Hidden City Ticketing
Booking a flight to a city beyond your real destination, and getting off at the stopover — sometimes the cheapest way to reach a hub city.
What is hidden city ticketing?
Hidden city ticketing exploits the counterintuitive reality that a flight from London to New York can sometimes be cheaper when booked as London → New York → Chicago than as a direct London → New York ticket. The traveller books the cheaper through-ticket but gets off at New York (the "hidden city") and never boards the Chicago leg.
This happens because airlines price routes based on competition and demand at each city pair. New York to Chicago is a highly competitive domestic route, which drives down the through-fare from London. The standalone London → New York ticket faces less competition and is priced higher. The airline inadvertently creates an arbitrage opportunity.
The risks of hidden city ticketing
Hidden city ticketing violates airlines' conditions of carriage and can have consequences. If you are a frequent flyer, airlines can cancel your account and claw back earned miles. If you check baggage, it will be sent to the final destination (Chicago), not the hidden city (New York) — so you can only use this technique with cabin baggage only.
Airlines have intensified enforcement since specialist websites began offering hidden city fares commercially. Skiplagged.com was sued by United Airlines and Orbitz in 2014 for publicising hidden city fares. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, but the episode demonstrated how seriously airlines take the practice.
Should you use hidden city ticketing?
For infrequent travellers without a frequent flyer account and travelling light, the practical risk is low. The airline is unlikely to notice, and even if they do, the worst outcome on a cash booking is typically a cancelled onward booking (which you didn't need anyway). The risk rises sharply if you are a frequent flyer with a valuable account to protect.
A safer alternative: search for error fares, flash sales, and positioning flights on FairFares. Legitimate deals can match or beat hidden city prices without any risk to your status or account.