MilesBuzz! - How do I book extra segments?

I occasionally see people posting mileage/segment runs that include many more segments than are necessary to get from city A to city B. I was wondering how does a person actually go about booking these out-of-the-way routes while getting the normal fare? Currently I book all my flights on the airline web sites to get any online booking bonuses, but they (almost) always show the most direct routings. Is there a trick I'm missing or do I need to talk to a real, live human to accomplish this?

I know that if you use the UA Connection on the Web you need to increase the number of "flights displayed" choice which is typically defaulted to 10 (or 15?). You should also look for an option to "display more choices", or "more flights" on other systems. This will keep driving the number of available routings to your destination choice. I'm sure others will have more helpful hints.

Instead of "round trip" you would check "multiple locations" If you are in any city less than 4 hours it does not count as a layover. If you check with a web page like expedia.com you can see the typical non direct routes. Every landing of a flight adds about $5.00 to your airfare.. I just went to LAX from ORD and deliberately went through DFW and was able to take advantage of double miles between ORD and DFW and between DFW and LAX. Hope this helps

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DtG

and if you're traveling internationally, the stopover policy is extended to be less than 24 hrs. last year, i often added a day long stop-over on dl for minimal fees ($10 or less). a couple of times, a one day round-trip thrown in the middle of the itiinerary actually lowered the fares!!! unbelievable!!!

Thanks, Lonman - I'll have to keep that in mind next time I'm flying DL internationally through ATL so that I can visit friends there.

Thanks for the great information! Are there any airlines that any of you have had better luck the booking more circuitous routes? I travel almost every week (unfortunately on multiple airlines since Kansas City isn't a hub for anyone of the majors) and this seems like an obvious tool to increase my status without incurring much monetary cost.

as i said in my post, i have had by far the greatest success with this on delta/sabena/swissair. since the majority of my travel has been to europe, with atlantic excellence providing hubs in at least five cities, it was fairly easy to take advantage of this loophole. i usually did this out of bru, as zrh usually had more limited flighttimes. it worked really well because traveling out of ny, dl/sn/sr had up to three flights through the european hubs, so i could easily take an 11pm flight, arrive around 12 the next afternoon, connect to somewhere else arriving at 3 or 4, and leave at 2 the next day(+2). this could also be done on the earlier flights, but leaving anywhere usually before 7am is a big hassle, especially if you arrived the day before!! i have also had success with this on nw/klm flights stopping over in ams, and some bizarre combo flights on aa/ba (some routes to scandinavia as well as spain price under one universal fare code with an obvious changeover in lhr) however, i think this can easily be done on any european airline. i used to have the advantage of booking the dl/sn itineraries on easysabre, but that is no more. (bye bye atlantic excellence http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif ). if you do this now, you must make sure all flights are on the same airline(as opposed to code share flights/alliance partners). last year, i made a stopover in hannover, germany for the atp tennis championships, and then flew back to bru and onto prg for $4 more than just going straight to prague. this year, coming back from greece via bru, i visited friends in fra overnight, and then back through bru for $30 less than just going straight home.

and your are right about the status element, it's amazing how many additional segment you can pick up this way. i used this so much last fall, i couldn't even entertain doing delta's match and more this year.

in terms of the in the us, american has offered me the greatest opportunity for this. i have taken their flights from europe into ord, and then been able to take a flight back to nyc the next day within 24 hrs. this can also work sometimes with bos or mia(flights to spain). also to south america, this works through mia or dfw, and i'm sure it works to asia through any of those gateways. depending on the market, you may even do this with other carriers. my nyc-eze-scl-eze-nyc itinerary had aa flights from the us but lan chile one way and aerolineas argentina the other way for the same as a regular round trip to scl($550 at the time).

however, i've never been able to stick in another domestic round trip in the middle without it being calculated as an additional trip. that's when the 4 hr rule kicks in. i think most airlines allow you the hub stopover particularly if they don't have an appropriate routing from your home city. for example, ua never lets me do this to europe through ord, but would let me do this through iad. (i guess that's why i don't fly them; iad is NOWHERE near dc). i think this can also work in canada or mexico. but the key thing is play around on a booking program unless you definitely want to stop in a airline's hub city. then you can call the airline direct and book it.

have fun getting two(ehh, maybe 1 1/2) trips for the price of one. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


[This message has been edited by lonman (edited 11-30-1999).]

Being in Phoenix, I've had great luck booking Continental trips with odd routings. Due to the America West and Northwest codeshare routes you can really get a nice, long trip going.

My favorite:

PHX-IAH-ORD-EWR-BOS-Manchester, NH (MHT)
MHT-BOS-IAH-DEN-PHX

or

PHX-EWR-TPA-Key West (EYW)
EYW-MIA-IAH-DEN-PHX

Other good CO segment runs are:
BOS-EWR-DTW-CLE-ATL for $74 oneway.
BOS-CLE-EWR-DCA.
When using the CO web sites Multipple Destination option, for instance, you would request availability BOS-EWR EWR-DTW, DTW-CLE, etc.

Be aware some airlines frown upon people taking multiple-leg flights just for the sake of racking up mileage or segments, though I've yet to see any of 'em crack the whip yet.

Here's an excerpt from Delta's Skymiles program rules (emphasis on original):

Calculation Of Mileage

Mileage will be calculated between the origin and final destination. On nonstop and multiple-stop through-flights, mileage will be credited from origin to destination. On connecting flights which require a change of plane and flight number, credit is given for each segment of the trip. Voluntary plane changes in lieu of nonstop and/or direct flights for the accumulation of additional mileage or segments are not permitted. Delta reserves the right to limit mileage credit for an itinerary to the number of connecting flights actually traveled or the maximum number of segments shown in Delta's published schedule for a connection between any two cities, whichever is less.

But if you can get away with it... go for it! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif



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AlphaSigOU
Causa latet vis est notissima - the cause is hidden, the results are well-known.