bigbrownboy

I'm looking for a simple economy AMS-LHR one-way. All the dates I'm looking at through July are only pulling up a business class fare for ~$550. I see the same price on a variety of sites, including klm.com.

This seems a bit odd as coach is available on a round-trip. Any ideas as to what's going on?

alanw

I think they want you to buy a cheap round-trip ticket and throw away the return.

Papa Hotel

One ways always book into J on intra European flights on KLM.

Xandrios

No, they want you to pay the J fare. Throwing away the return is not allowed per the agreement that you accept for your ticket.

The fact that people do it, and usually do not get chased to pay the J fare anyway, is pure luck on their part. If KL notices an increase in 'trown away' returns they might actually follow up on these. And then your'e screwed..

FlyinDutchman

It's a free world; when you buy a cookie, do you need to eat it whole or the baker will sue you? People may not take the return for various reasons and most of the times they are valid...

Another option: bmi (while they still do AMS-LHR) and BA offer cheap one way options

ajamieson

Not quite; unlike your baker selling cookies, KLM imposes conditions of carriage on its customers that prohibit misuse of the ticket (including throwaway sectors) so technically no 'free world'. Of course, they rarely follow up on it so the OP is safe to buy the cheap return and chuck the second sector.

Actually the OP made me smile. What a sign of the times! Not so long ago it would have been considered normal to be forced to make a Saturday night stay on a short-haul flight whereas so many airlines now offer one-way pricing that such a requirement seems ridiculous. KL and AF are just about the only dinosaurs left in the ex-UK short haul market in this regard.

Henry III

Just as an 'academic' question, what exactly could an airline do if they did decide to chase the case? (Obviously, if it's not the last sector for which one does a no-show, then they will simply invalidate/void the remainder of your itinerary; but, if it's the last sector, there's very little they can actually do - other than 'blacklisting' you if you're a member of their FFP, perhaps).

-- Henry

cityflyer369

In principle, they could charge the credit card you paid the flight with. And then it would be up to you to get your money back.

Henry III

Yeah, but any number of excuses could be made why you didn't take the flight:

• I was too sick to travel;
• My friend's dog ate my passport;
• I got so drunk/stoned that I forgot where the airport was;
• Et cetera, et cetera.

-- H

PS: I should add that I have never yet (legitimately or otherwise) used any of the above excuses!

Mokshu

Airline is indeed entitled to reprice you for a one-way ticket. And they usually do that unless you provide documents excusing you missing the flight : medical stuff, whatever, ...

I know AF Revenue Integrity dept track down those "no show". Don't know about other airlines but that must be the same.

Xandrios

AF actually does this? I know that they could but never heard of them actually doing it. (yet)

As for re-pricing your ticket and charging your card on file: What if the ticket was paid for through a TA? The airline wont have any of your payment details on file. This is probably the most common case for many of the tickets sold..

layz

If you want a one way on 'KLM' between London and Amsterdam then use LCY. All CityJet fares are priced as one ways, including when you book it using a KL code on klm.com

Considering all their competitors on short-haul from the UK charge cheap one way fares (BA, BD, all the low costs, BE, etc) it would be commercial suicide(*) for AFKL to demand extra money from those travelling between the UK and AMS who buy a return and throw away one segment.

(*) Therefore I'm sure they'll do this

NickB

No they could not, unless you have expressly authorised them to do so. That is one of the reasons why airlines never pursue a pax for this:
1) they would have to go to court for it;
2) in many European countries, they would not want to go to court as they know full well that the risks of losing the case and setting a precedent are high. It is much better to have a threat at your disposal (even if you never use it) than nothing at all. Also, if they lost such a case, they would be in a very difficult position when it comes to issuing debit memos to travel agents (which is something that they actually do).

8420PR

what are the debit memo's that you refer to?

No problem to not use the return portion of a ticket. It must happen to hundreds of tickets everyday (though more likely due to missed flights or changed plans & circumstances). I have never heard of an airline trying to charge more, and given the significant price difference and the fact there is nothing on the internet or media about it I am 100% sure it does not happen. In the unlucky case that you were the first person they went after, then in Germany a court would rule the terms and conditions illegal (don't know about elsewhere), as they already have done for cases where a ticket is cancelled after missing the first segment.

However, given the high fuel charges it would probably still be cheaper to buy a one-way on another airline that specifically offers affordable one way fares.

G*G

Assuming you're referring to the conditions of carriage, could you pls point me to where this is stated? Just read through KLMs conditions of carriage and I couldn't see where this is indicated.