some money during airline sales, however, because you’re booking two one-way flights, your luggage won’t transfer to your final destination. In addition, even if your flights are through the same carrier, because they weren’t booked together as one ticket, you’re responsible for yourself on your second flight. This means if your first flight is delayed and you miss your second flight, the airline has no responsibility to put you on a different flight. If you create your own layover, make sure you leave enough time in between your flights to allow for delays.