Ever since the “end” of the Covid 19 pandemic, it feels like prices have gone up and up and up, almost with no justification nor abatement, and they keep going up. From the start of the pandemic consumers and retailers have faced shortages in a wide range of goods, from toilet paper to electronics to tomatoes to lettuce to airfare. But, covid was “some time ago” and “things have settled down” since then, right?
There are reasons for this (read here about why it happened) but, when things are meant to be settling down, why is there still this “herd mentality” to run for safety for products and services that may not be in short supply, but still are over-priced? Human nature, we guess. FOMO: The fear of missing out.
But, even after all that and the decimation that world economies suffered, a more curious (and far older) way of spending is what is known as Throwaway Ticketing. Throwaway Ticketing is a practice that’s gone on for decades. Airlines often charge more money for non-stops than they do for connecting itineraries. So people book a flight with a connection through the city they want to travel to, and just don’t take that second connecting flight. As a result, they can often save money, but there are risks buyers should know about.
Example: for instance maybe you:
Want to fly DC to Chicago, but it’s cheaper to book DC to Chicago to Milwaukee, or you want to fly DC to Phoenix, but it’s cheaper to fly DC to Phoenix to Tucson.
Recently a name for this age-old practice has caught on, “Skiplagging,” after decade old Skiplagged.com which helps customers find these ‘point beyond’ tickets to save money. And the practice has been receiving a lot of media attention recently as summer travel approaches and post-pandemic airfares remain elevated.
It sounds like it might be simple, but it’s not. Airlines will fight tooth and nail with aggregators to ensure that you can’t do this easily. But, buy reading up on how it works, you still may yet find deals that are actually worth the trouble. Read more here courtesy of Gary Leff’s ViewFromTheWing.com. Follow Gary’s work and see how the travel industry really works.
Want to save even more? Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) unearth savings every day. Click here.