I need some advice on Topic.
I want to do this
San Francisco to London
London to Ireland
Ireland to London
London to Barcelona (maybe Ireland to Barcelona instead)
Barcelona to Athens
Athens to Abu Dhabi (UAE)
Abu Dhabi to Cairo
Cairo to London
London to San Francisco
Probably no one airline provides for this, but what's a way to do this efficiently?
If London is just a change point in the beginning to get to Ireland, then look for a flight from SFO to Ireland
Your flights should look like this:
San Francisco to Dublin
Dublin to Barcelona
Barcelona to Athens
Athens to Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi to Cairo
Cairo to London
London to San Francisco
Check out search engines like kayak.com, skyscanner.com, and dohop.com to see what airlines serve those routes and what fares they are offering. Then go to those airlines websites to see if you can do better or if the airline site will at least match the price. And then read the rules very carefully on discounted airlines. Don't assume anything.
And if you're talking next month, you'd better get a move on it.
On the flight over, you could use London as a change of plane place for Ireland because getting a roundtrip on one airline from San Francisco to London would be cheaper than two one-ways on different airlines.
After that, buy individual flights.
If you are firm on your dates, I would look for a good round trip deal to London from San Francisco first (if you're really set on returning to London before heading home). Then I'd look for budget flights between the rest, as independent, one-way flights.
Another option would be to book an "open jaw" round trip from San Francisco to London, Cairo to San Francisco. Look for "multi city" options on your booking engine. Then you could book separate, one way flights between London-Ireland, Ireland-Barcelona, etc.
I'd like to return to London for a few days. On the way in, I will only use it to get to Ireland. Of course, I could consider SF to Dublin, then to Barcelona.
What's a good travel engine? I think I need to get off them after playing with BA, UA and AA this morning. Fares on them didn't seem all that low despite this seems like a time when they should drop. I guess Tuesday is the next possible date for a drop. My start date is Sept 17 and return is Oct. 10.
I could hold off on travel beyond Athens until I get to Athens. I understand from a few year old RS DVD that Athens is the hot spot discount air travel center of the world. One can get well discounted tickets there that apply quickly. Don't know if that's still true, or what the risk would be to schedule from there to Abu Dhabi, back to Cairo, and then home or home via London. I may post separately for whether Athens is still holds the "title".
Yep, I'm trying to get this done by tomorrow. This plan has been shifting under my feet too long. I think I've gotten all involved squared away.
I always figured that a round trip in the loop was a money saver, but maybe single routes and open jaws can bring some savings.
I was surprised on Brit Air that a r/t from SFO to London to the start and end date was something like ...
Well, that's weird. I had signed up for web access, and was offered $250 off. I priced a few things, and went away for a few hours. Now that doesn't occur. I just talked to BA and they have no idea.
Well, off to kayak and I'll see if I can work a r/t to London from SF there, and then take a side trip to Dublin via some other airline. After that, I guess it's simple one way routes, and may be open jaws.
If this doesn't work, I'll head for AAA on Monday. Sometimes they are surprisingly fair in their air reservations.
Wayne's: "I always figured that a round trip in the loop was a money saver, but maybe single routes and open jaws can bring some savings."
The apples to apples cost comparison between round trip and open jaw should include both the time and the cost savings of avoiding the back-tracking (with open jaw).
