The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
Advertiser disclosure
The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don't cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
Related stories
Quick summary
International airfare can be significantly cheaper when booking tickets originating from Europe rather than the U.S., especially for round-trip and premium-cabin fares.
Travelers planning multiple overseas trips can save by booking "reverse" or open-jaw tickets, combining segments from different journeys.
Savings can vary widely by route and season, with some itineraries offering hundreds or even thousands of dollars in difference.
This approach requires flexibility and careful planning, but can yield substantial savings for frequent travelers.
What to consider
Not all routes or dates will offer lower fares when departing from Europe; fare sales and market conditions can reverse the trend.
Coordinating multiple trips and open-jaw itineraries may involve additional planning and one-way bookings to complete your travel.
Award tickets or low-cost carriers can help bridge gaps in complex itineraries, but may involve extra steps or fees.
What you'll miss from the article
A step-by-step example of how to structure open-jaw and reverse itineraries to maximize savings on international travel.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Economy fares between the U.S. and both Asia and Europe are generally a bargain these days, if you’re flexible and willing to wait for a deal. It's often possible to score tickets for under $400 -- or even under $300 -- if you’re flying from a major hub and there is a fantastic sale. It’s a great time to be traveling.
There is a handy trick you can use to save even more if you’re planning multiple visits abroad: Book nested tickets. Technically, this isn’t quite what most people call nested ticketing, but it’s a similar strategy, and worth exploring if you venture overseas with any regularity.
Comparing Fares from the U.S. Versus from Europe
Generally, domestic tickets between cities are the same price, no matter which direction you travel. Flying from Boston (BOS) to San Francisco (SFO) costs the same as flying from San Francisco to Boston.
This isn't true for international tickets. Not only does the ticket price differ depending on the specific city pair, but also the fares are sometimes vastly different depending on which direction you're going. Flying from Dallas (DFW) to Madrid (MAD) and back might cost $900, while flying from Madrid to Dallas and back might cost $500.
In some cases, tickets departing Europe can be much cheaper than the reverse itinerary departing the United States. As an example, over random dates in January 2019, I found that you could fly nonstop from Chicago to London for $648 to $698 on American Airlines and British Airways, assuming you're planning a six-day trip.
However, if you search the opposite trip, with a London departure and Chicago arrival, the trip was now just $440!
Obviously, prices vary, and the savings vary as well. It may be just $20 -- or it may be $200 or more, like in the London-to-Chicago case.
Here are several other routes I researched and the savings you'd get if you departed from Europe compared to departing from the U.S.
Itinerary
When
Departing U.S.
Departing Europe
Nonstop ORD–LHR
January 2020
$698
$440
Nonstop JFK–FCO
February 2020
$518
$374
Nonstop SEA–AMS
June 2020
$1,443
$773
Nonstop DFW–MAD
May 2020
$983
$551
Nonstop SFO–CDG
April 2020
$418
$338
Nonstop MIA–MXP
March 2020
$474
$353
This is by no means a hard and fast rule. As I write this, there is an excellent fare sale going on from multiple major U.S. airports to London, and fares are actually slightly cheaper departing the United States versus departing Heathrow.
That said, there are plenty of instances where tickets leaving Europe are cheaper, especially in premium cabins; the savings for business-class tickets can top $1,000 in some cases. Consider the typical fare between Chicago (ORD) and Warsaw, Poland (WAW). Round-trip business class over the next several months runs more than $3,000 per person, and over $4,000 if you want a more efficient itinerary. However, if you want to book the reverse ticket -- from Warsaw to Chicago -- you'll pay only $2,008 round-trip, flying nonstop on one of LOT Polish Airlines' 787-9s. This is $2,000 cheaper than the nonstop option departing ORD.
How To Use Reverse Tickets to Save on Airfare
You may be wondering how you can possibly benefit from a ticket booked from London to Chicago when you need to get from Chicago to London. The key here is to think beyond a single trip.
Suppose you plan to visit London in the winter, and then Barcelona in the spring. Booking the nonstop London round-trip will cost $698 (assuming you want a weekend departure) and the nonstop Barcelona round-trip will cost $478. This is a total of $1,176 for the two economy tickets. (I've also assumed a visit for approximately a week and the preference to fly nonstop.)
However, you can book an open-jaw ticket with the London to Chicago leg in January and returning to Barcelona from Chicago in April for $422. Finding an inexpensive open-jaw itinerary is the key to saving with reverse tickets if you’re U.S.-based and plan to visit more than one destination.
To complete the trip, consider booking an award ticket to London, and then a cheap economy one-way fare on Norwegian for $166 to get home in April. You’ll burn some miles, but you’ll also cut the cash cost to less than $600 for 3 out of 4 legs, which is excellent savings.
This is just one example. I checked out tickets departing London and returning to Paris, and tickets departing Copenhagen and returning to Helsinki, one of my favorite cities I've visited in Europe.
The idea boils down to this: If you're planning multiple trips to Europe or Asia, check out ticket prices in the opposite direction, with one leg of the fare as the return of the first trip and the outbound of the second.
My Own Recent Example "Reverse" Ticket
A few months ago, I used Chase Ultimate Rewards to book an open-jaw ticket from Barcelona to San Francisco, returning to Copenhagen. The fare was $381, which was ~$80 cheaper than a simple round-trip to either destination. In this particular case, I'd already planned a trip that returned to Barcelona. Booking the "reverse" ticket let me save while handling the outbound segment of the next trip several months later.
For my ticket, I used just 25,400 Ultimate Rewards points, redeeming them for 1.5 cents each through the Chase travel portal with my Chase Sapphire Reserve card. I also considered using ThankYou points from my Citi Premier® Card at 1.25 cents each, but the added value per point you get with the Ultimate Rewards was a better deal in my mind.
Saving $80 may not seem like much, considering the legwork required to finish planning two trips. But if you multiply this across multiple tickets for a family, the savings add up quickly.
I enjoyed exploring the streets of Barcelona this fall. (Photo by Ian Snyder.)
Bottom line
These are just examples, but I hope they've illustrated the idea of booking a trip in "reverse" to save on airfare. Again, this isn't a trick that will work in all cases. You may only be interested in a single trip, or there may not be a price difference for a particular itinerary. But add the idea to your tool belt in case it can save you some money on overseas travel.
Looking for other strategies to save on airfare? Make sure you follow TPG Alerts on Twitter to be the first to know about current fare sales.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
