How can I stay in the city of a connecting flight for a few days?
Apr 21, 2015, 2:09 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1
How can I stay in the city of a connecting flight for a few days?
I've never flown before, so please excuse my ignorance here. I'm booking a flight to China, and the flight basically goes from Detroit to San Francisco, then from San Francisco to China.
Is there some way I can stay in San Francisco for ~2/3 days, then take the connecting flight from San Francisco to China while only paying for the flight that takes me from Detroit to China?
Is there some way I can stay in San Francisco for ~2/3 days, then take the connecting flight from San Francisco to China while only paying for the flight that takes me from Detroit to China?
Apr 21, 2015, 4:41 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: DCA
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Posts: 2,273
How can I stay in the city of a connecting flight for a few days?
You're asking for a free stopover in SFO. Unlikely that an airline will price that for free.
Apr 21, 2015, 6:37 am
#3
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 2,189
sannmann is right, no airline is going to give you this stopover for free.
Given that you plan to stay for a few days at SFO, you can look for separate tickets and see how that prices out. Do not count on the total amount being the same, though.
Given that you plan to stay for a few days at SFO, you can look for separate tickets and see how that prices out. Do not count on the total amount being the same, though.
Apr 21, 2015, 8:23 am
#4
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
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Posts: 7,326
How can I stay in the city of a connecting flight for a few days?
If you use a site like Kayak.com, you can price out a "multi-city" itinerary. As others said, though, this will likely cost more than a roundtrip without a stopover
Apr 21, 2015, 9:22 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: DTW
Programs: Dirt Status w/ All
Posts: 5,040
Often a stopover of 24 hours will be allowed on an international itinerary, that does not seem to fit what you want. Those can be difficult to force anyway since the airline computers assume you want short, not overnight, layovers.
You need to do the legwork to get the best price. My preferred site for this is matrix.itasoftware.com. Google Flights is also good.
1. Price out a round trip DTW-China that stops in SFO and contains a < 24 hour connection. Note that if there are irregular operations the airline is under no obligation to route you through SFO if you go this way.
2. Price out a multi-city DTW-SFO, SFO-China, and China-DTW routing for the dates you want to fly.
3. Price out one way flights DTW-SFO, SFO-China, and China-DTW. Also check Southwest.com for the DTW-SFO leg as they do not participate in most consolidated booking engines.
4. Price out round trips of DTW-SFO-DTW and SFO-China-SFO including Southwest again on the domestic leg.
There are more possibilities, but that gives you the general idea.
You need to do the legwork to get the best price. My preferred site for this is matrix.itasoftware.com. Google Flights is also good.
1. Price out a round trip DTW-China that stops in SFO and contains a < 24 hour connection. Note that if there are irregular operations the airline is under no obligation to route you through SFO if you go this way.
2. Price out a multi-city DTW-SFO, SFO-China, and China-DTW routing for the dates you want to fly.
3. Price out one way flights DTW-SFO, SFO-China, and China-DTW. Also check Southwest.com for the DTW-SFO leg as they do not participate in most consolidated booking engines.
4. Price out round trips of DTW-SFO-DTW and SFO-China-SFO including Southwest again on the domestic leg.
There are more possibilities, but that gives you the general idea.
Apr 21, 2015, 9:56 am
#6
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,326
Often a stopover of 24 hours will be allowed on an international itinerary, that does not seem to fit what you want. Those can be difficult to force anyway since the airline computers assume you want short, not overnight, layovers.
You need to do the legwork to get the best price. My preferred site for this is matrix.itasoftware.com. Google Flights is also good.
1. Price out a round trip DTW-China that stops in SFO and contains a < 24 hour connection. Note that if there are irregular operations the airline is under no obligation to route you through SFO if you go this way.
2. Price out a multi-city DTW-SFO, SFO-China, and China-DTW routing for the dates you want to fly.
3. Price out one way flights DTW-SFO, SFO-China, and China-DTW. Also check Southwest.com for the DTW-SFO leg as they do not participate in most consolidated booking engines.
4. Price out round trips of DTW-SFO-DTW and SFO-China-SFO including Southwest again on the domestic leg.
There are more possibilities, but that gives you the general idea.
You need to do the legwork to get the best price. My preferred site for this is matrix.itasoftware.com. Google Flights is also good.
1. Price out a round trip DTW-China that stops in SFO and contains a < 24 hour connection. Note that if there are irregular operations the airline is under no obligation to route you through SFO if you go this way.
2. Price out a multi-city DTW-SFO, SFO-China, and China-DTW routing for the dates you want to fly.
3. Price out one way flights DTW-SFO, SFO-China, and China-DTW. Also check Southwest.com for the DTW-SFO leg as they do not participate in most consolidated booking engines.
4. Price out round trips of DTW-SFO-DTW and SFO-China-SFO including Southwest again on the domestic leg.
There are more possibilities, but that gives you the general idea.
Apr 21, 2015, 10:52 am
#7
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Central California
Programs: Former UA Premex, now dirt
Posts: 6,531
As mentioned above, you are most likely going to have to price this as a "multi-city" itinerary. If you have a preference in airlines, most will have that option on their web-site. If you don't care, then a site like Kayak.com or Google Flights will also offer that option. When entering each leg, just be sure to set the dates to allow the time you want for that layover.
I agree that the ITA matrix might be a bit much for a first-timer. I use it a lot but it is not very user friendly. It also seems a lot slower and more prone to database hang-ups since being acquired by Google.
I agree that the ITA matrix might be a bit much for a first-timer. I use it a lot but it is not very user friendly. It also seems a lot slower and more prone to database hang-ups since being acquired by Google.
Apr 21, 2015, 2:03 pm
#9
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bangkok or San Francisco
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Posts: 11,886
I've never flown before, so please excuse my ignorance here. I'm booking a flight to China, and the flight basically goes from Detroit to San Francisco, then from San Francisco to China.
Is there some way I can stay in San Francisco for ~2/3 days, then take the connecting flight from San Francisco to China while only paying for the flight that takes me from Detroit to China?
Is there some way I can stay in San Francisco for ~2/3 days, then take the connecting flight from San Francisco to China while only paying for the flight that takes me from Detroit to China?
Apr 21, 2015, 2:34 pm
#10
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: DTW
Programs: Dirt Status w/ All
Posts: 5,040
It has the same basic fields to fill out as Expedia or Orbitz and none of that annoying +hotel, +car, sign up for our credit card, etc. stuff. Yes you can do advanced routing, but that stuff is collapsed by default.