The Essentials

Hidden City Tickets Explained

Let’s say you want to fly from New York to Chicago and the fare is $400. But the airline has another flight to Denver that stops in Chicago and the fare is just $200.

For years, clever passengers simply booked the Denver flight and then got off in Chicago. This is called a “hidden city ticket.”

If you had no checked bags, it is a hack that works perfectly. But this doesn’t exactly work for round-trip flights. In those cases, the airlines realized you hadn’t completed the flight to Denver and cancelled all your return flights.

But the practice is still happening on one-way flights. And that’s what the airlines are trying to fight.

Now, United Airlines is asking its own employees to report passengers who play the hidden city game.

For the moment, the practice continues — but be warned. Airlines claim that hidden city tickets violate the ticket contract and can result in you being denied boarding if you’re discovered doing it.