Help me find a multi-stop flight?

I'm_With_Stupid

I posted this in my other thread, but it wasn't the main topic, so I'm going to see if anyone can help me.

I'm flying from Saigon to Toronto and back for my sister's wedding in December, and since most flights involve changing in Tokyo, I've decided I'd quite like to spend a week or so in Japan on the way.

Here are the dates:

25th Dec - Ho Chi Minh City to Tokyo
3rd Jan - Tokyo to Toronto
9th Jan Toronto to Ho Chi Minh

There's a little bit of flexibility with the dates there, though.

My specific issue is that the cheapest multi-stop flight is significantly more expensive (£300) than the equivalent return flight. The following flight is available as a return whether the departing date is 25th Dec or 3rd Jan, but doesn't appear in the results if I do a multi-flight instead (even though, in theory it should, because the flights are all available).



The cheapest one I can find by letting the search engine do the entire trip is £1049.30, but it involves a changeover between two New York airports, which I really don't want to do. But the cheapest otherwise is £1323.70 (although that is a direct flight between Tokyo and Toronto).

One-way indirect flights between HCMC and Tokyo are around £230 on Christmas day. Then a multi-stop flight of Tokyo-Toronto-HCMC comes in at £944 (via Chicago on the way there and New York on the way back - but just one airport this time). So I've got it down to £1174 at the moment, I'm not too bothered about £100 either way if it means a nicer schedule, but ideally, I want the one I posted above at that price, but with a break in Tokyo.

Any help would be appreciated. I've been using Kayak and Opodo btw, so any other suggestions would also be useful.

richardw

Perhaps call a travel agent, they are good with free stopovers and flight+hotel deals.

Doshwaster

Don't assume a multi-stop will be cheaper. It may work out better to get two back to back returns.

1 - HMC to Tokyo
2 - Tokyo to Toronto

I'm_With_Stupid

Sounds simple, but that international date line is giving me a bit of trouble working out my timing.

Nah, it's more expensive to do it that way.

richardw

Doshwaster wrote: »

Don't assume a multi-stop will be cheaper. It may work out better to get two back to back returns.

1 - HMC to Tokyo
2 - Tokyo to Toronto

Be careful, these are against some airlines rules and some have software to detect these in their booking systems that automatically cancel tickets if they are found.

I'm_With_Stupid

How can it be against an airline's rules? What business is it of theirs, where you've flown to or from prior to getting on their plane?

richardw

If you do back to back returns on the same airline or with tickets that include flights on the same airline, and sometimes their airline partners, it is against their terms and conditions.

see page 48 P) http://images.delta.com.edgesuite.net/delta/pdfs/contract_of_carriage_intl.pdf

P) BACK TO BACK/THROWAWAY/HIDDEN CITY TICKETING- Delta specifically prohibits the practices
commonly known as: "BACK TO BACK TICKETING" - the issuance, purchase or usage of flight
coupons from two or more tickets issued at round trip fares, or the combination of two or more round-trip
excursion fares end to end on the same ticket for the purpose of circumventing minimum stay
requirements; "THROWAWAY TICKETING" - the issuance, purchase or usage of round trip excursion
fares for one-way travel; "HIDDEN CITY TICKETING" - the issuance, purchase or usage of a fare from a
point before the passengers' actual origin or to a point beyond the passenger's actual destination.

I'm_With_Stupid

I guess my question would be how the hell are they legally allowed to do that? The one thing that always annoys me is companies that not only try to sell you something, but then try to dictate how you can use it after you buy it.

Doshwaster

richardw wrote: »

Be careful, these are against some airlines rules and some have software to detect these in their booking systems that automatically cancel tickets if they are found.

I didn't mean back-to-back in that sense. All I meant was that it *might* be cheaper to book a return from HCMC to Tokyo and then a separate return from Tokyo to Toronto, possibly with a different airline that way you avoid any stopover rules. It would be like me buying a return to Amsterdam from Stansted on Easyjet, stopping in Amterdam for a few days and then flying a return trip to Hong Kong before flying Easyjet back to Stansted. The bookings are totally separate so cannot be against any flight rules.