Originally Posted by
lowjhg
Anything less than 24 hours is not considered a stopover, just transit. Thus booking that option the 1st sector and the 2nd sector comes under the same fare bucket.
If the difference in duration between the 1st sector and the 2nd sector is greater than 24 hours, then it will be considered a stopover. Given that it is not a transit anymore, and depending on loading for that particular day (either for the 1st sector or the 2nd sector) price may fluctuate that has resulted in the disparity you see there.
Funny that the OP asked this question, I'm looking at the exact same itinerary.
Anyway, what you're saying is that the system recognizes us as wanting a stopover when we search via multi-city? You may be correct... but my gut says something is wrong with that (as I've never seen fares work that way).
Sri Lanka departures via HKG to USA (LAX for example) are less expensive than just HKG to LAX. The same flight leg from HKG - LAX is very expensive. It drops in price (yes in total) if you just add a CMB to HKG leg. Yup, so if you actually add a 5 hour flight the cost of the 2 legs is actually less than just flying one leg (HKG to LAX). Based on this it would appear the website does not recognize stopovers as allowed and something else must be done to get the "stopover" rate. Ideas?
On another note, why would an airline price this (one way mid Jan 2016 departure)?
CMB - HKG - LAX: $640
HKG - LAX: $955
In what universe would it make sense when flying the same leg from HKG - LAX but adding a leg from CMB be hundreds less than just the one leg?