Is it okay to book one-way travel arrangements for a round-trip?

[racepoint]

This is a really silly/stupid question, I'm sure, but in my quest for a reasonably-timed (and priced) flight to SEA from the Boston area in July, I'm not coming up with round-trip-booked flights that will work, timewise. Is it okay to book one-way flights, utilizing different airlines, of course, for both the outgoing and incoming legs of our trip? (TSA/terrorist rules and regs come to mind . . . :confused: ) Has anyone done this in order to get the flight times/rates you're looking for?

[paul929207]

Sure you can book two one-way flights instead of a round trip. Be prepared to pay for the priviledge. Usually, a one-way trip is more expensive than a round trip and two one-way tickets are a lot more

[bubbles1209]

100% possible, and 100% can do. We did this for our June cruise, my SO paid for his daughter & her family to go with us (they haven't seen each other in 10 years) and because of flight times, we booked them 1-way from where they live to Miami on Delta, and 1- way from Miami back home on American Airlines. Luckily we booked early in November, and so far, the flights we booked have jumped up over $1600.00 (round trip) since we booked.

[FlyerTalker]

You can always buy a one-way ticket in each direction. As previously mentioned, the catch is that often the sum of the two one-way fares is significantly higher than any round-trip booking. However, depending on the city-pair, R/T fares may be nothing more than just two one-ways. Totally dependent on the market and the fare rules that the appropriate airlines have established for that market. If you find two one-ways that price less than a R/T, you have hit a jackpot - book it unless the FF considerations (and airline quality issues) outweigh the price differential.

[MadHouse24]

I do this quite a bit...if you are disciplined and watch the fares, you can find some great deals that beat the usual rule of thumb of two one ways being more expensive than a round trip.....

 

I suggest checking the fares at least three times a day especially mondays/tuesdays/wednesdays

[MadHouse24]

I forgot to add that on my recent trip to san juan for our cruise... I bought one way trips inbound and outbound to sju....albeit at different times....

 

The first set was bought for $121 each on delta

 

The second set was bought for $251 each on usairways

 

Trying to buy round trip tickets, the lowest average price I was able to get was around $450

[sunlover5]

We did that for our upcoming March cruise. Paid 185.00 for a one way to FLL. Knew we wanted Skybus for coming home and got those for 45.00 pp. The Delta flight is 1000.00 right now for a one way!!!??? Crazy!! So for 230.00 we have a ticket to FLL and back. Really good for us where we live. Doesn't always work out this way though!

[fti]

With all the low-cost carriers around now, it is very common for one-way fares to be half the price of a round-trip fare on many but not all airlines, for travel within the US.

 

Almost always, one-way tickets get the oft-dreaded SSSS on their boarding passes, meaning the secondary TSA screening at the checkpoint. But if you can live with that slight inconvenience, go for it.

 

John

[pms4104]

We booked two one-way tickets for our recent December sailing. While we were not flagged as special selectees (SSSS) for secondary search at the airport checkpoint, I do believe that is the reason we were denied participation in HAL's Express Baggage Service when we disembarked in FLL. That is the only variable from what we'd done on our previous sailing when we were, in fact, eligible for Express Baggage.

[BEAV]

The question whether or not it's cheaper to buy a round trip ticket vs two one way fares depends on which carrier flies your route. Low-cost carriers such as JetBlue & Alaska (which fly SEA-BOS) sell tickets based on one-way fares. Any round trip taken on such carriers are simply two one-way fares added together, as opposed to a single published round trip fare. More and more legacy carriers such as United, American, Delta, etc have gone to one-way fare structures on route where they compete with a low-cost carrier. So it truly depends on the route you're flying and what airlines service the route.

 

As to one-way tickets stamped with the dreaded SSSS, I have personally found this to be a thing of the past. In 2007 I took quite a number of one way flights, never getting the SSSS on my boarding pass. And this was flying several different airlines. Everything from Southwest, Virgin America to United. Just my own experience.....

[tiyana4]

We booked one-way tickets to Cancun last year and found a great deal at $169 OW. Because we wanted to leave from Cozumel instead of Cancun (didn't want to cross the Caribbean via ferry twice) to return home, we waited until we found a ticket for the time of day we wanted to leave at $141 pp. Both flights were non-stop, too.

 

Oftentimes, the cheapest roundtrip tickets have very early return times (6:00 or 7:00am) combined with very early or late departure times. So by opting to buy them separately, you not only find good prices, but also more desirable travel times.

[flhokie]

The question whether or not it's cheaper to buy a round trip ticket vs two one way fares depends on which carrier flies your route. Low-cost carriers such as JetBlue & Alaska (which fly SEA-BOS) sell tickets based on one-way fares. Any round trip taken on such carriers are simply two one-way fares added together, as opposed to a single published round trip fare. More and more legacy carriers such as United, American, Delta, etc have gone to one-way fare structures on route where they compete with a low-cost carrier. So it truly depends on the route you're flying and what airlines service the route.

 

As to one-way tickets stamped with the dreaded SSSS, I have personally found this to be a thing of the past. In 2007 I took quite a number of one way flights, never getting the SSSS on my boarding pass. And this was flying several different airlines. Everything from Southwest, Virgin America to United. Just my own experience.....

 

Exactly! I have done this several times to save money. One example...the outbound 1 way flight on US Airways was cheaper than any other carrier, but the 1 way return on United was much cheaper than others. By booking each of these 1 way tix I saved at least $50.

 

The SSSS thing for one way travel does seem to be a thing of the past. For the past couple of years I don't seem to get that marking with one way tickets.

[pamkev]

I just did this over Christmas to fly to Vegas. We took AA out and SWA back it was much cheaper doing 2 one ways than round trip. You just have to keep looking for the deals.

[SelectSys]

This is a really silly/stupid question, I'm sure, but in my quest for a reasonably-timed (and priced) flight to SEA from the Boston area in July, I'm not coming up with round-trip-booked flights that will work, timewise. Is it okay to book one-way flights, utilizing different airlines, of course, for both the outgoing and incoming legs of our trip? (TSA/terrorist rules and regs come to mind . . . :confused: ) Has anyone done this in order to get the flight times/rates you're looking for?

 

 

You can also look at other strategies to lower your cost including booking 2 back-to-back round trips if that lowers the cost as well. If it works out, you can get an extra trip to Seattle as part of the deal!

 

While back-to-back ticketing is against airline stated rules, I have never experienced a problem doing this on any airline. If the tickets are on different airlines, so much the better.

[TravlGrl]

This is a really silly/stupid question, I'm sure, but in my quest for a reasonably-timed (and priced) flight to SEA from the Boston area in July, I'm not coming up with round-trip-booked flights that will work, timewise. Is it okay to book one-way flights, utilizing different airlines, of course, for both the outgoing and incoming legs of our trip? (TSA/terrorist rules and regs come to mind . . . :confused: ) Has anyone done this in order to get the flight times/rates you're looking for?

 

TSA is going to be interested in you if you purchase a one-way ticket but you purchased your ticket at the ticket counter (not in advance), paid CASH for it, and have NO checked luggage.

 

This happened to someone on a flight we were on from LAS to SEA 2 years ago. Long story short -- There was a "person of interest" on our flight, and we were diverted twice between LAS and SEA (stalling for time while checks were being done). Stupid me (I'm MUCH smarter now ;)), thought that "person of interest" meant that someone like Oprah or Madonna were on our flight, so I got really giddy with anticipation when it was announced that the Port of Seattle would be entering our plane when we landed in order to remove the person of interest. My husband quickly calmed me down and explained what was going on.

 

Ok, so I can dream a little, eh? :o