American English v English use of 'Return' on FT. Moved from Good Deals Premium Fares

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Mar 29, 2010 | 4:16 pm

#46

Captain Schmidt

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gosh, i can't believe this "discussion" is still running. meanwhile, back in the real world.....

Mar 29, 2010 | 10:04 pm

#47

fairdinkumbrad

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If i lived in the USA, and booked a vacation from the USA to Australia, and then said to the first USA stranger that I saw:

"Guess what stranger! I just got a sweet deal online for my Australia trip! It was only $1000 Return!!"

I am sure that most Americans would think I am talking about a $1000 round trip. As in USA - AUS - USA.

I am sure that very few Americans (perhaps just the OP) would think I am actually saying:

"Guess what stranger! I am thrilled about the cost of specifically the return leg of my trip to Australia, but Im making no mention or reference to my outbound flight."

Mar 30, 2010 | 4:35 am

#48

Yaatri

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Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulMSN

I disagree. That was previously the case, but US culture has encroached upon the countries where people learn British English. They may (or may not) use a British accent while speaking English in, for example, Poland, but they are speaking using a mixture of both British and US vocabulary and expressions.

You are correct. U.S. culture has pervaded or invaded all aspect of life even in non English speaking countries. Le weekend is an example.

But some terms have not changed, return is one of those. In he context of journey, ticket, fare, etc. return is always understood to mean round trip. Thirty two years of living in the U.S. has not erased the meaning of return.

Mar 30, 2010 | 4:46 am

#49

Yaatri

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Quote:

Originally Posted by SFflyer123

Here is another FTer who, completely independently of this discussion, uses the term "return" as inbound flight. This is the American way we say it. He uses the term, "outbound", then "return" as inbound. There is no denotion of "return" to mean round-trip airfare.

Check it out:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13640432-post10.html

"I've been doing SFO-PVG 3-4x/yr for the past 5 years and I just had my first upgrade failure last week on the outbound. Cleared on the return about 3 days in advance."

The reason I brought this up in the first place is the price discussed for "return" was so cheap, I thought it meant one way! That's why I asked for clarification. The same airfare for one way vs round-trip makes a huge difference, and this is where this discussion came from.

One way fares are advertised very rarely by U.S. airlines. Unless you are talking about a one way fare, return fare meanings round trip fare..
Unless return is used with a qualifier such as leg, using return by itself creates no ambiguity.

Mar 30, 2010 | 4:51 am

#50

Yaatri

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Quote:

Originally Posted by lin821

As a Taiwanese who'd been educated in the States and only familiar with American English, I have to agree with SFflyer123.

My understanding of "return" in terms of flying has always been equivalent of one-way (on the way back. i.e. return trip/segment). "Return" was never round trip in my mind until about a year ago when I spotted this thread, starting by guess who? Another European FTer.

Since FT is outnumbered by American FTers, it shouldn't be surprising that most folks assume "return" as one-way return trip to start with. OTOH, FT is also a global community that helps me learn to distinguish British English from American English, especially in OMNI.

In the context of an itinerary I have heard booking agents say "..... and your return flights are such and such...." or "your return is on flight such and such". But in the context of a ticket prices/fares return means round trip.

Mar 30, 2010 | 4:56 am

#51

Yaatri

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Quote:

Originally Posted by trooper

Well then... how about we all just write "RT"....

Then Americans will read it as "Round trip", and the rest of us will see it as as "return"....

In the same way that when I see "3" it is "three".. when a German sees it it is "drei" and so on.....

Good idea. I should like to make a note of caution here. Using acronyms that are also airline codes should be avoided.

When a poster writes LHR-JFK $450 AI, he/she might mean the fare is $450 inclusive of taxes. But it could also mean the fare is $450 on Air India.

Mar 30, 2010 | 8:33 am

#52

SFflyer123

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Quote:

Originally Posted by fairdinkumbrad

Next time you are here in the USA, try it. The very next question you'll get is either 1) "What do you mean, 'return'?" or 2) "Is that round trip?"

Mar 30, 2010 | 5:30 pm

#53

fairdinkumbrad

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Quote:

Originally Posted by SFflyer123

Next time you are here in the USA, try it. The very next question you'll get is ... Is that round trip?"

Exactly my point... The assumption is that is was round trip, not the flight home.

Mar 30, 2010 | 5:34 pm

#54

teemie

Join Date: Jun 2009

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Having been raised in an ex-British colony and been in the US for a while, I tend to trip up, often using the term "return" instead of "round trip".

While I won't argue as to which is the correct term, I find that whenever I mention "return" to friends, and or even some agents in the airline call centers, they don't link that term to "round trip" immediately... But that might just be my experience

Mar 31, 2010 | 8:21 am

#55

Renard

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Aren't most FTers 'bilingual' with respect to these terms? Is this issue some kind of 'culture war' in an effort to show one way or the other is 'superior' or more 'pure'?

Apr 1, 2010 | 6:53 am

#56

ajamieson

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Renard

Aren't most FTers 'bilingual' with respect to these terms? Is this issue some kind of 'culture war' in an effort to show one way or the other is 'superior' or more 'pure'?

Quite. The US date format, to give just one example. Takes 0.05 seconds to work out the context.

Apr 2, 2010 | 10:01 am

#57

SFflyer123

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Good example

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajamieson

Quite. The US date format, to give just one example. Takes 0.05 seconds to work out the context.

I think the international dates: day/month/year make more sense than the US standard of month/day/year. Going from smaller to bigger makes perfect sense. However, I think the US "round-trip" makes more sense than the British "return."

"Round trip" is very clear. There is no ambiguitty. "Return" implies one direction. For example: "When did you return from your vacation?" In that context, "return" implies the inbound leg, not the round-trip. When using "return," you must rely on the context to truly understand what someone means. Because "return" is so context-dependent, as stated in many comments above, "round-trip" is less ambiguous. Regardless of the context, "round-trip" is very clear and unambiguous.

Apr 5, 2010 | 9:46 am

#58

casandrabrian

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Quote:

Originally Posted by fairdinkumbrad

Yea, that's what I would think

Apr 5, 2010 | 6:03 pm

#59

merrickdb

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Quote:

Originally Posted by DCBob

I don't think Canadians think of themselves as speaking "American." On the Air Canada website for residents of Canada only, they use "one-way" and "round-trip" (not "return"), just as US airlines do.

They're just in denial about Canada really being the U.S.'s northernmost state.