Fares & pricing Travel technology glossary

Open jawOpen-jaw itinerary

Also called open-jaw ticketOJorigin open jawturnaround open jawdouble open jaw

Definition

An open jaw is a return itinerary in which the traveller does not fly back from the same point they flew to, or does not return to the same point they started from. The gap between those points is covered by surface travel or a separate ticket, and the journey is priced as a return-type fare.

What Open jaw means

Many travellers want to fly into one city and out of another, for example arriving in Rome and leaving from Milan after travelling by train. An open jaw allows this on one ticket. IATA's data model defines a normal fare open jaw as travel from one country and back, made up of only two international fare components, where the points do not match at one or both ends.

There are three main types. A turnaround open jaw (also called destination open jaw) has the gap at the far end: outbound arrival and inbound departure points differ. An origin open jaw has the gap at home: the traveller starts and finishes at different points. A double open jaw has gaps at both ends. A gap at only one end is sometimes called a single open jaw.

For fare construction, an open jaw is usually priced like a return journey: each fare component takes half of the applicable round-trip fare, and the two halves are added. Fare rules decide whether an open jaw is permitted and may limit the size or location of the surface gap. In the booking, the gap is normally shown as an ARNK (arrival unknown) segment so the system knows it is intended. Pricing engines detect open jaws automatically from the itinerary.

How Open jaw works

Booking and pricing an open jaw follows a few clear steps.

  1. Plan the routingThe agent books the outbound to one point and the inbound from another, for example Dubai to Rome and Milan to Dubai.
  2. Mark the surface sectorAn ARNK segment is added between the two points so the booking shows the gap is intentional.
  3. Check fare rulesThe agent or system checks that the chosen fare permits open jaws and that the gap meets any distance or geography condition.
  4. Price as half round tripsThe pricing engine takes half of the round-trip fare for each component and combines them, applying NUC and ROE where needed.
  5. TicketThe ticket is issued with both flown sectors and the surface sector shown in the fare calculation.

Open jaw in practice

Illustrative turnaround open jaw. Dubai to Rome, train Rome to Milan, then Milan to Dubai. The fare calculation adds half the Dubai to Rome round-trip fare and half the Milan to Dubai round-trip fare.

Illustrative origin open jaw. Lahore to Istanbul, then Istanbul to Islamabad, with the traveller covering Islamabad to Lahore by road.

Illustrative double open jaw. London to New York, surface to Boston, Boston to Manchester. Here both the far end and the home end have a gap. Whether such a routing is allowed depends on the fare rules of the airline.

Who uses it

Leisure travel agenciesAgents use open jaws for touring holidays so travellers do not backtrack to their arrival city.
Corporate travelBusiness travellers visiting several cities fly in to one and out of another on a single return-priced ticket.
Fare desks and consolidatorsFare specialists construct open jaws manually when automated pricing cannot find a valid combination.

Advantages and limitations

Advantages

  • Travellers avoid backtracking and can cover more of a region in one trip.
  • Pricing as half round trips is often cheaper than two one-way tickets.
  • One ticket keeps the whole journey under the same booking and protections.

Limitations

  • Not every fare permits open jaws, and rules may restrict the size of the gap.
  • The traveller must arrange and pay for the surface sector separately.
  • Manual open-jaw fare construction is error-prone and can trigger debit memos if done wrongly.

Frequently asked questions about Open jaw

Is an open-jaw ticket cheaper than two one-way tickets?

Often, because an open jaw is priced using half round-trip fares, which on many routes are lower than one-way fares. The saving depends on the airline, the fares available and whether the chosen fare permits an open jaw.

What is the difference between a turnaround open jaw and an origin open jaw?

In a turnaround open jaw, the traveller flies into one city and back from another at the destination end. In an origin open jaw, the traveller starts from one city and returns to a different city at the home end.

What does ARNK mean in an open-jaw booking?

ARNK stands for arrival unknown. It is a placeholder segment in the booking that shows the traveller is covering the gap between two points by other means, so the reservation system does not treat the itinerary as broken.

Can an open jaw involve different airports in the same city?

Using two airports in the same city, such as two London airports, is generally not treated as an open jaw for fare purposes, because the city is the same. Fare rules and the pricing system decide how such itineraries are handled.

Run your agency on one booking platform

ReservationHub's Subscription Cloud Edition gives agencies GDS, NDC and low-cost content, B2B and B2C sales, and back office in one hosted platform.

See the SaaS platform

Sources and further reading

  1. IATA AIDM — Normal Fare Open Jaw (business term)
  2. Travelport — How travel type affects fares
  3. Wikipedia — Open-jaw ticket (orientation only)