Suggestions for multi leg flight search

michaels

Flying to SFO this summer, but want to stop on the East coast both ways to avoid overly long and overnight flights.

So most airlines only seem to let you search and book 4 legs on their own websites but google flight search allows 5.  The 5 google legs an then transfer to the airline booking websites without issue.

It seems I can add more stopovers for no extra cost as long as I don't spend more than 24 hours on the ground on any stop.  

I would like if possible therefore to add a few more stops but to do so I would need a website that allows booking more than 5 legs (and can also find the cheap fares that come up on google).

Has anyone got any suggestions?  Thanks

bagand96

Most airlines will only let you book 6 legs on one ticket so you would have to arrange your own domestic flights if you wanted to do more. 

The Multi-City legs don't have to be continuous though - you can leave a gap in them. So for example you could book LHR-JFK-SFO-LAX and DEN-ORD-BOS-LHR as a multi-city and fill in the middle LAX-DEN with a separately booked domestic flight. 

michaels

bagand96 said:

Most airlines will only let you book 6 legs on one ticket so you would have to arrange your own domestic flights if you wanted to do more. 

The Multi-City legs don't have to be continuous though, you can leave a gap in them. So for example you could book LHR-JFK-SFO-LAX and DEN-ORD-BOS-LHR and fill in the middle LAX-DEN with a separately booked domestic flight. 

Useful to know, thank you.

Problem is the airline sites search option only seem to allow 4 legs even though you can book more so I need a booking engine that supports this.

bagand96

michaels said:

bagand96 said:

Most airlines will only let you book 6 legs on one ticket so you would have to arrange your own domestic flights if you wanted to do more. 

The Multi-City legs don't have to be continuous though, you can leave a gap in them. So for example you could book LHR-JFK-SFO-LAX and DEN-ORD-BOS-LHR and fill in the middle LAX-DEN with a separately booked domestic flight. 

Useful to know, thank you.

Problem is the airline sites search option only seem to allow 4 legs even though you can book more so I need a booking engine that supports this.

Kayak and Skyscanner allow you to search for 6 legs. (Do be careful with some of the agents that appear in their results though - book via an airline if possible although tmsonetimes the savings may be worth using an OTA) 

BA, Virgin, Delta and United allow 6 legs on their own sites. AA, KLM, Iberia only seem to allow 4. May be worth trying various airlines as they codeshare. 

jimi_man

Also check that it is no extra cost. When I booked my trip the ticket rules stated that up to two transits (Under 24 hours) were allowed for free within the US but after that the cost increased. 

I use Google flights to get a basic idea then ITA Matrix to fine tune. 

michaels

jimi_man said:

Also check that it is no extra cost. When I booked my trip the ticket rules stated that up to two transits (Under 24 hours) were allowed for free within the US but after that the cost increased. 

I use Google flights to get a basic idea then ITA Matrix to fine tune. 

Thank you.  ITA Matrix looks powerful but won't actually link you through to book so how do you actually go about booking a multileg you have put together on there?

martindow

There are some reputable agents like Trailfinders that are often recommended for sorting out complex itineraries that may be worth trying.

jimi_man

michaels said:

jimi_man said:

Also check that it is no extra cost. When I booked my trip the ticket rules stated that up to two transits (Under 24 hours) were allowed for free within the US but after that the cost increased. 

I use Google flights to get a basic idea then ITA Matrix to fine tune. 

Thank you.  ITA Matrix looks powerful but won't actually link you through to book so how do you actually go about booking a multileg you have put together on there?

You need to download Matrix Powertools for it. It then gives you the option to book through the airlines or OTAs. I booked my US trip doing exactly that through AA. Only three legs each way but it is DUB LHR PHL LAS then at the end of the holiday it is PHX JFK LHR BCN, and I could have added extra legs to it quite easily. 

silvercar

michaels said:

jimi_man said:

Also check that it is no extra cost. When I booked my trip the ticket rules stated that up to two transits (Under 24 hours) were allowed for free within the US but after that the cost increased. 

I use Google flights to get a basic idea then ITA Matrix to fine tune. 

Thank you.  ITA Matrix looks powerful but won't actually link you through to book so how do you actually go about booking a multileg you have put together on there?

You get all the details and then phone the airline to book. 

I’m sure you know this, but register all flyers for the airline frequent flyer club to max out the redeemable flying points. For this reason it is better to concentrate on one alliance than have small pools with different groups. We aim for One World flights and credit everything to BA, even when flying American or Qatar. 

jimi_man

silvercar said:

michaels said:

jimi_man said:

Also check that it is no extra cost. When I booked my trip the ticket rules stated that up to two transits (Under 24 hours) were allowed for free within the US but after that the cost increased. 

I use Google flights to get a basic idea then ITA Matrix to fine tune. 

Thank you.  ITA Matrix looks powerful but won't actually link you through to book so how do you actually go about booking a multileg you have put together on there?

You get all the details and then phone the airline to book. 

I’m sure you know this, but register all flyers for the airline frequent flyer club to max out the redeemable flying points. For this reason it is better to concentrate on one alliance than have small pools with different groups. We aim for One World flights and credit everything to BA, even when flying American or Qatar. 

Just a quick comment on this. If you do that then be sure to have the code that ITA Matrix generates as it makes it easier. Also note that some airlines charge for phone bookings (BA for example). If you can prove that what you want can't be done online then they'll usually waive it. 

Personally I'd download the ITA Matrix Powertools and use that to book. It's much easier and having to wait in long phone queues is soul destroying to me, but everyone's different.

If you ticket through AA then whilst the ticket is non-refundable there is the option (it might depend on the ticket) of refunding it to a flight credit with them, if you change your mind after a while, which is pretty good. So bear that in mind if you get different options (often between AA or BA). 

michaels

AA seem to allow slightly larger cabin bags than BA so looking like we will book through them.

Current plan is LHR JFK MIA LAX returning LAX JFK LHR, no night flights which is one of my red lines. Wanted to add Washington DC and New Orleans but fare jumps from 450 to 2k....

Half way through will do SEA to LAS to save a lot of hours of driving but likely on a low cost although again need to look carefully at bag size rules and charges....

Need to work out how to link to BA avios if booked on AA website.