One Way Tickets
 

Why are one way tickets so horribly expensive? I was in the market for a HKG-SFO ticket and it is just as expensive as a round trip. This doesn't make any sense.

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Cheers,
HKF

One of the reason is trying to ensure that you are travelling with them on the return flight. Since discounted fare are all for roundtrip, therfore one way trip is a full fare ticket. It is just like business and first class ticket, the cost of roundtrip is just one way times 2.

Regards,
Empress

But what if there is no return flight? What if I am moving?

the price situation (one-way costlier than a return ticket) is as crazy as:

a LH economy return ticket Zurich-Frankfurt-Philadelphia (or Detroit) costing much less (DM 499) than FOR THE SAME DATES and flight-# a LH return ticket only going Zurich-Frankfurt (DM 699)! (I took the transatlantic ticket 10 days ago, upgraded to business with award-vouchers).

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 05-31-99).]

What you guys are all referring to are excursion tickets, or seat sale tickets. One way tickets are available on excursion tickets but they are generally about 65-75% of the return fare. Hence when travel sometimes is required for a oneway from US to UK, it is better and cheaper to buy a return ticket and not use the return, so to speak.

But if you're all looking at the full economy fare (which some people still do buy), you'll notice that it is exactly HALF of a return fare.

yes Celestar340, I believe Hong Kong Flyer and I know.

But it is still a bizarre fact that (at least for my comparison above) for flights bought at the same day, flying the same dates and hours, with the same carrier, with the same flight numbers, with the same restrictions(Saturday/Sunday night, 21-days in advance), the Zurich-Frankfurt return tickets are much costlier than the total for the same flights adding the transatlantic return segments.

Here is another strange example:

I tried to book a flight on the United web page from Los Angeles to Hong Kong (United operates a daily direct LAX-HKG flight). I inadvertently set the departure time to 9 PM instead of 9 AM. The web site suggested I take the United redeye to New York, then the next morning take the New York - Hong Kong flight which stops in Los Angeles! This crazy routing was the same price as the direct LAX-HKG flight.

Crazy indeed HKF! But think of the miles! http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

You crazy people!!! Trying to make sense out airline fares!! Pretty silly, eh?

The (he, he) fact is that one way fares are higher as they cost almost as much to ticket as round trips and yet they still have to book "that" seat back (or empty) and if booked, have to pay to administer that transaction too.

Also (again tongue in cheek) if you only book one way they do not know if you will stay over a Saturday night or not!!

Why, not even two people on the same plane, both traveling one way (the same way, too) will usually be paying different fares!!

Fares are only fair to the fare collector, and occasionally to the faree, if the price seems fair. Now is that a fair fare or unfair?

Lately I have found some decent one way fares on certain routes. My next itinerary is

6 Jun SFO-DEN UA 1584 $269
10 Jun AA DEN-DFW-IAH 1988/831 $258

Another one way on UA SFO-DEN the same day was in the neighborhood of $750, and SFO-IAH on CO was $624.

The same itinerary on HP (SFO-PHX-DEN-PHX-IAH) was in the $900 range. Often, they are the least expensive for trips without a Saturday night stay.

Go figure. It does pay to shop around.

6 Jun SFO-DEN UA 1584 $269
10 Jun AA DEN-DFW-IAH 1988/831 $258

DM 499 = $300) that's what I paid a week ago for RETURN Zurich-Frankfurt-Philadelphia//Detroit-Frankfurt-Zurich.

And for individual one-way-trips with UA (have to fly not later than 90 days after my transatlantic flight) my UA Skypass coupons (minimum 3, maximum 8) would make each of the above legs/segments less than $100 per UA flight number (covering mainland USA, CA, PR, Mexico).

I am pretty sure, EX-HONG KONG FLYER, that your best bet is looking for some promotional return flight offers Hong Kong London and than, later, cancel the return flight.

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 05-31-99).]

Oh foolish people, don't you know? Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.

How's about this one:

YVR-LHR, 1st class, BA 84 - CAD$5538

YVR-LHR, 1st class, BA 84, connecting to
LHR-HAM, bus class, BA972, - CAD$4837 (less if you connect to a coach ticket)

Ken H

Ken-it might be even lower to a soft-currency area (Italy, Spain)..

jl

there is no more soft-currency aerea in western europe - unless you judge the Euro in general as a soft currency. The Euro is in charge since jan-first-99.

I think HKF's original question was for a oneway HKG-SFO. Where did HAM and YVR come in?