What types of deals are there?

Our Limited members receive economy domestic deals to destinations across the continuous US, while our Premium members receive our best economy deals to all domestic and international destinations.

Additionally, Elite members receive deals in all fare classes - including economy, premium economy, business, and first class tiers. To learn more about our membership tiers, click here.

There are a few other categories of deals you may see as well - read on to learn more!

• Mistake Fares
• Nonstop Flights
• One-way Flights
• Open-Jaw Flights
• 2-in-1 (or Multi-City) Deals
• Skiplagging (skipping a leg of an itinerary)
• Ghost Fares

Mistake Fares

Mistake Fares, also called error fares, occur when an airline or online travel agency (OTA) sells a ticket for significantly less than intended. Premium & Elite members can opt to receive all Mistake Fares from all US airports.

Nonstop flights

A nonstop flight is when a plane does not have any scheduled stops as it travels between the departure and destination cities. There is no layover or connection, just a simple trip from Point A to Point B.

If all of the routes in a deal are nonstop, we'll note that the deal is nonstop in the headline of the email. However, if not all routes are nonstop, we'll only mark the ones that are next to the price listed in the deal. To learn more about nonstop flights, head over to our Travel Glossary.  

One-way flights

The majority of deals we find and share with our members are round-trip (marked as RT in our deal email subject lines), but some occasionally work as one-way flights.

But here’s the thing: for most airlines, one-way flights cost significantly more than the cost of a roundtrip flight. And, for this reason, our deals are almost always for a round trip itinerary.

If you'd like more info on booking one-way international flight deals, check out our guide: How to Find Cheap One-Way International Flights. We recommend using Google Flights to check for cheap one-way flight tickets. To do this, just search for your one-way flight in the same way you would for a roundtrip flight, and be sure to select the option for “One-way” as opposed to “Roundtrip.

Or, if you’re looking to fly into a different airport than you will return from, it’s usually better to book an open-jaw flight.

Open-Jaw flights

Basically, open-jaw means that, instead of a round trip itinerary, you're flying from Point A to Point B, and then from Point C back to Point A. How you get from B to C is up to you, whether that's by a separate one-way flight or another mode of transportation.

If a deal is open-jaw, we'll let you know in the email alert. However, for any deal with multiple destinations, it never hurts to see if the price still works for an open-jaw itinerary, if you're interested in visiting multiple destinations.

For more information on open-jaw flights and how to book them, check out our guide here.

2-in-1, or multi-city deals

A 2-in-1, or multi-city, flight is an itinerary that doesn’t follow a typical there-and-back pattern, but instead goes from Point A to Point B and on to Point C (and possibly Point D, etc) before heading back to Point A. A multi-city itinerary can be used to create a layover or visit several cities in one trip.

Occasionally, we send a deal that works as a 2-in-1, and when we do, we'll provide special instructions on how to book the deal. If you'd like to learn more about booking 2-in-1 flights, head over to our guide 👉 How to Book a 2-in-1 Flight Deal.

Can I skip a leg of my itinerary?

Yes, skipping a leg (also known as hidden city ticketing) is legal. However, there are several important variables to consider before deciding if skipping a leg is the right plan for you.

1. You can't tell the airline your plans to skip a leg. If you do, you risk your entire booking being canceled.
2. Once you’ve skipped a flight, all subsequent flights booked on the same ticket will be canceled. Basically, whether your booking is roundtrip or one-way, only consider skipping the last leg.
3. Do you need to check a bag? If so, keep in mind that your bag will continue to the final destination, unless you have a long layover and can short-check your bag to the layover destination or you're required to collect your luggage for customs on your layover.
4. If you have a frequent flier or rewards number with an airline, you may not want to use it when you book. It’s highly unlikely you’d face any repercussions if you do it once, but if you make it a habit or the airline sees an egregious pattern of hidden city ticketing, there could penalties from the airline, like losing your frequent flyer points.
5. You'll need a passport or visa that complies with your complete ticketed itinerary. Example: If your ticketed flight goes from Seoul to Hong Kong to Hanoi, but you’re skipping that final leg and staying in Hong Kong, you should still be prepared with a Vietnam visa; the airline may ask for it because they believe you’re continuing on to Hanoi.

Read our full guide on hidden city ticketing including the pros and cons of skipping a leg.

PS. Beware of ghost fares 

If you see a deal online but can't book it, there's a chance the deal is already gone, and what you're experiencing is a "ghost fare." 

Ghost Fares are when Google Flights (or any online travel agency) shows a low fare, but is sold out or the flight is no longer available when you go to book.

Typically, ghost fares will reveal themselves in two ways on Google Flights: 

• First - the initial price that Google Flights quotes you will jump up once you click to select your preferred flights; this is usually an indication that the fare changed very recently, and the old, cheaper fare is no longer available.
• Second - when you click to select your preferred flights, the lowest price doesn’t have a button to book but instead tells you to call the airline.

Don’t spend your time calling the airlines. If the price shown can’t be booked online, it won’t be able to be booked over the phone either.