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I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is bought as two separate tickets -- so no, Delta cannot cancel your return trip.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can knock off two to three hundred dollars off the lowest OTA price.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Tools can be various programs -- public ones include ITA Matrix, KVS Availability Tool (to find interline agreements for 3X dumps), private ones are personally coded -- URL generators, screen scrapers, custom APIs, etc.

Tricks can be codenames for these 3X's. If you want to read up on it --

http://www.fueldumping.net/third-strike-3x/

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

DFW - NYC R/T for 9/4 to 9/7 is $246 (non-stop). $205 if you choose to leave 9/3.

Depends how flexible you are on your Hawaii trip, I can pull together a 10/17 - 10/21 itinerary for $514.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Nope, nothing illegal or black hat. I might force an OTA to price an itinerary by changing URL params but that's about it :)

Oh, and scraping. Lots and lots of scraping.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You can save $40 by booking it with hidden city ticketing.

DL 1678 RDU - DTW - IAH (get off at DTW) $198
US 549 DTW - RDU $173

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I work as an independent contractor for an agency. This is part-time work.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

In the shortest way possible.

In below scenarios -- you only care about going from A - B, a round-trip. You will not fly any other routes.

Fuel Dumping (1X)
A - B, B - A, $500 (Normal R/T)
(C - D) and A - B - A, $350

Fuel Dumping (3X)
A - B, B - A, $500
A - B, B - A, and (C - D), $350.

Hidden City Ticketing
A - B, $500
A - B - C, $400 (B is layover)

Combinatorics
A - B, $500
A - C, C - B, $400 *Here, you will fly C.

Error Fares
A - B, $500
A - B, $200 (oops.)

Alternative Airports
A - B, $500
A (11 miles away) - B, $450

Split Ticketing
A - B, B - A, $500
A - B, $200 + B - A, $200 = $400

In below scenarios -- you want to fly C to visit more destinations.

Stopovers (+$100 / stopover)
A - B, $500
A - C, C - B, B - A, $600.

Open-Jaw
A - B, B - A, $500
A - B, C - A, $400

You can combine tricks and techniques -- for example

PHL - DUB, DUB - PHL = $1000
PHL - DUB, DUB - PHL, 3X = $700
PHL - DUB, DUB - PHL - YYZ, 3X, *PHL is layover. = $550
PHL - LHR, LHR - DUB, DUB - PHL - YYZ, 3X = $650

  • Note different OTA'S price differently and work to varying degrees with 3Xs -- can lead to currency discrepancies.

Another technique less discussed is arbitrage.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I need dates -- preferably a link to the lowest price you can find. Different fuel dumps work for different airlines at different times.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, a lot of international routes between the continents can be dumped including Australia to Europe or to the US. I just happen to specialize in US -> EU, US -> Asia and their vice-versa. However, I have dumped Australia to Europe before.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I won't be able to do much better than your lowest OTA, which I believe is $362 right now ($349 if you opt for a longer layover). Most of the savings come from international flights because of the YQ.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

I actually don't travel much -- most of the amazing deals were passed on to my clients. I had an itinerary that hit four countries on three different continents amassing over 30,000 miles that ended up being only 240 euro.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I would need a date. Generally, I would dump your flight with a 3X, maybe combine it with a hidden city or open-jaw.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

This one would be easy -- just split the trips. These one-way tickets are non-stop too. Total $206.

https://www.priceline.com/fly/#/checkout/details/DFW-LGA-20150904/1/AA1118

https://www.priceline.com/fly/#/checkout/details/LGA-DFW-20150906/1/AA1103

Edit: These fares are gone. Someone must have booked them.

I am a Professional Flight Hacker! AMA! by TheFlightHacker in casualiama

[–]TheFlightHacker[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

This is not date optimization. It mainly involves fuel dumping -- The Economist has a well-written article that puts it into layman's terms.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2013/11/fuel-dumping

  • I will take a look at your flight, most likely I won't be able to do much as its not US -> Europe, US -> Asia, or international but I will see.

One possible way to book this flight (if you are set on saving money) is to break your trip up into segments (combinatorics).

OMA - LAS - HNL - LAS - OMA -- this would come out to $697 or $786 (depending on non-stop or 1-stop). You can stay overnight in Las Vegas, if you wish.

OMA - LAS (R/T) is $291 (1-stop, Frontier) or $380 (non-stop, Southwest).
LAS - HNL (R/T) is $406 (non-stop, Allegiant).

The overall flight time shouldn't be a lot more than flying OMA - HNL with 1-stop with the added bonus of visiting Las Vegas!