Have you ever checked a round trip airfare to a small remote destination on one of the major airlines? We’ve often seen the price of a flight double by simply adding a small hop which could easily be done with a local flight for a great price with lots of availability.
When looking for flights (especially nowadays where pricing seems to be all over the place) we look for flights to the closest major hub for the best pricing. It’s not always true, but especially when there is a change of company you will probably find that splitting the itinerary to separate a local flight from the international segment can save you a lot of money.
On our recent flight to Iguazu Falls, this is what we did. We had the direct flight from Miami to Buenos Aires which was great. If we tried combining this with a short 2-hour flight to Iguazu, it went up a lot. We opted instead to stay overnight in Buenos Aires and to book a short (and cheap) local flight the next day to Iguazu Falls.
In this case it made even more sense as the local flights left from a small airport in Buenos Aires whereas most international flights arrived at a further airport located an hour’s drive from the city-center. Trying to connect would have been a mess and would have added lots of stress. Having the extra night in Buenos Aires made it easy.
We have also done the same thing for Cambodia when trying to fly to Siem Reap. It was extremely expensive to book straight through as compared to some of the bigger hubs like Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, or Hanoi. Local flights flew out many times a day on multiple airlines so here too it made sense to stop over and separate the itinerary with a local flight.
On another upcoming flight (spoiler) to Windhoek, Namibia, we also opted to do the same and spend a night in Johannesburg and book a simple Airlink flight back and forth from Joburg to Windhoek.
Check the pricing and you may be pleasantly surprised. It also takes the stress out of trying to connect over a split itinerary when you may not have a boarding pass in hand.
Some considerations:
- Check the luggage allowance. Some of the smaller local carriers may have stricter limits.
- Look to see if you have to exit the airport and clear customs in order to stay a night and weigh this against the potential stress of connecting.
- Download the airline’s app to aid with online check-in and to get itinerary alerts.
Ultimately, you can save a lot of money by booking a short connecting flight and separating this from the international portion of your travel. Even if you end up missing it, these flights are often cheap and plentiful that you can rebook easily. When we were in India, we actually booked a fully cancellable back-up flight, but that’s another tip!