Multi-Trip holiday to Asia

emma.b123

Hi all,

I'm hoping for a bit of guidance and advice for a trip we are planning this year.
The intention is (importantly) to start the holiday with a trip of about 4 days to Toyko.... it's always been a dream for us to visit there, so that's the main reason behind the trip. The plan is to work in another destination. Due to the milage, a 'round the world' ticket would be too expensive, so we are planning on visiting somewhere else en-route for a sun and sea holiday. I've had a look and am edging towards Sri Lanka at the moment. Anyway, it seems quite hard to plan a multi-stop holiday online, although we have come up with a quote so far booking it DIY (about 4,000 inc. flights and hotel for us both). Unfortunately it's tricky using some of the online websites in planning more than 1 stop ... we've been managing it so far using Sky scanners and Expedia.
So, my question is, is is there a high street agent that are particularly good in booking multi-stop trips? We did use first choice to book our honeymoon a few years back, which again was more than one stop. They were really really good with us, and we were very impressed with their service, although as we didn't shop around, I have no idea whether we could have been more frugal with the costs and got a better deal elsewhere. If there are no specific leaders on the high street in booking multi-stop trips, can anyone recommend a good website that may be able to help us?

Thanks in advance!!

Doshwaster

Yes. booking multi-stop trips can be difficult - there's a lot of dark science to it.

A few tips
- Learn the power of the "Open Jaw" ticket. That's when you fly A to B on an airline, make our own way from B to C then fly back to A. For example, fly to Tokyo on BA, travel to Bangkok using budget airlines or overland then fly back to the UK with BA. This usually works out as no more expensive than an standard return. You just need to find an airline that serves A and C.
- For a Japan and Sri Lanka open jaw I'd be looking at BA direct and Emirates (which would require a stop in Dubai)
- Everything doesn't have to be on one booking. By breaking the trip up into separate bookings it allows you to make changes easier.
- My favourite site for booking multiple stop trips is https://www.kayak.co.uk
- Budget airlines are useful for filling in the gaps in multiple stops but don't always appear in flight searches.

If you want to talk to a High Street travel agent, Trailfinders are probably among the best.

Bob_the_Saver

Look at Air Asia's route map (Budget Airline)

emma.b123

Thanks guys for the comments so far ... I'll definately try out Kayak. I've browsed them in the past, but not for this trip, so I'll try that now. I actually came across another site (edreams) that has a very user friendly multi-stop tool, and already looks like it could save me £700 compared to skyscanners ... but I'd like a few options for comparison. I'll make a note to call trailfinders as well, and see if any negotiation can be done once I have done the research.
It's already been quite a lot of work, so I appreciate the advise ... although there are a lot worse things you could do than spend time holiday shopping! :rotfl: