jerryhze

Apologize if this has been discussed before, but is this the new norm?
I was searching flights DTW-NYC
If booking RT, lowest price is 12k
If booking 2 separate OWs, lowest price is 10.5+10.5=21k
Note that flights are exactly the same. It's just priced differently depending on RT/OW booking

xliioper

Yes it has already been discussed. Here is the existing thread --

Significant Increases in Skymiles Redemptions

There are also cheaper awards on certain routes for Tue/Wed/Sat travel (but do not require RT bookings).

jerryhze

Thanks for the thread. Seems it's the new norm..sigh

xliioper

I'm not sure I'd call it the new normal. You can find the award requirements (advance purchase, days of travel, min stay if any, etc.) in the "Fare Rules" link when you choose an itin. I did a survey of 33 destinations from DTW. Only 13 had a lowest fare that required a roundtrip purchase with a Sat night stay. 18 required Tue/Wed/Sat travel for the lowest award redemption, but did not require a roundtrip purchase (you could simply purchase as one-way's if you want). 2 did not have any restrictions for lowest award fare (other than advance purchase requirements). In some cases, the RT awards were substantially less than one-way's. In others, there was little difference.

one-way awards for Tue/Wed/Sat travel vs. Mon/Thu/Fri/Sun (no roundtrip purchase requirement)

DTW-BOS 6K/6.5K
DTW-ORD 6K/7K
DTW-DFW 6K/6.5K
DTW-DEN 6.5K/7.5K
DTW-LAS 13K/15K
DTW-SEA 14.5K/15K
DTW-MIA 7.5K/8.5K
DTW-MCO 9.5K/11K
DTW-IAH 9K/10.5K
DTW-MSP 8.5K/10.5K
DTW-PHL 13K/15K
DTW-FLL 7.5K/8.5K
DTW-DCA 7.5K/8.5K
DTW-MDW 6K/7K
DTW-IAD 7.5K/8.5K
DTW-SAN 13K/15K
DTW-PDX 10K/11.5K
DTW-STL 11K/12.5K

roundtrip awards for Tue/Wed/Sat travel w/Sat night stay vs. two one-way's any day
Note: there are also slightly higher RT awards that still require Sat night stay, but are good for other days of the week.

DTW-ATL 14K/30K
DTW-LAX 29K/30K
DTW-JFK 12k/25K
DTW-CLT 24.5K/30K
DTW-PHX 28K/30K
DTW-EWR 11K/23K
DTW-LGA 13K/21K
DTW-BWI 13K/20K
DTW-SLC 29K/30K
DTW-TPA 18K/28K
DTW-BNA 19K/22K
DTW-AUS 19K/30K
DTW-MSY 15K/22K

No differences in pricing (one-way pricing)

DTW-SFO 15K
DTW-HNL 25K