Multi-city flights: how to plan a journey of several flights
Rome in, Berlin out, home from somewhere else. A multi-city search prices the whole route at once, instead of stitching together one-way tickets.
3 min read ·
What a multi-city journey is
A return ticket flies you out and back between the same two places. A multi-city journey is a chain of flights you choose yourself: out to one city, on to another, home from a third. In the flight search it is the "Multi-city" trip type.
It is searched as one journey, so every result is the whole route at one price, rather than a set of one-way tickets you have to line up and pay for separately.
Building the route
Each row is one flight: where from, where to and on which day.
- Up to six flights. A journey has at least two and at most six.
- In flying order. Each flight leaves on the same day as the one before it or later. A date that has already passed is refused.
- Joined up by default. A new flight starts where the previous one lands. If you cross between cities by train or car, choose "fly from somewhere else" for that row.
- Home at the end. "Add the way home" adds a last flight back to where you started.
The search checks these rules before it runs, and says which row needs attention — a flight that lands where it takes off, a row with no date, or dates out of order.
Reading the results
Each result is one journey. Its flights are listed as Flight 1, Flight 2 and so on, each with its own times, stops and airlines, and the price at the top is the total for everyone travelling.
Filters work one flight at a time: choose which flight you are filtering, then set its stops, times or airlines. That is how you can ask for a direct first flight without limiting the others.
Everything in how to read a flight applies to each flight in the chain: local times, "+1" for a later day, and the fare's refund and change terms.
Things worth checking
- Airports, not only cities. A city with two airports can put one flight at each. When you pick a city, check the airport code on every row.
- Time between flights. Two flights on one ticket are one journey; two flights on separate days leave you a night to plan. Book the hotel for each stop for the nights you actually land.
- Bags on every flight. The allowance comes with the fare, and airlines' limits differ. See checked bags on a flight.
- Hotels separately. A multi-city search is flights only. Search each city's hotels on its own dates once the flights are settled.
Questions that keep coming up
How many flights can a multi-city journey have?
From two to six. Each one leaves on the same day as the flight before it or later.
Can I add hotels to a multi-city search?
No. A multi-city journey is searched as flights only. Hotels are booked one city at a time, in their own search.
Does each flight have to start where the previous one landed?
By default it does, but you can choose to fly from somewhere else — for example when you travel overland between two cities.
Is the price per flight or for the whole journey?
For the whole journey and everyone on it, with the price per traveller beside it when more than one person travels.
On Rahlio a multi-city search takes up to six flights in flying order, checks the route before it searches, and shows each result as one journey with one price for everyone.