Booking multi-stop international travel

May 17, 2009 2:43 PM

What is the best way to book a multi-stop series of international flights, preferably with flexibility to modify the itinerary later?

I'm planning to travel this summer to visit a bunch of countries: India, Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, and maybe Israel, Italy, or Morocco. I've figured out the travel dates for the first half of the trip, but the second half (including my return date) is still TBD. Unfortunately, parts of the itinerary may not be finalized for a while, but I don't want this to result in a bad price on the first half the trip. How can I get a good deal on airfares but still have flexibility to add or modify a destination at a later date?

posted by aatreya to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

I would be very surprised if you managed to make this trip both affordable and flexible while traveling by air. In general, I've found in traveling, you can pick two of the following:
-affordability
-flexibility
-minimizing travel time

Unless you get very lucky (ie really favorable exchange rates in which case why worry?). If you want to stay under a budget and make last minute plans, plan on taking buses or 24-hour ferry rides.
posted by crinklebat at 3:08 PM on May 17

One thing to consider is a “round the world pass” for flexibility. From that page it looks like you could travel around the world for 2600€ for the smallest distance. You only need to book your first flight in advance. It depends if you're interested in traveling to America (North or South) as well.
posted by spaghettification at 5:01 PM on May 17

Some more options for round-the-world and regional passes: OneWorld and StarAlliance. You might also like the travel tips on Chris Guillebeau's site.
posted by PatoPata at 5:24 PM on May 17

You need to ask your question and read discussions at Flyertalk.com. Those people are the experts on the subject area of your question.
posted by conrad53 at 6:20 PM on May 17

If you have lots of 'miles', there can be extra flexibility with booking changes. But only space available...
posted by sammyo at 7:38 PM on May 17

Iberia airlines has very good policies for changing international flight plans at the last minute. You will still have to pay a fee but it is reasonable. They are one of the best airlines I have traveled.
posted by JJ86 at 5:35 AM on May 18

Thank you all! Those round-the-world packages look like a great option. Do you know how they compare to travel agencies like AirTreks or STA Travel, though, in terms of price and flexibility?

Thanks!
posted by aatreya at 8:17 AM on May 18

I'm not trying to sound like a smart-aleck for once, but this is exactly why there are still flesh-and-blood travel agents in this digital world. In my experience booking similar flexible trips, travel agents can get you deals and flexibility that you couldn't get on your own without a lot of time, it's what they do!

So if everyone can call out get a lawyer or get a doctor, I'm going to say get a travel agent!
posted by Pollomacho at 10:09 AM on May 18

Thanks, all. I ended up just picking a return date from Turkey so that I could get an open-jaw fare on the cross-atlantic trip. I'm still in the process of booking one-way tickets around the Mediterranean. I decided not to use any of the round-the-world fares, since my itinerary would have been very expensive to book using those packages.
posted by aatreya at 1:10 PM on June 17