xliioper

For the legacy big 3 (assuming you are including them), this varies with markets. For competitive markets with a significant LCC presence, the legacy 3 will generally only have one-way fares on domestic routes in response to LCC competition (like AS/WN/B6) which also only have one-way fares. For markets that don't have a large LCC presence (particularly legacy hostage hubs), the legacy 3 (DL, in particular) still have many domestic routes where there are cheaper fares with roundtrip booking requirements present. For example, the cheapest DL one-way fares on DTW-SFO and MSP-SFO are $369 and $309, respectively. While roundtrip fare pricing starts from $598 and $298, respectively (yes, cheapest DL one-way fare on MSP-SFO is actually more than cheapest roundtrip).

moondog

Yeah, I think Southwest's most significant lasting contribution to the airline industry was providing the spark that eventually shattered the RT pricing paradigm (along with Saturday night stays and other silly restrictions). Basically, during the 80s, the impact on legacies was minimal, but during the 90s, Southwest became too big to ignore and was joined by other entrants that emulated its pricing model. So, in spite of the fact that Southwest itself no longer provides as much downward pressure on fares as it used to, we can continue to thank them for rooting out some of the more egregious anti-customer policies that were previously ubiquitous in the marketplace.

joshua362

Indeed. I used to fly LGA-DFW often. Same $1500 round trip no matter when you bought the coach ticket on AA or DL, $300 if a Saturday night was involved.

FindAWay

For completeness, there is at least one example of roundtrip pricing cheaper than separate one-way flights flying Southwest. BUT, it is due to taxes. USA-PUJ roundtrip is cheaper than the sum of 2 one-way flights.

hoangb

I can tell you several benefits of one way bookings that i have used:

1. Let's say I have six small travel funds to be used. Southwest allows a maximum of 3 combined payments per booking. This would limit my ability to apply as many of the small travel funds a possible. I would only be able to use at most three, and if they are not enough to cover, then I would be able to use only two and a credit card to pay the rest.
When I had many small travel fund credits, booking one ways allowed me to use as much as possible. Therefore, 2 one ways allowed to use up to six payment methods while a rt allowed only 3.

2. I like the fact that the one ways allowed almost immediate postings of points and segment credits rather than waitinng for the last leg of the rt to complete to post. Sometimes, I was needed a few points more to book another ticket, but I needed to wait for the last leg to post to get enough points. By the time the points posted, the prices in dollars and points have increased.

3. I often check back to see if the fares I booked have decreased. If so, I call and get credit in travel funds. Having the one ways allowed me to see more easily how much each segment has decreased and know how much I can expect to get back when I call.

4. If I have two one ways, and I see that one of the segments has a lower price on a competitor, I cancel the affected segment and get the travel fund, and I book with a the respective competitor that offered a lower rate. I have done this very frequently.

These are some of the benefits of benefit booking one ways that I have seen personally. I am sure others have as well.

For me, booking one ways far outweighs the rt bookings.





These are just three that I can think of, and I am sure there are more, but I can assure you that I see more benefits to one way booking than rountrip.

NoStressHere

Gonna guess you already know this, but you can reprice online and get points/funds back and not have to actually call in.

As to being much easier - 100% agree with watching one ways vs rountrip

dblumenhoff

​​​​​​At this point, WN has made it nearly as easy to cancel half a RT as to cancel a one way
​​​

lougord99

As SWAVictorsaid above, there are no round trips as far as the SWA computer system is concerned.

italdesign

Follow up question: if there are multiple passengers in one booking (not a companion ticket), and I need to cancel one of the passengers (either the whole or part of the itin, whether any segment has flown or not), I can do so without affecting the remaining passengers?

smmrfld

Yes you can.