Alright, let’s talk about booking flights, specifically when you want to actually spend some decent time during a stopover, not just dash through the airport. I learned this the hard way a while back trying to get from Europe to Down Under and wanting a proper break in Asia on the way.
My first instinct? Just hit up the airline websites directly. Big mistake. Most of them just showed me the quickest possible connections. Trying to tell their system “Hey, I actually want to hang out in Singapore for two days” felt impossible. They just weren’t built for that. If they did show a long stopover option, the price usually shot through the roof. Super annoying.
Then I tried the usual big flight search engines. They were a bit better, showing options with stopovers, yeah. But controlling the length of that stopover? Still fiddly. You’d find what looked like a good deal, click through fifty screens, only to find the stopover was like, 4 hours overnight. Not exactly the city break I had in mind. Wasted a lot of time clicking back and forth.
Figuring Out the “Multi-City” Trick
So, I started digging around, you know, asking friends who travel a lot, poking around forums. The key thing I stumbled upon was the “multi-city” search function. Honestly, it sounds simple, but it was a game-changer for me. Instead of searching London to Sydney round trip, I started treating it like separate flights:
- Flight 1: London to Singapore (on my desired date)
- Flight 2: Singapore to Sydney (a few days later)
- Flight 3: Sydney back to London (whenever I needed to return)
Suddenly, I had control. I could dictate exactly how long I wanted that stopover in Singapore to be. Most of the big flight comparison sites actually have this multi-city or multi-stop option, it’s just not the default search, so you have to actively look for it. Took me ages to realize it was right there!
My Process Now
So, what do I actually do now when I need a long stopover? It’s pretty straightforward once you know how.
I mostly rely on those big flight search websites, the ones everyone knows. I immediately look for the “multi-city” or “multiple destinations” link, usually right next to the “round trip” and “one way” options. Then I just punch in each leg of my journey with the specific dates.
It takes a bit more effort, sure. You have to manually enter each segment: A to B on date X, then B to C on date Y, then C back to A on date Z. Sometimes I play around with the stopover city too. Maybe flying via Bangkok is way cheaper than Singapore on those dates? The multi-city tool lets me compare these scenarios easily.
I also found that one particular search engine, the really popular one with the map feature, is quite good for this. Its multi-city input is clean, and seeing the price estimates change as you adjust dates is handy. It gives me a good starting point for airlines and costs.
There’s also this super powerful, kind of old-school tool the serious flight geeks use. It looks like something from the dark ages, all text-based, but it lets you specify crazy details – exact flight numbers, connection times, specific airline alliances. I tried it once or twice, got totally lost in the options. It’s powerful for finding really specific or complex fares, but honestly, it’s overkill for most trips and you can’t book through it directly anyway. You find the fare code then have to figure out how to book it elsewhere. Too much hassle for me most times.
So, my go-to is still the multi-city function on the main comparison sites. I find the itinerary I want there, then sometimes I quickly check the airline’s own website just to see if booking direct is cheaper (rarely, but worth a look). It’s not about finding one magic tool, but more about knowing how to use the standard tools in a slightly different way. It turns booking a complex trip with a nice long stopover from a headache into something totally manageable. And getting that mini-vacation within a vacation? Definitely worth the extra few clicks.
