I want to find the cheapest flight options between two cities but I'm not able to transit through some countries and I know at least a couple of airlines have an option through a particular third city.
But I don't know which, if any, flight search engines can search one specific but non-direct route.
Is there a way to do this?
(I'm looking for a general method but if you need an example, I'd be going from Beijing to Mexico via Vancouver. I specifically cannot go via any US airport.)
When you search a route on google flights there is a dropdown labeled "connecting airports". This shows all the connecting airports google has found and lets you select/deselect them. There is also a link next to the airport name that lets you select only that airport if you wish.
Unfortunately it doesn't tell you which country each airport is in, so you have to look that up for yourself if you are trying to avoid the US.
I went through the list ticking any that didn't sound like they were in the US and it seems to reveal the route you suggest along with a number of options via Europe.
You can do this by using ita Matrix.
After filling in the "Departing from" and "Destination" fields, you can click on "Advanced controls".
Then you can fill in the three letter airport-codes separated with commas for the outbound and return flights:
(in this example we would go through Amsterdam or Paris for the outbound flight and Doha or Basel for the inbound flight.)
You can btw. also exclude airports by writing ~SFO for example.
Sadly, you can't book through ita flight matrix, but this Website has you covered: Gingertravelguru
Have fun searching for flights.
