open jaw - more $$?
 

Greetings all. I'm still trying to get Mom to Paris, but now we want to go to London first to visit friends in Cambridge, then tunnel train to Paris, and fly home from Paris. In your experience, is it more expensive that way - and is it horribly more, or just somewhat more? Or less maybe? I just wondered if I should rethink and travel back to London - but it will add another day. Thanks.

Usually open jaws are more expensive. But London/Paris is a VERY common twosome and often you can do them open jaw for the same or very little more than R-T.

We've flown three open jaws in as many years. Seems they are a little more but less than what it would cost to return back for a roundtrip (in dollars and time saved.) <BR><BR>You can always compare the two, it's not that difficult.

Thanks, folks. I'm still trying to figure out how to get that option on-line - into one city/out of another. Doesn't seem to be possible - but maybe it's just the end of the day and my brain has gone home! Have either of you made these reservations on-line? Thanks more.

There are plenty of on line sites that allow for open jaw booking. Usually it is accessed through the option of "multi-city".

Shanna, I don't know which site you're using, but on a bunch of airline sites the "fast fare" search on the homepage is only for round trips but there's another search screen somewhere that lets you look at open jaws. Sometimes you click on "Advanced Search" near the fast fare search box, sometimes you follow a link called Reservations or Plan Travel or some such thing. If all else fails, you can always call the airline.

Shanna: Just a thought, Bestfares.com or gotoday or some similar ticket consolidator was advertising (and may still be advertising) fares that provided a stop in London, then a continuing flight (on a later date) to the continent. As a separate point, when weighing the cost of the open jaws, make sure you factor in the cost (or savings) of not having to return to London via the Eurostar.

Open jaw may not be that much more expensive than flying RT to one place and then trying to get back and forth. I investigated it for a friend through Orbitz and Travelocity. As someone said before look for "multi-city".

Darn, just saw you are talking London-Paris. Look at ALL the options plus discounts on the Eurostar for senior citizens. Serious shopping required here.

Hi Shanna, I remember one airline rep telling me that they take the rt fare for each destination, and subtract the cheaper from the more expensive, and divide that difference by two to add to the cost of the cheaper fare. Got that? Seemed simple to me at the time. By the way, you are a wonderful daughter. J.

Take the 2 RT fares,<BR><BR>Add them together,<BR><BR>Divide that sum in half.

Elsa is right. By adding half the price of each round trip, you get an idea of the price for open jaw. It is quite easy to get a price on the net. We just returned from a similar trip using American. I booked and purchased our tickets using their web site with no problems. American had the best price and we had to fly out of Chicago so it worked out fine. We went to Paris, stayed 10 days and then on to London and then home after 5 days. We didin't use the Eurostar, too expensive for a family of 4 given the one-way ticket prices on EasyJet which for only 25 Euro each so make sure to check their prices. In fact since they fly to Luton and you want to go to Cambridge, it is much more convenient than Heathrow. Luton is small and you get out much faster than Heathrow.

Hi Shanna. Open jaws may be, but are not necessarily, more expensive than a roundtrip to the same city. We flew into Venice and out of Nice back in April for the same price as a roundtrip to either city (or to Rome.)

Thanks to all for your help - and thanks especially to jw - I'm trying really hard to make this a good trip for Mom. But, golleee - traveling alone is sure a lot easier. Now she wants to meet up in Paris with an old friend (and her new man) who lives in Ibiza - or she thought maybe we could go to Spain too! I guess I can make just about anything happen if I'm willing to spend the money - and I am - but the little Sister Stephanie going along is a newlywed and I don't want her husband to get mad at her or me for overspending! A travel agent might be a good idea at this point. And Stephanie just sent an e-mail that all my options are confusing her! Still in all - what fun the planning is. Thanks again.

Air Transat in Canada has an open jaw policy on many of their European routes. No extra charges as far as I can tell.