My friends from Hamburg want to come to US. They want to find affordable way to visit us in Philly and hubby's friends in LA. Splitting a couple is not an option as of yet. Any ideas, help please.

Time is depends on price of the trip, it doesn't really matter - also it could be 1 to 3 weeks.

Maybe fly Hamburg to LA with a stopover in Philly? That might be cheaper than two roundtrip tickets.

If you go to all of the major airline comparison websites you can check on options under multiple cities. Also - they should check in Germany - since you can often get multi-stop flight packages for the US for cheaper prices in europe.

WOW! Stopover? never crossed my mind...
Can stopover be more then just a few hours? Can stopover mean few days stop?
Is this cheaper to get to LA first? or Philly? I am going to plug in few numbers. What is good site for stopover search?
Thanks you

Off-season round trips may be cheaper than open jaw tickets. So it might be worthwhile for them to get a round trip to Philly and a RT from Philly to LA. We found that Southwest has the cheapest flights from SF to Philly. They may have the same to LA, and in this case RT is irrelevant.

Unfortunately, the OP has already said (on another thread) that Southwest isn't a good idea.

There is no way these folks can use a foreign flag carrier for the domestic portion of the trip but since Continental has service N/S Hamburg to EWR a stopover using them might work.

I think I need a lesson in stopover and open jaw...what are those and how do you search for it?
I would like more info on 'Continental has service N/S Hamburg to EWR a stopover using them might work' - what does N/S Hamburg to EWR?

Thanks



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Ziana,

I did a random 2-week, open-jaw, itinerary on Expedia.com in what I thought might be the cheapest month (Dec.) and found this with only one stop each way (Frankfurk coming and London Departing)

$701.31 avg/person ($1,402.62 total for two people) This round trip price includes all taxes/fees.


6:00 am Depart Hamburg (HAM)
Arrive Philadelphia (PHL) 4:20 pm Sat 9-Dec
Duration: 16hr 20mn Lufthansa 1/426
Connect in Frankfurt (Frankfurt Intl.)

5:02 pm Depart Los Angeles (LAX)
Arrive Hamburg (HAM) 5:45 pm +1 day Sat 23-Dec
Duration: 15hr 43mn
Lufthansa flight #s 9343 / 4793
Connect in London (LHR)

I guess your friends should know that is 559 Euro/person total. Sounds less for some reason

I agree that a lay-over in PHL on a HAM-LAX ticket is likely to produce the best prices.

A stop-over (or lay-over) can indeed last for a few days. I have done this before.

An open-jaw option usually works if one chooses to fly into one airport, travel to another destination by other means than airtavel on that specific carrier and then departs from that other destination on the way home. Thus if you think of the segments as lines, you get a triangle with one side missing and therefore looking like an open jaw.
I am not sure how an open-jaw would work in this case, as PHL is enroute to LAX on the outward segment and also returning from LAX to Europe. And the segment of LAX to Philly would most probably be too long for other means than airtravel.

I have added some information on your thread lodged on the European board specifying the exact address of a TA in Hamburg which usually manages to produce custom-tailored travel solutions for reasonable prices for me.

You both are priceless, thanks.

I nee to find that place on Expedia where you plug in all this you posted, bardo...I saw it ages ago, thanks so much....

It's in flights, click on "multiple destinations"