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If you don't live near a major airport, you may feel like you rarely have the opportunity to book the best award deals. After all, some of the world's best airlines fly to larger airports, and it might be impossible to find an all-in-one award itinerary that originates from your home airport.
For ages, I thought I was stuck with only United and Southwest flights since I live in Houston. And then I learned a not-so-secret trick that opened up a world, literally, of flight opportunities. No more FOMO! Now, I can access all of the best flight deals available.
If you are looking to level up your award-booking skills, you will need to look beyond your closest airport and consider booking a positioning flight. This post will give you everything you need to know about positioning flights and how you can use them to find incredible deals.
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What Is a Positioning Flight?
In award travel, a positioning flight takes you to another airport where your main itinerary will begin. The purpose is to take advantage of award bargains and availability to save points and/or cash on your trip.
For example, suppose I want to fly from my home in Houston (IAH) to Tokyo (HND) this September using American Airlines AAdvantage® miles. And I'll fly business class. Unfortunately, the cheapest business class award from IAH to HND on the day I want to go isn't so cheap at 117.5K miles!
But on that same day, I can fly business class from Los Angeles (LAX) to Tokyo for just 60,000 AA miles. Yes, I'll need to connect in Chicago (ORD) to get there, but I'll save nearly 60,000 miles by booking this award instead.
To get these savings, I'll need to fly to Los Angeles first. Unfortunately, this fantastic price wasn't available from Chicago directly, so connecting is a must. But as far as getting to Los Angeles, that part is easy. I can book a flight from Houston to Los Angeles for as little as $79 and make it there in plenty of time to catch my award flights.
In my opinion, paying an extra $79 out of pocket to book a positioning flight is worth it to save 57,500 miles.
Related: The Beginner’s Guide to How to Book Flights With Miles
When Does It Make Sense To Book a Positioning Flight?
A positioning flight usually comes before or after a long-haul flight. Since finding award availability can be challenging — especially if you are looking for premium cabin seats — experts book that flight first from whichever airport has the best deal. It also helps if the long-haul flight takes off from an airport you can access via an inexpensive positioning flight from your home airport.
Next summer, I wanted to fly my whole family in business class to Barcelona but I wasn't finding great availability for all four of us out of Houston. However, I found Air France business class availability for the whole group from Washington D.C. (IAD) to Barcelona for 50,000 Flying Blue miles per adult and 37,500 for my kids!
There are many ways to get from Houston (IAH) to IAD, and we could either fly earlier that day or even fly to D.C. the night before.
Iberia also has an awesome sweet spot from the U.S. to Madrid for 34,000 miles each way in business class. However, the deal is only from a few airports: New York (JFK), Boston (BOS), Washington, D.C. (IAD), and Chicago (ORD). If you don’t live close to these cities, you will need to book a positioning flight to take advantage of this deal.
Other instances where it makes sense to book a positioning flight occur when:
- Your airport doesn't have flights that serve your desired destination. It can be, at times, cheaper to book a positioning flight through a different carrier than a connection.
- You want to make it a stopover. Most airlines have rules about layover and stopover lengths, so booking a positioning flight instead can bypass those rules.
- You find a mistake fare, a promo deal only available from one city, or a rare award seat. Positioning flights can get you there!
Related: How To Use Thrifty Traveler Premium Instant Alerts To Score Unicorn Awards and Mistake Fares
What Are the Risks of Booking a Positioning Flight?
The primary risk of booking a positioning flight is flight delays. If you have a connecting flight booked through the same airline and your flight is delayed or even canceled, the airline will work to get you on the next flight and make itinerary changes as necessary. When you book a positioning flight through a different carrier, you are on your own.
Therefore, leaving a lot of time between your flights makes sense, just in case the worst-case scenario occurs. I like to leave at least 3-4 hours between flights, and even longer if I need to go through customs. The long layover gives me time to visit the lounges and have a meal as well. You may even plan to fly in the day before and stay at a nearby hotel. Or, you can turn a stopover into a bonus destination on your trip.
It is also a good idea to book your flights on a credit card that has trip delay and cancellation coverage, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees). That way, if things don't go as planned, you can claim reimbursement for some of the costs incurred.
Related: Which Credit Card Should You Use to Pay Award Taxes and Fees?
Things To Keep in Mind When Booking a Positioning Flight
If you want to book positioning flights like a pro, here are some things worth keeping in mind:
- Try to avoid checking a bag. If you check a bag on your positioning flight and the airline loses it, you'll be out of luck if your international flight takes off before it's found. But if you need to bring a checked bag, try to leave even more time between your positioning flight and your prized award flight.
- Continue moving in the same direction throughout your itinerary. If you want to fly to Europe, it might not be worth repositioning to San Francisco if you live on the East Coast. Doing so adds many extra hours to my journey. Similarly, it's probably not worth flying eastward to reposition for a flight to Asia.
You can also make your award search process easier by using tools like PointsYeah, Seats.aero, or Thrifty Traveler. The Google Flights Points Path browser extension is helpful, too. No matter what tools you use, you should keep in mind that you likely have more options to book award flights than you think you do. That's all thanks to the power of positioning flights!
Related: Which Award Flight Availability Search Tool Is Best?
Bottom Line
If you limit your flight searches to the nearest airport, you're likely missing great award-travel opportunities. But if you expand your map and take a positioning flight, you'll have so many more opportunities and can access even better award availability.
That said, it's essential to be conscious of the risks and plan accordingly. A positioning flight might not be the best idea if you are flying to a friend's wedding or traveling with essential luggage that must be checked. If you check a bag that doesn't arrive with your positioning flight, you'll have the unpleasant choice of leaving your bag or missing your award ticket.
But despite the drawbacks, there are plenty of situations where a positioning flight will work perfectly. Don't limit your flight searches to nearby airports. Positioning flights allows you to access deals anywhere, saving you money and points.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees)
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