configuring multicity flight tickets

I would have thought that booking a multi-city ticket would let you do that, but since it doesn't appear to be doing that, I would book NYC-DUB and CDG-NYC, then book a cheap flight from DUB-Paris separately.

Thanks I would have thought so, too. I tried the idea you suggest but it comes out costing much more than doing it the other way. The only problem is, doing it the other way seems to mean compromising on the arrival or departure time for one leg, meaning less time in Paris and unwanted time either in Dublin, or in a stop-over city where I don't want to be despite availability of direct flight exactly when I want it. Grrrr! Thanks again.

hi, you can try expedia and use the multiple destinations. if i understand what you want to do, you may have to choose a flight on each leg. of course once you do, it makes no since to offer any others on that leg you just choosen. So you will have to do that for each leg. worse case, do each leg of your journey. also, im not sure if you checked the prices of doing it as one ticket, but when i did so, it was waaaay more expensive than doing it in 3 legs. happy trails.

You are basically trying to build in a stopover on a through ticket, and that always costs more. If you don't like the times and flights they offer on a single multi-city ticket, I think you will have to book separately as suggested above and pay the extra. I recently tried to help somone get from Wasshington DC to South Africa with enough time in London to actually rest and enjoy (like 24 to 36 hours). The offered flilght had a 12-hour stop in London which was not enough to ge get some rest and too much to hang out at th eairport. But trying to change it to more time added a great deal of cost. Who know why.

If you have a Visa Signature card, you can call or access through the website a personal concierge. Tell them the flights you want and they have a travel agent that can book them for you. It cost me $10 because the travel agent was not a Visa employee. The concierge service is free and if they can't make it work they won't charge anything. that was the only way I could make my Kansas City to Dublin, Dublin to London, London to KC flights work. I couldn't recreate them anywhere on the web.

I may be missing something but it appears on the surface that you are booking a three leg flight. That should be easy to do. Are you trying to do all of this on one ticket? If so, then you need to using airlines that talk to each other. Some do not. Second, who are you trying to use for the second leg? Which search engine are you using for the tickets? Give us more detailed info some we can respond better.

My thought in my first post was to book the NYC-DUB, CDG-NYC as one multi-city ticket, then book a budget flight between DUB and Paris. You might find some other carrier whose schedule comes close to the original middle leg that you wanted, with less expense than adding the middle leg separately.

I agree with Nancy on checking out the possibility of a cheaper flight between Dublin and Paris, although I can't imagine why you can't do a multi-city. When I tried that (using ITA Matrix Airfare Search), there were 2 From-To option lines with a link below them to "add another flight." I did that and came up with many options on each leg of the journey, but the best price for all of them together was $1065 on Air Lingus (although you have to fly back through Dublin for the Paris to NYC leg). Perhaps it's because you have very specific flights in mind. The price seemed pretty cheap to me, and for the test I put a week between each flight. Note that ITA is one of those sites where you cannot book, but must then book with the airline(s)of your choosing. I tried a test mixing airlines that have non-stop flights and the same few showed up on these routes. In my own experience, one time the itinerary I wanted was Tucson-Philly-Lisbon, Lisbon-Florence, Florence-Stuttgart and Basel-Philly-Tucson. I priced that and it was about $3500 per person using US carriers or their partners. Then I priced the following and it was HALF the price, i.e. $3450 for both of us: multi-city Tucson (via Phoenix)-Philly-Lisbon, Basel (via Frankfurt)-Philly-Tucson (via Phoenix). Then separately Lisbon-Madrid-Florence and Florence-Stuttgart. Please note that those internal European flights had to be booked individually: Lisbon-Madrid, Madrid-Florence, Florence-Stuttgart on 3 different small European airlines, easyJet, Iberia and airberlin respectively.

Thanks to everyone. I think I have tried everything suggested, to no avail. When I try to do a ticket from NY-Dublin and from Paris-NY, the price is so close to the price of adding in the Dublin - Paris leg that there's no benefit (no savings). I've looked at the cheap flights from Dublin to Paris but in the end they're not so cheap, and we would probably have to check one bag which would add a lot. The "not-cheap" airlines would not charge us for our bags. I am meeting people in Dublin who are sharing a rented car with us, which is why it makes sense to either take the same flight they are on, or one other I found that lands at the same time. Those airlines are United and American. It doesn't matter to me what airline I use to get from Dublin to Paris, nor the specific time my goal is to not have to leave before dawn (there are 5 a.m. flights but I'm dependent on someone else to get me to airport) and to have a decent part of the day in Paris, rather than, for example, waste time having to change planes in Frankfurt and not arriving in Paris until 5 or 6 p.m. There's an Aer Lingus flight that leaves Dublin at around 10:30 a.m. and arrives in Paris at around 1:00 which would be ideal. The time of the flight home from Paris to Ny is the most flexible part. So I guess the question is, do United and American "talk" to Aer Lingus? Booking the legs separately seems to increase the cost by a fortune. Thanks again for all the thoughts and help.

hi, the only thing i can recommend is to look at booking and trying different combinations of flights. Also look at different hubs to fly in/out of. Like London or Amsterdam or?. you maybe able to find a way cheaper flight in/out of. Usually a puddle jumper will be cheap to fly to Dublin. but you will have to do some homework. what i found from my trip last year is that booking one way flights can be expensive, but i could change depending on where your fly in or out of or the day of week you choose. since youre meeting people in Ireland i would say your stuck with what you can get. i would just use whats cheapest to do just go and not worry about it, or change your plans which i doubt you will do. happy trails.