Let's talk Airports

You have two main types of airports in the United States 1. Carrier Hubs 2. Destination Locations or spokes. They both have their pluses and minuses. I will break them down here. Carrier hubs are airports that main carriers (United, American, Delta) route their flights to and through. Each airline has hubs throughout the United States in strategic locations to support destination airports. Hubs are usually large cities with populations that can support hundreds of flights a day both international and domestic. Think Chicago, New York, Dallas, and San Francisco. If your final destination is not a hub airport chances are you will fly through the hub, change planes and continue to your final destination. Hub airports come with a lot of advantages. Many options for flights to where you want to go. Typically, several international options and more miles redemption options. Where it can be a downside is you will usually always fly with one airline whichever hub is in that city. There are times when a competitor will try and lure customers away from the Hub airport with cheap flight deals. Competition for customers is an ongoing game in the airline industry.

Destination or spoke airports have some advantages as well. I will take my home airport Charleston, SC for example. Charleston is serviced by all the major airlines (American, United, Delta, Alaska, Southwest, and Jet Blue). There was one direct international to London on British Airways prior to the pandemic. Charleston is also served by a few low-cost carriers (Breeze, Frontier, Allegiant, and Silver). This gives travelers many options to choose from to find the best deal. This also means you do not need to automatically become loyal to one airline. With this many airlines serving the Charleston area, there are many non-stop flight options are long as your destination is a hub for one of the airlines. Here comes the downside. Points and miles options are less available and typically cost more points due to adding legs to your travel. International flights can sometimes cost thousands more to depart out of Charleston or a destination airport. Knowing how to search for flights and adding in relocation flights can save you thousands of dollars and/or points. This is where working with me comes in handy. I will do the searching and route options and then all you need to do is decide which is best for you.