Save by Having "Maybe Flights" Booked for Later

The "maybe flight" strategy might sound counterintuitive: saving money by buying a flight you might never use. But it works quite effectively. By bundling your primary trip with a future leg, you can reduce overall costs while keeping future travel possibilities open. It’s about leveraging airline pricing models to your advantage, even if it means booking a "just-in-case" flight.

TLDR

When you search for a flight, check the price of having part of your itinerary serving a flight later on - when you may fly back or to another destination.

How It Works

You may be familiar with the back-to-back ticketing strategy, where you book two roundtrips nested into each other for less than booking them sequentially. The problem with that is that you need to know ahead of time that you will be taking the second trip. The main idea behind the "maybe flight" is that you're often better off booking a flight you might not take, if it helps you save on the primary trip. Over the course of multiple trips, you end up using some of the "maybe flights" and skipping others, but the overall cost and added travel you get makes it worth it.

Who Benefits the Most?

Frequent travelers or those who regularly visit the same destinations are especially suited for this strategy. Instead of leaving the spare leg to chance, why not book it as a potential future trip to a familiar location? Even if you don’t end up taking it, the overall savings can outweigh the cost of a no-show.

Example: Making a "Maybe Flight" Work

Say you want to visit London for a short time and want to avoid taking more than one day off work. This convenient direct flight is all you want, it leaves at a perfect time, but it costs $1,850.

Roundtrip from New York to London - $1,850

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You could certainly find a cheaper fare. But you can also try to add another travel plan to the mix to make this itinerary work for you. You know you'll likely be back in London in March so you search for this longer roundtrip:

Roundtrip from New York to London - $1,005

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It's still expensive, but you are saving $845 compared to the earlier return. Now the question is how to fly back home in December for a reasonable price - ideally less than $845. But you can get creative in how you fill this gap. For instance, this British Airways flight could not have been booked together with the first leg one United:

Trip from London to New York - $792

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In this specific case, the arrangement is made possible by purchasing a spare return flight with an optional return in February.

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To get the most out of this strategy, consider these tips:

• Pick Flexible Dates: Choose a date far enough in the future that aligns with a possible trip you’d take anyway. This reduces the likelihood of the ticket going unused.
• Adjust Destinations: If adding a spare leg increases costs only slightly, use it for a destination you visit often or have been planning to explore (use open-jaw search).
• Book Flexibly: Opt for a flexible or refundable ticket for the "maybe flight," especially if the price difference is minimal.

All in all, you are paying the same amount (a little less actually), but you have two flights that can be added to your travel pipeline. You may use one or both, or even repeat the same cycle of booking a "maybe flight" for that future trip. Instead of compromising on convenience to lower your fare, you've added twice the amount of flights for the same price.

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