Topic: Air travel

Video: https://youtu.be/84WIaK3bl_s
Reading: Airfare hacks: 5 ways to fly for less

1. Hidden city ticketing 

What is it? Say you want to fly from New York to Los Angeles, but a ticket from New York to San
Diego via Los Angeles is much cheaper. The daring traveler books the San Diego ticket, but only
completes the Los Angeles leg of the trip. The practice is called "hidden-city ticketing" and while it's
not a new phenomenon, software engineer Aktarer Zaman has created a search engine called
Skiplagged specifically to find opportunities for "hidden city" trips. It's so unpopular with the aviation
industry, in 2014 United Airlines sued Zaman -- but the case was dropped.  Zaman
remains unfazed. "This is the inevitable," he tells CNN. "Consumers are going to try to figure out
the best way to do what they want." On a practical level, you have to travel hand luggage only, as
checked-in baggage will go all the way to the final destination. 

2. Manufactured spending 
Airline fares often seem random, but Roy Quest is on a mission to discover the truth behind
airfares. What is it? Blogger Alex Bachuwa has developed a method of earning air miles without
actually flying them. "I just apply for a lot of credit cards and I get a lot of points, and I use those
points to go wherever I want to go. The banks have promotions on new products all the time. They
offer 50,000, 100,000, 150,000 points promotions. They have a minimum amount you have to
spend and once you spend that amount, the points go on your account and it's time to start looking
for flights." But as those minimum spends are far higher than the average person's daily expenses,
Bachuwa racks in the points through "manufactured spending." How does it work? First get a
credit card with rewards. Then buy a gift card and use the gift card to purchase a money order. You
deposit the money order into your bank account and then use it to pay off the credit card. "It's a way
to spend without spending." Not to mention that it's seriously risky: Slip up in your calculations and
you could get caught in spiraling debts. 

3. Frequent Travel University 

What is it? US-based Frequent Traveler University organizes regular seminars to teach would-be
travel hackers the latest tips, tricks and methods that they say will help their students travel
cheaper, better and more creatively. "We're teaching people how to redeem those miles for trips
that can cost $20,000 one way, how to utilize that elite status," says FTU's James Larounis, adding
that they offer expert tips on airline alliances and Fifth Freedom routes -- flights where an airline
from one country has the right to operate between two other countries and which are often heavily
discounted. Some of the classes are so secret and the information so prized that they wouldn't let
our cameras in to film. That's why we host so many courses a year, because of this changing
information," says Larounis. "We've got repeat customers, year after year, session after session."

4. Play your cards right

What is it? Stefan Krasowski, who blogs at RapidTravelChai, had these four tips to give us on the
art of credit card shuffling. 
1. "First, get as many cards as the banks will give you. Your credit scores will probably improve, if
you manage them correctly. 
2. "Get a hotel credit card. Many of those credit cards give you elite status with that hotel. Then you
can turn around, go to other hotel chains and say, 'I have the status, will you match me?'
3. "Get a credit card, usually a premium card, such as an Amex Platinum, a Citi Prestige, that has
worldwide airport lounge access.
4. "Scale all this with your family members. If you're traveling with a spouse or family member, each
get hotel cards and then you'll get double the benefits. 

5. Bid in a live auction 

What is it? Open auctions for airline seats have been around for a while, but for a real fly-by-the-
seat-of-your-pants experience, at Seatboost the bidding for the last remaining first-class seats
begins just 90 minutes before takeoff.  It's teamed up with Virgin America to auction off any free
available premium seats on certain routes -- but getting an airline to buy into the idea took some
convincing.  That's because airlines don't want customers to expect that they'll win in the auction,
because then the customers might be reluctant to buy those premium seats beforehand. "We are
more positioned for a flier or guest who wants to give themselves a treat. If you're used to flying first
class, you're not going to leave it to chance," says Seatboost CEO Kevin Stamler. 

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