Flight search engines

[750XL]

Hi all, this may sound a bit odd but but hear me out :ok:

In a few months I'll be needing to book a fairly last minute one way flight back home. The usual search engines (Skyscanner, Kayak etc) all bring up the usual culprits with 1 or 2 stop connections. However, I'm wondering if there are any search engines which bring up more interesting and unusual routes containing 3+ flights. Obviously this is going to work out a bit more than a 1 stop in AUH/DXB etc but I don't mind paying a bit more for extra flights/airlines :ok:

Any help and suggestions would be appreciated

[ExXB]

From where to where ?

These days, with the death of interlining you will, at best, get an on-line connection. BA to BA; EK to EK; UA to UA etc. This usually means one connection at the airlines home base. Through a 'code-share' you might be able to extend that by one addition connection. For example Geneva to London (BA metal but coded AA; London to Dallas (AA metal/code); Dallas to Austin (AA metal/code)

Pretty well all other connecting flights will be at a sum-of-sector fares, which could get quite expensive.

Have a look at https://matrix.itasoftware.com (ITA software) from Google. There you can build an itinerary, using whichever airlines/sectors you can find, and it will give you a price. It does take some getting used to, so I recommend you only go there when you've got an hour or two to waste.

Good luck!

[750XL]

Thanks for the reply, I've checked out Matrix a bit but couldn't find anything better than what Kayak etc was throwing up.

It'll be from Eastern or Southern Africa to the UK :)

[PAXboy]

I do like the combination of a few months = Last Minute ... :p

One other is Hipmunk. They have many ways of sorting the flights by duration etc but one of their sort factors is 'Agony' and that's novel.

If you are say) in ELS or PLZ, you can start by going first South West or North West or East ...

[750XL]

I do like the combination of a few months = Last Minute ... :p

:}

Thanks for the tip

[SeenItAll]

I, too, have used Hipmunk -- but if sorting on Agony, always from least to most. You might be the first person to sort from most to least -- multiple long connections, awful times of the day. The mind bogles.

[Hartington]

If you find an agent who knows how to work his GDS he will be able to filter flights in various ways. For a start he can filter it so that all the flights are on the same alliance. He can filter by specific points (more than one).

He should then be able to simply book the flights and provide a fare for that combination.

Despite the appearance of alliances interline agreements still exist. Even though they are in different alliances it is still possible to book an itinerary using (e.g.) United, Air France and British Airways. The fares that combine to make up an interline journey can be eye watering but it's worth checking. I say "fares" but somewhere there is a fare from (say) Nairobi to London that has a mileage attached to it (known as the maximum permitted mileage). Then you work out a different mileage for each leg of your journey and add them together. If the sum of the individual mileages is less than the maximum permitted you pay that fare from Nairobi to London and get the stopovers (which can be for days or weeks) "free".

There's more ways to price an air ticket than the internet knows about!

[mixture]

Have a look at https://matrix.itasoftware.com from Google.

What he said.

ITA is the mutt's nuts.

Don't waste your time on any other website !

[750XL]

Thanks for the advice again :ok: Will play around with Matrix and see what I can get.

Whilst we're on the subject of it, any recommendations for agents if I was to find a flight on Matrix?

[mixture]

Will play around with Matrix and see what I can get.

Its got a bit of a learning curve, so don't expect instant results, but its a very useful tool to wrap your head around and learn how to use. I've literally saved tens of thousands over the years ... I would be seriously unhappy if Google ever dared pulled the plug on it (their own Google Flights tool is pants in comparison).

Whilst we're on the subject of it, any recommendations for agents if I was to find a flight on Matrix?

Depends what you're booking.

On many occasions I've had success going direct to the airlines (albeit via phone reservation rather than trying to make their website algorithms behave). Just spoon feed the agent the dates and times and see if they can match your target price.

Otherwise it generally depends on complexity and how much you're spending. Ebookers can be good. You could also try one of the consolidators who have Retail desks, such as Bravo, Skylord, Trayvale. There's also Lee's Travel.

Bear in mind due to the wonders of ticket pricing you can't always get an exact match for an ITA fare, but you should always be (at worst) within a couple of hundred either side of what you were after. But most of the time you can get reasonably close.

[Booglebox]

This Matrix site is new to me, but doesn't seem to be very good. When I change my search to be more flexible (wider range of airports and dates), it gets more expensive!
My search is admittedly rather complex - Europe > States > Europe > States in a few months' time, with a different location in Europe each time (total of 3 "destinations") and at least 3 usable airports at each destination.
So far trusty SkyScanner is thrashing Matrix which is about 6-8 times more expensive. SkyScanner is a pain though because I have to do about 30 searches for one Matrix search so I'm keen to switch to Matrix. Am I using it wrong?...

[mixture]

When I change my search to be more flexible (wider range of airports and dates), it gets more expensive!

Which bit of the words "learning curve" do you not understand ? :cool:

I do what you were trying to do the whole time (search a group of options) and it works very well.

Practice makes perfect.

My search is admittedly rather complex - Europe > States > Europe > States

That's not too complex, the final Europe->States leg is probably where you're struggling as a Matrix newbie. But without details what you've got in mind, its hard to know for sure.

[750XL]

I'm also finding Kayak is thrashing anything Matrix can throw up, often at a cheaper price and more flexible routing - and I've been playing with Matrix for a few days now.

[mixture]

I'm also finding Kayak is thrashing anything Matrix can throw up, often at a cheaper price and more flexible routing - and I've been playing with Matrix for a few days now.


Well I've tried Kayak a few times and found it generally lousy. I guess it depends what routes you are searching for.

Kayak actually has ITA as its backend, so you should be able to match what you see on Kayak to ITA, if not be able to beat it because you won't be relying on Kayak's generic flight search implementation.

[ConstantFlyer]

Try Alternative Airlines - Book Online for Cheap Flights (http://www.alternativeairlines.com)