Do you prefer non-stop flights?

I love this little nugget from orbitz.com. Who on this planet does not prefer non-stop flights? “Oh, not me, I’d rather have seven layovers, that’s seven times as many opportunities to lose my luggage, hell yeah, where do I sign?”

What they don’t tell you is what consequences that tick box has. Will they just show non-stop flights on top? Will they not show any flights that aren’t non-stop?

All else being equal, everybody prefers non-stop. It’s a matter of price. So a better question would be “How much more are you willing to pay for a direct connection?”

But it’s not quite that simple, either. It depends on how much time it adds to the trip, how convenient the airport is, whether it’s in the beginning, the end, or the middle of the trip, and what time of day it is.

What’s certain is that the question on orbitz.com is meaningless without more context.