Product

How Tern ranks flights: the five smart picks explained

Every search on Tern surfaces five picks. None of them is 'the best flight' — each optimizes exactly one thing, and says so.

Cheapest

The lowest total fare in the results, nothing else considered. Long layovers and red-eyes included.

Fastest

Shortest door-to-door travel time. Often costs more; the gap to Cheapest tells you what your hours are priced at.

Earliest arrival

Lands first, regardless of departure time or price — useful when a meeting, not a budget, is the constraint.

AI pick

A weighted balance of price, duration, and arrival. It is a compromise by design — check what it traded away.

Lowest delay risk

A relative estimate from the itinerary's shape — stops, red-eye departure times, and tight connections. A signal for choosing between similar flights, not live delay data, and never a guarantee — weather wins every time.