Originally Posted by
eightblack
But if you were doing 4 x round trips to the US, wouldn't you be better to position yourself to the US via a one-way DXB-JFK and then start buying all your return trips ex the US? I've seen some great pricing ex USA...
It depends on your specific needs but in general no. I know someone who did this recently and it didn't turn out all so great.
If you're traveling to DXB in the summer/ winter peak season, a r/t is around $2000. Which is not only more expensive than a ticket ex-DXB, but it comes with a $400 change fee vs. free changes. What's more, these overpriced tickets are Saver fares.
I could live with overpriced tickets ex-DXB, but then they made even those Savers.
People are voting with their wallets, but often EK is the most convenient for a lot of routes. For example, to and from most of India, the alternatives are narrow bodies, red-eye flights, with poor frequencies. To Singapore, Etihad flies 3 times a week, so it's never been an option really.