Everything you need to know about hacking fares.
Some airlines let you stop in their hub city for free — for days or even weeks — on the way to your final destination. Same ticket, same price. You're essentially getting two trips for the price of one.
Here's how it works: You're flying to Vietnam. Korean Air routes you through Seoul (ICN). Instead of a 2-hour layover, you stop in Seoul for 5 nights. Same award ticket. Same miles. You just added a free Seoul vacation.
Airlines that offer free stopovers:
Fare Hacker detects these automatically. When we build your itinerary, we flag every stopover opportunity. A trip to Vietnam via Seoul isn't just a routing — it's a free bonus vacation.
This is counterintuitive, but business class is often the best value use of your points. Here's why:
The concept: cents per point (cpp). If you redeem 50,000 points for a $500 economy ticket, you're getting 1 cent per point (1 cpp). If you redeem 80,000 points for a $6,000 business class ticket, you're getting 7.5 cents per point (7.5 cpp). That's 7.5x better value.
Real example — New York to Tokyo:
You're spending only 10,000 more miles than economy, but getting a ticket worth $7,100 more. The business class award is literally 8x better value per point.
The takeaway: If you have the points, business class awards are almost always the smartest use. Fare Hacker shows you the cpp for every redemption so you can see exactly how much value you're getting.
What you get in business class: Lie-flat seats (sleep on overnight flights), lounge access, priority boarding, 2+ checked bags, real food and drinks, and you arrive rested instead of destroyed. For families, it's game-changing on 12+ hour flights.
Credit card points from Chase, Amex, and Capital One are "transferable" — meaning you can move them to airline loyalty programs at a 1:1 ratio (usually). Here's the flow:
Step 1: Earn points by spending on your credit card. A Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3x on dining, 3x on travel. Spend $2,000/month = earn ~5,000 points/month.
Step 2: When you're ready to book, transfer your Chase points to an airline. Example: 80,000 Chase UR → 80,000 Korean Air miles. Transfer is instant (or 1-3 days depending on program).
Step 3: Book the flight on the airline's website using those miles. You pay miles + a small cash amount for taxes (usually $50-200).
The magic: Each credit card transfers to different airlines. Fare Hacker knows EVERY transfer path and shows you the optimal one:
Notice: Aeroplan, Air France, British Airways, and Singapore are available from ALL three card programs. That's why these programs come up so often in our search results.
Don't have a travel card yet? Fare Hacker's bonus optimizer tells you which card to open RIGHT NOW to earn enough points for your specific trip. A single signup bonus (60-150k points) can cover an entire international business class flight.
Most people book flights from their home airport. But the cheapest awards often leave from a different hub. Positioning means getting yourself to that hub cheaply — by car, train, bus, or a cheap flight — then taking the award flight from there.
Example: You live in Richmond, VA. Business class to Tokyo from Richmond doesn't exist. But from JFK? Korean Air has it for 80,000 miles. The "positioning" is getting from Richmond to JFK:
Fare Hacker does this automatically. When you enter your home airport, we find every hub within driving/train/flight distance, check what awards are available from each hub, and calculate the total cost including positioning. Nobody else does this.
We cover 27 US hubs — JFK, LAX, ORD, MIA, IAD, SFO, DFW, ATL, SEA, DEN, BOS, EWR, MCO, PHX, SLC, PDX, and more. Plus ground transport options: Amtrak, Megabus, Flixbus, drive times, and subway/metro transfers between airports in the same city.
When a private jet flies one direction to pick up a client, the outbound leg is empty. Instead of flying an empty plane, charter companies sell these "empty legs" at 50-75% off the normal charter price.
The math that blows people's minds:
The private jet is literally cheaper. And you get: no TSA, no lines, drive to the plane, depart when you want, fly with your family and nobody else.
Fare Hacker searches empty legs automatically from providers like XO, Wheels Up, and JSX alongside your commercial options. When a private jet beats business class, we show it. Most people never even knew this was possible.
JSX semi-private is another option: 30-seat jets, no TSA, private terminals, from $99/seat on some routes. It's like business class but without the airport.
Yes. Here's a real scenario Fare Hacker finds:
Route: Your city → hub (positioning) → Seoul → Tokyo
Program: Korean Air SKYPASS
Miles needed: 80,000 per person roundtrip in Prestige Suite (business)
Source of miles: Transfer 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards → Korean Air (instant, 1:1)
Cash out of pocket: ~$390 per person (positioning + taxes/fees)
Bonus: Free Seoul stopover — stay 5 nights on the way
Total for 2 people: 160,000 Chase points + ~$780 cash
The retail price of those same business class tickets? $7,000-12,000 per person. You're getting $14,000-24,000 worth of flights for under $2,000 in cash.
How do you get 160,000 Chase points? The Chase Sapphire Reserve signup bonus is 75,000 points. The Chase Ink Business Preferred is 100,000 points. Open both (different products, both count), meet the minimum spend, and you have 175,000 points in 3 months. That's more than enough for two people in business class to Tokyo with a free Seoul stopover.