When I check most airlines they seem to want you to return from the same city in which you began your trip. Even when I find a site that lets me use two different cities the cost seem astronomical. Is it better to go through a travel agent? Do they have connections with better rates? I don't like to use sites such as Expedia for fear of hidden restrictions or something else going wrong. Is it better to wait until closer to the trip (June 30th) to book flights or do we run the risk of not getting a flight. Is there a great deal of cost differential if you take a flight with one stop as compared to a non-stop flight?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23297 posts
I am not sure of the your questions or what you are asking. A little scrattered. See if I can keep it simple. Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz, etc. sites are all fine to use. There are no hidden restrictions. In fact that is generally where I start. And going directly to the airline is often best. But use them to get a general idea of what is available at what prices. Open jaw, multi-cities tickets are the same price, sometimes cheaper, and never astronomical unless you are doing something really strange. Most of our tickets are always open jaw. Last year it was $200/person cheaper into Rome and home from Zurich than a RT to Rome. ALL sites, including airlines, will allow multi-city ion. It is very common and frequently done. Travel agents have access to the same rates you do which is why they charge a fee. Why fly from New York and not Florida? The longer you wait the less ion you will have and maybe higher prices. June is peak so prices will not be cheap. You might see a price around April BUT don't count on it. Air fares are not predictable. There can be a couple hundred dollars difference between direct flights and flights with one or two stops just because people prefer and will pay for direct flights.
Posted by
San Diego, CA
638 posts
Not sure where you were looking and found that the fares on your arrival city and departing city (open jaw) but that is normally not the case. One thing to consider too for example, say you arrive in London, you travel around for a couple of weeks and the last city you visit is Prague, now if you don't have an open jaw ticket you'll have to return to London to come home, that there is not only another flight or train you'll have to pay for which would probably eat any savings you had for the round trip in and out of London but you'll also be wasting at least one or two days of your travel time by flying back to London whereas you could have spent it in Prague or somewhere else.
Posted by
Andover, MA, USA
559 posts
Charlene,
You may want to have a look at www.kayak.com because it lists MANY different flights and it has different filters, depending on time of day or number of stops you want, etc. On the 'front' page where you input where/when you want to travel. Look slightly above that for a button that says "Multi-city" That will allow you to put in multiple legs of your trip. I hope this helps.