Have you always wondered what a “13 miler” or a “pineapple poke” meant? You have probably heard of these terms in the famous Trick It thread on the Flyertalk Mileage Run Discussion Forums. Perhaps you never got around to decoding the whole thread that seemed like an infinite amount of pages to read. You might have even tried to attempt to Google these terms and have come up empty handed.
Well, you really don’t know need to know what they means as these terms are now dead and new “secret” coded words are coming up on a daily basis. I’m going to teach you how to find a working fuel dump in this post. In Part 2 of this segment, I will teach you how to find a 3X (third strike).
Pre-requisites:
– Knowledge of ITA Matrix
– Knowledge of how OTA’s work
Step 1 – First of all, you need to search ITA Matrix for a destination that has a low base fare. Use the “see calendar of lowest fares” feature on ITA Matrix. I will give you an example of a round-trip Delta Air Lines fare from LAX-TYO (Los Angeles to Tokyo, Japan). The price comes out to $910 which isn’t too bad.
Step 2 – Analyze the fare construction – This example has a low base fare of $114.50, but the fuel charges (YQ which is sometimes called YR) is a whopping $580! Based on the fare construction, what we need to do is perform a “fuel dump”.
This is the perfect candidate fare because the base fare is “low” (I have seen as low as $30 on some base fares) and the fuel surcharges (YQ) are high. Note that I am only providing you with 1 example as there are many others out there.
Step 3 – Use an OTA to price out your itinerary using multi-city search. I use Orbitz in this example with the exact dates found in ITA Matrix.
It looks like the OTA is pricing out correctly.
Step 4 – Use Multi-City to add in your 3X (third strike) to make the fare lower. I am using BKK-KBV in the example below. I select “include Airports within 80 miles” on both my 3X airport codes.
Since I checked “include Airports within 80 miles”, my BKK-KBV turned into BKK-URT. Using the new BKK-URT 3X, it drops the fare by $8.66. Not only did the fare drop, but you got a free-one way on a future date.
Step 5 – Of course you’re not satisfied with a $8.66 drop. I use Multi-City again and plug in another 3X, BKK-KKC.
The price of the $910 fare drops to $877.34 which is a savings of $32.66. You also get the free one-way on a future date that you’re not going to take any way.
Why am I blogging about this? I just want to show you that fuel dumping does exist in today’s world. There are many 3X’s out there that drop fuel by more than my example of $32.66. Some 3X’s eliminate the YQ completely.
Disclaimer: I have never bought or flown on a fuel dumped fare. This is just for informational purposes only. I do not condone the use of fuel dumps other than mistake fares that drop the fuel surcharges unintentionally. Flying on tricked airfare fuel dumping mileage ticket schemes can lead to the closure of your frequent flier account and the seizure of all your miles.
Continue to How to Find a Working 3X for Fuel Dumping.