Open Jaw
What is Open Jaw?
An open jaw ticket is a flight booking where you fly into one city and return from a different city — leaving an "open" segment that you cover by other means (train, bus, ferry, rental car). For example: flying London → Tokyo, then Osaka → London is an open-jaw, with the Tokyo-to-Osaka segment left "open" for you to travel by Shinkansen.
Open jaw tickets typically cost the same or only slightly more than a standard return ticket, making them excellent value for travellers who want to explore a region linearly rather than backtracking to the same airport. They are often better-kept secrets, since most online booking interfaces default to displaying standard return searches.
Example of Open Jaw
James wanted to drive the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to Los Angeles without doubling back. He booked an open-jaw: London → San Francisco (outbound), Los Angeles → London (return). The open gap between LA and SF was the entire point — he rented a car and drove it over five days at his own pace. The ticket was about £40 more than a standard return to either city, and he avoided the one thing he'd always hated: retracing his steps.