Originally Posted by
lhrsfo
First, buy the tickets as two one ways with miles - it's far cheaper to change mileage tickets.
Not applicable.
Originally Posted by
lhrsfo
Second, buy fully flexible tickets - wildly expensive.
Defeats the whole purpose of trying to get an inexpensive ticket.
Originally Posted by
lhrsfo
Third, investigate each airline's change fees and go with the best option.
This was basically what I asking advice for. The optimal solution would be a website that lists all the airlines and their ticket-change prices.
Originally Posted by
lhrsfo
Fourth, buy the return for the later date and, if you want to come back earlier, simply buy a return for the earlier date from MSY-LED and either nest the tickets, or ditch both return segments.
Then I would need to know exactly when I'd be taking the next trip, which is even more nebulous than this current trip. Ditching the return segments would immediately cost 2X.