wingsfan

Hi - I continue to have trouble booking "MRs" for two reasons; mostly, have trouble on ITA when I type "city: :UA", and usually get a message like: "We found multiple cities or airports that match "ORD: :UA UA UA" with a bunch of weird cities. I've also tried with "UAL" and then get "we did not find any city or airport...". I've read all the directions and examples posted at FT about ITA but something's not working. Also, when I just do a basic search on ITA with my two main cities, I can usually get up to one connection (even if I say I'm open to multiple) but then often have trouble finding the routing at United's site. So I'm pretty frustrated. Was hoping someone could help straighten me out on ITA (and help figure out what I'm doing wrong), and if I can get some help on this routing (even if there are not a lot of good MR options due to tightness of schedule, want to better understand how to book). Any help would be very appreciated! Itinerary I'm looking for is:

July 9 - O'Hare to FLL, PBI (or possibly MIA but not prefereable) - could leave late eve the night before, July 8, if that helps. Can leave anytime on the 9th, and would like to get in by about 10:30p if possible.
July 12 - there's a very early FLL-ORD flight that I'm pretty bound to (6:55a) due to a schedule obligations.

I have found some flights that fit some of the criteria with single connections in DCA, PHL, etc. on the outbound flight in the low $200s, but not sure I'm seeing all the options. Can anyone help? I really have tried to understand ITA as well as possible and just not getting everything. Would like to book at United site for the bonus miles but it's not easy to find the cheap multi-city fares there. Thanks for any help.

aaronma

1) The proper search parameter is "ORD:: UA UA UA", not "ORD: :UA UA UA"

2) Try this for fun ($217) --

Chicago, IL to Fort Lauderdale, FL: 1830 miles 8 hrs 54 min

United Airlines Flight UA2074 on a Boeing 737 (jet) in coach class
(operated by US Airways as Flight US1417)
Departs Chicago, IL (ORD) Fri, July 9 12:25p 1 hr 50 min
Arrives Charlotte, NC (CLT) 3:15p
Layover in Charlotte 50 min
United Airlines Flight UA2007 on an Airbus A321 (jet) in coach class
(operated by US Airways as Flight US208)
Departs Charlotte, NC (CLT) Fri, July 9 4:05p 1 hr 14 min
Arrives Washington, DC (DCA) 5:19p
Layover in Washington 2 hrs 31 min
United Airlines Flight UA2899 on a Boeing 737 (jet) in coach class
(operated by US Airways as Flight US547)
Departs Washington, DC (DCA) Fri, July 9 7:50p 2 hrs 29 min
Arrives Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) 10:19p

Fort Lauderdale, FL to Chicago, IL: 1183 miles 3 hrs 10 min

United Airlines Flight UA109 on an Airbus A320 (jet) in coach class
(movie)
Departs Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL) Mon, July 12 6:55a 3 hrs 10 min
Arrives Chicago, IL (ORD)


You could have cheaper runs if you wanted to land around midnight... But you have some time to kill in DC! Hop on the metro and grab lunch in the city!

Also, this isn't quite technically an MR, as you're not flying solely to earn miles... But mileage maximizing is twice as nice

wingsfan

Aaronma - thanks very much - the colons were probably the problem I was having with the search string at ITA - I'll try that again - thanks. Yeah, not really a MR but mileage maximizing - I'm getting my wife used to non-direct flights; soon I'll be able to convince her why I need to go on full-fledged MRs. Thanks for spending the time finding something - I'll probably nab that route you found.

Thanks,
Mike