Positioning, what does it mean?

Positioning doesn’t mean adjusting your seat so your back doesn’t hurt on a long flight or drive. Although, it can mean that too. Here, I’m talking about positioning yourself in a different city for a flight deal. If you only look at your airport closest to you, you may be missing out!

For example, there is a great flight deal out of Montreal to Lisbon. The airports closest to you are in or around Washington, D.C. If you are checking google flights, Expedia, or the airline websites, the great deal from Montreal to Lisbon won’t pop up. That flight might be $3,500 roundtrip in business class, but flying from Montreal to Lisbon is $1200. What you would do is book a separate round trip flight from D.C. to Montreal either in economy or domestic first/business. That might cost anywhere between $200 and $800 depending on the class of service you book. Either way, at a maximum, your trip is running $2,000 roundtrip and saving you $1,500!

This is the benefit of positioning. This works as well with award flights where space might not be available from D.C., but Chicago and NYC could have wide open award space to use your airline miles. Those searches on United or American might come up empty from D.C., but switch the city, and the awards at the lowest costs pop up. You will still have to cover the cost of the flight from D.C. to the other city, but mix in a Southwest Flight or a basic economy flight to save money/points, and you still get that trip at reduced cost.

So, in sum, positioning can certainly help save you points, miles, and cash. You just have to be on the lookout for flights outside of your home airport.