How Skiplagged Price Hacker saves you money on flights

If you’ve ever booked a flight only to see the price drop a few days later, you know the frustration – that annoying feeling of “I could’ve saved X amount if I’d just waited!” Typically, the only way to recoup the fare difference is through a tedious process —booking the flight, monitoring prices daily, manually rebooking if the fare drops, and waiting for a refund.

Now, Skiplagged has found a way to make that process easier with Price Hacker, a new feature that automatically monitors your ticket fare and rebooks you when it drops—no work required on your part and the savings get issued to you as airline credits.

If you’re unfamiliar with Skiplagged, it’s a flight search engine best known for hidden city ticketing—a booking method where you purchase a flight with a layover at your actual destination and skip the final leg. This method can save you hundreds of dollars compared to booking a direct ticket.

However, it’s not the only type of fare you can book nowadays. Skiplagged lets you book all kinds of fares regardless of whether you’re taking advantage of hidden city ticketing or not.

So how does the Price Hacker feature stack up? Let’s take a closer look at how it works and whether it’s worth your while:

What is Skiplagged Price Hacker?

Price Hacker solves one of the biggest headaches in booking flights: unpredictable fare fluctuations. Airfare prices change based on demand, making it impossible for travelers to know the perfect time to book.

With Price Hacker, Skiplagged handles the price tracking and rebooking for you. Once you book an eligible economy ticket, the tool automatically monitors your fare for price drops. If the cost of your exact flight decreases by at least $15, Skiplagged rebooks you at the lower fare and gives you the difference as an airline flight credit.

The best part? This can happen multiple times per booking. Every time the fare drops by $15 or more, you’ll get another credit, allowing you to stack savings effortlessly. You’ll get an email notification each time your fare drops and your flight is autoamtically rebooked.

If you’d rather not save money on airfare (but really, who doesn’t?), then you can also opt out of the Price Hacker during booking. But I can’t think of any good reason why you’d do that. If you’re going to book a ticket through an OTA, you want to stack as many perks as you can.

How Skiplagged Price Hacker works (step-by-step)

As you can imagine, Skiplagged uses AI automation to operate the Price Hacker tool. Here’s exactly what happens when you enable Price Hacker during booking:

1. Book an eligible flight on Skiplagged: Book an eligible flight. Price Hacker is currently available for economy flights on American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, and United.
2. Keep Price Hacker enabled: Price Hacker is included at checkout on eligible bookings. There is no charge for this service, but you can opt out if you want.
3. Automatic rebooking if your fare drops: Skiplagged tracks your exact itinerary for fare changes. If your fare drops by $15 or more, your booking is updated to the new lower fare. You’re rebooked pretty much instantly.  
4. Airline credits are issued: You receive the fare difference as a credit with the airline you’re flying, which can be used toward future travel.
5. Stacking savings: If the fare drops again, the system rebooks you again, earning you additional credits.
6. Real-time notifications – You’ll get an email every time your booking is updated, so you’re always are and know how much you’ve saved.

Pros and cons of Skiplagged Price Hacker

For travelers who like to put minimal effort into researching and booking fares, Price Hacker can be a time-saver. Here are some benefits to using this tool: 

• You don’t have to monitor fares manually, set alerts, or rebook when the price drops. Everything is automated.
• You get 100% of the savings issued to you.
• Works multiple times per trip, allowing you to stack savings if the fare continues to drop. 

As great as the pros are, there are a few cons worth keeping in mind: 

• Skiplagged Price Hacker is only available on American, United, JetBlue, and Frontier.
• Savings are issued as a flight credit.
• Price Hacker works for economy class tickets only.
• Minimum fare drop threshold is $15.

You might be wondering about another possible con when booking through Skiplagged: What happens if the airline cancels your hidden city itinerary? That’s where the new Skiplagged Guarantee will come to the rescue. If the airline cancels your hidden city itinerary, you can book a new ticket, file a claim with Skiplagged and the company will reimburse you for the new ticket.

Skiplagged vs. other price drop services

While tools like Hopper and Kayak offer price alerts, they don’t track fares post-booking or rebook your flight automatically when the fare drops. They simply notify you when the fare has drops and it’s up to you to cancel your existing flight and rebook the cheaper fare.

I don’t know about you, but I rarely check my emails anymore and my phone is perpetually on DND. So if I used any other flight price tracker, I would for sure miss out on fare drop alerts. 

The advantage of Skiplagged’s Price Hacker tool is the automation. You don’t have to do anything except book your flight. The site will rebook your ticket for you, as often as the fare drops.

Tips for maximizing your savings

If you’re booking airfare through Skiplagged, there are a few things you can do to maximize savings – regardless of whether you’re using Price Hacker or not:

1. If you haven’t signed up for Skiplagged yet, do so with my referral link to get $10 off your first booking and earn rewards on all future flights.
2. Book travel in advance and during seasons with more price volatility (holidays, peak summer).
3. Use a rewards credit card that earns bonus points on travel and offers travel protections, in case of delays and cancellations (Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex Platinum, etc.)
4. If you find a great fare, share it with friends and family with your designated link. You’ll receive up to $25 in flight credit for every booking.
5. Create a TikTok video about your booking or flight experience, link your account, use the designated hashtag, and you’ll earn at least $25 per video (based on views).

Final thoughts

AI is everywhere and IMO, kind of useless in most cases. But Skiplagged Price Hacker is a great example of how AI can be leveraged in practical ways to help people save money on travel. It’s especially useful considering airlines price their fares dynamically, leading to unpredictable pricing. 

Of course, it’s worth noting that booking through a third-party OTA like Skiplagged also comes with challenges. When you book airfare indirectly, changing your ticket later can be a hassle. If the airline decides to cancel or delay your flight, getting accommodated is typically more difficult because you’ll have to go through the OTA provider and customer service can be a hit/miss.

However, I know plenty of folks who take this risk anyway because 1.) Skiplagged offers massive savings through hidden city ticketing and 2.) You can still earn frequent flyer miles by booking through Skiplagged. 

In other words: When it works out, it’s great. When it doesn’t, it can suck. But the odds of the latter are low, so I often book tickets through OTA’s (especially at the last minute) for the added savings. 

Frequently Asked Questions about Skiplagged Price Hacker

This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers.