Why do people not take advantage of non-stop flights? (jet)

[MrKnight]

I have noticed throughout my time in various cities, some with large international hub airports and others with smaller airports, that ALOT of travelers do not always take advantage of direct non-stop flights to get to their destinations, I have seen many scenarios where a direct non-stop flight is offered to thier final detination but the traveler books a connect flight via another hub airport. Could it be a matter of awareness? Could it be a matter of fare pricing? Could it be a matter of convenience of flight times?

I am one who does not believe in the hub and spoke system that we currently have in the American aviation industry, I pretty much always take direct flights unless there is absolutely no other option or a direct flight is not offered, I have even found direct flights to smaller destinations, it is just a matter of researching and finding out the airlines and dates/times that these flights are offered. What do you guys think?

[Ruth4Truth]

It's a matter of fare pricing. But I'll take the non-stop flight whenever possible. So much more convenient. I can't be schlepping carry-on bags from gate to gate, rushing to make a connection if a plane got in late, plus the extra hours it adds to travel. Ugh. Not worth the savings in fare.

[flyonpa]

Time Vs Price.

Airlines Charge a premium for Non/Stop flight where they don't have any computation.

As long as the plane is mostly full they can charge that premium, as the fare get to high, time vs price starts to push passengers on to lower priced connecting flights. (Also if "someone" else is paying they will get the higher fare.)

Example: ATL-MHT Delta flys Non/Stop ~3x a day in a Regional Jet Mostly. RT $642

With a Connection was ~$300 RT Took about 90min longer. But Delta, Now needs to price its Round Trip fare against all the other airlines connecting flights. Since you need to connect on UA US/AA SW ... DL's Connecting price need to be close to the others.

[Rangerdude_Charlie]

They could also be frequent fliers of a particular airline and may choose a connecting flight vs. nonstop for the purpose of maintaining status on an airline.

[OpenD]

Non-stops cost more, and don't fly as often. In addition, some frequent flyer miles programs give more points for 2-legged and 3-legged routes than they do for non-stops, and some people just love racking up those points, especially if they're close to earning a vacation trip or something.

And for business travelers in particular, taking a flight with a stop in it can mean getting home earlier, because of an earlier departure time than the non-stop offers.

[clutchrider]

Me and my wife are not big flyers, once up I'm good and same for the landing. It's the takeoff that really makes me nervous. We try on pretty much every flight we need to take to do direct or minimal stopping. Personally don't care about the cost because I'd rather just get there than sit in airports all day to save $100.

The only time recently we took two flights was to and from Hawaii for our honeymoon, one stop each way.

[Chava61]

As already said sometimes it is cheaper to take non-direct flights and the additional time isn't that significant.

[JimBaker488]

I'll pay atleast a 10% premium for NS service, often more if there's a long-layover involved without the NS or if the NS has better equipment than the flight with connections.

[joe from dayton]

Price and availability.

[snowmountains]

If it's a long flight, like 12+ hours, many people (esp. elderly) prefer to break it into two flights with a break in between. Long flights are just too exhausting and uncomfortable for some. But I always feel the more take-offs/landings, the more odds of an accident.