Jamie Davis Smith
- I spent years booking round-trip tickets in and out of the same airport whenever I'd travel. But I often visit multiple places on trips, so backtracking to the same airport is a waste of time.Now, I swear by booking "open-jaw" tickets, where I fly into one airport and back home from another.
For years, I always booked round-trip flights into and out of the same city. It's easy, and I'd always heard that purchasing these traditional tickets was the best way to get a good deal.
The more I traveled, though, the more I questioned this approach.
Since I prefer visiting multiple places on my trips — it's how I've been able to see 90 countries — I'd spend a lot of time backtracking just to catch my flight home. Other times, I didn't go exactly where I wanted just so I could avoid having to travel too far back to an airport.
During one European trip, I finally hit my breaking point. I'd flown into Vienna and visited several nearby countries before arriving at my final destination, Prague.
However, as usual, my flight home was at the same airport where I'd arrived. I had to cut my stint in the Czech Republic short and spend more than half a day of my trip traveling back to Austria so I could get to the airport on time.
I would've rather spent that time doing almost anything other than retracing my steps and having a stressful day of travel. I knew there had to be a better way.
After discovering how easy it is to book 'open-jaw' tickets, I haven't looked back
Jamie Davis Smith
After the Vienna debacle, I looked into what it would take to fly into one city and out of another for my next trip. Turns out, it's not that hard — some travelers even refer to these "open-jaw" tickets.
By booking multi-city or two separate one-way tickets, I discovered that I could usually create my own itinerary for about the same price, or less, than flying into and out of the same place.
Though this isn't always the case, paying a little more is still worth the trade-off for me to have more time to explore. Plus, any extra airfare costs are usually offset, in part, by not having to backtrack to where I landed.
For example, on my trip into and out of Vienna, I wouldn't have had to purchase an additional train ticket to get back to the city from Prague if I'd flown out of an airport in the Czech Republic instead.
Now, I always consider flying into one city and out of another when I travel.
This style of travel isn't for everyone, but my trips are much better now
Jamie Davis Smith
Flying into and out of the same city makes sense for people who prefer to stay in one place and create a "home base" for exploring the surrounding area. However, that's not the way I like to travel.
I almost always prefer to explore as many places as possible, which sometimes means I wind up very far from where I started.
Once I started booking "open-jaw" flights, I realized how many more options were available to me and how much easier my travels could be.
On a recent trip to Europe, I flew into Italy and out of Poland. The airports I flew into and out of are over 1,000 miles apart, and my trip wouldn't have been feasible if I'd needed to backtrack to Rome to fly home.
Similarly, for a trip to the Middle East, I flew into Jordan and out of Egypt. I'm planning to fly into Tokyo and out of Osaka on my upcoming trip to Japan.
All in all, my travels are easier and more pleasant now that I regularly fly into one city and out of another. Instead of worrying about how to backtrack, I can focus on moving forward and covering even more ground.
