"Open Jaw"
Hi- I understand the concept of flying "open jaw" - into one city and out of another. What are the downsides/restrictions?
kathy
freeburg, illinois usa 11/15/09
Send Private Message
I sure can't think of any! The benefit is that you don't have to waste a day of vacation traveling back to your original arrival city.
Absolutely none. I cannot think of one but maybe Steve can find a quote from someone who doesn't like open jaws. Many times we have found open jaw cheaper than RT.
I agree with Frank on all counts!
I will add that sometimes it seems like it would be less expensive to fly roundtrip in and out of the same city but factoring in the cost of train/budget airline travel plus lost time to backtrack makes up for a little additional cost of flying "open jaw."
I always try to fly open jaw. I usually fly using airline miles and luckily when using miles, I haven't had any trouble flying open jaw. Open jaw helps to maximize your valuable sight-seeing time.
I also try to fly "open jaw" and can't think of a single downside or restriction. I flew round trip to Dublin when I went to Ireland in April because I got such an incredibly cheap ticket, but I would have preferred to fly into Shannon and out of Dublin (or visa versa). Since that wasn't an option we had to make the round trip work for us. My other trips to Europe and for my upcoming one (first time using miles) we have flown into one country and out of another.
You may have a drop charge if you're renting a car.
I fly open jaw every year and I never found a downside and sometimes it is cheaper than a roundtrip fare. The major benefit is that using this strategy you can maximize your travel time without backtracking.
Buon viaggio,
RB
Only downside is if there is a great fare R/T to London or Frankfurt, but usually its about the same for a multi-city trip.
I sorry, Steve, but that comment made absolutely no sense.
No downside except as another poster stated a drop fee for rental car. We always fly open jaw & get a rental car but feel the drop charge is worth it as you don't have to waste time returning to your original destination.
I think what Steve is saying is that sometimes there is a good sale that makes a round-trip flight cheaper than open-jaw, even with the back-tracking involved.
It also depends on how far apart your destinations are. We found it was cheaper to book R/T Seattle-Rome and take the Eurostar train back down from Florence, than it would've been to do open jaw in that instance. (We ended up changing the flight to fly out of Florence due to a scheduling issue, saving us the cost of the train, so it worked out even better!)
Keep in mind that some airlines don't allow you to search an open-jaw trip on their website. I got a great price through Swiss Air flying open-jaw into Rome and out of Venice, but I had to call the airlines to get their prices.
Biggest downside for me are frequent flyer restrictions which don't allow open jaw itineraries. But, flights within Europe are dirt cheap so I just add an additional leg on my return flight to the city my round trip ticket is for.
The big travel sites like Travelocity and Expedia will allow you to search multi-city flights.
Frequent fliers may need to call their airline to book multi-city using miles. Some can't do that online. But US, United, Delta and American all allow multi-city itineraries using miles if you call in to reserve.