What is Open Jaw Flights?

To put it another way, open-jaw flights are flights that land at one airport and depart from another. Getting from one airport to another on your own is another way of saying this. It’s up to you how you want to get from one airport to the other.

The concept of open jaw tickets may appear complex at first, but it is actually quite simple. Flights departing from one city and returning to the other are called round-trips in the context of a typical round-trip itinerary.

On the other hand, open-jaw flights are those in which the departure or arrival location changes. This is the case, for example, when one flies out of a certain city to another, but the return flight takes one back to the original location.

Why we called it Open Jaw flight?

Isn’t the term “open jaw” a little odd? Let’s discuss why its called open jaw flight.

When you plan your route on a simple open jaw flight path, the two flights form a triangle that resembles a literal open mouth.

Types of Open Jaw Flight

1. Destination: You fly to a new location, then return to the original location from a different location. For example, if you take a flight from Chicago to Atlanta, you return to Chicago via Savannah.
2. Origin: When you fly from one city to another, but land in a city that is completely unrelated to your starting point. Consider flying from Chicago to Atlanta and then returning from Atlanta to Milwaukee, as an example of a possible itinerary.
3. Double Open Jaw: Where each and every city’s departure and arrival are distinct. For example, if you fly from Chicago to Atlanta, you fly back to Cleveland from Savannah.

What is the advantage?

• It saves money and time by booking the multiple flights at the same time.
• saving money by starting from a less expensive starting point
• Having a longer vacation means you can see more of the world.

In open-jaw situations, things are a little more complicated. Itineraries with open jaws can be divided into three distinct categories. In this instance, your outbound flight’s (B) destination is different from the city from which you will return home (C). In order to fill the gap between City B and City C, you must travel by land, air, or sea yourself. Keep in mind that even with an open jaw, there is some degree of rigidity.

List of top airlines for North American Open Jaw flights:

1. Alaska Airlines: It also has generous stopover and open-jaw routing rules. Stopovers and an open jaw are both permitted on international award tickets with one stopover per one-way flight. One stopover can be added to each one-way international flight. When making a stopover, the international carrier’s hub can be an option. However, if you’re looking for a multi-city award space, simply check the “multi-city” box and enter the dates you’d like.
2. United airlines : On an international round-trip award ticket, United allows two open jaws. An open-jaw indicates you have returned to a different city from where you started. It’s possible to fly out of NYC to London and then fly back in the other direction from Madrid, resulting in an open-jaw between the two cities.  For example: Newark to Tokyo; Tokyo to Guam; Istanbul to Frankfurt; Frankfurt to Chicago
3. American Airlines : On AAdvantage award tickets, the ability to include a stopover was previously limited to the international gateway, which was eliminated in 2014. Despite the drop in value, American Airlines allows you to book one-way awards, so you can still include a few open Jaw flights. A zone-based award chart is used by the ANA, and there are ten of these zones around the world. Open jaws, on the other hand, fall into three distinct “zones”:
4. Delta SkyMiles: As long as you book two one-way award tickets on a single itinerary, Delta allows you to include one or more open jaws. Additionally, Delta charges more for one-way tickets than for round-trip or multi-city bookings. As a result, booking an open jaw rather than two one-way tickets can save you money and miles in many cases.
5. Japan Airlines: As a stopover and open jaws option, Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank is an intriguing choice, especially since it uses a partner redemption award chart based on distance. There are some minor differences between the rules for JAL flights and those of the airline’s partners.

How to book open jaw flights to North America?

Having an open jaw is a sign that the origin of an award does not match up with its destination. You can’t open jaw halfway through an adventure because it’s always at the end of it.

Procedure to book flight

1. Select the Multicity option while booking the flight
2. Fill all the details
3. To confirm your choice of airline, select ‘confirm selection’ after making your selection for each flight. Finally, you’ve completed the booking.
4. Requirement to book a flight
   • You’ll need a TSA-accepted photo ID to fly.
   • Name as it appears on the government-issued ID you travel with
   • Date of birth
   • Gender
   • Redress Number
   • The minimum check-in time varies from airport to airport. You may lose your seat if you don’t check in by the minimum check-in time.
   • Domestic flights depart 15 minutes prior to scheduled departure time.
   • 30 minutes prior to scheduled takeoff time for all international flights.
   • Customers who require special assistance or more time to board, as well as families with children under 2 years old who request early boarding, are eligible for early boarding.