Flying Commercial

The Basics

You know where you are, you know where you want to go, and you know where the Flight Master is. What could be simpler than just speaking to him or her and pointing to your destination on their map? Off you go!

There’s just one teeny weeny problem with that scenario: It very often involves paying more than you have to. It is often said that there is more than one way to skin a cat. (It is not said around my cat, if you know what’s good for you.)

When a Flight Master unrolls a map in front of you, you will see all the available destinations. You will also see lines connecting the green “You Are Here” icon to at least one, but often several other points. These are the places that are served directly from where you are, with no intermediate stops. Hover your finger over one of these and the fare that appears is the best deal you can get.

But … there can be a large difference in what you pay to reach any other destination, depending on the route you take to get there—and the Flight Master won’t always offer you the most economical routing.