The cheaper flight isn’t always the better trip
An illustrative comparison of cash cost and travel time, without pretending a spreadsheet can choose for you.
Suppose two flights get you to the same destination. One costs $800, the other $1,000. The more expensive option gets you there six hours sooner.
Those numbers are invented for this example. They aren’t prices from my UK booking or a live fare quote.
On the fare alone, the first flight wins by $200. On time, the second wins by six hours. Neither observation tells you which one you should book.
What the extra $200 actually buys
Divide $200 by six hours and the difference is about $33.33 per hour saved. That’s a useful way to describe the choice. It isn’t proof that six hours of your life has a particular monetary value.
Those hours might be an afternoon with someone you rarely see. They might instead be time you can comfortably spend reading at an airport. The same fare difference can mean something quite different on two trips.
Keep the comparison honest
Before making the arithmetic more elaborate, check that the options really are comparable. Are you getting the same baggage allowance and flexibility? Does either choice need an overnight stop or another paid journey? Are the arrival times actually useful for the purpose of the trip?
These are questions, not assumed extra charges in the example. Add a cost only when it genuinely applies. There’s no benefit in inventing an expensive airport meal to make the preferred flight look cheaper.
Points don’t remove the decision
An award option still has to fit the trip. A redemption can be attractive on paper and inconvenient in practice. A cash fare can be sensible even when points are available.
I find it more useful to make the trade-off visible than to search for one number that settles it: cash kept, points used, time spent, comfort gained and flexibility given up.
The aim is to buy the journey that serves the trip, within the budget you actually have. Sometimes that will be the $800 option. Sometimes it will be the $1,000 one.
For a beginner framework, start with Travel Tutor. For the personal version of a more complicated choice, our Christmas booking story starts with four people and two companion certificates.