This Fall we'll be traveling from Seattle to Italy by way of Montreal (we have allocated about 5 days for a family wedding), arriving in Rome 5 or 6 days after our initial flight. We'll then spend a couple of weeks (Rome and Siena) and return to Seattle from Milano (we've already booked a non-refiundable hotel there). We've always done open jaws before but not so far withy this added wrinkle of the pre-Europe 5-day stayover in Montreal. Oddly, so far it's been cheaper, often as much as $100, to do the Seattle/Montreal leg as a one-way, and do the separate open jaws as Montreal/Rome-Milano/Seattle. I've heard and read that one-way ticketing is viewed as quite suspicious by various flight security officers (we'll go through Seattle security and one Canada airport security (Vancouver or Toronto). Is there likely to be a hassle over our one-way tickets to Montreal and so should we bite the financial bullet for the more expensive overall air travel with the open jaws being Seattle/Montreal/Rome/bus to Siena and from Siena to MilanoMilano to Seattle, rather than former option (including the one-way leg Seattle/Montreal)?
Posted by
Texan in CA
4415 posts
IMO, the fact that you've actually got R/T tickets with you, and you can explain about the wedding, is enough. They still sell O/W tickets; they expect somebody to be using them...AND you'll be carrying luggage...AND I'm guessing you won't be paying cash for these tickets - all red flags. BUT... Have you tried to book a "Multi-City" ticket (that would be Seattle>Montreal>Rome then Milan>Seattle)?
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17438 posts
I just checked on kayak (I love a challenge) and he's right. Multi-city SeatteMontrealRome, then Milan to Seattle, came out $1960 for reasonabl flights (1 stop in each direction on the way to or from Italy). Open jay Montreal to Rome and Milan to Seattle, $1563 (same constraints). The cost of the one-way Seattle to Montreal was under $400 (the difference betweent the two routes above). But not by much-like $45 each ticket. Is it worth it to fly one-way? I've done that a number of times and only once faced stricter screening. The real red flags are things like paying in cash or no luggage. Even if they do give you a bit of extra scrutiny at security, does that really matter?
Posted by
Texan in CA
4415 posts
Jim, just to make your head hurt even more...be sure to run all of your options AGAIN just before you actually buy the tickets, because airline tickets MAKE NO SENSE!!! That expensive multi-city ticket could - at the moment you're ready to hit 'send' - be the clear winner. But, I'm not holding my breath...