Often when booking a flight there are a multitude of options. Choosing between direct or non-direct flights can be especially challenging. On the one hand direct flights are obviously quicker and more convenient. On the other hand flying via a stopover can be significantly cheaper. It can also be nice to split a long flight up to refresh yourself midway, and it may not always be possible to fly direct in the first place. I will go through all the factors I think you should consider . So in today’s post, I ask the question: What’s better: Flying Direct or with a Stopover?

Cost

Flying direct is often more expensive than taking 1 or more stops along the way. This is simply due to the time savings and convenience of a direct flight. An extreme example of how flying with a stopover can save huge amounts of money is with a return London to Tokyo flight. Looking at Cathay Pacific and ANA, two amazing airlines, ANA are charging triple what Cathay Pacific are. These are the cheapest flights I could find on Kayak.co.uk for each airline on a specific date. In this example I would definitely not spend and extra £1,200 just to save about 6 hours each way. Of course this time-money tradeoff will differ on various routes and depending on the individual person.

*A small disclaimer though, when I searched this flight direct prices seemed to be unnusually high. I’ve flown direct with Japan Airlines and it cost about £900, which was slightly more than Cathay Pacific but no hugely. Generally the discrepancy in prices isn’t this extreme.

On the other hand, a lot of budget airlines will be cheaper to fly direct. Taking London to Oslo as an example (a trip I will be reviewing shortly), a direct return flight with Ryanair could cost you just £36, but the same route including stopovers will cost £94.

Ultimately there’s no single rule to follow when it comes to finding the cheapest flights. Generally on long haul routes at least, direct flights will cost you more, but this isn’t always the case. It’s always worth searching as many potential routes as possible on sites like Skyscanner and Kayak to find the cheapest option for each route.

Time

It goes without saying that a stopover will always take longer. Taking my earlier short haul example of Oslo to London, the direct flight is 2 hours. The indirect flight from my example was 8h 35m. And the flight I ended up booking was still 4 hours from Oslo to London via Stavanger with Norwegian.

The time difference for long haul flights is usually less extreme though. 18h 15m for London to Tokyo via Hong Kong versus 11h 50m for the direct flight. Stopovers can be much longer however, with an overnight stop potentially being up to 15 hours making the entire journey almost 30 hours. This would be too long for me personally and would basically be 2 days wasted travelling. It is usually much easier to plan your holiday and onward travel around a direct flight.

Experience

Stopovers offer the opportunity for a break from flying. For example I once flew from Tokyo to London via Hong Kong in Cathay Pacific’s business class. We had a 4 hour stop in the middle of the night at Hong Kong which provided the perfect opportunity to stretch our legs in the terminal and visit the lounge for some good food and a shower. When travelling long haul over multiple timezones it can be nice to break up the flight. At the same time for some it can just add more layers of stress as you have to navigate an unfamiliar airport and worry about making your connection. Your connecting flight could even be delayed or cancelled. The risk of this is much lower for direct flights.

For some people however, having to stop at another airport may just make the already uncomfortable experience of flying even more painful. Personally I love flying and travelling through airports, so it’s not an issue for me. But as with everything, your mileage may vary.

Environmental Impact

Obviously just by virtue of having to fly multiple flights instead of one, a stopover will have a greater environmental impact. To show the difference in emissions between flying direct and with a stopover I’ll use the return London to Tokyo flight as an example. I’ve flown this twice, both direct and with a stopover in Hong Kong.

These additional CO2 emissions really add up, especially if you’re a frequent flyer. So for climate conscious people it might be worth paying the slight premium to fly directly, or, even better, take the train instead. According to Eurostar’s carbon footprint estimates, one flight from London to Paris is equivalent to 14 journeys on the Eurostar. I’ve made the journey a few times and for me it’s actually quicker than flying as I live near St. Pancras station.

Of course many journeys, especially long haul, would be unrealistic to travel by train. But for short haul routes it is worth considering. The experience can even be significantly better with larger seats, no limits on luggage and less stress.

Bottom Line

Generally when booking flights I look for the most direct option. Unless the direct flight is 50% more expensive than a stopover I’ll fly direct. I just prefer convenience of direct flights and think it’s worth paying the premium. The much lower C02 emissions are also an added bonus.

There are a few times I will consider a stopover though:

1. If I have points with a specific airline I want to redeem. To use a recent example, I was looking at booking a flight to Vietnam. You can fly direct with Bamboo Airways or Vietnam Airlines, but I had a lot of Singapore Airlines miles so chose to fly with them with a stopover in Singapore.
2. If the price is a LOT cheaper. Depending on the route, airline and total price I would probably be willing to pay around 50% more to fly direct. Any higher and I’ll take a stopover.
3. If there’s a chance to take an interesting airline or route. It may seem like a silly reason but if I’m able to fly an airline or aircraft I’ve never flown before I’ll probably do it simply for the new experience.

More from me…

• The best airlines in the world according to me – if you want help deciding who to fly with
• The best and worst types of aircraft to fly on – Especially important on long flights.
• British Airways Club Europe flight review – Geneva to London Heathrow

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