Wanderlust World Wanderlust World If you are planning a big trip, you might want to know the distance you will be travelling in air miles. Air miles differ from road miles. Using a map program for directions will usually only tell you the distance between two places if you are travelling by car. To find out the correct distance between different spots as it relates to air flights, use a free air mile estimator provided online. Just enter in the known departure and destination cities and it will automatically give you a mileage estimate.
Go to an air mile calculator (or estimator) online. You can find several just by entering in "air mile calculator" in your preferred search browser. For this example, we will use the one provided by USA Today.
Enter in the blank labeled "Departing from" with your starting airline. If you know the three-letter airport code, you can enter it. Otherwise just enter the city name and state. Repeat this for the arrival city. "Then flying to" will preface the appropriate blank space. You can continue this for two more cities if you have a multiple-destination flight.
Ignore all other blanks as they are not necessary for estimating air mileage. Scroll to the bottom of the page and press the button labeled "How Far?"
If you entered a city with multiple airlines, another screen will ask you to select the airline preferred. Choose the correct one from the scroll-down menu and select "Submit."
The final window will give you an estimated mileage for the trip both in kilometers and miles. This process is nearly identical for any of the online calculators you choose.