Multi-city flights often appear more expensive in 2026 because they frequently bypass the "round-trip" discount that airlines use to incentivize passengers to stay within their network. When you book a standard round trip (A to B and back to A), the airline can better predict its load factors and "lock you in" for both legs of the journey. In a multi-city itinerary (A to B, then C to A), the search engine often calculates the price as two separate one-way fares, which are historically priced higher because they are favored by business travelers who value flexibility over cost. Additionally, multi-city routes may involve "Open Jaws," which can incur higher taxes and airport fees depending on the regions involved. There is also the "Hub Factor": if your multi-city route requires using two different airlines that don't have an interline agreement, you lose the "through-fare" pricing benefits. However, in 2026, some smart booking tools can actually find "hidden city" or "circle trip" fares that make multi-city travel comparable in price, but for most standard search engines, the lack of a "return leg" symmetry signals a higher-demand, lower-convenience booking that the airline prices accordingly.