As a traveler, you’ll find a one-way airline ticket often is more expensive than round-trip airfare to the same destination. While the logic may not add up in your mind, most major airlines think it makes perfect sense. According to Independent Traveler, airlines boost one-way prices because they feel it interferes with travel schedules; they know business travelers often buy these tickets, and their companies don’t always question the high prices. Still, there are ways to avoid these high travel costs.
Call the discount airlines that service your destination first. While the standard of higher one-way fares used to span the entire industry, times have changed. Today, many discount airlines offer deals on everything from round-trip to multiple destinations and even one-way trips. The difference in price on a one-way ticket between a major carrier such as American Airlines (aa.com) and a discount airline may be huge. According to travel website Independent Traveler, an experiment revealed that travel from New York to Paris was comparable when searching for round-trip airfare with American Airlines and discount carrier Aer Lingus. The story changed when the fare was switched to one-way. American wanted more than $2,400 for the ticket, while Aer Lingus was selling the one-way ticket for $594 for the same travel date, according to the site.
Check out online travel booking websites. These booking companies usually beat the prices available directly through the airline for one-way tickets. They generally work like a search engine to seek out the best fares available on your desired dates and destinations.
Buy a “throwaway” ticket, but know the potential consequences. If the round trip is so much cheaper, you may assume that buying the round trip and only using half of it is what makes the most sense -- and you’d be right. It does make sense, but the airlines are on to the plan. Some airlines sell their tickets as one-way itineraries anyway, so these carriers have no issue. However, some of the major airlines may have a rule against purchasing these so-called “throwaways.” In the fine print on your ticket, you may find the airline has the right to change the fare back to the one-way rate if it knows you are intentionally taking part in this seemingly sensible practice. Find out about your particular airline before trying this method.
Buy and travel on the best days of the week. If you have some flexibility in your travel plans, you may save significant cash on your ticket by booking it at a certain time and traveling at a certain time. This applies to one-way and round-trip travelers. According to Fare Compare, the cheapest day to travel is Wednesday, followed by Tuesday and Saturday. The cheapest time to purchase tickets is Tuesday at 3 p.m. Eastern. Try not to buy on weekends or you’ll likely be throwing away money.
