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The Art of the Fake Departure: How to See Two Countries on One Flight
An open-jaw flight lets you fly into one city and out of another — and most people have never booked one because the search forms make it look complicated. It isn't. Here's the whole trick.
A few years ago I flew into Lisbon and out of Madrid. I’d never heard the term “open-jaw flight” at that point; I just knew I wanted to start in Portugal and end in Spain, and a one-way back from Lisbon after two weeks felt like an unnecessary backtrack. A friend told me to look at “open-jaw.” I Googled it. I found my booking. I paid roughly the same as a round trip to either city and got both of them.
I have been quietly evangelical about this ever since, mostly because the number of people who don’t know this is a bookable, normal thing is extraordinary.
What an Open-Jaw Flight Actually Is
A standard return flight: London → Barcelona, then Barcelona → London. Same city, both ends.
An open-jaw: London → Lisbon, then Madrid → London. You fly into one city and out of a different one. The gap in the middle — Lisbon to Madrid — you cover however you like: train, bus, internal flight, slow drive. That middle section is your trip.
There are two variants:
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Single open-jaw | Fly into City A, travel overland, fly out of City B | London → Lisbon, overland, Madrid → London |
| Double open-jaw | Fly out of City A to City C, then from City D back to City B | London → Tokyo, overland, Seoul → New York |
| Round the world (RTW) | Multi-stop open-jaw on a single ticket | The full version of this, usually with Star Alliance or Oneworld |
For most people’s purposes, single open-jaw is the relevant one.
When an Open-Jaw Makes Sense
Open-jaw is not always cheaper — the price varies by route and airline. But it earns its keep in specific situations:
Linear trip geography. You want to travel a route, not a loop. Fly into Athens and out of Istanbul; you’d have to backtrack to Athens if you wanted a standard return. With open-jaw you travel the natural direction.
Avoiding internal flights. A return flight into one city with an internal flight to the actual start of your trip is often more expensive and much more complicated than just flying open-jaw.
Covering lots of ground on one long trip. Two weeks in Japan flying into Tokyo and out of Osaka is a natural path. Two weeks in Scandinavia: in Copenhagen, out Oslo.
Price-routing arbitrage. Sometimes the city you want to leave from has cheaper flights home than the city you arrived in. A quick search of the open-jaw option reveals this.
How to Actually Book It
Most flight search engines handle this badly, which is why people don’t know it’s an option. Here’s where it works:
- Google Flights: Set “Multi-city” instead of “Round trip.” Add two legs: outbound (home → City A) and return (City B → home). Price shows total.
- Skyscanner: Has a multi-city option. Same approach.
- Booking direct with airlines: Most airline websites have a “multi-city” booking tab.
- Flight comparison tools (Kayak, Momondo): Multi-city search covers open-jaw.
The search takes about the same time as a regular booking. The result is a single ticket covering both flights.
The Mistake to Avoid
Booking two separate one-way tickets instead of an open-jaw round trip. Sometimes this is cheaper. Often it isn’t. More importantly, a single round-trip open-jaw ticket gives you more protection if something goes wrong — missed connections, cancellations — because the airline treats it as one booking. Two one-ways on different airlines is two separate bookings with no coordination between them.
If the two separate one-ways are much cheaper (more than 30% difference), then it might be worth it. Run the numbers both ways before committing.
The Countries That Work Best for Open-Jaw
Europe is the natural home of this strategy because the continent is small, trains between major cities are fast and cheap, and airports in different cities are genuinely close together. The classic routes:
- London → Barcelona, exit Madrid (train between them: 2h30m, ~€40)
- London → Lisbon, exit Madrid (train: 9 hours, or bus, or cheap flight)
- NYC → Paris, exit Amsterdam (train: 3h20m, ~€60)
- NYC → Rome, exit London (flights or train + Eurostar)
- Sydney → Bangkok, exit Singapore (all of Southeast Asia in between)
FAQ
Is open-jaw more expensive than a return flight? Sometimes yes, sometimes no — it depends entirely on the route. The only way to know is to check both on Google Flights. Run the comparison in about three minutes.
Can I do open-jaw with budget airlines? Usually, but budget airlines often make it harder to find on their booking interface. Ryanair and easyJet don’t naturally sell round trips between two different cities, so you’d book two separate one-ways. The main European open-jaw value is on full-service carriers.
What about visa complications? Different exit countries mean different entry/exit requirements. Make sure you can legally enter the country you’re flying out of, not just the country you’re flying into. EU countries with the Schengen Zone are simple (one area); US, UK, Japan, and others each have their own rules.
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