Ticket Talk: The Open Jaw

photo credits

Hooray – it’s officially trip planning season for me!  Dark, dreary, cold, and wet outside, I’m keeping warm by burning through the euros in our bank account buying tickets.  I’m never so happy to see money go.

As with last year’s trip to the US, we are doing a multi-city itinerary.  I just can’t seem to go there and back again without at least one sideshow.

However, this year, the best deal for me was using something called an open jaw.  Say, what?  Simply put, if you were to draw your itinerary, it would be, uh, open, like a – you guessed it – jaw, instead of a basic straight line.

You know I wouldn’t do anything wonky without sharing how you could do the same.  A lot of the tips from my previous multi-city itinerary post are also applicable to open jaw itineraries.  I’ll jazz them up a smidge and throw them back’atcha below, but first, a few Q&A’s.

What in the world is an open jaw?  As I mentioned above, it’s one type of itinerary that does not go in a straight line.  The best way to explain it is to give you an example.  For me this means, I fly from Frankfurt (point A) to Salt Lake City (point B), and then from Orlando (point C) back to Frankfurt (point A).

Just so you’re in the know, another kind of open jaw itinerary exists.  Here’s an example.. fly from New York (point A) to San Francisco (point B) and then from San Francisco (point B) to Miami (point C) and terminate the trip there. 

When/why on earth would I use one?  If you want to visit two destinations instead of one, but it is cheaper to get yourself from point B to point C by a means other than the airline you are using for A to B and C to A, try an open jaw.  The missing point B to point C segment could be completed via ship, car, another airline, alien abduction, etc.  This is a popular ticket to use in conjunction with cruises that do not return to their port of origin.

Can I book an open jaw myself?  Yes!  Most major airline websites will allow you to book an open jaw itinerary online.  When you arrive at the airline’s main page, look for a small link near where you enter your city pair (departure and arrival cities) that says something along the lines of “Multi-City.”  Enter your point A to point B and the date and then your point C to point A and the date.

Can you give me an example?  Of course!  Let’s use the trip I just booked.  Our “home” airport is Frankfurt at the moment, so we always start and end there.   We have to go to Salt Lake City for one of Doc Sci’s conferences, and we need to go to Orlando once a year to take care of business and visit friends.

I priced itineraries with United, Delta, American Airlines, and Lufthansa.  Delta was the cheapest of the bunch, so I pressed on from there to find the bottom dollar deal.  The ticket prices were still higher than I wanted to pay, so I dropped the middle out of the itinerary (Salt Lake City to Orlando) which lowered the total cost down over 300 euros per person, a significant savings.  Ironically, the flights offered on the same dates but with an open jaw itinerary were also much, much better (note that this isn’t always the case – but it was a very nice surprise).

Most airlines are notorious for charging exorbitant one-way fares… but not Southwest.  A ticket on Southwest between my point B and point C only cost about 160 per person.  So, I will still flying all my segments (as opposed to driving between my point B and point C), but I will ultimately pay less by using two different airlines this time.  Southwest doesn’t fly between your points B & C?  Try AirTran, JetBlue, or Spirit.

How do I know if an open jaw would be cheaper for me than a multi-city itinerary, all with the same airline?  You’ll have to do your homework, of course!  Price the itinerary with and without the point B to point C segment.  Also, try reversing the order of the two stops you want to make (go to point C first and then point B) even if it’s only for comparison’s sake.

And, in case you missed my previous post with all my multi-city itinerary secrets, here they are again… remixed for the open jaw.

Tips on Booking Open Jaw Itineraries

Be patient.  It takes a lot of work to search multiple combinations of dates and cities, let alone just trying to figure out which airline is the cheapest for your particular route (for more on airlines, alliances, and hub cities check out the practical tips for booking multi-city itineraries in my previous post).

Don’t expect to get what you want by just typing in a few simple searches.  If you know it’s going to be a while before you get it the price and schedule just the way you want it, then you’re apt to be less frustrated.

And, unless you really know what you are doing and you’re totally sure of your plans, don’t book on a whim.  If you think you’ve found your perfect itinerary, have another pair of eyes look it over with you to double check all the details.

Be flexible.  Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are generally the cheapest days to fly.  I say generally, because sometimes loads (the amount of passengers) are lower on other days on certain routes.  However, you won’t know this until you start searching (as I said, be patient!).

Try your itinerary a week before and a week after.  Pay attention to your calendar, noting any holidays.  Also, if it’s peak season at your destination(s), prices just may be high, period.  Your job is to find the lowest in the date range you are available to travel.

Be persistent. One advantage that open jaw itineraries have over multi-city itineraries is the ability to search using Flexible Dates with some airlines.  Still, it’s a rarity (or perhaps even an impossibility) that your perfect itinerary will be the first date and city combination you search.  Keep looking.  Try alternate airports, alternate order of stops, etc.

Be discerning.  How will you get from point B to point C?  Yes, flying is convenient, but sometimes it’s not always the answer.  Weigh the drive time (but be realistic about how far you can go in one day with kids!) versus the money (four tickets at $250 is quite a chunk of change, but you will also have to pay for the car rental, gas, perhaps a hotel room or two).

Don’t forget your time is valuable as well, so consider how much time you’d spend in transit while flying vs. driving.

Be smart.  Do your homework.  Consider all the costs of flying a separate airline from point B to point C.  What are the baggage fees?  Are there fees for choosing a seat?  Would you have less stress if your itinerary was all with one airline?

Be realistic.  How much flying and driving can your kids handle?  How many different beds can you sleep in before you swear off traveling all together?  Are you better off paying an extra $25 per ticket to avoid taking toddlers on a red-eye flight?  Think about what’s important to you, your family, and then make the best decision with what you’ve found for a happy vacation.

How about you?  Have you booked an open jaw itinerary before?  Any other tips I may have missed?  Questions?

On Why I Can’t Call It Quits With Delta Air Lines (and a Trip Report!)

Me and my boys

I said I would never do it.  But then I did it anyway.  And now I’ve done it again.

I just can’t seem to shake off my bad habit of flying Delta Air Lines.  I keep coming back, but it has nothing to do with customer satisfaction (because we all know there’s next to none of that).

Why, why, WHY do I do this to myself?

For one simple reason… when I’m in a bind, Delta is always the cheapest.

Last fall, I needed to be at a dear friend’s wedding.  I had no flexibility in my dates or airports.  Delta was the only airline that offered a ticket I could afford.

This fall, the boys’ Grandpa suddenly left us and went to live in heaven.  We needed to fly back to the US to say goodbye, and take care of business.  We hoped it would be possible for all five of us to go.  Again, I had no flexibility in dates or airports.   And, once more Delta was the only airline with four seats at a price we could afford two days before departure.

Darn, you Delta!  Are you trying to win me back?

If so, it (almost) worked…

Trip Report: FRA – BNA (and back)

When researching my options for flights from Frankfurt to Nashville, Delta consistently came up with the cheapest fare and the best schedule for our needs.  However, when flying with three kids I have learned that cheaper sometimes is not necessarily better.

Notably, being confined in a metal tube over the Atlantic for 9 hours is absolutely the pits if there’s nothing for the wee ones to do.  Not wanting to find myself in such a predicament again, I consulted SeatGuru and made absolutely positively sure that we would have AVOD devices for each seat on both Delta international flights.  I simply could not handle being stuck in 1983 jumbo jet hell again especially considering the stressful circumstances surrounding our trip and the fact that we would now be flying with THREE boys.

After booking tickets, I called Delta to let them know I’d be traveling with an infant.  This time I was prepared for the archaic practice of having a PAPER international ticket for Big Foot issued at the airport in Frankfurt.  So old skool you are, Delta.

Since we were flying with three children under the age of five, the Delta gate agents graciously granted us the row of bulkhead seats on both international flights.  This meant we could use the bassinet for Big Foot (and this time I didn’t break any rules).  Having a little bed he could nap in from time to time proved invaluable.  I could free up my hands to cut chicken, peel pasta off the floor, or sneak away for sixty seconds to the lav (by myself!).

Doc Sci was able to sit one row behind me in the aisle.  We took turns, alternating naps and movie time with meal and child minding duties.  The movie selection on the AVOD was impressive both for kids and adults.  The food tasted a gazillion times better than our last trip down the aisle with Delta.

The flight attendants on these trips seemed overly nice and surprisingly helpful.  Not quite on the caliber of Asiana Airlines, but getting up there nonetheless.  Perhaps executives have actually been listening to customer complaints and doing something about them?!  Nah, it can’t be.

Or could it?  I actually let myself think, well, maybe I was wrong.  Maybe Delta isn’t so bad after all.

But then they lost our car seats.  And I lost all warm fuzzies I might have had.

When arriving in the US on an international flight, passengers must collect their checked luggage.  After wheeling it through customs, bags must be re-checked.  If you’ve never done it, it’s quite simple.  Roll your suitcases (and, in our case, car seats) up to the nice baggage handlers, smile, say thank you, and watch as they put the items on the conveyer belt.  That’s all there is to it.

When we dropped off our car seats in Atlanta, little did we know we’d be kissing them goodbye for a while.  Said car seats did not go to Nashville with the rest of our belongings.  They stayed put in Atlanta for three days.

After traveling at least 20 hours with three boys, the last thing I want to do is deal with the Delta lost luggage guy.  I want to go eat at Chipotle.  But I couldn’t.  You can’t go anywhere in a car with kids – without car seats.

Unfortunately, this Delta agent just happened to be a single guy with no kids.  I could care less about the marital status of the man on the other side of the desk.  But if he has no children, that means he has no experience with car seats.  Or car seat laws.  Or car seat styles.  Or car seat weight limits.

What started out as a nice offer to loan us some Delta car seats turned into a nightmarish battle of trying to convince him first that my two and four year old were not going to fit in infant carriers.  Next, I had to try and explain how I had meticulously researched rental cars and prepaid for the exact one that would fit our three car seats, not any ol’ loaners.

Anyone with Cheerios plastered to the car upholstery knows that car seats have varying widths.  We own a Sunshine Kids Radian which boasts the ability to fit three across the back seat of a regular car due to the skinny bum width.  We also own a slimline booster.  Both of these were somewhere in the Atlanta airport instead of carrying our kids to a delicious burrito dinner.

Round and round I went with this guy trying to explain to him that the Graco car seats he was offering were not going to cut it.  For starters, T-Rex was over the weight limit for the one available.  But even more than that, those two Graco seats with their cup holders, arm rests, and sun roofs just plain old weren’t going to fit in the car.  And seeing as Delta wasn’t going to pay for a bigger rental car, we were at an impasse.

After getting a supervisor involved who also did not have any experience with kids, we took the car seats to the actual rental car and demonstrated that no, we were not trying to make a quick buck off Delta.  These seats do not fit!

In the end, we had to pay to add a smaller seat to our rental car agreement.  The Delta supervisor would then reimburse us for the extra cost of renting the seat.  When we left the Nashville airport several days later, we’d be issued a check equal to that amount.  Oh yes, and you better believe they were going to throw a travel voucher in there, too.  That was the least they could do for THREE hours of utter nonsense.

On the third day of our five day trip, we received our car seats.  Delta delivered the long lost seats to our hotel, picked up the loaners, and took responsibility for returning them.

When we checked in for our flights home, we requested to talk to a supervisor about our situation and receive reimbursement.  By the way, Delta calls their supervisors “red coats,” so use the lingo if you need access to someone higher up.

This time, I got a super nice guy (albeit again a dude who lacked experience with kids) who had heard about our story.  Apparently, mamas with kids who insist their children ride in car seats that are suitable for their age, weight, and the vehicle in which they’re riding are BIG NEWS.

Before issuing the check to cover the cost of the rental car seat (which, by the way, I would not have had any way to deposit), Mr. Nice Red Coat asked me if I would like to have four, $100 vouchers instead of one, $100 voucher and a check for $40.  Well, duh – of course I would like more money for travel… although of course it means having to fly Delta again.

But now that the car seat fiasco was behind us, we could focus on getting home to Germany.  Fortunately, it was much like the trip to the US.  Again, we had the bulkhead row.  Again, the kids went nuts pushing the buttons on the AVOD devices.  Again, the food was better.  Again, Big Foot napped here and there in the bassinet.  Again, I thought the flight attendants were more helpful than I remembered.  Again, I wondered if Delta was really that bad.

Will I break up with Delta for good, or will I keep coming back for more?

Only time – and travel – will tell.

Ticket Talk: Tips on Booking Multi-City Itineraries

Now that the cat’s out of the bag and we have all four passports in hand after renewals and visas, I can focus on more important things.  Like traveling again!

Last week, I booked tickets for our annual trip to the US.  We had planned to go in August for at least a month (how we have become oh-so-European), but I’ll be barred from flying in August.  And, who wants to be stuck in the US having to pay retail for a hospital birth?  Not me!  I’ll take my all-expenses-paid excursion to the German hospital, thankyouverymuch.

We happen to be one of those couples that has immediate family spread over almost the entire US.  We couldn’t possibly see them all in one trip.  Nor do I have the desire to die trying.

Instead, we try to see a few each visit.  But, since they are far flung and we only have three weeks (the horror, I know), driving all over tarnation isn’t going to work either.  Plus, shocker of all shockers, I would like to actually relax and enjoy my time in the US.  Two thousand mile road trips just aren’t my idea of relaxing.

And, ultimately, we are thrifty around here which means forking over $300 times four people for airline tickets on top of the hundreds and hundreds of dollars we’ll already have to pay to get to the US also isn’t gonna cut it.

So, then, what to do?

Answer: a multi-city itinerary.

A multi-city itinerary is just that: an airline itinerary that stops at more than one destination.  For example, we will be flying from Frankfurt to Dulles, then Dulles to Orlando, and finally Orlando to Frankfurt.  (It’s also called a circle trip in travel agent speak.)

If you’re never put together a multi-city itinerary before, the task may be daunting.  Have no fear, though.  Read my how-to and tips below; then get to searching!

Tips on Booking Multi-City Itineraries

Be patient.  It takes a lot of work to search multiple combinations of dates and cities.  Don’t expect to get what you want by just typing in a few simple searches.

No lies here; it took me hours to find the right date combination.  Then, I had to double check the details with Doc Sci’s boss.  When I went back to book the tickets a few days later, I had to start from scratch as the itinerary I originally wanted had jumped more than $200.

Be flexible.  Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are generally the cheapest days to fly.  I say generally, because sometimes loads (the amount of passengers) are lower on other days on certain routes.  However, you won’t know this until you start searching (as I said, be patient!).

Try your itinerary a week before and a week after.  Pay attention to your calendar, noting any holidays.  Also, if it’s peak season at your destination(s), prices just may be high, period.  Your job is to find the lowest in the date range you are available to travel.

Be persistent.  Perhaps the most annoying factor concerning a multi-city itinerary is the inability to search using Flexible Dates.  You have to be flexible (see above), but your airline search engine refuses to be (again with the patience).  Therefore, if you’re going to win the cheapest, best itinerary, you’ll have to be the one to stick it out.

It’s a rarity (or perhaps even an impossibility) that your perfect itinerary will be the first date and city combination you search.  Keep looking.  Try alternate airports, alternate order of stops, etc.  (For more on this, see the How To below.)

Be discerning.  Would it be cheaper to do a simple round-trip and rent a car?  Yes, flying is convenient, but sometimes it’s not always the answer.  Weigh the drive time (be realistic about how far you can go in one day with kids!) versus the money (four tickets at $250 is quite a chunk of change, but you will also have to pay for the car rental, gas, perhaps a hotel room or two).

Don’t forget your time is valuable as well, so consider how much time you’d spend in transit while flying vs. driving.

Be smart.  Do your homework (for homework hints, see the How To below).  Know which airlines fly frequently to which cities.  It was cheap for me to add a stop in Dulles because it is one of the main United hub cities.  We also need to visit Nashville on this trip, but once I threw that city into the mix the whole itinerary went bonkers (price and schedule-wise).  Instead, we’ll drive to Nashville.

Be realistic.  How much flying and driving can your kids handle?  How many different beds can you sleep in before you swear off traveling all together?  Are you better off paying an extra $25 per ticket to avoid taking toddlers on a red-eye flight?  Think about what’s important to you, your family, and make decisions for a happy vacation.

How To: Practical Steps to Booking a Multi-City Itinerary

Multiple approaches to the puzzle of a (CHEAP) multi-city itinerary exist.  This is just how I do it.

1. Find the cheapest round-trip between the two cities where you must travel.  I absolutely had to fly from Frankfurt to Orlando.
2. Pay attention to the airlines that provide the cheapest round-trip.  Often you will have several within $50 of each other.  For me, this was United, Continental, and USAir.
3. Find out the partner airlines of each of the cheapest carriers.  The three worldwide alliances are Star Alliance, OneWorld, and SkyTeam.  You can find a list of all the members of the alliances here.
4. Search the partner airlines’ websites, too.  I found that Lufthansa wanted to sell me United itineraries, and United wanted to sell me Continental itineraries.  Last year, I purchased a Delta itinerary from Air France at a fraction of the cost (and in the currency I wanted to use).
5. Google the hub cities of each primary airline (“United Airlines hub cities”).  If the other destination you want to visit is not a hub, google your destination and find out which airlines fly there.  Cross check that list with the cheap airlines and their partners.
6. Consider alternate destinations and make a list.  Are any of your alternate destinations hub cities for the cheapest airlines?  Though I am stopping off at Dulles, I am actually traveling to Pennsylvania.  But, it’s much cheaper for me to fly to Dulles, rent a car, and drive several hours than flying to the actual city in Pennsylvania I want to visit.
7. Examine connections.  If your cheapest round-trip included a layover in Atlanta, could you rent a car and drive to your desired destination from Atlanta?
8. Determine trip order.  Can you visit Orlando before Dulles, or do you have to go to Dulles first?  Only you can answer this one.  If you are flexible on the destination order, factor in the next tip to be doubly sure.
9. Don’t forget baggage fees.  When flying to/from Europe, you still can usually get one checked bag free.  Know that even if your itinerary includes an international destination, you will be considered a domestic traveler for all flights inside of the US.  I know we can travel light going to the US, but we will take four full bags back to Europe.  Therefore, it’s cost-effective for me to go to Orlando last since I’ll be loading up on items from storage and taking them across the Atlantic.  I won’t be charged for those bags since I can check them all the way through to Frankfurt.
10. Weigh the costs and make a decision.  For me, it cost $700 per person for a round-trip itinerary and $800 per person for a multi-city itinerary.  It’s almost impossible to fly anywhere these days for $100.  But, if you’re coming up with $300 for a round trip itinerary and $600 for a multi-city itinerary, perhaps two round-trip tickets is the answer for you this time.   Make the best decision for your resources and your family, and then enjoy your vacation no matter how you get there!

Have you booked a multi-city itinerary before?  Did I leave anything off the list you would’ve added?