How the planner finds it
- For each leg landing at a hub, a table of destinations that hub's home carrier serves beyond it is checked — Austin, San Antonio, Nashville and Denver beyond Dallas; Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin beyond London; Naples, Catania and Palermo beyond Rome.
- Candidates are ranked for free first, on cached fares whose routing shows the ticket really does connect at your city. Anything cached data says is not cheaper is dropped before a single paid search.
- Up to four candidates then get a live search. A result only counts if the itinerary genuinely stops at your city as an intermediate point and beats the normal fare by at least $25 per person.
- What is shown is the whole thing: what you would be ticketed for, where you get off, and exactly which flights you would be abandoning, by flight number.
- It is never added to your total, never used to choose your route, and never counted in “found” savings. Switch it off in Advanced and the section disappears entirely.
Worked example
The two the example plan turned up
from the example plan- Ticketed Dallas → Manchester, get off at Heathrow
- $370 against the $490 London fare, saves $120
- Ticketed Madrid → Austin, get off at Dallas
- $339 against the $403 home fare, saves $64
- What the plan actually books
- The $490 and the $403
- Effect on the $1,214 total
- $0. It is never counted either way
Both of these are real and both are against the airline's rules, so they are printed with the rules first and the price second, and the plan total is the honest one that ignores them. If you take one, you take it knowingly.
When it does not work
- It only works one-way. The moment you no-show, every later segment on that booking is cancelled — including your flight home.
- Carry-on only, always. A checked bag goes to the ticketed destination and you do not.
- You cannot rely on it. Airlines reroute for weather and delays, and a reroute through a different hub means you never reach the city you actually wanted.
- Internationally you must be admitted to the country of the connection, and the airline may ask for onward proof to a destination you have no intention of reaching.
- It gets worse as it gets popular: fares to secondary cities get repriced, and a route that works today may not next month.
Risk
Against airline rules
Airlines have cancelled remaining segments, voided frequent-flyer accounts, billed the fare difference and banned repeat offenders. It is not illegal — it is a breach of contract, and the airline holds all the leverage. We do not recommend it.
- Book one-way only: the airline cancels every later segment on the same booking once you no-show.
- Carry-on only. Checked bags go to the ticketed destination.
- Do not add a frequent-flyer number, and don't do this often on one airline; it breaks their contract of carriage and they can cancel miles or refuse future travel.
- If the airline reroutes you (weather, cancellations), you may be sent through a different hub and miss your real destination.
- International: you must be allowed to enter the country of the connection; the airline may ask for onward proof for the ticketed destination.