I am planning to go on two RS tours. I plan to fly from Newark to Munich, tour ends in Vienna. Then fly from Vienna to Brussels, 2nd tour ends in Amsterdam. My question: I plan to fly from Vienna to Brussels one way. It appears it is cheaper to buy a roundtrip ticket from Vienna to Brussels and Brussels back to Vienna than to buy a one way ticket from Vienna to Brussels. ( It is super expensive to buy a ticket with all the flights, easier to buy a roundtrip ticket to Munich and return from Amsterdam). Can I buy a roundtrip ticket from Vienna to Brussels and Brussels to Vienna and just not return from Brussels back to Vienna. I will be on the 2nd tour so I will not be returning to Vienna. Sounds silly, but I want to make sure you can legally do this and no one will question why I am not on the return flight. If the one way ticket was not three times more than the round trip I would buy just a one way ticket but the price is a lot more. Can I do this and not have any issues. Thank you.
Posted by
Portland
3595 posts
I am pretty sure that you have to be careful that none of the return flights that you skip is tied into any following flight. If you do that, the airlines will cancel all of them. Have you checked kayak.com, skyscanner.com, or any of the other air travel sites? There are many budget airlines in Europe, going between cities at astonishing low prices.
Posted by
OP
New York
1203 posts
Thank you, I will do that, check with other sites. I only started this process as I am now thinking what to do when I book these two tours. I have only used expedia, but will now check the other sites. Again, thank you, that is why I came to the forum so that I can get help. And no, I did make sure it was not on the same days at the other flights.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
So your transAtlantic flights are open-jaw Newark-Munich and Amsterdam-Newark? As Rosalyn noted, buy your Vienna-Brussels ticket separately (if there's no budget airline for one-way on that route.)
Posted by
OP
New York
1203 posts
Yes, that was one I am planning to do. But want to know if I can buy a roundtrip ticket Vienna-Brussels and Brussels-Vienna and not return to Vienna. Is this ok to do if the one way ticket is too expensive. I found that the round trip ticket is much less money.
Posted by
Green Bay
20085 posts
Easyjet has a flight from Vienna to Amsterdam for 40 EUR, then take the Thalys from Schipol to Brussels for 29 EUR.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10188 posts
Is it legal? The police won't arrest you, nor will you be fined.
Is it allowed by the airlines? No.
Are we allowed to tell you to break rules on this Forum? No.
Have people done it in the past? Yes.
Have you looked at Air Berlin for a one-way?
Sam has given you an option that breaks no airline rules.
Posted by
Atlanta
2469 posts
Ann,
This is wonderful, 2 RS tours! When are are you planning to go?
Judy B
Posted by
Green Bay
20085 posts
I love the way the airlines get it both ways. Miss your return flight and its "Oh, now we get to charge you for another ticket." Never show up for your return flight and its "Oh, you're cheating us."
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
I did something similar few years ago. Roundtrip ticket Prague - St. Petersburg was cheaper than one way. So I bought it, got off in St. Petersburg then by train to Moscow then Volga cruise to Astrakhan, fly to Moscow then to Frankfurt and back to US. Simply didn't show up for flight back from St. Petersburg to Prague, nothing happened and I saved few hundred dollars. Buy roundtrip[ ticket from Vienna to Brussels if it's cheaper than one way and don't show up for flight from Brussels to Vienna. Nothing will happen and you will save dollars like I did. Just don't ask airline about it because they would tell you that's illegal.
Posted by
US
391 posts
How to Use Hidden City and Throwaway Ticketing to Save Money on Airfare
Disclaimer: Not a recommendation, just a quote of the article title.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4044 posts
www.skyscanner.com is good on European budget and one-way air carriers. It shows several one-ways on that route that will be cheaper than a round trip. The amount of difference will depend on when you are flying (and how far in advance you buy the ticket.) The large disparity is between non-stops and one-stops which are substantially cheaper.