When holiday time is precious, retracing your steps to connect with a flight home can feel a waste of valuable time. For many Fine Travel clients who take advantage of UK / Europe Business Class Specials to spend time with family, a return flight from London Heathrow makes good sense. But often European travel becomes much more than this.
I'll admit upfront, the term "Open Jaw" is a bit of travel agent technical speak, but it nicely captures the longer explanation of: "flying in to one city and flying home from another".
Historically, booking an Open Jaw flight has been a challenge. Airlines often charged more for two one way tickets than they did for a return ticket. And then you had to find an airline that had a comprehensive network and flew from the cities that you were planning to visit.
Cruise holidays and group tours are common elements of an itinerary that call for an Open Jaw Business Class airfare. Imagine you have this travel in mind:
Once you disembark in Rome (and spend some time sightseeing), travelling from Rome back to Heathrow Airport to meet your flight home isn't going to be a great use of time (even if the grandkids are there). And the transport from Rome to Heathrow adds cost to the trip.
This is where an Open Jaw airfare comes into play. By mapping out the full itinerary with your Fine Travel Consultant, you can save time and money by, in this example, booking an open jaw flight into Heathrow and out of Rome.
Depending on the European city you depart from, you can reduce the cost of your Business Class airfare by flying out of an airport other than London Heathrow. For example, planning your itinerary so that you fly into London (to visit family and friends for example) and then flying out of Paris or Amsterdam, can reduce the departure taxes that apply to your ticket.
Your Fine Travel Consultant will be able to search for the Business Class airfare and airline combination that best meets the itinerary you are planning.