What are travel hacks?
Travel hacks are unique combinations of itineraries, routes, carriers and transport to find you the best deal for your journey. Typically, you won’t find these deals anywhere else. Every travel hack is different, so you should pay close attention to fare rules, transit time etc.
Flight tickets booked by utilising travel hacks do not follow conventional rules. Here’s a short summary of travel hacks –
Self-Transfer Travel Hack
Some direct routes and combinations can be more expensive than indirect ones combining multiple airlines. So, we can offer you a combination of 2 different airlines, with a layover in between. This can be a combination of 2 or more separate tickets or a combination of a flight with a bus or train. So, we can offer you a combination of separate tickets with a self-transfer.
Sometimes, even a single airline can be booked on 2 different PNRs. Even then, you would be required to re-checkin.
What’s the catch?
As explained above, it’s not a single carrier booking and hence the luggage won’t be checked in. Booking two separate airlines means that you may have to re-checkin your luggage and pass through border customs and security. This could also mean you require a visa at the transit airport.
Magic city travel hack
It may be cheaper to travel to your destination and forward than just travelling to your destination. Your itinerary will include an extra flight which you can skip and get off at your intended destination. Confused? Let me break it down with an example. Say, you want to take a flight from New Delhi to Amsterdam. But, there exists a flight combination from New Delhi to Zurich, with a layover in Amsterdam for 2 hours. You can very well book this flight, get down at the airport and go on your trip.
What’s the catch?
Your checked-in luggage will go to the final destination. The checked-in luggage, if booked on a single carrier, single PNR, will end up in the final destination of the ticket. So, this hack is beneficial only if you are travelling light, i.e. cabin luggage.
Throwaway ticketing travel hack
You are not going to believe this. Sometimes, a round-trip ticket costs less than a one-way ticket. Yup. That’s true. This means that a round-trip flight from Zurich to Washington will be priced lower than a one-way ticket from Zurich to Amsterdam. Travellers can save thousands of dollars by just opting for this hack every time they travel.
What’s the catch?
This might be against airline policies, no date change among others. Read about it here.
Important things to look out for when booking tickets using travel hacks –
Baggage Rules
If the itinerary is booked on two different flights, is the baggage allowance on both flights same?
Fare Rules
What are the cancellation and rescheduling rules, just in case? If it’s not making a lot of difference, it’s better to go for a regular ticket than a travel hack ticket. Most of the time, the tickets are non-cancellable.
Re-checkin Rules
Depending upon your nationality, you may be required to hold a visa in the transit country. Countries which offer visa-on-arrival should be preferred in these cases.
Layover Duration
The layover duration is of paramount importance because the time to check-in should be sufficient. Usually, 3-4 hours is considered to be an ample amount of time to recheck at your layover airport.
These hacks can save people hundreds of dollars but are highly frowned upon by the airline industry.
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