The Savvy Traveller's Secret: Open-Jaw Flights
This travel strategy is known as an 'open-jaw' or 'multi-city' itinerary. Instead of a standard round-trip ticket that takes you from A to B and back to A, you fly into one city and fly home from another. For example, you might fly from Delhi to Rome,
travel through Italy by train, and then fly home from Milan. That gap between Rome and Milan is the 'open jaw' that you cover on your own. This isn't the same as booking two expensive one-way tickets; it's a single, often cost-effective booking that offers immense flexibility. Most major airline websites and travel search engines like Skyscanner or Google Flights have a 'multi-city' option right next to 'round-trip' and 'one-way'.
More Vacation, Less Repetition
The most obvious benefit is saving time. You eliminate the need to backtrack, which can often eat up an entire day of your precious holiday. Instead of spending your last afternoon on a train back to your starting point, you could be exploring a new neighbourhood or enjoying a final leisurely meal. This allows you to plan a more logical, linear journey. You are always moving forward, letting you see more of a country or region without the stress and expense of retracing your steps. This is especially useful for large regions like Europe or coast-to-coast trips in the USA, where backtracking is both time-consuming and costly.
Does It Actually Save Money?
This is the big question, and the answer is: it depends, but often, yes. Booking a multi-city itinerary is frequently cheaper than booking two separate international one-way flights. Airlines often price international one-way tickets at a premium, whereas a multi-city booking is priced more like a round trip. While it might sometimes be slightly more expensive than the cheapest possible round-trip fare, you have to factor in the money you save by not buying that internal train ticket or flight back to your original arrival city. The key is to compare. Always price out your desired route as a multi-city trip and compare it against a standard round trip plus the cost of backtracking.
How to Book Your Multi-City Adventure
Booking is simpler than you might think. On most flight search websites, instead of selecting 'Round-trip', choose the 'Multi-city' or 'Multi-destination' option. You'll then see fields to enter each leg of your journey. For a simple open-jaw trip, you'll just need two fields. For example: Flight 1: Mumbai (BOM) to Paris (CDG) on your chosen date. Flight 2: Rome (FCO) to Mumbai (BOM) on your return date. The search engine will then bundle these into a single itinerary and price. Using a powerful flight comparison tool can also show you combinations from different airlines, which can sometimes offer better prices or schedules.
Perfect Itineraries for Indian Travellers
This strategy is perfect for popular trips from India. For a classic European tour, consider flying into London and home from Paris, taking the Eurostar train in between. Or, for a deeper dive, fly into Rome and home from Amsterdam, covering Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands by rail. For a Southeast Asian adventure, you could fly from Kolkata to Bangkok and return from Singapore. Planning a US trip? Fly into New York and home from Los Angeles to experience both coasts without a long, expensive domestic return flight. For a trip to Japan, flying into Tokyo and out of Osaka is another classic time and money-saving route.
Things to Keep in Mind
While powerful, this strategy requires a bit more planning. You need to figure out your overland travel between your arrival and departure cities in advance. Also, if you're renting a car, check for one-way drop-off fees, which can sometimes be high. Baggage rules may also be more complex if your flights are with different carriers, so it's important to check the allowances for each leg of your journey. However, these are minor logistical hurdles that are easily overcome with a little bit of research, and the payoff in terms of a more efficient and enjoyable trip is almost always worth it.
