US Cities With the Most Direct Flight Connections

The spread between US airports is wide. Atlanta has nonstop service to around 240 destinations, while plenty of regional airports serve fewer than 20, and that spread decides whether a scattered group can meet somewhere without anyone changing planes. Pick a hub and almost everyone flies direct. Pick a small airport and most of the group connects.

The gap matters for groups rather than for solo travelers, who can connect through anywhere. When you’re planning a trip with people scattered across different cities, organizing a family reunion, or choosing a location for a company offsite, the hotel options and the restaurant scene come second. The first question is whether everyone can get there without a layover, and the route map answers it.

The sections below rank the US cities with the widest nonstop reach, cover which airlines actually fly those routes, and explain how to match the ranking against one group’s departure airports.

Quick answer: By Midway’s route data (August 2026), the most connected US cities by nonstop destinations are Chicago (~285 combined), New York (~275 combined), Dallas-Fort Worth (~270), Atlanta (~240), Denver (~235), Houston (~200 combined), and Miami (~200). For group travel, these are the cities where the most people in a scattered group can land without a connection.

How we measure “connectedness”

There’s no single official ranking of the most connected cities. Different sources use different metrics: total passengers, total flights, number of nonstop routes, or some weighted combination. Each tells a slightly different story.

For group travel purposes, the number that matters most is nonstop route count: how many distinct destinations can you fly to without connecting? A city might move 50 million passengers a year but funnel most of them through connections. That makes it a busy airport, not necessarily a well-connected one for the people trying to reach it from diverse origins.

The reason certain cities dominate this metric comes down to airline economics. Most major carriers operate a hub-and-spoke model. They pick a few airports and concentrate a disproportionate share of their routes there. Delta uses Atlanta, Minneapolis, Detroit, and Salt Lake City. United funnels through Chicago O’Hare, Denver, Houston, and Newark. American concentrates on Dallas-Fort Worth, Charlotte, Miami, and Philadelphia.

The pattern is structural. ATL, ORD, DFW, and DEN don’t top the connectivity charts for being geographically central or for being the biggest cities. They top them because airlines decided to build hubs there, which created a self-reinforcing loop: more routes attract more passengers, which justify more routes.

The same dynamic runs outside the US. It produces outliers like Istanbul (IST), which Turkish Airlines has turned into a bridge between Europe, Asia, and Africa with around 310 nonstop destinations. Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) connects to around 275 direct destinations from a country of 18 million people. Dubai (DXB) serves as the meeting point for Europe, South Asia, East Africa, and Oceania. Singapore Changi (SIN) connects Southeast Asia to the world. These airports change what is reachable for a group spread across continents. Our companion ranking of the most connected cities in Europe applies the same method to the European network, where Istanbul and Amsterdam are joined by London’s five-airport system at around 420 nonstop destinations. A third ranking covers the most connected cities in Asia-Pacific, with a separate column for international routes.

There is a second-order effect on top of that: low-cost carriers. Southwest, Frontier, JetBlue, Allegiant, and Breeze don’t operate traditional hubs the same way legacy airlines do, but they concentrate service at certain airports in ways that boost connectivity without anyone calling it a “hub.” Las Vegas, Orlando, and Fort Lauderdale all owe their connectivity partly to low-cost carriers flooding them with routes that legacy airlines wouldn’t operate on their own. This layer of the market moves fast: Spirit, for years one of the biggest names in it, ceased operations in May 2026, and Allegiant and Breeze have absorbed much of the leisure flying it left behind. This is why some leisure-heavy cities appear higher on connectivity rankings than their metro size would suggest.

The figures here come from Midway’s aggregation of published route schedules. Midway keeps that data ready for the 600 busiest airports in the world, 100 per region, and refreshes it daily. The counts cover the next twelve months, group a metro’s airports together, and are rounded to the nearest five. They also shift seasonally, since summer schedules add routes and winter trims them, so treat them as representative ranges rather than exact counts on any given day.

Why our numbers run higher than other rankings. Compare this table to most published lists and ours will look generous. You’ll see Dallas-Fort Worth quoted at 239 and O’Hare at 232 where we say ~270 and ~285. The difference is what gets counted, not who is right. Most rankings snapshot the routes flying this week. We count every distinct destination served in at least one month across the coming year, seasonal routes included. For a business traveller asking what flies today, the snapshot is the better number. For a group picking a destination four months out, it isn’t: a route that only operates June through September still gets you there if you’re travelling in July. Booking windows for group trips are long enough that the seasonal map is the relevant one, which is why we use it, and why our figures sit above the commonly-cited ones.

Which airlines fly the most nonstop routes

United flies nonstop to the most destinations, American operates the most routes, and Southwest flies the most domestic routes. Which airline counts as “the most” depends on whether you count places or routes.

Across the 52 busiest US origin airports in our dataset, United reaches 379 distinct nonstop destinations and American 373 — more than anyone else. Count the routes each airline actually operates instead and American moves ahead with 1,632. Narrow it to domestic flying and Southwest wins outright: 1,417 US-to-US routes against American’s 1,280, while touching only 104 US airports.

That last pair of numbers is the whole difference between these networks. Southwest flies a dense mesh between a moderate number of cities. The legacy carriers fly a thinner web to far more places.

Airline	Nonstop destinations	Routes	Flown from (of 52 airports)
United	379	1,219	47
American	373	1,632	49
Delta	318	1,427	52
Alaska	132	486	44
Southwest	120	1,511	47
JetBlue	116	355	37
Allegiant	93	224	23
Frontier	86	560	48
Sun Country	83	119	35
Breeze	82	254	20

Distinct destinations served nonstop in at least one of the coming ~12 months, from the 52 largest US origin airports in Midway’s route dataset (August 2026) — the same dataset and 12-month method as the city table below. Destination and route counts include international service. Regional affiliates are counted under the mainline code they sell under (American Eagle as American, Delta Connection as Delta, United Express as United), because that is how the schedules publish.

Delta is the only carrier operating from all 52. That is a different kind of reach than route count: wherever in this set your group is scattered, Delta is an option from every single one.

Hub concentration is more extreme than the city rankings suggest. Five airports are effectively single-airline operations. American serves 95% of Charlotte’s nonstop destinations and 92% of Dallas-Fort Worth’s. Delta serves 95% of Salt Lake City’s and 94% of Atlanta’s. United serves 93% of Houston’s. If your group meets at one of these, you are mostly choosing that hub’s airline along with the city.

The exceptions matter just as much. Chicago O’Hare is genuinely split — United on 76% of destinations, American on 67% — which is why it absorbs groups with mixed airline loyalties so easily. Denver pairs United at 86% with Southwest at 40%. Las Vegas has no fortress carrier at all, with Southwest leading at 47%.

Reverse the question and ask which airline gets you into a hub from the most places. Atlanta has nonstop service from 50 of our 52 origin airports, and Delta operates 50 of those routes. Denver is reachable from 51, divided between United (46 routes) and Southwest (45).

Smaller cities are where the answer turns counterintuitive. Of the 685 destinations here, 356 are thin — reachable nonstop from three or fewer of the 52 major airports. The carriers serving the most of them are not the regional specialists. United serves 126, American 104, Delta 70. But those are small slices of their own networks: 10%, 6% and 5% respectively.

The specialists are the mirror image. 36 of Contour’s 37 routes and all 19 of Denver Air Connection’s go to thin destinations; for Cape Air it is 62%. So if someone in your group is flying from a genuinely small airport, the big three most likely have the route — though the aircraft is often a regional partner operating under their code.

Competition on any given route is thinner than most people assume. 64% of the routes in this dataset have exactly one airline on them. American is the sole operator on 735, Southwest on 734. For a group, that means the nonstop is frequently not a choice between carriers at all. It is one airline or a connection.

For business travel, density beats breadth. Among the 12 largest US business markets, 59 of the 66 possible city pairs have nonstop service. Delta covers 41 of them, American 35, United 33. Southwest covers 2 — not because its network is small, but because it flies Midway, Love Field, BWI and Oakland rather than the primary airports in that list. An airline can operate an enormous domestic network and still be the wrong tool for New York to San Francisco.

International connectivity concentrates even harder. Our US origins have 26 nonstop routes to Ireland, and Aer Lingus flies 20 of them — more than Delta, American, United and JetBlue put together.

One thing this data cannot tell you is frequency. The route schedules record which airlines serve a route, not how many daily flights each operates. “Which airline flies most often out of Dallas” is a reasonable question, and these are not the numbers to answer it with.

Trying to work out which carrier actually serves your group’s route? Check any pair of cities on Midway — the destination list shows what flies nonstop from both.

The top 20 most connected US cities for group travel

This is the reference table. Twenty cities, ranked by approximate nonstop destination count, with the airlines that make each one a hub and a note on why it works as a meeting city.

A few caveats. The counts below are distinct nonstop destinations served on at least one month over the next ~12 months, drawn from Midway’s own route dataset (data as of August 2026). They’re approximate and shift with the seasons, so treat them as ranges, not exact figures. Cities with multiple airports (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco) are combined; Miami and Fort Lauderdale are counted separately to avoid double-counting. “Key airlines” lists the dominant carriers, not every airline with a single daily flight.

Rank	City	Airport(s)	Nonstop destinations*	Key Airlines	Why meet here
1	Chicago	ORD, MDW	~285 (combined)	United, American, Southwest	Two airports, central location, every airline flies here
2	New York	JFK, EWR, LGA	~275 (combined)	Delta, United, JetBlue	Three airports and the densest international network in the US
3	Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW	~270	American	American’s largest hub; wide domestic network and growing international
4	Atlanta	ATL	~240	Delta	Delta’s fortress hub; nonstop service from nearly every US city
5	Denver	DEN	~235	United, Southwest, Frontier	Geographic center of the country; coast-to-coast equalizer
6	Houston	IAH, HOU	~200 (combined)	United, Southwest	United hub with the strongest Latin America network in the US
7	Miami	MIA	~200	American	Latin America and Caribbean gateway; beach plus culture
8	Charlotte	CLT	~200	American	American hub that quietly connects most of the East Coast
9	Los Angeles	LAX, BUR, SNA	~185 (combined)	Delta, United, American, Southwest	Gateway to the Pacific; huge international network
10	Orlando	MCO	~175	Southwest, JetBlue, Frontier	Theme park gravity pulls routes from everywhere
11	Las Vegas	LAS	~170	Southwest, Allegiant, Frontier	Ultra-competitive fares; everyone wants to fly to Vegas
12	Minneapolis	MSP	~165	Delta	Delta’s northern hub; wider reach than its size suggests
13	Boston	BOS	~160	JetBlue, Delta	Strong transatlantic service; New England’s gateway
14	Phoenix	PHX	~155	American, Southwest	Winter-season powerhouse; strong snowbird connectivity
15	San Francisco	SFO, OAK, SJC	~155 (combined)	United, Alaska, Southwest	Tech hub with strong Pacific service
16	Seattle	SEA	~140	Alaska, Delta	Alaska Airlines hub; best Pacific Northwest connectivity
17	Philadelphia	PHL	~140	American	American hub connecting the Northeast corridor
18	Detroit	DTW	~135	Delta	Delta hub with strong European service
19	Nashville	BNA	~125	Southwest	Fast route growth; a popular meeting city
20	Salt Lake City	SLC	~110	Delta	Delta hub plus ski season routes; growing fast

*Distinct nonstop destinations served in at least one of the coming ~12 months, from Midway’s route dataset (August 2026). Counts vary by season and are rounded to the nearest five. Dallas-Fort Worth and New York are close enough to be a statistical tie.

A few things jump out. First, the top five metros (Chicago, New York, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, and Denver) are in a league of their own, each reachable nonstop from well over 230 destinations. Second, cities like Las Vegas and Orlando punch well above their metro population weight because leisure demand creates routes. Third, some of the most important meeting cities aren’t the most famous: Charlotte and Minneapolis rarely make anyone’s vacation bucket list, but they’re extraordinarily easy to reach.

Want to see what the overlap looks like when you combine two of these hubs? Here’s Atlanta and Chicago:

The common destination list for two mega-hubs is enormous. That’s the point. When you pick a well-connected meeting city, you maximize the chance that everyone in your group has a direct flight.

One more observation from the data: connectivity is not static. Nashville wasn’t in the top 20 ten years ago. It had maybe 60 nonstop routes. Then Southwest expanded aggressively, other carriers followed, and now it sits at around 120. The same thing is happening right now with cities like Austin, Raleigh-Durham, and Indianapolis. They’re climbing the rankings as airlines respond to population growth and business demand. Our Nashville hub city profile covers how that transformation turned it into one of America’s best group trip cities, and the Austin profile covers the city that’s running the same playbook a step behind. The top 20 today won’t be the same top 20 in 2030. But the top 5? Those are locked in by decades of hub infrastructure that can’t be easily replicated.

The best meeting cities by region

Coast-to-coast flights work for a long weekend. But for shorter meetups, or groups where a 5-hour flight is a dealbreaker, regional hubs are the smarter play. Each part of the country has a city that serves as its connectivity anchor.

Northeast: New York (JFK + EWR + LGA)

Three airports, three major carriers (Delta at JFK, United at EWR, various at LGA), and the densest international route network in the country. The downside: cost. Hotels, food, and ground transportation in New York make it one of the most expensive meeting destinations in the US. But for groups where half the people are already within the Northeast corridor, the train-plus-flight flexibility is unmatched. And for transatlantic groups, JFK’s international service is hard to beat.

Southeast: Atlanta (ATL)

The default. If your group is scattered across the eastern half of the US, Atlanta almost certainly works. Delta’s fortress hub means direct flights from essentially every city east of the Mississippi, plus strong service to the West Coast and Europe. The city itself has transformed in the past decade: the BeltLine, Ponce City Market, and a food scene that rivals any coastal city. Affordable hotels and warm weather most of the year make it a practical pick as well as a logistical one. Our Atlanta hub city profile covers the neighborhoods, budget tips, and what makes it work for every type of group.

Midwest: Chicago (ORD + MDW)

Two airports serving different airline ecosystems. O’Hare handles United, American, and international carriers. Midway handles Southwest. Between them, Chicago reaches essentially everywhere. This dual-airport structure is a genuine advantage for group travel: someone flying Southwest from a smaller city lands at Midway, while someone on United from the West Coast lands at O’Hare, and both are 20 minutes from downtown. The lakefront in summer is a legitimate draw. Winter is a liability. January meetings risk cancellations and frostbite in equal measure. Our Chicago hub city profile covers the two-airport math, neighborhoods, and seasonal trade-offs.

South/Central: Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) or Houston (IAH)

Dallas is American Airlines’ largest hub and offers the widest domestic spread. Houston is United’s gateway to Latin America, with the strongest Central and South American network of any US city. For groups that include members in Mexico or South America, Houston edges Dallas. For purely domestic groups across the South, Dallas is marginally more connected. Both have cheap hotels, big airports, and brutal summers. See our Dallas-Fort Worth hub city profile for the route map, neighborhoods, and why it’s the most underrated coast-to-coast meeting city.

Mountain: Denver (DEN)

The geographic center play. Denver is the natural meeting-in-the-middle point for any coast-to-coast group. United’s hub plus strong Southwest and Frontier service means around 235 nonstop destinations. Four to five hours from either coast. The Rockies are an hour away. Craft beer, outdoor culture, and a growing restaurant scene give you something to do once you get there. See our Denver hub city guide for seasonal planning, neighborhoods, and why it’s the default for distributed teams.

West: Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO)

LAX has the volume: more total routes, more international service, particularly to Asia-Pacific. SFO has the experience: a more manageable airport, better transit connections, and the Bay Area’s appeal. For groups on the West Coast, either works. For groups spanning the Pacific (say, between the US and Australia, Japan, or Korea), LAX’s route map to Asia is the deciding factor.

International equivalents worth knowing. The same regional hub logic applies globally. London (LHR + LGW + STN + LTN + LCY) reaches more destinations than any other European city and is the usual transatlantic meeting point. Amsterdam (AMS) is more compact and efficient, with fewer total routes than London but higher quality connections and a vastly better airport experience. Istanbul (IST) bridges three continents and has emerged as the most connected airport in the world by some metrics. Dubai (DXB) connects the Eastern Hemisphere. From Europe to India to East Africa to Australia, it’s reachable from everywhere. Singapore (SIN) anchors Southeast Asia with pristine service and connections across Asia-Pacific. For groups that span continents, these cities are the equivalents of Atlanta and Chicago: the places where the flights actually go.

Underrated meeting cities

The top 10 list gets all the attention. But some of the most practical meeting cities are ones people overlook because they’re not “destination” cities. They’re airport cities, places where the connectivity is better than the reputation.

Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP). Delta’s northern hub has around 165 nonstop destinations. That puts it ahead of Nashville, Seattle, and Boston. Most people outside the Midwest don’t think of Minneapolis as a travel hub, but Delta’s presence means you can get there direct from most major US cities. The city itself has the Skyway system (enclosed walkways connecting downtown buildings, useful when it’s -10F), a strong food scene anchored by immigrant communities, and the Mall of America if that’s your thing. Summer is genuinely beautiful. Winter is not for the unprepared.

Charlotte (CLT). American Airlines’ East Coast hub flies to around 200 destinations. Charlotte has quietly become one of the most connected airports in the country. The city doesn’t have the cultural cachet of Nashville or Austin, but it has cheaper hotels, a growing brewery district, and proximity to both the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Carolina coast. For East Coast groups, it’s often the most practical option nobody considers. Our Charlotte hub city profile covers the AA fortress hub story, Uptown neighborhoods, and budget logistics.

Baltimore-Washington (BWI). Southwest’s mid-Atlantic fortress. Not as glamorous as flying into DCA or Dulles, but Southwest’s network means BWI connects to nearly every midsize US city that the legacy carriers underserve. And you’re 30 minutes from DC by train.

Fort Lauderdale (FLL). Miami gets the attention, but Fort Lauderdale’s airport is a JetBlue and Allegiant stronghold with nonstop service to around 150 destinations. Cheaper flights, cheaper hotels, and you’re on the beach. For budget-conscious groups, FLL is the practical version of Miami.

Porto (OPO). On the international side, Porto is Europe’s underrated connectivity play. Ryanair and other low-cost carriers have built it into a hub connecting to around 135 destinations, most of them across Europe. Flights from the US East Coast (Newark, JFK) have launched in recent years. The city itself is one of Europe’s best-value destinations, with the architecture, port wine, and riverside dining at a fraction of Lisbon or Barcelona prices.

Doha (DOH). Qatar Airways has turned Doha into a connecting powerhouse between Europe and Asia, Europe and Australia, and increasingly, the Americas and the Indian subcontinent. For groups spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Doha offers a stopover program that lets you explore the city on a layover, so the meeting point doubles as a destination.

Two of these hubs combined, Minneapolis and Charlotte:

Even two cities that aren’t on most people’s radar produce a meaningful list of common destinations. That’s the power of hub connectivity.

The pattern holds internationally too. Cities like Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, and Warsaw are gaining nonstop routes fast as their national carriers expand. They’re the Charlottes and Minneapolises of their regions, not yet well known as travel hubs, but increasingly practical for groups who need connectivity without the cost of a London or Dubai.

Seasonal destination guides

Connectivity alone doesn’t make a great meeting city. Timing matters. The best-connected airport in the country is worthless for your beach reunion if it’s January in Chicago. Matching flight availability to weather and seasonal appeal is how you go from “logistically possible” to “actually great.”

Summer group destinations (June-August). Peak connectivity season, when airlines run the most routes. Denver is hard to beat: 70F days, Rocky Mountain access, and maximum flight options. Seattle’s brief, glorious summer (dry, 75F, long days) combines with Alaska Airlines’ hub to make it ideal for Pacific Northwest groups. Chicago’s lakefront transforms into a festival-every-weekend scene. Internationally, Mediterranean cities like Barcelona, Lisbon, and Athens are at peak accessibility from US hubs. The downside: peak prices everywhere.

Winter getaways (December-February). Sun-seekers converge on Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Phoenix, and San Juan. All four have strong winter connectivity because airlines chase the snowbird demand. Phoenix in particular sees its route map expand noticeably in winter as seasonal service kicks in from northern cities. Cancun and the Caribbean islands also peak in winter connectivity. For groups that want warmth without leaving the US, the Florida-Arizona-Hawaii triangle is the sweet spot.

Beach cities. The perennial crowd-pleasers for group trips. Miami, San Juan, Honolulu, Fort Lauderdale, and San Diego all combine beach access with strong nonstop service. Internationally, Cancun is the most connected beach destination from the US by a wide margin, followed by Cabo San Lucas, Punta Cana, and Montego Bay. Each has direct service from 20-40+ US cities in peak season.

Ski destinations. Denver is the gateway, with direct flights from well over 200 cities, then a 1-2 hour drive to Vail, Breckenridge, or Winter Park. Salt Lake City (around 110 nonstops) puts you 30 minutes from Park City and Snowbird. These two cities alone cover most ski trip logistics. Smaller ski-town airports (Steamboat Springs, Jackson Hole, Aspen) have limited direct service, which makes them harder for groups. The workaround: fly everyone into Denver or SLC, then drive or shuttle together.

Holiday weekends. Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day. These are when group travel demand spikes and availability tightens. Book early and pick a mega-hub. Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and Denver have the flight frequency to absorb holiday demand better than smaller airports. For Thanksgiving specifically, choosing a hub city as your gathering point (rather than making everyone fly to Grandma’s regional airport) can save hundreds per ticket and hours of connection time.

The seasonal angle is especially important for international groups. European carriers scale back transatlantic routes significantly from November through March, which narrows the options for US-Europe meetups in winter. Conversely, Caribbean and Mexican beach routes peak in winter. If your group spans the Atlantic and you’re planning a winter meeting, consider a warm-weather hub like Miami or Cancun rather than fighting the reduced London or Paris schedules.

One more seasonal factor: airline schedule announcements. Carriers typically publish summer schedules in late February and winter schedules in late August. If you’re planning far ahead, be aware that routes announced for one season don’t automatically carry over to the next. That nonstop from Boise to Nashville might exist in July but disappear by October.

Hub city profiles

Guides to the individual hub cities, covering what to do, where to stay, and how to use each one as a meeting point:

• New York, ~275 combined destinations across JFK, Newark and LaGuardia
• Atlanta, around 240 nonstop destinations from Delta’s main hub
• Chicago, ~285 combined destinations from O’Hare and Midway
• Dallas-Fort Worth, around 270 nonstop destinations from American’s largest hub
• Denver, ~235 destinations and the geographic center of the US
• Las Vegas, year-round nonstops from ~170 cities
• Charlotte, ~200 destinations and a Southeast convergence point
• Nashville, ~125 destinations and still growing
• Austin, around 100 nonstops, just outside the top 20

Browse nonstop routes by departure city

Knowing which hubs are the most connected is the start. The next question is what each one actually flies to nonstop — and which other cities you can share a direct destination with. These route indexes list every nonstop destination from a hub, plus every city you can meet it at:

• Nonstop shared routes from New York
• Nonstop shared routes from Los Angeles
• Nonstop shared routes from Chicago
• Nonstop shared routes from Atlanta
• Nonstop shared routes from Dallas
• Nonstop shared routes from Miami
• Nonstop shared routes from San Francisco
• Nonstop shared routes from Seattle
• Nonstop shared routes from Boston

Browse the full route index →

Or compare two hubs head-to-head — these pages list every destination both cities reach nonstop, with flight times and distances from each:

• Atlanta and Los Angeles nonstop routes
• Dallas and New York nonstop routes
• Chicago and Miami nonstop routes
• Boston and San Francisco nonstop routes
• Miami and San Francisco nonstop routes
• Atlanta and Seattle nonstop routes

How to use this data for your next trip

Knowing which cities are the most connected is useful. Knowing which connected cities have direct flights from YOUR specific group of departure cities is what actually gets a trip booked.

That’s the gap between general knowledge and actionable planning. Atlanta might be one of the most connected airports in the US, but if two people in your group live in Portland and Boise, Atlanta’s connectivity advantage might not extend to those specific routes.

Midway solves this in a few seconds. Enter your departure cities and it returns every destination where all of you have nonstop flights. Not the most connected cities in general, but the most connected cities for your group.

Midway supports up to 6 departure cities at once — when your group has people flying from multiple cities, just enter all of them and let Midway handle the intersection math.

A few ways to use the connectivity data:

Start with the most constrained person. If four of you live in mega-hub cities and one lives in Boise, start by looking at Boise’s direct routes. The group’s options are limited by the least-connected member.

Consider one connection for the outlier. If relaxing the “everyone flies direct” rule for one person opens up dramatically better destinations for the other four, that’s usually worth it. Perfection is the enemy of actually going somewhere.

Check seasonal routes. Some nonstop service only runs June through September, or November through March. A destination that works in July might not exist as a direct route in February. Midway shows seasonal availability so you don’t plan around a flight that won’t be operating.

Use connecting hubs as the destination. A group that would connect through Denver anyway can meet in Denver instead. Hub cities work as meeting cities because they are where the flights already go, which is the argument behind this guide and behind the meet-in-the-middle approach in general.

Think about the return trip too. Connectivity decides how you get home as well as how you get there. A well-connected city means more flight options on Sunday evening or Monday morning, which means less jockeying over departure times. In a less-connected city, there might be one flight per day to each origin. Miss it and you are stuck.

The route maps are public; matching them to a specific group’s departure cities is the part that takes a tool.

Try Midway with your cities. It lists every destination all of them reach nonstop, with the flight time from each.