An open-jaw award flight is one of the best tricks in points travel, and many beginners have never heard of it. Instead of flying to one city and back, you fly into one city and home from another, visiting two destinations on a single award ticket. It turns one trip into two, often for the same number of points as a simple return.

The classic example is flying from New York to London, travelling overland to Paris, and flying home from Paris. You book one award with different arrival and departure cities, and the surface journey between them, by train, bus, or a cheap separate flight, is yours to arrange.

Not every program allows open-jaw awards, and the rules vary. Air Canada Aeroplan is one of the most generous, allowing open-jaw itineraries as part of its standard award rules, and its stopover option can be combined to create even more complex trips. United and several other Star Alliance programs also support open-jaw booking, though the online tools do not always make it obvious.

Some programs restrict open-jaw awards to certain regions or require that the open jaw stays within the same geographic area. Flying into London and home from Paris is fine, but flying into London and home from Tokyo is a different trip, not an open jaw, and it will price as two separate awards.

Booking an open-jaw award usually requires the multi-city search tool rather than a simple return search. Enter your outbound city and destination, then your second city and home city, and the tool should price it as one award. If the online tool fails, calling the airline can help, although phone booking fees may apply.

The surface segment is where the adventure happens. Europe is ideal for open-jaw trips because trains between major cities are fast, affordable, and scenic. A London to Paris train takes just over two hours, and a journey through several cities can become the highlight of the trip rather than just a transfer.

Asia works well too. Fly into Tokyo and home from Osaka, or into Bangkok and home from Singapore, and the surface journey becomes a second destination in itself. The key is choosing cities with good transport links and enough distance between them to make the trip worthwhile.

Watch the award pricing carefully. Some programs charge the higher of the two one-way prices for the whole trip, while others price each direction separately. Check the total before confirming, because an open-jaw that prices as two expensive one-ways is not a saving at all.

Open-jaw awards pair beautifully with stopovers. Some programs let you add a stopover of several days in a hub city for a small fee or even free, turning one award into three destinations. Aeroplan's 5,000-point stopover is a famous example, and it can transform a simple trip into a multi-city adventure.

Common mistakes include choosing cities with poor connections between them, forgetting to arrange the surface transport in advance, and assuming every program allows open jaws. A little research before booking prevents all three, and the airline's award rules page is the definitive source.

For families, open-jaw awards can be especially valuable. Flying into one city and home from another avoids backtracking with children in tow, and it lets you plan a route that moves forward rather than retracing steps. The saving in time and hassle is often worth more than the saving in points.

Open-jaw awards reward travellers who think in routes rather than round trips. Plan a journey that moves, pick two cities worth visiting, and let a single award ticket carry you through both.