I’m fortunate to live within 15 minutes of Nashville International Airport (BNA). It is a mid-sized airport with excellent domestic connectivity. Unfortunately, the inclusion of “international” in the airport’s name is a bit of hyperbole. At the moment, we only have regular direct international connections to Cancun and London. For any other international destination we have to accept at least one domestic transfer. To make matters worse, those tickets tend to be priced substantially higher than flights from major international hubs. Midsize airports just don’t have enough competition to incite an airline fare war. Sites like The Flight Deal and Scott’s Cheap Flights often list amazing deals from hubs like Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles. Yet it is rare to see an international sale out of midsize airports like Nashville.
So, how can someone in a smaller market take advantage of the great fare sales that pop up from time to time? That’s easy – you just need to book a positioning flight. A positioning flight is essentially a domestic ticket which you purchase between your home airport and the hub airport. You can then book that super cheap international flight as a separate ticket. Of course, deciding on a positioning flight has its pros and cons. Here are the two biggest pros and two biggest cons in my opinion.
Pro #1: Save Money
This is the big one. A positioning flight can save you substantial money on travel. For instance, my wife and I took our “baby moon” to Bermuda this past November. We were able to save hundreds of dollars by snagging a positioning flight to New York on Southwest. Due to a lot of competition between Delta and JetBlue for the New York to Bermuda route, direct one way tickets were dirt cheap. In this particular case they were only $100 from New York versus close to $400 from Nashville (with a layover in New York). Since we were going to have to fly through New York anyways, the decision was a no brainer.
Pro #2: Two Vacations for the Price of One
A positioning flight can give you the opportunity to take a mini-vacation within a larger vacation. We try to position through a city where we have friends and give ourselves at least 24 hours between the flights. In the case of the Bermuda trip, we were able to spend 36 hours catching up with friends in New York City. We then continued on to our beach vacation. In another instance from 2018, we booked a cheap WOW Air flight to Iceland out of Baltimore Washington International (BWI). I have a college flat mate in the Annapolis area. I used a position flight and was able to spend a day reconnecting with an old friend and exploring Annapolis.
Con #1: Added Liability
Airlines are responsible for getting you to your ticketed destination. Lets say you want to get from Nashville to Venice. Because there is not a direct flight you can either book a single itinerary with a layover at a hub airport or you can try to save money by using a positioning flight to get to that hub. Now lets say an ice storm results in a flight delay out of Nashville. If you booked the single itinerary and the delay results in a missed connection then your airline will find another way to get you to Venice. You should not need to pay anything. If you booked the trip with a positioning flight then you could be in trouble. The airline that you booked the positioning leg through only needs to get you to that hub airport. They are not responsible if you get to that hub late and miss a Venice flight. You booked that one on a separate ticket. Meanwhile, the airline that was meant to get you to Venice will consider you a no-show for their flight. Neither airline will be liable for your missed “connection” and you will need to buy a new ticket to Venice.
Con #2: Added TSA Hassle
You may need to exit the secure area and reenter through a TSA checkpoint at your connecting airport. If you check luggage on a positioning flight they will not be able to transfer it to the second airline at the hub. You will need to exit the secure area of the airport to collect that luggage at your connection. You will then need to recheck the luggage with the second airline and pass back through the TSA screening. This can be a real hassle so whenever possible I suggest traveling light…a feat that may be easier to pull off if you aren’t packing the kid.
In some cases you may have to go through TSA at the connecting airport even if you only have carryon. This can happen when the airline operating your domestic positioning flight arrives at a terminal that is not connected with the terminal where your international flight departs.
Summary:
A positioning flight can save you a lot of money, but proceed with caution. Always research the airport that you will be positioning through and leave a comfortable time buffer between flights in case your positioning flight is delayed.
Also, keep in mind that just because you save money on an airplane ticket does not mean that you end up with a cheaper trip. If you need to spend a night in transit then you should consider additional costs. These can include meals, lodging and ground transportation in the city that you are positioning through. Try to choose an airport near friends or family who can host you for a night or two in order to reduce costs.
Now that I’m packing a kid along, I am starting to readjust my travel criteria. I have become more willing to pay for convenience. Those long layovers just aren’t as appealing with a baby in tow, and it becomes harder to crash at a friend’s place when you have a squealing infant. I still plan to use positioning flights when they represent a big savings and allow for a good reunion, but I expect I will be using them a lot less for the next few years.