Topic Wiki

Hidden-City Ticketing.

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Using

Searching a one-way from LGA-CLE on 07/06 comes up $500 for a nonstop.
To find a hidden-city ticket:
Search for a one-way from LGA::CLE and then going to CLE and cities within 300 miles and it will come up with the same non-stop flight (along with a throw-away leg to PIT) for $140.
Just don't do it too often and don't check luggage!

There's lots of other useful codes if people want similar demonstrations.
« Last edited by elikay on September 13, 2014, 09:48:55 PM »

Author Topic: ITA Code Lesson #1: Hidden-City Ticketing.  (Read 51388 times)

Offline Dan

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #20 on: July 05, 2010, 06:40:42 PM »
Not accurate. For example dtw::nyc to nyc (including airports within 300 miles) on aug 4 the best fare is 561 on co to iad with a stop in ewr however if you check dtw::nyc to bwi then the best is 106 on co even though the original search should include bwi which is closer to nyc then iad is and under 300 miles
Interesting.
Well that just means it's good to include more airports in the destination field.  For DTW::NYC I would also try BOS, WAS, CLE, CHI, ATL, etc. +300 miles in the destination field
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Offline Monsey

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #21 on: July 05, 2010, 06:52:37 PM »
Interesting.
Well that just means it's good to include more airports in the destination field.  For DTW::NYC I would also try BOS, WAS, CLE, CHI, ATL, etc. +300 miles in the destination field
can i include more than one city in the destination field or do i have to check each separately

Offline aussiebochur

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #22 on: July 06, 2010, 02:59:56 AM »

Offline The Travelin Man

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #23 on: July 06, 2010, 04:11:21 PM »
Not accurate. For example dtw::nyc to nyc (including airports within 300 miles) on aug 4 the best fare is 561 on co to iad with a stop in ewr however if you check dtw::nyc to bwi then the best is 106 on co even though the original search should include bwi which is closer to nyc then iad is and under 300 miles

I THINK (I am not sure) that the issue is that no matter how far from center you search (100 mi, 200 mi, 300 mi, etc.), ITA can only search a given number of airports at once, so it uses the most likely alternative airports.  Just as an example, sometimes when I am checking flights for NYC, I search +/-150 miles, which may yield results for PHL, but not ABE or HPN, which are both much closer.

Offline Monsey

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #24 on: July 06, 2010, 06:58:46 PM »
I THINK (I am not sure) that the issue is that no matter how far from center you search (100 mi, 200 mi, 300 mi, etc.), ITA can only search a given number of airports at once, so it uses the most likely alternative airports.  Just as an example, sometimes when I am checking flights for NYC, I search +/-150 miles, which may yield results for PHL, but not ABE or HPN, which are both much closer.
i think thats the issue because by me also when i check nyc it doesnt give me hpn or swf and pit doesnt check cak but those are small airports so i understand but bwi isnt small so i thought it would check it

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #25 on: July 06, 2010, 07:11:55 PM »
pit doesnt check cak but those are small airports so i understand but bwi isnt small so i thought it would check it
PIT +100 definitely checks CAK.
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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #26 on: July 06, 2010, 07:15:10 PM »
PIT +100 definitely checks CAK.
are you sure because i think it didnt check for me but maybe it was just so expensive that nothing came up until page 15 (which i obviously didnt check)

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #27 on: July 06, 2010, 07:21:39 PM »
Sorry if I sound dense, but do you do this using the multi-segment option.  One segment LGA-CLE and the second segment CLE-CLE or anything within 300 miles?

Thanx

Offline Dan

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #28 on: July 06, 2010, 07:29:30 PM »
are you sure because i think it didnt check for me but maybe it was just so expensive that nothing came up until page 15 (which i obviously didnt check)
Try a one-way from pit+100 to lga and it gives CAK options.
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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #29 on: July 06, 2010, 08:31:17 PM »
Sorry if I sound dense, but do you do this using the multi-segment option.  One segment LGA-CLE and the second segment CLE-CLE or anything within 300 miles?

Thanx
no you do a one way and in the from field you type in lga::cle and in the to field you type in cle including airports within 300 miles

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #30 on: July 06, 2010, 09:47:26 PM »
no you do a one way and in the from field you type in lga::cle and in the to field you type in cle including airports within 300 miles
Thanx for the clarification.

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #31 on: July 07, 2010, 01:30:50 PM »
are you sure because i think it didnt check for me but maybe it was just so expensive that nothing came up until page 15 (which i obviously didnt check)

When you complete your search, above the results grid, you will see tabs for "airlines," "flight times," and "airports."  If you click on the airports tab, it will show you which airports were included in your search.

Just as an example, I tried searching MCO-ORD+300 and the alternate airports were CVG, DTW, MKE, STL.  That means that they didn't even search MDW as an option for Chicago.  I did the same search with a 150 mile variance and the returned airports were MSN, MKE, MDW, GRR.  The most surprising thing to me, in this little random experiment, was that GRR provided the second-cheapest price (after MKE, which I suspected all along would be cheapest) - and doesn't show up in the 300 mile search. 

So, I guess the lesson here is that if you are just searching for a random destination, it is not enough to just search +300, but you should maybe do a search at 200, 150, and 100?

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #32 on: July 07, 2010, 06:09:44 PM »
Ironically, I happen to be going to NY this weekend and a friend asked how much it would cost to buy a last-minute ticket to join the group.  I got on ITA and searched MCO-NYC+150.  The cheapest flight returned was MCO-EWR on US for $367 r/t.  Honestly, I thought that was pretty good.  I am not sure what made me look, but I realized that the airports searched included JFK, LGA, EWR, PHL (OK), and BDL (?????!!!).  Huh.  So, I re-ran the search with only a 75 mile radius, and that brought up 93 flights that were cheaper than $367, including 2 different choices for non-stop flights MCO-HPN for $259 ai on JetBlue.

I do find ITA to be a heck of a powerful tool, but you also have to know and work with its limitations.  It is not always designed to find you the absolute cheapest flight (if the parameters are too wide) - you need to know to be thorough in your search.

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #33 on: July 08, 2010, 04:23:23 PM »
Did anyone try the Matrix 2 search it tells you which airport you will be searching within the chosen millage, you can also deselect unwanted ones. 

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #34 on: July 08, 2010, 07:42:24 PM »
Did anyone try the Matrix 2 search it tells you which airport you will be searching within the chosen millage, you can also deselect unwanted ones. 
I don't care for it as you lose +1 day and the ability to specify a time.
You can always just type in more airport codes in the Matrix 1, which is exactly what Matrix 2 is doing.
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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #35 on: July 08, 2010, 09:41:36 PM »
Sorry, for sounding dense.  But I am trying to book a ticket for travel in less than two weeks and the pricing is very high.  I tried to use the website you suggested and could not seem to find the hidden city.  Any ideas for a good ticket?  I need tickets for July 21 going from Denver-NYC.  ANy ideas?  Thanks!  I really appreciate it.

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #36 on: July 08, 2010, 09:49:15 PM »
Sorry, for sounding dense.  But I am trying to book a ticket for travel in less than two weeks and the pricing is very high.  I tried to use the website you suggested and could not seem to find the hidden city.  Any ideas for a good ticket?  I need tickets for July 21 going from Denver-NYC.  ANy ideas?  Thanks!  I really appreciate it.
One way?
How much did you come up with? I see $226 on CO from DEN-PHL with "stop" in EWR

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #37 on: July 08, 2010, 10:00:48 PM »
I came up with $213 on jetblue direct, but that is very expensive one can usually get a ow from COlorado to NY for 100-150 and I need 3 tickets.

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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #38 on: July 11, 2010, 11:26:11 AM »
ITA Codes lesson 2, searching for a specific airline.

Let's say you want to find more available dates for the current $587 MIA-TLV deal.
Go to ITA, click on "month-long search". 
From MIA :: MA+
To: TLV :: MA+

This will only search Malev flights, the + adds any amount of permitted connections.
(CO+ would search for all Continental flights with any connections, etc.)

Then choose how many nights you want to spend in TLV and what month you're searching for.

Availability starts in September and runs through EOS (end of scheduling), but really picks up from November.

When you find a cheap date that works just go back to orbitz and plug in the dates to book.  ITA sometimes finds things that can't be booked any longer, but it's accurate most of the time.

« Last Edit: July 11, 2010, 11:29:53 AM by Dan »
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Re: Using ITA Codes.
« Reply #39 on: July 11, 2010, 11:44:21 AM »
why do you have to put +