United Airlines announced new changes to its MileagePlus award rules this morning, with lower change / cancellation fees for many members as well as a twist to how it lets people
book open jaws and stopovers.
You can also
book an open jaw at one or both ends of the journey.
Still, this development is good because many times when flying with points one has to
book open jaws (itineraries that go from A-B and then from C - A, or from A-B and then from B - C) that leave you needing to find flights in between two points.
You can
book an open jaw easily without taking advantage of the Excursionist Perk.
None of these new rules affect your ability to
book an open jaw, which is when you arrive in one city but depart another.
Tweet Based on service of Gulf Air, flag carrier of Kingdom of Bahrain, you may consider alternative solution to
book an open jaw flights from Europe to India now available already for # 176 or $ 230!
The flights to the connecting cities from the United States can be long, so it's nice to
book an open jaw or stopover if possible, and stop in the connection city for a day or two before moving on to the Seychelles.
For example, you might use miles from another program to
book an open jaw to Tokyo and returning from Kuala Lumpur.
Not exact matches
You can
book your Travel Together ticket online unless you want to add a stopover or
open jaw to your itinerary.
If that's not your style, there are plenty of simple stopover and
open -
jaw bookings that can still maximize your United miles.
Since stopovers and
open -
jaw flights are not allowed, you may want to
book several one - way awards.
When you
book a round - trip ticket, you can also plan a stopover and
open jaw.
Just keep in mind that Korean Air will allow you to
book 1 stopover on one - way
bookings and 2 stopovers on round - trip
bookings as well as an
open jaw.
When
booking from the OneWorld chart, you are allowed 4 stopovers and 2
open jaws on a round - trip
booking.
In general, I do not recommend searching for complex itineraries that include
open jaws or stopovers using the Aeroplan website unless you also plan to
book with Aeroplan.
You can also
book awards with one or two
open jaws, where you arrive and depart from different airports in the same region, such as Paris and London.
The black lines indicate the flights
booked on an «
open jaw» ticket.
The catch is that United will allow you to
book TWO
open jaws AND a stopover.
If you were to draw this flight on a map, it would look like an
open jaw and that is where this form of
booking gets its name.
But like United, Aeroplan permits travelers to
book awards a stopover or
open jaw, which can allow you to visit multiple destinations, or search additional options for award travel, rather than
book a simple round - trip between the same cities.
Even complicated
open jaw and stopovers can be
booked online with this engine.
You can also
book an
open -
jaw ticket returning to a different city than the one you started from (a great way to turn two award tickets into three read more about how to do it here), but that will count as your one stopover.
It is possible to
book most of the awards as one - ways and build a multi-city itinerary with stopovers and
open -
jaws, but they cost slightly more than half of a round - trip award.
You're also free to plan an
open jaw and a stopover when you
book such round - trip ticket.
EVA Air's Infinity MileageLands program doesn't provide many great options for award
bookings, but it does have some solid options in Asia and allows 2 stop - overs and an
open -
jaw on Star Alliance award flights.
If you're flying round - trip, you can also
book a double
open jaw (imagine flying from the U.S. to Europe, and then returning from a different city in Europe to a different city in the U.S.).
If you want to
book a return journey (or an
open jaw), choose the date and the airports from the drop - down menus, and then click the orange button.
You'll need to familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of each program — e.g., whether you can
book one - way and
open -
jaw tickets, routing restrictions, hidden costs and fees (many airlines include fuel surcharges that can equal the cost of your airfare)-- to find the best value for your rewards.
However, when 2 one - ways are
booked as part of an
open -
jaw trip, the mileage is calculated based on the distance and season of the total trip.
Additionally, you can
book a stopover, an
open -
jaw, and / or include other partners in the
booking to really take your trip to the next level.
Because one - ways and
open -
jaws are allowed to be
booked with Hawaiian Airlines, the legs can be
booked as separate segments, allowing travelers to visit multiple Hawaiian Islands on the same trip.
When
booking from the OneWorld chart, you are allowed 4 stopovers and 2
open jaws on a round - trip
booking.
The one catch to remember, particularly when trying to
book your tickets online, is how United classifies its
open jaws.
So how do you plan a trip when you've
booked a multi-city or
open -
jaw flight?
The next time you
book a flight with points / miles, make sure you take advantage or free stopovers and / or
open jaws and enjoy multiple destinations for the price of one.
Thanks to United's generous
booking policies, you can use one stopover and two
open jaws per round - trip award ticket.
For example, you may want to
book travel from Los Angeles to Seoul, perform a stopover, then fly to Hong Kong a week later (your destination) and return to San Francisco (
open jaw with Los Angeles).
And because you
booked open -
jaw flights from and back to the U.S., you don't have to go back to Nassau.
Neither Delta nor American allows a stopover, and
open -
jaws need to be worked in manually by
booking separate one - way tickets.
To take advantage of the fifth freedom routes, you must
book an
open -
jaw flight into one city and out of the other.
One of the best uses of United Airlines miles is to
book complex itineraries that include stopovers and
open jaws.
You can
book your Travel Together ticket online unless you want to add a stopover or
open jaw to your itinerary.
You can also include a stopover and an
open -
jaw but doing so will make the
booking cost more miles.
To capitalize on what United offers for award tickets, you will need to know a few strategies for
booking flights, including their stopover and
open jaw rules.
Additionally, you can
book a stopover and an
open -
jaw to really take your trip to the next level.
One of the best perks of
booking with United is its generous stopover and
open jaw policy.
Since you can
book Emirates itineraries with stopovers and
open jaws online, the only reason you'll need to call the airline's service center is to
book a partner airline or change a flight.
-- Yes, by
booking certain
open -
jaw flights you may feel much more free during your traveling.
Booking an
open -
jaw flight means that you will purchase roundtrip ticket in which your return flight will be from different airport than you arrived to and / or you will return back to different airport than aiport of departure on your outbound flight.
This was when United's rules were a little different (the free flight leg did not need to start and end in the same region), so at that time I was able to
book: NYC to Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca (
open -
jaw), Oaxaca City to NYC (free flight leg), and then two months later NYC to the Dominican Republic (
open -
jaw).