The Ultimate Guide to Hacker Fare
A Hacker Fare is a flight booking strategy where you combine two one-way flights from two different airlines to create a round-trip, typically at a lower price than a standard round-trip from a single airline. This is often more flexible and economical, especially for long-haul or multi-city routes. But one must take care of various baggage fees, airline policies varying in nature, and the loss of a connection. These tickets lack a link within the airline's reservation system.
Hacker Fare Mean on Flights
Hacker fares on an air plane is a clever, typically non-listed, strategy that passengers use to find cheaper airfares than regular booking websites or airlines normally offer as one total round-trip or single ticket. It's essentially buying a set of single individual tickets and piecing them together to create one complete trip, rather than buying one master itinerary.
If you want to travel from New Delhi to New York, a hacker fare could be buying a one-way ticket from New Delhi to London on one airline, and a separate, solo one-way ticket from London to New York on another airline (or the same airline, but as two individual purchases). The catch is that they're not multi-city tickets bought as a bundle; they're two independent transactions.
The advantage is in capitalizing on price disparities. Every now and then, two single one-way fares, or a set of different airlines, can apparently cost less than one straightforward round-trip or multi-hop fare. While it will be saving you money, watch out for the restrictions: if one leg of your journey is cancelled or postponed, the free-standing following leg is not covered, and you might forfeit that free-standing ticket. It takes more preparation and a bit more risk, but for cheapo travellers, it's a real money-saver.
How to Utilize Hacker Fare to Book
Utilize Comparison Flight Websites: Kayak, Google Flights, Skyscanner, and Momondo are all good choices. They typically have a "Hacker Fare" or something similar that will automatically search for these combinations for you.
Search One-Way: When searching on these sites, select the "one-way" option on each of your trip's legs.
Be Flexible: The single biggest secret to finding hacker fares is being flexible. Look at other airlines for your return and departure flights, varying travel dates (especially leaving on weekdays), and even airports nearer to you.
Compare and Book: Compare the overall price of the two one-way tickets with a classic round-trip. If the hacker fare is lower, book every one-way ticket separately, directly with the corresponding airlines if possible, to leave out third-party charges. Be sure to double-check prices and availability for both flights before booking.
Use Hare Fare to Save Money
Hacker fares can be a fantastic way to save money on flights! Instead of buying a regular round-trip ticket, you buy two separate one-way tickets, often on two different airlines. On occasion, this trick can be much cheaper, like flying domestically or if you have open dates and airports. It is also more flexible in that you can enter one city and leave from another. While it takes a little extra time to find these deals, the savings can make international travel affordable for savvy travellers. Just make sure to check the baggage policy of each flight!
Conclusion
Although hacker fares will save you money, watch out for negatives like different baggage rules for every copyright or reduced protection if one flight is cancelled or delayed. But for savvy travellers, it is a great option to discover more affordable options.