5 Reasons I Avoid Booking the Cheapest Flight Option

In an ideal world, I would always book the cheapest flight to get me from Point A to Point B, whether I’m paying with points, cash, or a combination of the 2. Unfortunately, the cheapest flight isn’t always a good option.

Instead, I often find myself skipping over the cheapest flight, but the reasons I do so have nothing to do with elite status. I’m not paying more to fly a specific airline to qualify for Gold status or enjoy perks with a particular airline program.

So why would I pay more for a flight if a cheaper option exists? Here are 5 key reasons why I may do so.

1. Consider Travel Time

Don’t get me wrong: I won’t pay an absurd price difference just to take a nonstop flight, but I am willing to pay slightly more. And the same applies to cutting down my travel time when ruling out long layovers.

How much extra will I pay? It varies from trip to trip, and this point becomes even clearer when you consider extra fees that one airline might charge while another doesn’t.

For example, look at flights on a random date from my home airport, John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Southern California, flying to Dallas — accepting either Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) or Dallas Love Field (DAL) airports. The cheapest flight is with Spirit Airlines, lasting over 13 hours because of a 9-hour layover in Las Vegas (LAS).

I’m not opposed to flying with Spirit, but I am opposed to a 9-hour layover when there are multiple ways to get me from start to finish in 5 hours or less. Plus, Spirit would likely charge $20 to choose a seat, if I didn’t want a middle seat, and roughly $8 per segment (so $16 total) if I wanted to use the onboard Wi-Fi to get work done.

The same can be said for Frontier Airlines, typically charging $20 to choose a seat and not offering Wi-Fi on its flights. With Frontier, my total cost not to get a middle seat is now closer to $150, depending on the seats I would choose.

Southwest, on the other hand, has a nonstop flight for $162 that lasts under 3 hours and charges $7.99 for Wi-Fi. I would pay that over the other options on this route.

2. Connect to Wi-Fi

Speaking of the internet, it matters to those of us who work online. Does this airline have it while that other airline doesn’t? That could sway my decision if it’s a day I need to work. If I’m on vacation and not working, then this element doesn’t apply.

I’ll also point out that downtime is a consideration for those of us who work online. If I need to be online working on a particular day, I will read reviews of airlines and flights to see how reliable the onboard Wi-Fi is. A nonstop flight also presents more time to remain connected, because I won’t have to put away my laptop for landing, wait through connections and takeoff procedures, etc., until I can be back online to get more work done. These factors can sway my decision as part of the travel-time consideration when comparing similarly priced itineraries with airlines that all offer Wi-Fi.

Lastly, the cost of Wi-Fi also matters. Can I use travel credits to cover it? Is it free on another airline, such as Delta? When I factor in Wi-Fi costs, if that makes one flight more expensive than another, that will sway my decision.

3. Avoid Fees That Ruin a Good Deal

As I alluded to above, you find fees everywhere in air travel. Whether it’s a fee for checked bags, Wi-Fi, choosing a seat, or getting a meal on your flight, you encounter numerous extras that come at a cost.

Some of these can be ignored. If a flight doesn’t provide complimentary food and drinks, I’m happy to pack a snack or refill my water bottle at the airport.

However, some fees may feel necessary … or at least partially necessary. Do I want to sit in a middle seat for a few hours? Not if I can avoid it. Do I need to check a bag for this flight? The fee for that matters.

Consider these flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to the New York City area. The 2 cheapest options (at $65 per person) are nonstop with Spirit, and the cheapest fare with any other airline costs $112. That’s a significant difference.

But what if I want to choose my seat in advance and need to bring a carry-on bag — the rolling type, not just a small personal item? The prices tell a very different story.

Now the cheapest flight is with Southwest at $112, while Frontier has a flight for $139. Those options include a connection, while the cheapest nonstop is now offered by JetBlue at $174. That’s nearly 3 times the price of the Spirit flight in basic economy.

Situations like this can be a great reminder of the value of airline credit cards, as many of them let you choose seats or at least get a free checked bag on your flight.

In this scenario, I would book the $112 Southwest flight.

4. What Time Am I Leaving or Arriving?

I’ve realized that a flight departing or arriving at 4 a.m. sucks. That’s just the blunt truth.

Factor in getting to the airport 2 hours early, the time to get to the airport, leaving home or checking out of a hotel, and there’s no denying those predawn departures are just plain terrible. And I don’t know about you, but I will wake up a zillion times that night thinking I overslept, ensuring I’ll be exhausted the next day.

The same can be said for way-too-early arrival times at your destination, when you can’t check in to your hotel yet and breakfast won’t start for a few hours. Plus, finding an Uber, taxi, or public transportation at that hour can be difficult.

I’m willing to pay a little more to take off or land at a decent hour.

5. Bad Logistics Aren’t Worth It

Do I need to claim my luggage at Newark (EWR) and then catch a taxi over to New York’s Kennedy (JFK) for my onward flight? Hard pass.

Similarly, will I arrive in Madrid (MAD) on one airline and need to do a new check-in for my onward flight with another airline, thanks to split tickets? I’d better be saving a lot of money and have a comfortable amount of time to make that happen. I have bad memories of my first flight pulling up to the gate while I watched my next flight take off without me — with no passenger rights on split tickets — in Madrid a few years ago.

Unless I’m saving significant money and have a long-enough layover to ensure I won’t encounter problems, these tickets usually aren’t worth it. Plus, we’re back at the long layover consideration.

Once I eliminate the options with self-transfers, long layovers, and bad departure times from the list above, the flight I’m really interested in costs $242 between Keflavik (KEF), Iceland, and Frankfurt (FRA), Germany. For $4 more, I could take a nonstop, so I’d book that.

Final Thoughts

I wish I could always pick the cheapest flight. However, there are reasons I won’t, such as fees that rapidly increase the initial price of a flight, avoiding bad logistics, or Wi-Fi considerations if I need to work during the flight.