Trips worth a call
Several stops, one conversation
Flying into one city and home from another, or stringing several stops together, is hard to price in a search box. On a call you can describe the route the way you’d explain it to a friend and have it priced as a whole.
Independent travel assistance, not affiliated with any airline. Calls go to independent partner travel agencies.
What counts as a multi-city trip
- Open-jaw: you fly into one city and home from a different one
- Two or more destinations on the same trip, visited in a set order
- A stopover: a planned stay in a connecting city, usually longer than 24 hours
- A route that mixes airlines because no single airline flies every leg
Priced together or booked separately
A multi-city route can be sold as one ticket or as a string of one-way tickets. Neither is always cheaper, so it’s worth having both priced.
The difference shows when something goes wrong. A single ticket is handled as one trip. With separate tickets, a late flight on one doesn’t oblige the next airline to wait or rebook you, so leave generous gaps between them.
Don’t plan to skip a flight
Many airlines cancel the rest of a ticket when a traveler doesn’t show up for one of its flights. If there’s a leg you might not use, say so on the call and ask how the fare treats it.
Changing one leg can reprice the rest
On a single ticket, moving one flight can mean the whole itinerary gets repriced under the fare’s rules. Ask what a change would cost before you buy.
When the airline makes the change instead, the refund rules count more than a shift in time. Under 14 CFR 260.2, a flight is also significantly changed when it leaves from or lands at a different airport, or picks up extra connections. If you decline that change, 14 CFR 260.6 entitles you to your money back.
Bags on a route with more than one airline
If the ticket starts or ends in the US, the bag rules in force on the first flight follow you through every leg of that ticket (14 CFR 399.87). Split the trip into separate tickets and each one brings its own allowance, which can mean paying for the same bag again partway through.
Have these ready for a multi-city call
- Every city in order, with the dates you want to be in each
- Which dates are fixed and which can move
- Whether you want one ticket or are open to separate ones
- Any nights you plan to spend in a connecting city
- Names as they appear on each traveler’s ID
Also worth a call: international flights and family and group flights. Before you pay, read what goes into a phone quote.
Multi-city questions
Is a multi-city ticket more expensive than two round trips?
Sometimes less, sometimes more. It depends on the route and the fares on sale that day, which is why it helps to have both priced side by side.
Can I add a stop after booking?
Usually only by changing the ticket, and that follows the fare’s change rules. Bring up any possible extra stops before you pay.
Does the 24-hour rule cover multi-city tickets?
The route’s shape doesn’t matter. It covers reservations with airlines under Part 259 made at least a week before departure (14 CFR 259.5). Ask how the agency handles a cancellation in that window.
Sources
Rule text from the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, checked on . Rules and their enforcement change, so read the current text before relying on it.
- 14 CFR 399.87: One set of bag allowances and fees for the whole itinerary
- 14 CFR 260.2: Definitions (significantly changed flight, prompt refund, delayed bag)
- 14 CFR 260.6: Refunds for cancelled or significantly changed flights
- 14 CFR 259.5: Customer Service Plan (24-hour hold or cancel; refunds in original form of payment)