http://www.cbsnews.com/news/finding-cheap-airfare-made-easier-with-skiplagged-startup/

December 19, 2014, 6:53 AM
Skiplagged site helps navigate cheaper airfare

Airfares seem to keep climbing, but a 22-year-old computer whiz found a way to save hundreds of dollars on airline tickets. With a few clicks of the mouse, Skiplagged can help find what's called "hidden city" airfares, CBS News' Michelle Miller reports.

With little more than a mattress on the floor, Aktarer Zaman's tiny New York apartment serves as the hub of Skiplagged's operations.

The name, while unique, wasn't his own idea.

"It was my little sister. I came up with a real terrible name I am not going to say," he said. "I was baking cookies but like in cupcake cups, so just for a temporary name I called it Cup Cookies."

Fortunately for Zaman, the Skiplagged name stuck. Now up to 200,000 users visit his site each day, many of them looking for hidden city tickets.

It works like this: A traveler looking to fly from Newark to Miami might find it's actually cheaper to buy a ticket to Charleston with a stopover in Miami.

At the time, the direct flight was $541 while the Skiplagged route was $325.

Yahoo Travel Executive Editor Laura Begley Bloom said hidden-city ticketing has been around for years.

"This has been a dirty little secret of the travel industry for a really long time," Bloom said. "Then along came Skiplagged, and your average traveler suddenly knew about it."

It only works with one-way tickets and no checked bags. And while it's not illegal to fly this way, most airlines prohibit it.

"Think about it; they could have flown you at a higher rate into that middle city and then booked somebody for that next leg too, so it's a revenue loss for them. If they catch you on it, they say that they'll freeze your frequent flier miles," Bloom said. "They might not let you book tickets in the future; they might not let you take a return flight. It's really pretty threatening."

In a federal lawsuit filed last month, United Airlines, one of the world's largest carriers, and Orbitz, said, "Zaman has intentionally and maliciously used Skiplagged to damage businesses."

Zaman insisted his site only provides information and does not actually book tickets.

Orbitz calls that "disingenuous." United told "CBS This Morning" it was trying to "protect the vast majority of customers who buy legitimate tickets."

"I haven't made any money from this," Zaman said. "This is privately funded through my own funds."

Those funds, Zaman said, are now running low, so he's asking for donations to help him get through the unfriendly skies ahead.

© 2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

____________________________________
Podcast Now on iTunes and Google:
http://tinyurl.com/JTTOU-iTunesSubscribe
Twitter: @nipsey @JTTOUPodcast

Last 3 things I watched:

The Changeling Season 1 (Apple+): C
OMITB Season 3 (Hulu): B-
Ahsoka Season 1 (Disney

But it's such a gamble. Say you're flying to Atlanta using this method, and the final destination is NY...but they have issues and make you fly to Memphis instead. You can't argue with them like "but.....my layover just HAS TO be in ATL!!!"

------------------------------

50+ FREE Mixes on www.DJR-Tistic.com!

Twitter and Instagram - @DJ_RTistic

But yeah risky. Just an extended layover could mess your whole trip up. But, I was looking at tickets to Europe and it's way cheaper to buy a ticket to New York, hang out for 24-72 and then buy a NYC to Europe ticket. The reason is the tickets max out at something like 3 stops but that won't get you the cheapest flights. To make the NYC connection in time and get the schedules to align, you basically pay $700 to get from omaha to NYC. So omaha to Europe is $1400 bought as all one ticket. But tickets are 250-300 (omaha NYC) and 700 (NYC - Europe) separate.

>"but.....my layover just HAS TO be in ATL!!!"

~
~
~
~
~
Days like this I miss Sha Mecca

It sucks they are trying to punish this guy because he made the process easier via a website.

____________________________________
Podcast Now on iTunes and Google:
http://tinyurl.com/JTTOU-iTunesSubscribe
Twitter: @nipsey @JTTOUPodcast

Last 3 things I watched:

The Changeling Season 1 (Apple+): C
OMITB Season 3 (Hulu): B-
Ahsoka Season 1 (Disney

for example, say you need a last minute one way flight somewhere... ex NYC to London...

it's cheaper to buy a round trip, than it is to buy one way last minute... just skip the return trip.

--
Sometimes you have to look reality in the face and say 'No!'
-Ben (Reaper)

If you need any help, don't. Hesitate to ask.

dude should have kept this on the low tho just for his people or their people, letting everyone know abt this loophole just means the airlines are going to figure out SOME way to close it asap

wish i'd known abt this shit a few months ago

....he suggests that you buy a ticket to somewhere you don't really wanna go, but the layover spot is your real destination....the airline still sold the ticket for the second part of your trip, you just won't be on the plane....

the airline is arguing that they coulda sold the ticket for the seat you already bought but won't be sitting in??

"yes, sometimes my rhymes are sexist, but you lovely bitches and hos should know i'm tryin to correct it"- hiphopopotamus

>....he suggests that you buy a ticket to somewhere you don't
>really wanna go, but the layover spot is your real
>destination....the airline still sold the ticket for the
>second part of your trip, you just won't be on the plane....
>
>the airline is arguing that they coulda sold the ticket for
>the seat you already bought but won't be sitting in??




the airlines have these weird pricing schemes
it goes like this
say you want to go to Atlanta from NYC
and Delta has $100 fare-each way
NYC to MIA but stopover in Atlanta
if you bought NYC-ATL alone it would be $400
if you bought ATL-MIA alone it would be $300

but if you buy the NYC-ATL-MIA ticket it is $100
dumb, right? i know.

anyway, ol boy sees this and books the one-way NYC-ATL-MIA and just throws away the second portion of his flights, the ATL-MIA portion

the airline is arguing that since he didn't fly ATL-MIA like they were counting on him to do, they could have sold that seat for $300 which is their advertised price




what he built that website for is not new and has been known to get you in "trouble" with airlines for decades now.
some airlines go as far as charging your credit card for the difference in fare if they find you did shit like this
or even "nested" tickets

as stated above, the risk you have is in the event of IRROPS your ass will be shit out of fucking luck
like, if they say, "mmmm, your NYC-ATL-MIA flight is overbooked, we're going to just put you on the non-stop direct NYC-MIA which will get you there 4 hours sooner"

it has happened to many a "mileage runner"

****
pink toes: http://i.imgur.com/WN7DPL1

>the airline is arguing that since he didn't fly ATL-MIA like
>they were counting on him to do, they could have sold that
>seat for $300 which is their advertised price

is what i was misunderstanding...thanks...

"yes, sometimes my rhymes are sexist, but you lovely bitches and hos should know i'm tryin to correct it"- hiphopopotamus

airlines fight each other with lower fares from competitors hubs.

take united and delta

united's main hub is Houston
delta's hub is atlanta

delta will start set trippin and list $100 fare Houston - NYC (but a stop over in atlanta)
but that same houston-atlanta fare on delta will be like $250 if you bought ONLY THAT PORTION

then united will launch a $100 fare atlanta-los angeles fare but via houston
that same atlanta-houston fare will be $250 if you only bought that portion on united.

basically these are "loss leader" air fares that they are trying to steal marketshare from competitors at all cost.

there are huge mathematical algorithms that go into pricing airline flights all the way down to the cost of a barrel of jet fuel and the amount (poundage) of luggage each passenger checks in.
commercials airlines make a considerable amount of revenue by transporting mail/parcels for the post office and other shippers

****
pink toes: http://i.imgur.com/WN7DPL1

.
.
.
"America, stop turning our Court Houses of Justice into Dens for Justified Murderers."

-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.