Knowledge Hub · Glossary
Positioning Flight
A positioning flight is a separate trip you take to reach the airport where your real award flight departs. Travelers book one when the award seat they want only leaves from a city they do not live near. The cost of getting into position is weighed against the value of the award being unlocked.
What it means in practice
Award space is not spread evenly across every airport. A great partner award might only show availability out of a major hub, so the only way to use it is to first get yourself to that hub. That short, often cheap leg is the positioning flight.
The math only works if the positioning cost stays small relative to what the main award is worth. Frequent flyers also build in buffer time, since a missed positioning leg can blow up the whole itinerary when the two bookings are on separate tickets.
Example
You live two hours from a small airport but the business-class award seat you want only departs from a hub. You buy a $90 economy ticket to the hub, then fly the long-haul award from there.
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