I'm not sure if this falls into the "open jaw" category. We plans to fly from the Charlotte to Newcastle UK and back from London to Charlotte next June. If I book using the multi city function on the airline website it does not allow me to buy a non stop home from London. I am willing to pay a little extra for this. If I book the outbound ticket on one airline as one way and the return ticket one way non stop on a different airline, are there any pitfalls to this approach? Thanks.
Posted by
Nederland, CO
1447 posts
The pitfalls to buying one way tickets is that for "most" airlines the cost of a one way ticket is more than the cost of a round trip ticket. For most airlines however if you book an open jaw ticket all at once then you get the round trip price. There are a few budget airlines where this pricing is not true. The only one I can think of off hand is Iceland Air. If the airline you are looking at has a direct flight available that you are not being offered online I would call. Maybe it's a software issue?
Posted by
Royaume-Uni nul points, pas plus
2512 posts
so you mean two one-way tickets?
no pitfalls other than the price
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
You may be asked to show your return one-way ticket at the boarding gate for your outbound flight, I was when I flew back to the US from London (non-Schengen) after spending 90 days in the Schengen zone.
Posted by
Royaume-Uni nul points, pas plus
2512 posts
The only carrier that flies direct from London to Charlotte is American Airlines, which is part of Oneworld with British Airways. So, I’m a tad surprised you can’t find a suitable multi-city option – into Newcastle and out of Heathrow.
Posted by
New York, NY
4007 posts
That is odd! I just tried doing a sample booking and experienced what you did on American Airlines' website.
If you go to British Airways website, however, you will get the itinerary you requested with a nonstop home to CLT on a BA codeshare with American Airlines.
Posted by
Folsom
2707 posts
Plug this into Kayak and you will get multiple options. I used the 1 stop filter and was able to find several that were non-stop in one direction, one stop in the other. They are all code shares. You'll be able to book these all at once.
Posted by
4530 posts
for "most" airlines the cost of a one way ticket is more than the cost
I'm not even sure the most is true anymore. Domestically, I've booked 2 one ways (on different airlines) instead of a round trip to DCA and also to LAX. Round trip being less than two one ways is becoming the minority experience.
There are too many one-way-fare only airlines out there so everyone is matching that: Norwegian, Icelandair, Condor, Southwest, Frontier, Spirit, Ryanair, easyJet, others.
Posted by
Nederland, CO
1447 posts
Tom in MN - yes I frequently buy one way tickets domestically, but I've found on the major carriers internationally that one way is still much more expensive.
Posted by
4530 posts
For me, the discount European airlines are the major carriers (4 of 5 recent trips) but checking Delta and Air Canada for example I do see the goofy high one way pricing.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4051 posts
Most, maybe all, of the low-cost airlines in Europe base their pricing on one-way travel. Even when the biggest, Ryanair, shows a round-trip function, it is still selling two one-way tickets. As to why trans-ocean flights are priced on round trips, it's a mystery I would love to hear explained by an expert.
Posted by
4530 posts
As to why trans-ocean flights are priced on round trips
But not Norwegian, Icelandair and Condor. I think the roundtrip transatlantic pricing on the other carries will disappear soon. Delta and American already offer one-way miles ticket pricing.
Posted by
1221 posts
IIRC, there are times when BA keeps certain inventory and face buckets to itself rather than releasing it to codeshare partners.