Has anyone booked open jaw? Do you have to call the airline to set up? I played around online and it doesn't look cheaper than round-trip but I don't really know what I'm doing.
I am dreaming (again) of flying from Seattle to Warsaw, Poland and then traveling via bus, train, donkey, whatever into Greece and flying back to Seattle out of maybe Athens.
Any tips from you experts out there? TIA.
I fly United and their partners and on their website you choose "multiple destinations" and it allows you to put Seattle to Warsaw, then Athens to Seattle. I expect most airlines have the same options, and sites like Expedia have it as well.
Jill, the advantage is that you can save backtracking. I have not heard that there is a price advantage booking "Multi City", and seem to recall that it cost perhaps a small amount more than round trip.
It shouldn't require a call to set up, though it may prove helpful.
Jill, it's not supposed to "cost less" than round-trip. The savings come both in time and travel expenses back-tracking to the same city where you arrived. It's not uncommon for the price to be half-of each roundtrip - in my experience. It's not a big secret - travel agents have been arranging it for decades. But air fares are not well-behaved financial models. For example (not what you asked about) I've had great luck getting a nearly no-cost connecting flight early on the morning of my arrival, to the non-Hub city where I actually wanted to start the vacation. This has worked well in Germany, for example, because United and Lufthansa are affiliated.
Since the hotel room is never ready at 9AM, why not spend the morning getting where I really want to be.
Thank you all! I never saw the multi-city tab. Duh.
What would I do w/o all you experts? I have been dreaming about quitting my job and just GOING for about 7 years now...SOME DAY....and soon!!!! :)
The vast majority of our trips are open jaw. Why waste time and money backtracking? We generally find that open jaw and round trip are nearly always the same. Sometimes it is cheaper one can be cheaper than the other but that is mostly related to the airports being used or sales. Also consider three and four leg flights that can produced substantial savings.
Open-jaw (multi-city on the website) may cost a little more than a round trip, but it saves you the cost of getting back to the city where you first landed in Europe. (Of course, you may not save money because instead of traveling back to your European gateway you're enjoying another day of vacation wherever your itinerary ends).
From Poland to Greece I'd suggest a budget airline flight (see skyscanner.com) unless you want to visit other places on the way. The land connections down to Greece aren't very easy or quick.
Jill a great fantasy.. made more likely if you can get dual EU citizenship,,since are limited to a 90 day stay at a time the Schengen area( so most of Europe.. but not including UK) .
Backtracking costs money... so while it may appear a round trip ticket is cheaper.. remember to add the money in travel costs of getting back to the point you started at.. for many it is cheaper or at least the same amount of travel costs, to get an open jaw ticket..
You can fly from Warsaw to Athens on Aegian Airlines.
Only Delta flies seasonally to the U.S. from Athens--no other flights are available to the U.S. without going through another gateway European airport.
You may not save money on the open-jaw ticket itself, but you will save time and money by not backtracking.
Open jaw (multi-city flights) might cost more or less than a round trip - it depends completely on which cities.
As an example, a flight into Frankfurt and home from Rome would likely cost more than a round trip to Frankfurt and less than a round trip to Rome. It depends on where you're flying, what time of year, where you're flying from, etc. and always on supply and demand. Good deals are had on flights where the airline has seats they need to sell.
I too have had multi-city flights cost less than a round-trip ticket, but that isn't always the case. It IS supposed to cost less than two one-way tickets.
You also need to seriously consider how you will get to Greece. About the only practical way is to fly. It may make sense to include that in your multi-city ticket (you can add several legs) or you might be better off taking a budget airline. And as noted by others, your return trip from Athens almost for sure will include a change elsewhere in Europe (such as Frankfort).
