BigFlyer

I've run into this before. I thought that checking a one-way flight would be a way to determine how many miles are required for a particular segment of a RT (i.e., if a one-way Transatlantic priced at 60K, I could pair it with another that priced that way and get a 60K RT.)

I"m checking JFK to BCN.

If I check outbound on 4/19 OW, DL 94 (the non-stop), prices at 90K (while a connection via AMS prices at 60K.)

However, if I search for RT coming back on 5/4th, choosing the same DL 94 for the outbound on 4/19 yields a total RT price of 60k?

Can anyone explain why? Delta's IT being stupid doesn't count as an explanation; why does it behave as it does?

avidflyer

Because Delta does not offer OW awards only RT's. If you price a OW you are getting the "high" price as a default for the non-existent return.

mtkeller

I don't think that's the cause, unless i'ts new. I've not seen it bump up to high on one-way searches.

Klm is Dead - Long Live KLM

Rather than going for Diamond it can be smarter to instead accrue some of your premium travel mileage to a Flying Blue account which does allow one way awards at 50% of the low return rate and which often are available at a 50% discount on top of that on web promotions. For example, recently one could fly one way in Business Class from Chicago to Amsterdam for 25000 miles. This can be an excellent way to arrange positioning flights for other deals. (You do have to pay the extortionate fees and taxes for the tickets however, amounting in this case to about $175 for the one way ticket.

BigFlyer

That theory doesn't explain why, as I stated in my post, another one-way flight priced at 60K, which is the low award pricing.

BigFlyer

I stated in my post that the only reason I was checking one-ways was not because I wanted to travel one-way, but as a way to find the components for a low round-trip.

flymonthly

Seriously, why doesn't Delta's IT not functioning the way it should count as an explanation? We might be able to deduce a pattern in one-way award bookings that might *appear* to explain what you're seeing, but I kind of doubt that anyone on FT (or maybe even at DL) really knows the answer.

BigFlyer

It doesn't count as an explanation as it's obvious that it's screwed up.

dnkywhisperer

Here is why: OW award tickets do not exist for half price. I'll use domestic flights for an example. You either book a Low (almost non existent) award for 25k miles, a medium for 40K or high for 60k. now if you do have a round trip you get the average of the outbound and return flights. if you look at a high one way it will price out at 60k, if you book a high outbound and low return it will price out at 42.5k. That is how you can get a OW that costs more than a RT.

dnkywhisperer

this is how i look for award tickets by searching one way, finding each leg at the price I want, than piece it all together.

dnkywhisperer

And remember just because there is a green square on a calendar it does not mean a low award exists, although it does help when searching.

Klm is Dead - Long Live KLM

Well, with a program like Flying Blue not only are those one way segments able to be combined into a round trip but you can also book them separately to build your own round trip -- all without having to deal with Delta's booking tool which has been deliberately handicapped to be next to unusable and which charges extortionate amounts of miles in a three tiered scheme.

Many Delta members also accumulate miles on Flying Blue for this reason.
If you know you are going to have more than enough mileage to qualify for Diamond and have a carry over it can be smart to qualify instead also for Platinum on Flying Blue. After 10 consecutive years you will be Platinum for Life and won't have to worry about qualifying any more.

3Cforme

Sorry, avidflyer, but IMHO bigflyer was right to dismiss that explanation.

In one-way pricing, my observations are that with a:

- low outbound the default is low return, yielding the 60K pricing expected by the OP here;

- medium outbound will be defaulted to medium return;

- high outbound will be defaulted to high return.

Hence the imperative when one wants a true one-way ticket and is stuck with medium or high outbound, find a low return that fits the ticketing time parameters.

As for a suitable explanation of the OP's observation - regrets.

mnbp

I tried DL.com o/w JFK-BCN 19APR. Flight DL 94 on the "Select an outbound flight" is listed as 90K. However, when I actually select DL 94, I got the following message on the "Review Itinerary" screen and the cost was actually 60K:

flymonthly

Sorry, I misinterpreted the sentences ending in "?"'s in your OP as being questions. My mistake.