With airline ticket prices continuing to outpace inflation, consumers are looking for ways to save on their next trip. A CNBC report found that the consumer price index for airline tickets is up 25% from a year ago. - In 1989 St. Louis, the biggest jump since the Fed began tracking the index . Airline ticket prices rose 18.6% in April alone, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics .
To combat soaring airfares, many travelers are now turning to Skiplagged , the leading airline search engine, whose unique algorithm finds the cheapest flights on hidden city airlines. Customers don't want to see them Skiplagged work for customers' convenience so they can use their buying power however they want.
“Skiplagged is a company that helps travelers save money,” said Akhtar Zaman, founder and CEO of Skiplagged. As traditional online travel sites show, we set ourselves apart from all others by showing travelers even the flights that airlines don't want anyone to see. We focus on transparency, flexibility and freedom, and then let travelers decide what's best for them. . While we give travelers all the usual options of a traditional online travel site, over the years we've also discovered some great bugs or hacks that we're proud to open up to travelers.
Some airlines feel threatened by Skiplagged. United Airlines sued the search engine in 2015, and the case was eventually dismissed in a Chicago court. Zaman said, "Although we cannot go into many details about the trial itself, we can say that the case did not go far and was removed from the trial." “Airlines have great revenue management teams focused on maximizing airline profits at the expense of the American consumer. We pride ourselves on being on the consumer side and providing a platform that can help travelers save money. Skiplagged gives travelers choice, freedom, and flexibility matching their purchasing power to use it as it launches on her.
Some of the mistakes Skiplagged has discovered that can save travelers a lot of money include:
- Flights or "Ways" to Hidden Cities : With this slot, the user books a flight to the destination city, which is the airline's stopover city. For example, a user might try to fly from Austin to Boston, and all those trips could cost $500. However, a flight from Austin to New York with transfer to Boston can cost $200. In this case, the user books a flight from Austin to New York and flies to Boston, saving $300. You can't check your bag, but the average savings in the Hidden City is $128 per trip.
- Unique One-Way Flight Packages : SkipLogged's powerful and sophisticated flight search engine is always looking for unique one-way flight packages that travelers can book at a great one-way price. Other travel sites are either unable to aggregate these trips in some way due to airline restrictions, or these sites use decade-old technology with limitations. As such, these options are not offered to users at prices that Skiplagged may offer.
- Virtual Interline Rate - Skiplagged search engine also displays Virtual Interline Rate (or VI). They are the prices that combine flights between airlines that are not directly related, and in this case the traveler must check between flights with several carriers, but in some cases, especially on international flights, the savings can reach thousands of dollars.
Find out the travel trends for 2023
As 2022 draws to a close, it's time to consider where consumers are headed in the new year. 2023 officially promises to be the year of the resumption of travel. Skiplagged states that overall searches are up 111% year-over-year, indicating strong interest in travel. Orlando was the most popular destination last year, followed by Los Angeles and Cancun, Mexico. Los Angeles took the top spot this year, followed by New York and Las Vegas.
The most popular destinations in Q12023 are domestic flights
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- New York (JFK and EWR)
- Las Vegas
- Orlando (OCM)
- San Francisco
Internationally, people are sent:
- Cancun in Mexico
- Montego Bay, Jamaica
- London, England
- Hyderabad, India
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam