Almost all travelers are unaware that a “direct” flight is not the same as a “nonstop” flight (sometimes spelled non-stop). It’s really different! But yes, a flight that is “direct” can have a stop… and “nonstop” is the correct term we should use for flights without connections that go directly somewhere without stopping!
I’m taking advantage of the amazing new promotion that gives you 1 million points (value of ≈ $12,000 to UNLIMITED) to speed up the publication of a new series of explanatory posts about some concepts that travel pros should understand.
The promotion involves flying Turkish Airlines from İstanbul (IST) to Australia, but Turkish Airlines flights to Australia are “direct”… but not “nonstop.” I’ll stop using quotation marks now to lighten things up, I’m already tired of it (forgive me😅).
This difference is really very misunderstood, so it’s perfectly normal if you didn’t know. Third-party websites and even airline websites often use the wrong terms, so that really doesn’t help! You’re now going to be a very knowledgeable pro.
Here’s the difference between a direct flight and a nonstop flight.
What is a direct flight and a nonstop flight?
The term “direct flight” is often used to describe flights that don’t have connections (even by us, it’s just so much more frequent and widely accepted as a common expression).
But it’s not the right term, technically.
I’ll take this opportunity to remind you that being completely opposed to connections is the best way to pay way too much for your flights. Because I want to help you travel for less; that’s our mission at Flytrippers!
(As a traveler, it also makes no sense to limit yourself entirely to destinations that happen to be randomly available from your city. For example, Southeast Asia is certainly the favorite region for a plurality of pro travelers, but there are no direct routes from most Canadian cities. So you’re just never going to go there because of that? If that’s the case, I think it’s hard to be considered a pro traveler, and I know many of you want to be pro travelers!)
So why isn’t a direct flight what everyone thinks it is?
A nonstop flight has no stops.
It’s the correct term for when your flight takes off from your departure airport and lands at your destination airport without stopping anywhere in between. It’s what all travelers think of when they think of a direct flight. It’s really nonstop.
A true direct flight can actually have a stop!
But don’t worry, they’re extremely rare. Really, really rare. In 550+ flights in my lifetime, I’ve had just one direct flight with a stop.
When I did my mini round-the-world trip with my Aeroplan points in 2018 (testimonial coming soon), I had a direct Lufthansa flight between Frankfurt (FRA) and Bahrain (BAH)… but we stopped in Riyadh (RUH).
Why is that called a direct flight instead of just a connecting flight or a flight with a stop?
It’s because it’s the same airplane that continues to the final destination after the stop (with the same flight number)! You stop, but you don’t change planes. That’s the difference. With a regular connection, you change planes.
I repeat: a direct flight with a stop is very rare. But it does exist! And so it’s good to know this. But if you always do the most basic thing when booking a plane ticket, you should never have a problem.
Why is it important to know the difference between direct and nonstop?
It happens so often to read a comment like “My flight was supposed to be direct but we stopped, I’m not happy”… I don’t want that to happen to you! These flights are rare, but many people on every one of these flights every day are surprised and disappointed.
It’s simple: you just need to be aware so you don’t assume that “direct” means “nonstop” as you’ve always thought.
As you know if you know the basics of how to save money on plane tickets, you should always do your research on comparison sites and always make your reservations on airline websites.
Airline websites are almost always very clear and indicate whether there’s a stop, even if it’s a direct flight that doesn’t involve changing planes. So you’ll be fine!
Unfortunately, on comparison sites or third-party booking sites, it’s sometimes unclear whether a flight is direct or nonstop. That’s just how it is.
Sometimes it’s clearly written. But even then, so many people clearly don’t read anything…
(I’ll give you a quick teaser for another post in this series coming soon, about flights operated by partners. That is ALWAYS clearly written… and there’s only about 10 pieces of information at most: dates, airports, times, duration, aircraft, airline. And yet, it’s fascinating how many people don’t see it! For the Turkish promotion, it’s vital: the flight MUST be operated by Turkish!)
How to know if it’s a direct or nonstop flight?
Like I said, it’s really rare for a direct flight to have a stop. I don’t want you to get scared of this (unfortunately, getting too scared about everything is another thing a lot of people do that negatively affects their trips).
The fact is, if you see “direct” instead of “nonstop,” that doesn’t mean anything. Many websites use the term “direct” when it should be “nonstop.”
But if you see that the flight duration is unusually the same as it is for connecting flights, or longer than other direct flights on the same route (or than what you remember a flight to that region should be if there are no other direct flights)… that’s the best indication that it may be a direct flight with a stop, rather than a nonstop flight.
The key is to check the airline’s website directly after your initial search.
How are direct and nonstop flights displayed in searches?
Here is a concrete example from the Turkish Airlines website.
You can see that the first is the direct flight to Australia, which has a stop but no airplane change. It’s displayed a little differently than the second, which is a typical connecting flight:
- It says “1 stop” on the flight line
- Instead of the connecting airport code
- There is only 1 airline logo below the flight line
- Instead of 2 logos for the 2 different airplanes
- There is nothing on the flight line
- Instead of a white circle that represents a change of airplane
- The duration of the stop is shown at the very bottom
- Instead of not appearing there
So you’re staying on the same airplane. It’s not a connection per se. But you stop in Kuala Lumpur (KUL).
For those who want to do the Turkish Airlines promotion, you absolutely need to book this flight (direct) to Sydney (SYD) from İstanbul (or with a connection in İstanbul before). There’s another one to Melbourne (MEL) with a stop in Singapore (SIN).
(Another teaser: Fifth freedom flights are the next topic in this series!)
However, if you visit a comparison site or a third-party booking site (such as Kiwi, our preferred option for advanced searches), the exact same flight may be displayed as direct without indicating that it has a stop.
Here, it’s easy to see that something is wrong: it takes 20 hours and 20 minutes for a direct flight (the world’s longest flight takes less than 19 hours). But it’s very rare that the flight will be that long and therefore that easy to spot, unfortunately.
Even if you click on the details, it remains unclear.
If you click on the small arrow, the “Connection info” appears, but there is nothing there that clearly states that you will stop, where you will stop, or the duration of the stop.
(So don’t rely on that too much!)
This flight even appears when I have the “Direct” filter on. A nonstop filter is what would be useful, but they don’t have one.
But good news!
If you do the right thing, which is to go to the airline’s website to book the flight you’ve chosen, you’ll often see that it’s direct with a stop instead of nonstop, as you saw with the “1 stop” in the Turkish Airlines screenshot above.
Airlines are definitely better than third-party booking sites at displaying this correctly.
That said, they’re not necessarily good at using the right terms. Even for true nonstop flights that don’t have any stops, Turkish Airlines uses the term direct… which is why this whole thing is so confusing.
Closer to home, Air Canada also clearly displays direct flights with stops and uses the correct terms.
You see both types of stops here, the same way as with Turkish Airlines.
When it’s a true nonstop flight, Air Canada also uses the correct term (non-stop) in the upper left corner.
So, third-party sites are really where you need to be careful.
But even then, if you go to the right spot to book, you’ll be fine!
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Summary
Direct flights and nonstop flights are not technically the same thing. Nonstop flights are true flights with no stops and no connections. Direct flights can have stops, but you don’t change airplanes. These are very rare, but it’s still beneficial to be aware of them.
What would you like to know about the difference between a direct flight and a nonstop flight? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Lorne, Australia (photo credit: Gagandeep Singh)
