It’s a mistake many travelers make every day when they book airline flights and it all gets down to a definition of terms. It’s confusing, but if you don’t understand the distinctions of these words, you’re about to take a very long flight. 

All too often, travelers will book a direct flight, only to discover way too late that the flight they’ve booked is making one, two, or sometimes even three stops before they get to their desired destination.. 

A direct flight does not mean you’re flying nonstop. 

What it does mean is that you will be flying making multiple stops, you’ll be on the same plane throughout your journey, using the same flight number. 

Nonstop means exactly that — nonstop. 

The direct flight might be less expensive, but you pay for that discount with longer flights and a greater chance of a misconnect or delay.