Transatlantic Return?

[dmk]

I am wondering if it is possible to book a round trip ticket to Barcelona for a Transatlantic in December 2007. Then use the return for a Spring TA Florida to Barcelona in 2008.:rolleyes:

Is there such a thing as an open return ticket? Does it cost extra?

[amyr]

We did exactly that using frequent flyer tickets. It's called an "open jaw" We flew over to Barcelona to take the Millie transatlantic back to the US, and planned on taking Star back to Copenhagen and using the return portion of our air ticket. Unfortunately, our Star cruise cancelled, but we were able to change the air tickets to a return from Prague when we booked a river cruise in its place.

 

It's doable if you're buying tickets as well, but I think it may be more expensive. Might still be a lot cheaper than two one-way tickets. You'll probably have to call either a TA or the airline though, because I don't think most websites are set up to handle it, or at least handle it cost-effectively.

 

Oops, after rereading your post I see that you want to go in and out of Barcelona. That's easy, should be no problem. I'm not sure they have open returns anymore unless you want to buy an unrestricted ticket. It might be better to guess at a return close to when you think you'll be needing it and then pay the $50 (or whatever it is) change fee. The airline gurus around here would know better.

[dmk]

amyr,

When you used your frequent flyer miles, did you just leave the date open for the return date and how far in advance did you book the tickets?

I guess I will have to find out if my frequent flyer miles program allows to have an "open Jaw".

[DGF]

We did exactly that using frequent flyer tickets. It's called an "open jaw" We flew over to Barcelona to take the Millie transatlantic back to the US, and planned on taking Star back to Copenhagen and using the return portion of our air ticket. Unfortunately, our Star cruise cancelled, but we were able to change the air tickets to a return from Prague when we booked a river cruise in its place.

 

It's doable if you're buying tickets as well, but I think it may be more expensive. Might still be a lot cheaper than two one-way tickets. You'll probably have to call either a TA or the airline though, because I don't think most websites are set up to handle it, or at least handle it cost-effectively.

 

Oops, after rereading your post I see that you want to go in and out of Barcelona. That's easy, should be no problem. I'm not sure they have open returns anymore unless you want to buy an unrestricted ticket. It might be better to guess at a return close to when you think you'll be needing it and then pay the $50 (or whatever it is) change fee. The airline gurus around here would know better.

 

Great piece of information. We wish we had read this idea the last time we used points to do our Europe trip and returned to the USA on the Star Princess out of Venice. We never used the return leg of the air trip

 

Thanks

[poetic license]

Yes, this is THE way to go. You just have to use your ticket within one calendar year of the date of the first flight. We do this a lot with frequent flier mile tickets.

 

Cheers~

Nicki

[amyr]

amyr,

 

When you used your frequent flyer miles, did you just leave the date open for the return date and how far in advance did you book the tickets?

 

I guess I will have to find out if my frequent flyer miles program allows to have an "open Jaw".

 

 

DMK - I can't remember if we guessed or left the date open with the FF miles, I think they let us keep it open because we called for the outbound seats on the exact 331 days out that you're allowed and the return dates weren't open for booking yet. We ended up having to pay the change fee to fix the return exactly where we wanted it when that date became open for booking, be we knew we would have to in advance. We had to pay the fee again to change from Copenhagen to Prague, but that was still a small price to pay for business class. I don't know which progam you have (Air Canada?), but Delta allows one open jaw per FF ticket.

[SheilaNC]

We did the same for an upcoming trip to Hawaii. We didn't want to lose the outgoing trip but it was too soon to book the coming home trip. this was on Delta. We did have to pay a fee but given the price of tcts to europe, it was a no brainer. Planning a TA cruise next year and plan to do the same.

[pog27]

You might want to check 1 way fares just for comparison, they aren't always expensive. Last June I was able to buy a 1 way ticket coming back from europe in a special sale for $300.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

If you promise not to tell ANYONE...I will let you in on my best kept secret...

 

You can get real 1 way fares from Air Lingus. They have easy connections from Dublin to all over Europe. You can fly to Dublin and stay there for a day or 2...always nice...and then on to Barcelona...all for $400 or so. No plotting and planning to buy RT's and drop one way etc...no frequent flyer coupons...well you get the point. I know a lot of pax who do this from Boston and New York and it beats the heck out of the huge fares eveyone else charges. BTW...no problems with all the luggage either.

 

SHHHHHHHHHHHH...DON'T TELL ANYONE ELSE!!! If Air Lingus finds out what a good deal they are...they will probably start charging like everyone else.

 

ROSS

[amyr]

LOL, cgtnormandie, I think the secret may already be out. Dublin was a popular stop last year for folks on our Millie TA. Since it was November, the fares were even cheaper. Since we've run out of FF miles, I'll be keeping an eye on that, you can be sure.