Skiplagging. How is it ever cheaper to go from point A-B-C than it would be to go A-B?

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I understand that skiplagging is finding a flight that is cheaper to go from point A, to B, with a planned trip to C, but just leaving the airport at B.

I don’t understand the basic concept of how this happens though. How is a flight from A-B-C, ever cheaper than a flight just A-B? The extra cost of the C leg would have to be entirely absorbed by the savings from A-B, how is that possible?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

You are looking at the airlines expenses, this is important but only sets the lower limit to what an airline can charge for the ticket. In addition to the expenses an airline also adds their profits to the ticket. And how much profit they can make and still sell the ticket depends on the route. For example if the airline is the only one with a direct flight from A to B then people are usually willing to pay more for this ticket. However if another airline flies directly from A to C then people are only willing to fly A-B-C if this is significantly cheaper. So the airline is going to reduce its profit on these tickets to get people to buy them. They might then reduce their profits so much that it is cheaper to fly A-B-C then to fly just A-B.

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