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Let's say I want to fly from Amsterdam, Netherlands to: New Orleans (US), Havana (Cuba) and Quito (Ecuador). And then back to Amsterdam.

Are there any chance to combine these flights to get better prices, or do I need to buy one by one?

I guess there is no single company covering these destinations, so the answer should be no, but better to make sure before to buy.

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    I think the only real answer is "try it both ways and see". Even though there may be no single airline that actually flies to all these places, codeshares can make it possible for you to book the entire itinerary through one airline anyway. You may also be able to book it at one price through an online travel agent. Aug 5, 2019 at 19:36
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    ok. However, how do I book multiple flights? Companies websites usually offer one-way or roundtrip options. Or are there websites to organize multiple flight trips?
    – aneuryzm
    Aug 5, 2019 at 19:52
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    Most flight search engines have a multi-city option. Even KLM has this option, (click on «Meerdere bestemmingen» on the home page) so your preferred airline probably also does. Aug 5, 2019 at 20:11
  • I see thanks. However KLM multilpe options quickly fails because KLM doesn't cover all these routes. And I believe most of search engines, don't look for discounts combining the flights, but just search the flights individually. So, the multi-city options seems to me just a sequence of one-way flights searches.
    – aneuryzm
    Aug 6, 2019 at 7:06

2 Answers 2

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You can definitely combine several flights on a single ticket, even if each leg is on a plane operated by a different airlines or the route is more complex than a round trip between two cities. It can be advantageous but it is by no means guaranteed to be cheaper and if you're somewhat flexible with the dates, the number of potential combinations increase very fast, making an exhaustive search all but impossible. Note that the airlines in question must have some sort of agreement (there are different types of agreements in the airline industry), you cannot book any arbitrary combination of flights on a single ticket.

In practice, you can look for this using a flight search engine with a “multi-city flight” option. Once you found a combination you like, you can sometimes book it directly on an airline website (again, using the “multi-city” option) or will have to go through an (online) travel agent.

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There are various strategies to do this. Chances are that neither a single itinerary nor four one ways will be the best option but a combination of two or three itineraries.

You can easily book "open jaws" for the long haul. I.e. AMS->MSY + UIO->AMS as a single ticket that will cost about about $1000 (in September). Sometimes throwing in extra short leg in the target region is almost free and sometimes it's ridiculously expensive. You need to try a few combinations.

It helps if the destinations are served by the same airlines (or close partners) and if there are direct connections between the stops. Your sequence is quite tricky, so this is not going to be easy.

At a rough guess I would book this as an open jaw and two one ways. $1000 for the two long hauls, $150 for MSY->HAV and maybe $500 for HAV->UIO. If you can change the sequence this may get cheaper.

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