nd2010

I don't like booking round trip tickets for one reason: miss a flight and the return is cancelled if you don't invoke the flat tire rule or pay the change fee. I would rather book two one ways for that reason. Usually the round trip is the same price as both one ways.

LondonElite

I’m not convinced of the economics, but if it works for you then that’s all that matters. BTW, there is no universal flat tire rule to invoke.

nd2010

Search for two one way tickets and for a round trip. Compare the prices. If the round trip is equal or sometimes greater than two one ways, it doesn't benefit you to book round trip.

LondonElite

For the most part that’s obvious.

Gino Troian

or just book fully flexible tickets...

Annalisa12

Last RTW trip I was quoted on (only cancelled after bombings in Europe) was an absolute bargain. Was quality business class including London, NYC, DC, Poland and Asia and was almost the identical price of just SYD to NYC on QF.

der_saeufer

Like most things in life there's no single right answer.

Domestically (both in the US and intra-Europe), it's rare that a r/t is any cheaper than two one-ways. Intercontinental flights, though, not so much. A one-way ticket US-Europe can be so much more expensive that it's actually cheaper to buy a r/t and throw away the return.

For domestic trips, it's also a gamble when it comes to changes--booked as a round-trip, it's usually a single change fee even if you change both flights and it's always a single cancellation penalty if you cancel altogether. But for really cheap tickets, it's often cheaper to throw away the ticket, which you can't do with the outbound of a round-trip.

thebigben

I have insurance for that

Although - for me sometimes one-way flights are so cheap that it makes sense to book separate segments separately and do a multi-city trip.

thibderoc

On a lot of markets, RT = 2 * OW. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to book two OW..

But if RT is cheaper than 2 OW, it's up to you to decide if the lower price compensates the constraints...

Often1

There are no right and wrong answers. A good deal depends on an analysis of change fees vs. fare booked vs. need for flexibility.

On a typical US domestic RT, even if the RT is 2 x the OW, the standard $200 change fee is payable for all changes made to a ticket at one time. Thus, if one needs to delay a trip by a day, affecting both the outgoing and return, the fee is $200. But, if on two separate one-ways, changing the dates of the trip by a day would cost $400.

That is one of any number of permutations. Without doing a complete analysis of the route to be flown and the passenger's needs, there is simply no way to come up with an economically correct answer.

pinniped

I always assess it both ways, but more often than not book the round-trip to minimize my exposure to change fees. I don't personally have many cases where I plan to miss an outbound segment but want the return intact: my more common case is wanting to change the entire trip. (But not common enough to buy full-Y tickets.)

Dublin_rfk

In my line, with itineraries that constantly change I always game out both options as well as alternate airports. Normally on domestic trips two OWs prices out much better than a full fare RT. Especially when flexibility is needed.

LoggerOne

Me Too. If you do not care about which airline to use, I find more times than not that two separate bookings are cheaper than One round trip on the same airline. You just have to do your homework.

drvannostren

Yea this only really works on domestic flights. Even transborder often doesn't work. International flights aren't even close, search the one way, it'll be like 80% of the cost of the entire round trip.

dulciusexasperis

It used to be that a return was always cheaper than 2 one way tickets but that is no longer the case. So as noted above, you have to look at the variables each time and make your choice.

There is however a situation under which it only ever makes sense to book a one way ticket and I often find myself in that situation. I prefer to 'wing it' when travelling. I do not have an itinerary or any pre-booked hotels etc. I have no plan beyond arriving in A. I travel until either my maximum funds available or maximum time available runs out and then I go home. I have no way of knowing when or from where that return will be. People who travel for pleasure for an extended period of time often face this issue. The answer then is to simply ignore price. Whatever it is, when you work it out on a 'cost per day' of travel basis, it's small beer.