What Are Positioning Flights?
Positioning flights are cheap cash or award flights you take to reach a hub city with better award availability. If your home airport has limited international award space, fly to a major hub (New York JFK, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago) where airlines release more saver awards.
Example: You live in Hartford, CT and want to fly to London. Hartford to London has no saver awards. Instead:
- Book a $100 Southwest flight Hartford to New York JFK (positioning flight)
- Book a United saver award JFK to London for 30,000 miles
Total cost: $100 cash + 30,000 miles. Without positioning, you'd pay 60,000 miles for a Hartford to London everyday award or fly cash the entire way.
Best Hub Cities for International Awards
- East Coast: New York JFK/EWR, Boston BOS, Washington DC IAD
- West Coast: San Francisco SFO, Los Angeles LAX, Seattle SEA
- Central: Chicago ORD, Dallas DFW, Houston IAH
These hubs have the most international routes and highest saver award availability. Book positioning flights on Southwest (no change fees) or low-cost carriers.
What Are Stopovers?
A stopover is a layover lasting more than 24 hours, allowing you to visit a second city on the same award ticket. Some airlines allow free stopovers on international awards.
Example: You want to visit both Tokyo and Taipei on one trip. Book a United award:
- San Francisco to Tokyo (stopover for 3 days)
- Tokyo to Taipei
- Taipei to San Francisco
Total: 70,000 United miles round-trip (same as a direct SFO-Tokyo-SFO award). You get to visit two cities for the same mileage cost.
Which Airlines Allow Stopovers?
- United: One free stopover on international round-trip awards
- Air Canada Aeroplan: One free stopover on international one-way awards
- ANA (All Nippon Airways): One free stopover on round-trip awards
- Singapore KrisFlyer: Varies by route, check terms
Delta, American, and Southwest do NOT allow free stopovers. You must book separate awards.
What Are Open Jaws?
An open jaw is when you fly into one city and return from another. Most airlines price open jaws by total distance at no extra cost.
Example: Round-trip open jaw to Europe:
- New York to London (arrive)
- Paris to New York (depart)
You handle London to Paris on your own (train, bus, budget flight). The award is priced as NYC-London + Paris-NYC = round-trip Europe award (60,000-70,000 United miles).
Open jaws add flexibility without extra miles. Use them to explore multiple cities or countries in one trip.
Should You Buy Miles?
Buying miles makes sense when the award value exceeds the purchase cost. Airlines sell miles at 1.5-3¢ per mile, usually with 50-100% bonus promotions.
When Buying Miles Works
Calculate the math:
- Award ticket cost: 60,000 United miles
- Cash ticket cost: $1,800 business class
- Cents per mile value: $1,800 ÷ 60,000 = 3¢/mile
- Purchase cost: 60,000 miles at 1.5¢/mile (with 100% bonus) = $900
- Net savings: $900 vs $1,800 cash = $900 saved
Buying makes sense here. You save $900 compared to paying cash.
When Buying Miles Doesn't Work
- Award value below purchase cost: Buying 25,000 miles for $500 to book a $400 domestic flight is a loss
- No award availability: Don't speculate. Only buy miles when you've confirmed award space exists.
- Regular prices: Airlines sell miles at 3-4¢ without bonuses. Wait for 50-100% bonus sales.
Track mile sales at airline websites and set up alerts. United, Alaska, and Avianca run sales 3-4 times per year.
Refundable Bookings
Refundable cash tickets let you lock in pricing while you finalize plans. Most airlines offer 24-hour free cancellations on cash bookings per DOT regulations.
How to Use Refundable Bookings
- Search for a flight you want to book
- Select "refundable" fare if available (costs $100-300 more than non-refundable)
- Book and pay with credit card
- Within 24 hours (or the airline's refund window), decide whether to keep it
- Cancel online for full refund if you change your mind
Use case: You find a $600 flight to Europe that's a great price but you're waiting to confirm vacation time at work. Book the refundable fare, confirm with work, then decide within 24 hours whether to keep or cancel.
Award Ticket Flexibility
Most award tickets already have flexible cancellation policies:
- United, Delta, American: Free cancellations, miles redeposit immediately
- Southwest: Free cancellations, points refund immediately
- International partners: Varies, check terms before booking
Award tickets are often more flexible than cash tickets, so refundable cash fares are mainly useful when you can't use miles.
Mistake Fares and Flash Sales
Mistake fares are pricing errors where airlines accidentally sell tickets at 50-90% off. Example: Business class to Asia for $500 instead of $5,000.
When you spot a mistake fare:
- Book immediately before the airline fixes it (usually within hours)
- Don't call the airline to ask if it's real—just book online
- Wait for ticketing to complete (you'll receive a ticket number via email)
- Don't make non-refundable plans until the ticket is confirmed (airlines can cancel mistake fares)
Track mistake fares on Twitter, FlyerTalk, and deal sites like Secret Flying. They appear 2-4 times per year but disappear within hours.
Combining Strategies
Advanced travelers stack multiple strategies:
Example complex redemption:
- Positioning flight: Southwest Kansas City to San Francisco ($120 cash)
- Main award: United SFO to Tokyo with 3-day stopover in Seoul (70,000 miles)
- Open jaw return: Seoul to SFO via Taipei (included in 70,000 miles)
Total: $120 cash + 70,000 miles for 3 cities (San Francisco, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo). A direct Kansas City-Tokyo round-trip would cost 80,000+ miles with no stopover.
Common Advanced Booking Mistakes
- Buying miles without confirmed award space: Miles purchased, award disappears, you're stuck with expensive miles
- Booking complex itineraries without checking rules: Some airlines don't allow certain routings or charge extra for stopovers
- Positioning too close to departure: If your positioning flight is delayed, you miss the main flight. Build in 3-4 hour buffers.
- Forgetting to account for positioning costs: $200 in positioning flights + 50,000 miles might be worse than 60,000 miles direct
Next Steps
Now you understand advanced booking strategies. The next lesson covers long-term card strategy: which cards to get first, when to upgrade or downgrade, and how to plan your applications over time.