If you’re like me, and you love to travel as much as humanly possible, then multi-city flights might be perfect for you. As booking multi-city flights allows for multiple flight destinations, you can visit and experience different cities or countries all in one trip. They add flexibility, so you can create stopovers, combine numerous journeys, or even fly in and out of different airports. In this article, I’ll explain what multi-city flights are, how precisely they work, and how you can book them on KAYAK.
1. What is a multi-city flight?
A multi-city flight is a type of flight itinerary that includes more than one destination. For example, you can book a multi-city flight from Manchester to Paris, then from Paris to Madrid, and then from Madrid back to Manchester. This way, you can visit more than one destination in just one trip, without having to book separate tickets for each of the legs of your journey. And you’re all set for a multi-city adventure.
Some of the main advantages of multi-city flights are:
- Potentially saving money on your plane ticket by combining multiple destinations into one journey.
- Saving on baggage fees by checking your luggage only once.
- Gaining time by avoiding unnecessary stopovers or connections.
- Exploring more destinations by adding extra legs to your trip.
- Customise your trip according to your preferences and interests.
- Mixing and matching different airlines and airports to find great deals.
2. How to book multi-city flights on KAYAK?
Booking a multi-city flight is simple with KAYAK’s Flight Search tool that lets you select “Multi-city” instead of “Round-trip” or “One-way”. This is where you can add your extra legs to your itinerary. Follow this step-by-step guide on how to book a multi-city flight:
You can fine-tune the results by adding and subtracting legs as you start planning your itinerary. Sort the results based on the time of takeoff or landing to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Next, it’s highly advisable to carefully review the booking details, as there are more legs to double-check.
3. What are the best destinations for a multi-city trip?
Multi-city trips are fit for most destinations (not all) – so toggling with various options makes total sense. One ticket, multiple destinations. It’s easy and just the way I love to see the world. Here is an example itinerary for a trip with multiple stops:
4. Is there a secret trick to the best way to book multi-city trips?
For me, a travel writer, it’s always about saving time. If I’m avoiding unnecessary stopovers or connections, it means I have more time to explore my destination. If I spend all my time having to book multiple tickets and checking in multiple times, I am not spending my limited hours venturing out and meeting new people. Of course, I also love to add extra legs to my trip.
I’ve added stopovers in Africa, like Nairobi en route to Johannesburg, in order to get some time in Kenya. Many airlines actually encourage this, too – with special offers and what they call “free stopovers” in places like Iceland and Portugal. And let’s face it, being able to mix and match also means I am actively curating and customising my travel schedules to suit my interests.
How was this guide created?
I have been on the road, roughly 200 days every year, for the better part of two decades. As you can imagine I am constantly taking multiple flights and puzzling out the best way to travel. What I like to do is spend time online finding interesting routes to fly – who knew you could get to Paris via Morocco! And then I often crowdsource and ask friends what they are doing with their itineraries, as I am always learning something new. It isn’t a perfect science, of course, but I love to be able to keep things a little more flexible.
Some of our favourite flight routes
- Cheap flights to Dublin
- Cheap flights to Los Angeles
- Cheap flights to Tokyo
- Cheap flights to Málaga
- Cheap flights to Paris
Multi-city flights FAQ
In fact, you can save money on flights by combining multiple destinations into one ticket. Sometimes, especially during the high season or between the most popular routes, booking a multi-city flight can be cheaper than booking multiple one-way tickets. And you can cut down on time spent looking for one-way tickets all over the globe.
Most airlines release their flight schedules around 11 months before the flight dates. With international travel, there are some rules worth following: summer months are very busy and thus demand goes up, and you might not be able to get the exact flights you are after. A good rule of thumb is to start looking roughly 6 months before your specific travel dates, and not wait much later than 3 months before you’re planning to take to the skies.
This is a type of multi-city flight. It means that you fly into one city and out of another. For example, you can book an open-jaw flight from London to Berlin, then take the train onwards to Prague, and finally fly back to London from there. This way, you can explore all these places in a way that you would like, without having to necessarily backtrack or return to your original destination.
Absolutely you can. It’s a simple multi-city flight, or call it an “open-jaw flight.” And KAYAK has the perfect search tool to help with these. Try KAYAK’s Flight Search and select multi-city instead of return or one-way.
