Anyway to purchase "open return date" tickets?
 

Do any airlines for international travel allow the purchase of "open return date" tickets? That used to be a practice many years ago but a friend asked me that question recently and I could not answer.

Any advice here?

Contact the airline directly. Most airlines still do i think. I bought a open return last year on Korean Air, it was a refundable Y fare so fairly expensive. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will fill you in...

They are certainly available. Lots of international r/t tickets allow this, especially at higher fare classes.

If you buy full Y (no change fee, fully ref), then I don't see the point of an "open return", except to perhaps save one call (call to cancel original departure, call to schedule new departure; open return eliminates the first).

Even if airlines don't technically have this anymore (I'm not sure) buying a fully refundable Y ticket will solve your problems.

Yes, definitely available but typically it is cheaper to just get a discounted fare and pay the change fee. The catch with the discounted ticket is that the fare has to be available on the flight you want to change to or you may have to pay the fare difference on top of the change fee but typically that is still cheaper than a full fare ticket but it does depend on the carrier and route also.

I've found it is often easier to purchase 2 one-way tickets. Non of the EU countries seem to care. And this way if the outbound travel changes (or gets missed), it doesn't mess up your return.

While buying a round-trip might be cheaper, I often find the hassle factor especially when someone else is paying for the ticket isn't worth it.

I am a South African living in the UK, and for reasons that I don't fully understand, tickets JNB-LON-JNB are about 70% of the cost of LON-JNB-LON (in Y at least)

Since I go "home" to visit friends and family at least once a year, I tend to buy tickets which are valid for a year and which offer 1 free date change, and nominate a return date as far in advance as the airline will let me (usually around 8 months-ish). Then depending on availability, I can change the return date to suit me.

Then of course the whole thing starts again...

Not sure whether this will still be feasible now that I have passed the big 30, as all my tickets so far have been youth fares, but will wait and see.

hope this helps
-- Mike

Again depends on the airline
 

I've noticed tha open return date tickets are fairly common in Asia. For example, I know China Airlines allows you to purchase your outbound and depending on your fare class have a 1-2-3/6 week/month or 1 year open return even on the cheap fares.