How Can I Book a Flight That Lands in One City and Departs from Another?

Dear Jessica,

How can I book a flight that lands in one city and departs from another?

—A.R.

Dear A.R.,

The type of flight you’re asking about is commonly referred to as open-jaw itinerary. Open-jaw flights depart from city A and land in city B, and depart from city C and land in city A. However, it is possible to book an open-jaw itinerary that departs from city A, lands in city B, and departs from city B and lands in city C.

Some travelers assume that to book this type of itinerary, you must book several one-way flights. But, unless you’re flying a low-cost carrier, booking a series of one-way flights may be considerably more expensive than booking a round-trip flight.

Therefore, airlines and online travel agencies have options in their search engines that allow you to book open-jaw flights. The search option is not easy to find on some sites, however.

To book an open-jaw itinerary, go to an airline’s or online travel agency’s website and click on the link reading “Multi-city,” “Advanced Search,” or “More Search Options” near the reservations form on the homepage. You will then see a page that will allow you to enter more than one city pair and date range.

Before booking on your preferred airline’s website, it’s still important to shop around. Unfortunately, most of the fare-compare sites do not allow multi-city searches. It will take more effort to search several airlines’ and online travel agencies’ websites to book an open-jaw itinerary than it would to book a round-trip flight.

Remember that you can always save money by flying midweek, at off-peak times (early in the morning or late at night), or by including a Saturday-night stay in your itinerary.

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Last updated: August 17, 2015

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