Booking open ended trips
 

I will be flying to Madrid the end of August, staying for 3 months before traveling back to the U.S. I'm not sure if I want to fly back from Madrid or do some additional travel. Should I book a one-way or an open ended ticket and how do I do this? Do I need to go through a travel agent?

Do you mean a prepaid ticket where you can choose your date and point of return? Dont think theres anything like that around!Would be nice though,like Barcelona to Madrid,returning from wherever I wanted,for a Barcelona to Madrid fare,that is,offcause.

Booking open ended trips
 

Since it seems like you're very flexible with dates I'd challenge you to fly 1 way and cruise back; you'd most likely end in Miami or something nearby

You can book an "open jaw" ticket - fly into once city, and out of another.

You could probably book it refundable and switch the return flight, but that'd be expensive.

Assuming you are departing and returning to a major US hub airport, round trips to MAD are running $750 to $1500. One ways to MAD and one ways from major European hubs to the US are running $750 to $1500 each way.

So .... are you willing to double the cost of your airfare for the scheduling convenience

or

are you willing to fly obscure airlines at off-peak times and endure long layovers to reduce the overall costs of two one-ways?