“Fly and stop and then fly again
Taking a layover is a big pain!
If you miss then it’s a mess!
Going direct is best I must confess!”
One fine day I was supposed to return from one country back to India and the direct flight was not available. Then my only choice was layover and I had to take two flights with layover in Abu Dhabi to return!
The surprising thing was that the flight ticket of the whole trip turned out to be cheaper than the whole flight!
This is an open secret which is used and abused by frequent travellers!
read on!
The thrill of going in flights is only for maybe children and first timers! For most who have taken many flights or those who are not in business or first class, flights are now similar to a train or even a bus! Without the cheap tea and great view!
The waiting time and the excess security checks and not to mention the prohibitive cost of anything in the airport makes flights an uncomfortable options for many! Of course elderly and those with wheelchairs are given special priority and options but they have to wait and that is the whole issue!
The whole idea of taking a flight is to save time but domestic flights are now the biggest way to waste time and simply wait! For any journey less than an hour via flight it is always advisable to take a train or a bus or even drive!
Now say it takes around 6 hours for you to reach a place by bus or train or car; you have to go at least two to three hours before the flight departure time to the airport! Then there is a big queue for the check in and then the luggage and then a bigger queue for security!
Finally the flight itself takes it own sweet time and most of the time the airports are very far from the place you need to go either while arriving or departing!
It definitely makes more sense to use the road!
In international trip though, a direct flight is a boon and an express service which is why they are usually more costly than a layover! The first time I had an international layover, my starting flight was so delayed and then when it did start my connecting flight was on time! I had to run from one corner of the airport to another with my bags to cross the security and reach!
The same thing happened in the above flight also! When I reached the layover airport, there was another round of checking and security and my connecting flight was ready to leave!
I really never want to write a blog on how I missed my flight ever!
But this layover and connecting flights tend to be cheap because the flights are concentrated on one important place. Like going to Thailand, many flights from India have a layover in Malaysia! We spent close to six hours roaming that airport!
Some people have now become clever especially if they are alone and they do not have any carry on luggage! They book connecting flights cheap and skip the connection!
It goes like this, and the term is called Skiplagging which involves booking a longer journey with a stopover as the intended destination to save money!
So it is like this
Desired Flight: B (origin) to C (destination)
Cheaper Flight: A (origin) to B (transit) to C (destination)
Skiplagging: B (transit becomes origin) to C (destination)
Attempting skiplagging with checked baggage can lead to significant delays and consequences. Airlines dislike skiplagging due to loss of revenue and potential increase in overbookings!
Several times we have seen that airlines go on calling people to their flight but those people do not show up! They have simply skipped the flight since their intended destination is reached! Of course you cannot do that frequently since then you can be penalised and it is actually illegal.
This got me thinking how people can do the opposite of skiplagging in train! Now when we have trains which stop at several places and since the train fare is calculated on final destination then how about you book a ticket to a stop which is some stops before your final stop and you pay less and then get down at your intended stop! Since am sure the TT would be checking the tickets only in the initial part of the journey! Of course you may not save much but then it is theoretically possible and I am sure someone would have definitely done it! I just wanted to coin a term for it thats all! May be Skiptracking!
Now that’s being innovative! Just like how innovative birthday celebrity
Shanmugasundaram, known by his stage name A.V.M. Rajan was!
Now stop thinking about how to cheat the system and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!
ramadocblog 