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I'm looking at getting from London to Bangkok in October, and would like to do a stopover on the way. Currently a direct flight with Air Berlin (well with refuelling stops) gets me to Bangkok for around 350 quid, but it doesn't go via Vancouver.

If I pick individual flights to Vancouver, and then to Bangkok, it takes the price up over 650 quid. For obvious reasons, I'd want a better solution, if it's available.

As such I'm going through airline listings, but am struggling to find airlines that include both the trans-Atlantic routes AND the Asia-Pacific routes from Vancouver. Any suggestions?

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  • Generally you get a stopover in the country where the airline lives, so I would suggest checking the Canadian airlines, possibly US carriers as well. But in my head it doesn't seem like a likely route. Hope you find it! Commented Sep 6, 2011 at 19:22
  • You mention flying 'to' Vancouver, but where from? Commented Sep 7, 2011 at 8:54
  • It's in the headline (London) but I'll add it to the description, thanks!
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Sep 7, 2011 at 9:16
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    If anyone is going to do it, I'd suggest it'd be Air Canada - you'll want an airline who has their home base at the point you want to stop at
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Sep 7, 2011 at 9:41
  • Ah, I misunderstood your question. Never mind. Commented Sep 7, 2011 at 14:27

1 Answer 1

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London to Bangkok is apparently 5,930 miles / 9,544 km. London to Vancouver is 4,726 miles / 7,606 km, and Vancouver to Bangkok is 7,346 miles / 11,823 km. So, by going via Canada you're adding an extra 6142 miles, i.e you're basically doubling your flight distance!

As a general rule, you can add a stopover into a journey without much affecting the cost at a point where the airline you're flying has a key hub point. (Sometimes it'll actually make it slightly cheaper, depends on exact airlines and loadings). This is because if that airline wants your business, they need to fly you through their hub, and offering you a free stopover is a way to tempt you onto a less convenient flight.

So, you'll often find that a direct flight from Paris to a key NA city on Air France will be a similar price to a BA flight via London, and BA will give you a free stopover. Equally, a London to key NA city direct on BA will be a similar price to KLM/Delta via Amsterdam, even though you start off flying the wrong way!

However, you want to double your distance travelled, so you may well struggle to find an airline that'll find it worth competing with the direct market. If you're going to find one, it will be someone who has a key hub (ideally their home hub) at the point you want to stop at, i.e. Vancouver. If anyone'll do that, I'd guess at Air Canada, but I wouldn't hold my breath...

Another thing you could always look at is finding near-ish by airports, and try to get someone to let you stopover there, then fly the little missing bit. So, you could also look at someone who hubs through somewhere in the western USA, and see what they'd do.

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  • Presumably that's because the LON to BKK maths being done is going east, while I want to go west. I suspect if you measure the distance west it's closer to the combo amount. THanks tho, still investigating :)
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Sep 7, 2011 at 15:16
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    It would be, yes, but no-one would fly that way! As every mile flown has a cost in jet fuel and staff time, and tickets are in a fair part based on those two, the distance flown will affect the price
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Sep 7, 2011 at 18:07
  • Yes, but I'm hoping I can find an exception - Air Canada or someone who wants to return to their home base inbetween. Hey, a guy can hope ;)
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Sep 8, 2011 at 0:25
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    Here's a single map that illustrates why this answer is correct: gcmap.com/mapui?P=lhr-bkk;lhr-yvr-bkk Commented Mar 23, 2015 at 11:08

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