Here's What an 'Open Jaw' Flight Is and How It Can Save You Money

Want to take a multi-city trip this summer? This booking strategy could come in clutch.

You've probably heard about the European Summer TikTok trend, in which… people go to Europe during the summer. While the concept is pretty simple, bringing the plan to life can be a little more complicated. Say you want to dawdle down the coast of Italy, starting in a northern city like Venice, and ending up in Portofino. All is well, except with the eight days you have to spend on your trip, you'll have to spend one day taking the train from the south of Italy back up north. It can be a huge crunch on your time and your budget.

An alternative is booking what is known as an open jaw flight. You book a flight into one city and out of another so that you don't have to spend time traveling back to your original city before leaving. This means you could book a flight from NYC to Venice, and then a flight out of Naples into NYC. It's called an open jaw flight because it is kind of like an open mouth when the route is drawn on a map.

Travel experts over at Going share two reasons to consider this option when making your travel plans: you'll save both time and money.

"An open-jaw flight gives you the option to see more than one destination in a single trip without having to backtrack to your initial destination before heading home," a representative from Going shared with Thrillist. Going.com has a complete guide to booking open jaw flights.

In terms of saving money, a common misconception is that multi-city bookings can cost travelers more money than circular round trips.

"Open-jaw flights can often be cheaper than traditional there-and-back itineraries. And specifically when traveling internationally, open-jaw itineraries are pretty consistently cheaper than two one-way flights," the Going rep explained. In addition to cheaper flight fares, you will also be able to save on ground transportation, which can add up quickly when you are traversing long distances.

To book an open-jaw flight, you can use the multi-city booking feature on platforms like Google Flights. You can experiment to see which options for flights are cheaper, and even consider adjusting the jaws of your flights to different cities to try and find the best prices.

Looking for more travel tips?

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Opheli Garcia Lawler is a Staff Writer on the News team at Thrillist. Follow her on Twitter @opheligarcia and Instagram @opheligarcia.