Please Help FAST... Booking Mult Dest Flights for Visa Interview

[Looking4Wife]

My wife's visa interview is upcoming, and I plan to meet her in Barranquilla, and then fly with her to Bogota.  After that, we will be leaving from Bogota to return to the USA.

FYI:   

Depart from USA = 3/30 or 3/31. 
Interview = 4/10/2007.
Return to USA with wife = 4/12. 

Problem is...

1.  It has always been a no-brainer to book my previous trips, since they were just from Point A to Point B, and only me flying.  Expedia.com has always given me the lowest prices in comparison to other sites.

NOTE:  The one time I tried to use a travel agent, AAA, they quoted me about double what I could find on Expedia.

2.  I used the "Multiple Destination" feature of Expedia to run scenarios for the visa interview trip. 

A.  I entered my flight dates.

B.  I entered my wife's travel dates (same as mine without the initial flight from USA of course).

C.  The travel time/best price scenarios for her don't necessarily match mine.

D.  Since the ticket price is "bundled" (i.e. 2-3 destinations under one price), it seems each scenario has to be dissected, and the airlines have to be called to verify pricing for EACH SCENARIO!

Am I overlooking something obvious here... or is it really this hard?

Thanks in advance...

[sean126]

You very well might have to spend a few hundred more if you can't find what your looking for. 

You may have to book a rt ticket for yourself from the US to Baq.  Then book a separate rt from Baq for you and her to Bogota. 
It  sucks that you need to go to Bogota, because if she forgot a piece of paper or something that she needed for the embassy then her visa could get delayed and she'd have to go back....like a friend of mine did recently.

to get the times that you want to coincide with her flight times....you may have to go with one of two senerios.
senerio one---you will probably want to price a rt for yourself from the US to Bogota and a ticket for her from Bogota to the US.  Just meet her in Bogota.

senerio two...a rt for yourself from the US to Baq.  A ticket for her from Baq to the US.  2 rt tickets for the both of you from Baq to Bogota. and leave from Baq instead of Bogota to the US.

The three I've had the most success with are Expedia, cheap tickets and travelocity.  With travelocity being sometimes ALOT higher.   Be aware, and I don't know why it happens but...if you check alot online before you actually buy the tickets, it could make the price go up if you buy them the same day or shortly after you've checked a zillion times. 

[daytrader]

Use www.bookingbuddy.com  -- it is just a portal but you can instantly get quotes from most every travel portal without re-entering your itinerary.  It is a timesaver and I've always come out ahead in time and dinero using them - especially for split tickets, such as yours.

-- you need 3 sets of tickets --

USA to BAQ  -- one way
Bogota to USA -- one way  -- check Avianca/American directly (bookingbuddy has American's link as a search option) or do multiple cities via bookingbuddy
BAQ to Bogota  -- check Avianca at their website - this will be a domestic flight.  99% of USA travel websites need flights to originate in the USA.  You can get around this by just contacting the Colombian airlines directly.  I checked Avanica and the cost is 186000 pesos for your flight on 4/10. 

Another way is to do a round trip (for you ) from BAQ and a one way from BAQ for your girl; then you have to pay to fly from Bogota to BAQ for both of you.  No doubt more expensive but an alternative if you find an incredible deal via www.bookingbuddy.com 

My first choice from the web portal is Orvitz, but you can easily click all the other links and bookingbuddy will quickly find your best deals without ever re-entering your itinerary again. 

(A negative nabob has previously said that bookingbuddy upcharges their commission on a ticket, but as with most everything this negative nabob writes on this forum, I doubt it.  )

PM me if you have further questions. 

DayTrader

[papi]

consider flying to miami and spending a night there...maybe using FF miles. Then book your flights from miami. Call Avianca, often they are cheaper over the phone than online. Call well before midnight to save yourself some aggravation

[Parlay Rey]

consider flying to miami and spending a night there...maybe using FF miles. Then book your flights from miami. Call Avianca, often they are cheaper over the phone than online. Call well before midnight to save yourself some aggravation

That sounds like a plan.