I need help with an open jaw trip to Europe!
 

I'm planning a trip to Europe in August of 2011 and I'm looking to fly in/out of different cities. I'm interested in flying into London and flying out of either France or Italy. Where are some of the best places to find deals on open jaw flights and how far in advance should I be looking?

Also from you experienced travelers, how much can I expect to pay for a one-way flight from San Francisco to London, and a one-way trip from the mainland in Europe back to SFO? Both of these flights will be in August. I'm trying to get a feel for a ballpark of what I should be expecting so I can jump on a good deal when one arises.

Thanks for the help!

try Kayak.com

You don't put in for two one-way tickets. That would be very expensive. Websites will let you select open jaw or multi-city or multiple destinations instead of round trip. That's what you want. www.kayak.com is a good one that compares the prices of many websites, both airline sites and discount places. It's too early now to get a good price. Can't help with prices from San Francisco, though, as I live in NY.

At some point, you need to decide how much you're willing to spend, check DAILY and be ready to jump on it when you see the price you want. I stress daily checks. I recently booked my flight to Rome for February. I had been checking daily, and then all of a sudden, the price dropped almost $150 in one day. It stayed at that price for only two days, then went up $60, then a couple days later it was back up the $150. If I had only been checking every few days, I very well could have missed that price!

You don't want ONE-WAY tickets!!! You want a round-trip ticket into one city and out of another. Called "open jaw" or sometimes on websites you need to look under "multi-city".

Flights from SFO to Europe are expensive in August. I have a $1,727 ticket RT from SFO to CDG for arrival in June & return in July. Flying Mon thru Thurs is a little less expensive, and flights to LHR are less expensive than CDG. In the past, I've flown for as little as $600 to CDG. Open Jaw is a little more expensive, but not much.

Like SusanP mentioned, do a "multiple destination" on Travelocity or some other site to find airlines that service the places you are interested in. Then go to the specific airlines site to save another $50 or so. I am flying Delta/AF non stop to CDG - which is about the same cost as 1 stops.

Stu Dudley

BTW, your best bet will probably be LHR/CDG. Rome seems to be difficult to get to/from SFO on open jaw - at least it was last time I tried (a few years back).

Stu Dudley

And when booking your open jaw, you will usually save quite a bit if you fly IN to London and OUT of another country instead of the other way around. UK exit fees/taxes are higher than most other countries. (Of course, w/ all the economy/budget problems -- other countries may be adding taxes/fees too)

Thanks so much for all of the tips everybody. I was only searching one-way flights before so I'm very pleased to now see the prices are coming down by nearly a factor of 3!

Are there any cities in Europe that are notoriously cheap or expensive to fly out through? Also, is there a particular time frame when deals on flights are at their best? As of right now we're about 8.5 months out from the trip.

>>is there a particular time frame when deals on flights are at their best? <<

IMO, not for travel in peak season !!!

Flights are cheap for travel in "low" season - but that is not whe you will be flying.

Stu Dudley

Not sure what your dates are, but I punched in leaving SFO to London on 8/2, returning from Rome to SFO on 8/23id. Cost was $1221 PP. One stop. Thirteen hours going over and fifteen hours on return. Did this on kayak. However, it's always dificult to suggest when the sales will happen.

Just for fun, I plugged a date in mid July for SFO to LON, and a return from PSA (Pisa) a month later, into hipmunk, a sort of new air fare site. http://www.hipmunk.com/ for a multi city trip. The low fare was $1355 on US Airways. You will have fun plugging in your own dates and cities into various sites.

Those prices seem very reasonable. What would you consider a "steal"? As in, the price that you can't pass up and book ASAP.

I heard that Tuesday morning is when the airlines open up seats for reward tickets. I usually use my miles to purchase my European tickets.....I don't know if at that time they also open up seats for special purchase prices. Good Luck

"<i>Are there any cities in Europe that are notoriously cheap or expensive to fly out through? </i>"

Not sure if you saw my post directly above yours since we were posting at the same time. But yes -- it generally is cheap-ish to fly into London due to the heavy competition on that route, and it is more expensive to fly home from London due to the high exit fees.

Check out Air Berlin, which flies from SF seasonally (in the summer) to many cities in Europe. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at their fares. I'm not sure if the SF to Europe fares for 2011 are available yet.

jw;

Do you have particular dates in mind? A range for outgoing/incoming, perhaps?
Are you wedded to France and Italy for the return? I'll presume London for arrival.
Do you need non-stop either going out, coming back, or both?
Can I presume you don't want anything more than one-stop if you don't require non-stop?

I will do some serious snooping for you if you put a little more of a box around this.

I have used vayama.com twice for open jaw trips. They have been very easy to work with and very easy to reach by phone.

Sebina

Try ITA software, which is the engine that drives a number of online booking sites such as Orbitz. You can't book through ITA but you can usually replicate their fares using Expedia, Orbitz etc. http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

and I just bought a one-way ticket from London to Berlin on British and it was only slight more expensive than using EasyJet, greater baggage allowance, and more convenient airport and departure times and no seat selection charge

London is often the cheapest, not just because of the competition, but because it is one of the closest cities you can fly to. Dublin is also often good, for that reason, but not nearly as many flights go there. Obviously, it will cost a lot more to fly farther, time and fuel.

Thanks again for all of the helpful advice... The departure date and flight information is set in stone but the arrival date and city are still up in the air.

Departure: SFO to London, Sunday August 14, 2011. Preferably something that departs from SFO in the early-mid afternoon and gets into London Monday morning. I'd prefer non-stop or 1-stop but wouldn't be opposed to 2 if the deal was phenomenal.

Arrival: ??? to San Diego, thinking of departing either Thursday August 25 or Friday August 26.


There's one other thing that I was looking for advice on. How do most of you pay for things along your trip? The easy thing to do seems like bringing cash however it's probably not the wisest idea to be traveling around Europe with a lot of cash. If you do have cash, do you exchange for the currency of each country you go to?

Also I should mention that the arrival city could just as easily be San Francisco since it's so easy to get a cheap Southwest flight from SFO to San Diego. So if the return to SFO was a lot cheaper I'd probably just do that.

>>How do most of you pay for things along your trip? <,

We make two trips to Europe every year - for about 1 month each. I land with about $300 worth of Euros (if you live in San Francisco or near, the main BofA has a currency exchange counter). When I get to Europe, I charge everything on my Capital One CC (0 currency converseion fees), and use my ATM card to get cash.

Stu Dudley

PS

You will need to call your CC company & tell them you will be in Europe from Aug 14 to 26.

Stu Dudley

You get cash from an ATM. That's both the easiest and cheapest way, much better than carrying tons of cash and exchanging at poor rates.

You want to start in SFO and end in San Diego? That isn't open jaw, that's two separate flights entirely. I'm not sure how that would affect pricing though.

ps - It doesn't appear to affect pricing much at all, surprisingly.

You need to decide where you want to come back from, and let that drive the airfare question, rather than vice-versa.

At that time of year, most round trips from Calif. to London are in the $1250 range. Returning from someplace like Paris adds around $100 to the fare; returning from farther away, or airports with fewer flights, might be more. Other cities might be a little less if their dominant airlines have generally lower fares (e.g. Zurich and Swiss International) but when you add the cost of getting to, say, Zurich if you weren't going there anyway, then that savings is negated.

The same goes for one-way flights or the train from someplace in Europe back to, say, London for the return. The additional cost of a supplemental flight (not to mention the hassle) might not save you any money - and surely won't save you any time - compared to flying transatlantic from there and connecting back to Calif. So decide where you'd like to end the trip and then go fishing for airfares.

As for the money question, just take your ATM card and use cash machines. You'll pay a little extra for the ATM fees, but it won't cost you as much as the discount you'll pay for currency exchange at a bank in the US. That way you won't have to worry about Pounds and Euros in advance, just hit the ATM when you need more. There are plentiful ATMs in European airports and everywhere on the street.

If as a CA resident you happen to use the B of A, note that B of A has agreements with several European banks (e.g. Barclay's) where ATM fees are waived.

re money question.
Primarily I use my ATM card and withdraw local currency (pounds, euro, swiss franc) every few days (to avoid carrying a wad of cash around on your person. I carry $300 or so in USD as a back up. Some people use a money belt for this. Yes you'd need to exchange it into the currency of the country you are in. I also have two credit cards to pay the hotel bill and any unexpected or large expenses that arise.

It appears you will only be traveling for 14 days!! You can't do much of Europe in that time. I would suggest London, train to Paris, then plane to Rome. that gives you only three nights each in London and Paris, and four in Rome. You will just get a taste of each city, but in future years you can go back and do more.

14th -- leave SFO
15th - arrive London jetlagged
16th - London
17th - London
18th - train to Paris
19th - Paris
20th - Paris
21st - plane to Rome
22nd - Rome
23rd - Rome
24th - Rome
25th - return to US

>> that gives you only three nights each in London and Paris, and four in Rome<<

Which gives you 2 1/4 days in London, 2 1/4 days in Paris, and 3 1/4 days in Rome.

Don't do it!!! Eliminate some travel time.

Stu Dudley

Jw;

I'll spit these out as I find them. Yell STOP when you want more details or to redirect me. Direct flights unless noted

SFO - LON Aug 14 FCO - SAN (via IAD) Aug 25 $1405
Similar prices out of other Italian airports

SFO - LON Aug 14 PAR - SAN (via SFO) Aug 25, $1369
BRU or LUX - SFO are about $15 more through ORD or IAH

It seems you can do pretty much what routing you want for about $1400, so ignore the advice to pick your return airport first and take what pricing that gives for your plan.

I don't really think you will see much cheaper fares for August, considering the open jaw routing and a West Coast departure.

So, get creative; SFO into London and Venice back to SAN? Or Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg, Rome to SAN?

As for money, with a an ATM card on the Cirrus, Plus, or any other major major network, you can access money from ATM's and banks as easily as at home, and there are just as many of them. We take over whatever spare cash we have form the last trip (minimal - har har har) and just visit the first ATM in the airport. A couple hundred in cash for each of us for the day to day stuff (replenish as needed) and we use our credit cards for the big stuff like hotels, meals, etc.. The exchange rate is equivalent to what you would get by changing the money at home, maybe better, and you don't have to worry about carrying large sums of cash. You might want to check with your bank to make sure that the money you want to access is in your primary account on your card. you only get access to one account, not several. Take a phone number in case there is a problem.

And plan the trip you want - not what people tell you you should do. No one knows you, your personal circumstances, or your hopes for trip like you do.

I also will say plan the trip you want. But do it informed by what people are saying here. if you still want to do more than three cities, fine. But now you know what the reality of that kind of itinerary will be.

If it is at all useful, dont forget about the inexpensive European airlines for once you are there. The info may be useful if you find a cheap flight (eg easyjet or ryanair) to a hub city.
See whichbudget.com.
I "efel you rpain" as have been flabbergasted by the USA-Europe RT fares for the upcoming year in late Spring and Summer.

>>I also will say plan the trip you want. But do it informed by what people are saying here.<<

Yep - I remember & enjoyed very little on my first trip to Europe in '77. It went about like this:

- Copenhagen visiting relatives.
- Train to Amsterdam - arrive at 9PM & a quick dinner. Stay 2 nights
- 1 full day in Amsterdam
- train to Cologne - arrive about 3PM. 1/4 day in Cologne. Stay overnight
- pick up car in Cologne & drive to the Mosel. Arrive around noon. 1/2 day in the Mosel
- Drive the the Rhine. 1 day in the Rhine
- as we were leaving the Rhine, my mother & sister begged for another day in the Rhine & not in the car. Stayed another day in the Rhine (I was traveling with my wife also)
- Drove to Bavaria - arrived arout 9PM. I recall that this was a thoroughly wasted day in the car - with mother & sister smoking in the back seat (dad died of lung cancer ???).
- Drove to Lucerne & arrived around 2PM on a Saturday - just as all the shops were closing till Monday. Intended to stay 2 nights. Mother & sister "bailed" on us - could not take the pace anymore. They caught a flight to London (sister was a flight attendant)- continued on our 1 night 2 night pace.

In '80, we returned to Amsterdam & spent 4 nights there, then on to the Mosel for 3 nights, then..... I remembered very little of the '77 trip, so we "re-did" most of it.

Now, since '99 when we retired so we could travel more, a typical vacation schedule for a year is 2 weeks in 1 spot, then 2 weeks in another spot for our June trip. In Sept, it is 2 weeks in 1 location & 2 weeks in a second location. Twice we've stayed 4 weeks in 1 spot (Provence & Dordogne)

As we progressed from 1 or 2 night stays in one place, to 2 to 4 week stays in 1 place, we enjoyed Europe a lot more - obviously. I try to always steer people away from the mistakes we made on our first 5 or so trips to Europe.
- Rule 1 - less is more
- Rule 2 - high temps in large cities like Paris or Rome are exhausting. I can walk all day while in Paris or Rome in October, but not in August when it is usually hot.
- Rule 3 - be aware of where you are on Sundays & Monday mornings - when many shops close. Also on Sat afternoon in some cities.
- Rule 4 - reduce travel time. Keep your touring "radius" small.

I had no clue about how to explore Europe in '77 - but I do now !!! If Fodors had been around in '76, my first trip would have been a lot more enjoyable (assuming that I would have followed the advice of more experienced travelers).

Stu Dudley

<b>jwgolf</b> has not made an appearance since this first and only post. Perhaps some feedback from the OP is in order.

Actually, he did respond on the next day, Nov 30th. Which means that he's been away for 1.5 days. Let's give him a break :-)

I've never paid a fee or penalty for "open jaws". Of course, that may be related to the fact we are traveling off-season, not in August.

Our preferred airlines for open jaws are KLM and Air France.

On Air France it is sometimes CHEAPER to fly Canada-Paris and (say) Marseille-Paris-Canada or Rome-Paris-Canada than to do a simple Canada-Paris return tkt.

In other words, the extra flight is not only free, it reduces your tkt price!

If economy is your priority, you MIGHT find it is cheapest to fly via Amsterdam to London and on your return from Italy via AMS to SFO.

Note that AF and KLM are virtually the same company so you might fly outbound on KLM via AMS to LHR and inbound on AF from CDG to SFO.

To maximize my choices, I usually do my research on the KLM site: they do not discriminate between AF and KLM routings. AF always tries to send me on AF, via Paris, regardless of my final destination.