Higher airfare for a stopover
 

Last year, I made 2 trips to Central Europe. From my hometown, this usually involves going through Atlanta and Paris. <BR> <BR>When booking the tickets on Expedia, I noticed that if you put in a Paris layover of more than 24 hours, the fare went up by $100. The official fare rules stated this. <BR> <BR>Well, I'm now starting to plan a trip for next Spring. I definitely want to do a layover in Paris (on the way to Prague). <BR> <BR>Expedia, Travelocity, etc. are all showing about $270 more for the stopover. It's just about the same price as if I booked USA to Paris, and then Paris to Prague separately. <BR> <BR>I pulled up the fare rules, and it says no stopovers are allowed. <BR> <BR>Are there any ways around this ? Europe By Air doesn't really offer anything between these 2 cities. <BR> <BR>Or do I just have to pay $270 more, for the privelege of breaking up the return flight segments ? <BR> <BR>

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Try Air France. You may have better luck because all of the flights stop in Paris.

Also, call the airlines directly and see which is better. Sometimes you may find that the airlines have more up to date info or know something. But book on the web.

When I was investing flights a year ago, I found that you could get an open jaw for no extra charge. What you could do would be land in one city and leave from another with no additionl charge. So, rather than taking your stop in a layover form, can you land in one city but leave from another?

I looked up the open-jaw (fly into Prague, and out of Paris). <BR> <BR>The price is very good. But how to get from Prague to Paris ? I looked up train schedules at raileurope.com. It showed a one-way ticket at $178, and it takes 14 or so hours. <BR> <BR>Does anyone know why the airlines no longer offer a stopover, for $100 extra ? From Atlanta, I checked Air France, BA, Lufthansa, etc. and all the fair rules say "no stopover allowed". <BR>

The strange thing is not that a stopover about $270 ... it's that you were able to find one for $100 last year. A real bargain. <BR> <BR>Free stopovers are largely a thing of the past, or restricted to the high 'full' (or nearly full) priced fares. <BR> <BR>Cheap stopovers are sometimes found as promotional gimmicks. Typically in the off-season, typically for the home city of the airline as this promotes tourism in that city. (e.g. Paris for AF, KLM and Amsterdam, etc.) <BR> <BR>Ed

Try Northwest/KLM and BA. They offer free stopovers at their hubs. Have tried it in London and the U.S., but not further afield in Europe.