Why we built Hopfare
Most flight search engines have the same blind spot: they compare one airline’s round-trip against another airline’s round-trip, and they stop there. But that’s not how the cheapest way to get somewhere actually works. Airlines price each direction independently. Budget carriers undercut everyone on the outbound but charge a premium coming back. The cheapest fare into New York might land at Newark while the cheapest fare out leaves from JFK. The standard search never sees any of that, so you never see it either.
What Hopfare does
Hopfare is a flight metasearch engine with a split-fare twist. When you search a route, we don't just look up round-trip prices. We simultaneously price the outbound and return as separate one-way tickets across multiple carriers, then compare every combination against the best round-trip. When two one-ways beat the round-trip — which happens on a meaningful share of routes — we surface it and label it clearly so you know exactly what you'd be booking.
We also check nearby airports automatically. For metro areas with more than one airport (New York's JFK/LGA/EWR, London's LHR/LGW, Paris's CDG/ORY, Chicago's ORD/MDW, and dozens more), we look at every combination — including flying into one airport and out of another, if that's what saves you the most.
We are a search tool, not a travel agency. We never sell, issue, or hold tickets. When you find a fare you like, you click through and book directly with the airline or a trusted booking partner. Your transaction is with them, protected by their guarantees and your card's purchase protections.
How we make money
Hopfare is free to use, and we never add booking fees or service charges. When you click through to a partner and complete a booking, that partner may pay us a small referral commission. This is the standard model for flight search engines, and it's important to us that it never bends our results: fares are ranked strictly by price, never by what earns us the most. The commission is paid by the partner, not added to your fare — you pay the same price you'd pay going to that site directly.
How we think about split tickets
We're enthusiastic about split-fare savings, but we're honest about the trade-off. Two separate one-way tickets are two separate contracts. If your outbound is delayed and you miss your return, the return airline isn't obligated to rebook you for free. That risk is real, and we label every split-ticket result so you can weigh the savings against it. For trips with tight turnarounds or during weather-prone seasons, a single round-trip is sometimes the smarter choice even when it costs a little more — and we'll never hide that from you.
Who's behind Hopfare
Hopfare is an independent project based in Austin, Texas. It started as a personal frustration — spending too long hunting for split-fare deals by hand — and grew into a tool we thought other travelers would want too. We're small, we're independent, and we answer our own email.
Have a question, found a bug, or want to suggest a feature? We’d genuinely like to hear it. Reach us any time at hello@hopfare.co or through our contact page.
Smart routes. Fair prices.
Search any route — our split-fare engine runs automatically.