FlightConnections: Useful Flight Map When Trip Planning
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Disclaimer: All information in this article stems from my personal experience with the free version of this site. The paid version may be your best option if you need the additional data. The free portion of the sites provides me with everything I need, but I understand that may only be the case for some. It is important to note that the free version contains many ads, but it does not make the site unusable.
What is Flight Connections?
In short, Flight Connections is an interactive flight map that anyone can use to search, find, and compare airline routes. It helps uncover which cities are served by which airlines so travelers can create a better travel itinerary.
How I Use This Site
Flight Connections is a great site to use no matter how much you travel. Typically, this is the first site that I go to when I am starting to plan a vacation. I like to explore which airport has what direct flight, as I need to maximize my vacation time and minimize my travel time. Knowing who flies where directly gives me the satisfaction of knowing that I do not have to browse multiple travel/airline sites to find this information; therefore, this is my recommended starting site. Even if you are still determining where you want to go, clicking your preferred departure airport can bring up a destination you never considered. Below, I’ve listed my personal experience, tips on using this site, and screenshots for individuals who prefer to see what it looks like before visiting it.
Personal Experience: In 2023, I saw in my Chase Ultimate Rewards dashboard that there was a promotion when transferring points to Flying Blue (KLM and Air France). It was a 25% bonus when transferring points to that specific alliance program, so it was an excellent opportunity to see my options. Typically, I do not mind traveling out of Texas if there is a good deal on flights, but in this case, I was just casually browsing from airports within a 4-hour drive of San Antonio. The four major airports I check in Texas are San Antonio (SAT), Austin (AUS), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), and George Bush International in Houston (IAH). After browsing Flight Connections for about 10 minutes, I saw a direct flight from Austin to Amsterdam a few times a week on KLM.
Over time, I’ve learned that you’re likely to get a good deal on routes that airlines fly multiple times a week, especially if you have miles to book. I went over to the KLM website, played around with the dates for 5 minutes, and transferred and booked a one-way ticket for 12,500 Chase Points + 25% Bonus (2,500) = 15,000 total points on the KLM website. For reference, it is not uncommon to pay anywhere from 2,500 to 17,500 for a one-way flight from one city to another in the United States, so this was a great deal in my eyes. I understand that this may not be an experience everyone has. Still, deals like this are not too hard to come by with a bit of patience and some minor research beforehand. This same route at the writing of this article, May 2024, is 20,000 points, so I am patiently waiting for a transfer bonus in the Chase app to take advantage of the low cost.
Tips When Using FlightConnections
Even if you do not live next to a major airport, familiarize yourself with what routes are offered at your closest airport. This will give you an opportunity to start piecing together routes if you come across a deal that is too good to pass up.
Get familiar with some of the destinations at Major Hubs in your area. This knowledge can help save time and money throughout the whole process. You may not want to have a layover in another continent you’ve never been to when you could have just picked another airport to fly from that was just a little bit further away from home.
If you know exactly where you want to go, put your destination in the “To” section at the top. It will pop up who flies to that airport without having to check multiple departing airports.
If you need to maximize your vacation time, enter the route you want at the top. The webpage will pull up a calendar on the left that shows when these flights occur, which can help you decide if that specific route fits into your schedule.
If you decide to book directly with the site, it utilizes Kayak. Still, I always recommend checking other booking sites for the best price.
As you use this site more and more, it helps to familiarize yourself with the different types of airlines so you can better understand where they service for future reference.
Conclusion
Flight Connections has been my go-to for the last few years and will continue to be so long as there is a free version. Traveling is already expensive enough, so finding a gem of a website like this is something I recommend to everyone. Researching beforehand can be a pain sometimes, but saving time and money in the process is always worth it.