Multi city flights with one flight in business class, the other in coach?

Some times it helps to pick up the phone and talk to a real person. I know from experience, that United keeps these phone numbers top secret, but if you belong to their frequent flyer program, you can find a phone number with a little diligent research on their website for ff members and they might be able to help you. Delta and American may be just as difficult, but I have no experience with needing to contact them. Other carriers like Swiss or Lufthansa are easy to get a hold of and welcome your call.

Try booking by schedule instead of price and you should be able to get that flexibility. Or, the telephone solution as suggested above.

I agree with contacting the reservation office of the airline you are interested in directly. The numbers generally aren't all that top secret since they actually want you to fly on them. Look for the "contact" tab on the airlines website. This might be one of those times when using a travel agent might give you a little greater convenience as well.

I've done that. My experience is that you need to book it in person, not online. And the price was no different for me anyway.

try booking the flights, then go directly to the airline' webpage and when you pick your seats, try for an upgrade.

A warning about trying for an upgrade - in my last several trips I have tried to upgrade the transatlantic portion with miles and $$ and have been skunked every time. I guess we lost out to more elite travelers. This trip I used ff miles to book the flights, and it was easy to book business one way and economy on the return.

Good luck!

Brdcollie,

I have noticed that Hipmunk slips economy levels on flights that start out business class. In fact, the practice became so prevalent that I rarely use them any more. You might get lucky. Often the short parts are economy on all discount sites. Good luck.

Have you tried booking directly on an airline's site? I know AA lets you book different classes.

Just to update this question - I finally had to call Delta directly. Most other airline sites I checked allowed on-lining booking of individual flight segments in various classes/upgrades, but after several failed attempts on Delta's site I resorted to talking with a human. The wait time was actually fairly short to get through to a real person. After explaining the situation the agent waived the $25 fee for booking via phone and assisted me in booking and confirming each segment of the flight separately. The agent told me that Delta was "working" on their on-line site and some functions were not working all the time. While Delta's website is a bit cumbersome (aren't they all in one way or another) the agent was friendly and competent.

Good to hear.