How to save on airfares with open-jaw flights
When purchasing plane tickets, most people tend to automatically purchase them as round trip. However, have you considered flying to more than one destination on the same trip? You should! It can help you save on airfares.
What is open-jaw
Next time you start planning a vacation, take into consideration a open-jaw. No… we’re not talking about a facial expression. An open-jaw is when you switch your destination city on your initial ticket reservation.
For example, traveling from Los Angeles to Brussels. Normally, your booking would be from Los Angeles - Brussels and returning from Brussels to Los Angeles. While searching for round trip flights to Brussels the results come back with the lowest fares at $741.
Round Trip on Iberia Airlines
With an open-jaw ticket, your booking would look like this: Los Angeles - Brussels and returning from Paris to Los Angeles.
Open-Jaw on Delta Airlines
When comparing the two options, the open-jaw option comes back with a price difference of $193 less!
Switching your destination city can at times lower some airport fees and other surcharges. Resulting in a win for travelers!
How to book an open-jaw airfare
How can this be accomplished? EASY! When making your next travel plans, look for a different city or cities near your destination.
When browsing for airfares, select “multi-city”. If multi-city is not visible, select “advance search”. Within “advance search” you will find the "multi-city” option.
Now you can select your original destination as your first stop or as your returning city. Try both, prices may be lower than the other.
Option 1 Example:
Los Angeles to Brussels
Paris to Los Angeles
Option 2 Example:
Los Angeles to Paris
Brussels to Los Angeles
Is it Worth it?
You will have to take into consideration that you will have to find a way to get to your departure city, either by a one way train or plane ride. In this case, traveling from Brussels to Paris can be done by an affordable train ride.
One way train ticket from Brussels to Paris
An additional perk of flying with an open-jaw itinerary is that you will be able to visit two cities and/or countries in one trip. That might be with it all on it’s own.
When comparing our initial search result, travelers can save $193. Using this method can help you save hundreds of dollars. Keep it in mind when planning your next trip!
