When I travelled to Istanbul this year, I realized it was cheaper for me to fly to Israel on one ticket and then fly to Turkey on another. It seemed counterintuitive, but buying more flights allowed me to spend less. With the money I saved, I dedicated four days to exploring the bustling nightlife of Tel Aviv and soaking in the humbling history of Jerusalem.
The opportunity to visit two continents on a budget gave me a new perspective on how travel should be booked: airline pricing is so inefficient that flying to more places can be cheaper, immersing in more cultures can cost less and not searching for a richer travel experience can be a lost opportunity. Looking through the flight data, I realized that on 60% of all routes flying internationally visiting a second destination can result in cheaper fares. With both the data and the experience telling a compelling story, I was convinced that this would be the future of leisure travel. My cofounders and I built www.cleverlayover.com to optimize bookings. Cleverlayover isn’t just a search engine to find more affordable flights; it’s a tool for experiencing travel in the fullest way possible.