One of the easiest ways to waste both time and money while travelling is by making the same journey twice.
It happens more often than people realise.
Someone lands in Rome, spends two weeks travelling through Florence, Venice and Milan, and then takes a train all the way back to Rome just to catch the return flight home. Another traveler starts in Tokyo, slowly makes their way across Japan, and then backtracks for hours because their flight leaves from the same airport where the trip began.
The holiday itself is great.
It’s the ending that feels unnecessary.
Frequent travelers often avoid this by using what’s known as an open-jaw itinerary. Instead of flying into and out of the same city, they arrive in one destination and leave from another. It sounds like a small change, but it can completely reshape the way a trip flows.
Skyscanner’s Multi-city search makes it easy to compare these kinds of itineraries, so travelers can see whether an open-jaw route works better than a traditional return ticket.
Stop Planning Around the Airport
When people first start travelling internationally, they often build the entire holiday around whichever airport they book.
But experienced travelers usually think differently.
They build the trip around the route they actually want to take.
Imagine spending ten days exploring Portugal from north to south.
If you know you’ll eventually end up in Lisbon, does it really make sense to return all the way to Porto just because that’s where you landed?
Probably not.
The same idea works almost everywhere. A trip through Vietnam, Italy, Spain, Japan or even different parts of India often follows one direction naturally. There’s no real reason to undo all that progress at the end.
You Might Save More Than Just Time
Most people assume flying home from a different city must be more expensive.
Sometimes it is.
But not always.
Airlines price routes differently, and depending on the season and competition, an open-jaw itinerary can cost almost the same as a standard return ticket. In some cases, it can even work out cheaper.
That’s why it’s worth comparing before making assumptions.
With Skyscanner, checking both options only takes a few extra minutes, and it gives you a much clearer picture of what’s available.
Less Backtracking Means More Time to Explore
The biggest benefit isn’t always financial.
It’s the time you don’t spend travelling the same route twice.
Instead of using your last day to catch a train back across the country, you could be wandering through a local market, visiting one more museum or simply enjoying a slow breakfast before heading to the airport nearby.
People often spend months planning where they’ll go, but very little time thinking about how they’ll leave.
That final decision can shape the entire pace of the trip.
It Also Makes Road Trips Feel More Natural
This approach works particularly well if you’re renting a car.
Driving in one direction is usually far more enjoyable than circling back simply because the return flight is booked from the original airport.
You cover new roads every day instead of repeating familiar ones.
For many travelers, that’s exactly what a road trip should feel like.
Compare Before You Rule It Out
An open-jaw itinerary isn’t the best choice every single time.
Some countries are small enough that returning to the starting point makes perfect sense. Sometimes the fare difference simply isn’t worth it.
But many travelers never even compare because they assume return flights have to begin and end in the same city.
That’s probably the biggest mistake.
Experienced travelers don’t automatically choose the open-jaw option.
They just make sure it’s one of the options they compare.
And honestly, once you’ve taken a trip where every day moves you forward instead of eventually sending you back to where you started, it’s surprisingly difficult to go back to planning holidays any other way.
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