Secondary airports and diaspora routing

JFK and LAX dominate the mental map for US–Asia travel, but Boston, Seattle, and Vancouver gateways matter for East Coast, Pacific Northwest, and Canadian diaspora routing. Secondary airports can win on total door-to-door time even when the headline fare looks higher.

The comparison that matters is not sticker price alone: connection quality, immigration pain, ground transport, and whether you arrive at your destination exhausted at 2 a.m. local. A cheaper fare through a hub that adds eight hours of misery is not cheaper.

Verify schedules, seasonal frequency, and visa/transit rules on every leg. Airline partnerships change; what worked for a friend last year may not hold this quarter.