What is skiplagging? The trick that saves money while flying

With the holiday season around the corner, many of us may be planning our next getaway. The only thing that limits our normally boundless urge to travel is that ever-burning hole in our pockets. Money matters in all matters. And saving it may make your holiday experience just a bit better.

Enter skiplagging.

This may sound like another coinage born out of our general urge to name things in a cool way, but the growing practice of skiplagging has airlines all over the world frowning and many of them are penalising travellers who use this trick because Skiplagging is saving travellers a lot of money.

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So what is Skiplagging?

It is a money-saving trick which gets you to your destination but trumps the pricing system employed by the airline.

So for example, if someone wants to travel from Boston to Houston but the ticket prices are high, the traveller searches for a flight to a different destination which has Houston as a layover.

And on reaching Houston, the traveller leaves the airport without taking the flight to that third destination. Because Houston is where the traveller wanted to go in the first place.

Experiences from travellers from around the world reported in various media reports have revealed that this particular way of 'hidden city' ticketing saves money.

But this can get you in trouble!

It's not that airlines are snoozing and are blissfully unaware of this. Commercial aviation is by nature a business of slim margins and any drain on their would-be revenue makes the airlines take serious note of it.

There have been examples of airlines suing passengers who skiplagged. In theory, they can even bar the passenger from leaving the airport in the layover city.

BBC reported that Lufthansa sued a passenger who was trying to skiplag. And when such a thing happens, you may end up paying more than what you were trying to save.

This raises several questions though. A traveller has already paid for the journey, is he obliged to make the entire travel even when the airline has already got the full amount for the ticket it sold? Although it is not advisable to skiplag because of possible complications, experts quoted in various media reports have expressed opinions from both sides.

It's your choice (and your risk!).

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