{"id":3948,"date":"2022-03-07T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/?p=3948"},"modified":"2023-04-18T11:52:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T17:52:17","slug":"avoiding-delays-with-positioning-flights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesearnandburn.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/07\/avoiding-delays-with-positioning-flights\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoiding Delays when Taking Positioning Flights"},"content":{"rendered":"

The DOT item in Friday\u2019s post<\/a> turned into a hot item for some of you, especially with regard to positioning flights (and to a lesser extent, with a term that reader Jason invented, \u201cAllegiant math\u201d). So, let\u2019s talk positioning flights and go a little deeper with the DOT airline statistics report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Positioning Flights<\/h4>\n

The dictionary defines a positioning flight<\/a> (sorry) as booking a separate flight from your origin to another city, and then flying a new itinerary from that other city. They\u2019re very useful to the travel-hacker because certain big-ticket international redemptions often have availability only from a few cities.<\/p>\n

My typical positioning flights take me to LAX, DEN, DFW, PHX, or ORD, though sometimes you end up in a small city like RNO<\/a> because AA will only release global first class availability to Tokyo if your origin in some small city. sigh<\/em><\/p>\n

Guidelines for Positioning Flights<\/h4>\n

Because positioning flights are ticketed separately from your main trip, you\u2019ll almost never be protected if the positioning flight gets delayed or cancelled and you miss your second itinerary. (That said, you can usually sweet talk your way into having an airline fix it for you if both tickets are on the same carrier, or to a lesser extent if they\u2019re in the same airline alliance<\/a>.) As a result, the DOT report helps with a few guidelines:<\/p>\n