columbuspatrick

Hi, I have read stickies and forums and I'm doing my best to follow the rules (I'm a relative newbie, feel free to move this or delete it if it's in the wrong place).

I plan to go to travel to visit India, and then volunteer at a hospital in west Africa this winter.

I tried doing Multi-city search on ITA and the price was coming up over $5000, but if I buy 1 way tickets it comes up to a total of about $2000 (I wonder if I was making some kind of mistake with the multi city option on ITA).

So my current Itinerary I am thinking about booking is UA: CMH-IAD-BOM $805, then two weeks later Ethiopian Airlines: BOM-ADD-BKO-DKR for $405
and then 5 months later I will just buy a return ticket from DKR to CMH.

My question is, I'd like to stop for a few days in each layover city to explore the city, in IAD, ADD, BKO but I don't know how to try to search or book a ticket that has a 3 day stopover in each transfer city? Will it likely be the same price as the normal layover?

And why is multi-city coming up as more than twice as expensive than one way tickets?

I don't want anyone to do work for me in finding flights, but if you can suggest where I can go to read more about what I am trying to do, or give me any general advice it'd be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Patrick.

JerryFF

If you don't know how to do it yourself, you should consider either calling the airline or calling a good international travel agent. Of course, you will likely have to pay a fee in either case, but it may save you more money on fares than what you are paying for the fee.

yuel

I am thinking that the rules usually allow for 24hr stopover when I have done searches, so when its more then 24hrs it breaks it up to one way travels cause the price to spike, but maybe im not doing a correct search also.

JerryFF

Yes, on an international itinerary, stopovers are usually limited to 24 hours. However, in certain markets there are certain through fares that allow an intermediate stopover for more than 24 hours for a small additional fee. However, there is no general rule than can be applied and every route has to be individually checked to see if there is a fare that allows a stopover of more than 24 hours. I doubt if any of the short haul segments listed by the OP would qualify for such a long stopover, however.

Often1

This is why OP needs to pay a professional.

What people here are referring to as "24-hour stopovers" are not stopovers. They are connections. That is a horse of a different color.

What OP is asking about is stopping at a specific city for several days. Once you hit 24 hours, that is a "stopover" and the fare rules are usually different.

It is also the case that if you book JFK-DEL with a 10-hour connection at LHR and there is a weather problem, you can be rebooked onto any other JFK-DEL connections which may exist, perhaps through other cities. A stopover means that you are traveling to the intermediate point. That is, if your flight to LHR is cancelled, you will be rebooked to LHR.

All of this suggests that it is well worth knowing and understanding exactly what you are doing and then doing the careful research to implement what you want. OR, pay someone who knows what they are doing. A good travel agent used by friends and colleagues who has a good reason to keep you happy is well worth the fee they will charge. And, they may save you far more than their fee anyway.

columbuspatrick

It seems I probably do need a professional. And yes, a stopover is what I am talking about, for more than 24 hours.

I guess I should get a travel agent who specializes in international travel? Does it have to be in my city?(columbus ohio) or can I find an online one? Does anyone have any recommendation or should I just google around and take what I can find?

barneyg_

I don't know exactly what you were doing but I checked in multi-city ITA for CMH-BOM around 1/12, then BOM-DKR around 1/25, then DKR-CMH around 5/25, and got $1,846.

You can check the fare rules on ITA to see whether your fare allows stopovers. In my example the T fare on UA doesn't allow stopovers (in IAD or elsewhere). BOM-ADD-BKO-DKR on Ethiopian allows a stopover in ADD for $100 (but not an extra one in BKO). DKR-CMH is an Air Canada fare that allows a free stopover in some European cities (but not Paris, which is the easiest way back from Dakar).

My hunch is that you got $5,000 because you tried to build in stopovers everywhere in your itinerary, and ITA needed to pick some more expensive fare classes to make your stopovers work.

columbuspatrick

Thanks Barneyg_.

I searched using your dates, and I got comparable prices to what you found. I wasn't putting in stopovers in my initial search. I think the price difference was due to different dates. I was looking for something like 12/22 CMH-BOM, and 1/5 BOM-DKR, and 4/21 DKR-CMH, but like I said, if I adjust the dates slightly, I can find fares around $2000.

For me a stopover in ADD for $100 is probably worth it, and I'm willing to just have 1 stopover if the others are expensive, and a free stopover would be great, regardless of where it is.

There are so many options and I am really flexible, I think I do need a good international travel agent. Anyone have recommendations? Thanks!

MSPeconomist

You do NOT want an online travel agent. You need a real live person who will offer possibilities and answer questions.

Before purchasing the first two one way tickets, be sure to check pricing for the last longhaul one way. Such tickets can be shockingly expensive, more than twice a RT on the same route.