Today's Article

For air travelers, a direct flight isn't always the cheapest route. 

"Travelers 5tend to want shorter 6itineraries, so they're willing to pay more for direct flights." 

That's left some passengers 7tempted to try a 8risky travel hack called skiplagging, or hidden city ticketing. It's when a passenger purchases a cheaper ticket with a connection in their desired destination city and they skip out on the final leg. 

"You notice that if you book a trip actually to Orlando with a stop in Miami, you can get that ticket for $80. So you're potentially saving money. What you would do is you would just get off the plane in Miami when it stopped there and give up the rest of the ticket onto Orlando."

It's not 9illegal, but Katie Nastro, travel expert for Going, says it can be a 10violation of your 11contract of carriage with the airline. 12Fine print on a ticket that outlines your passenger rights and responsibilities. 

"If they were aware that you weren't traveling 13onwards, that's a seat that could potentially have gotten sold to another customer."

Clint Henderson, managing editor of The Points Guy, says airlines have ways to 14punish passengers who are caught. 

"They can close your 15frequent-flyer account. They could kick you off the flight potentially and make you buy a last minute one way fare, or they could 16ban you from the airline." 

It's especially tricky during 17unpredictable summer travel, where a weather diversion could take you further 18off course. It cost you more than you saved.