Buying 2 plane tickets and using them separately

I understand what you are trying to do, but I'm not sure it will save you much money even if it's possible. I would think you might have trouble booking "roundtrip" tickets with legs so far apart in time. Many times roundtrip fares have rules as far as how many days must or can transpire between the legs. Have you looked at what the pricing would be for what you propose? You might find that the Paris-Dallas leg is still pricier than the Dallas-Paris leg for the same time period. In theory, it looks like it could work, but I'm not sure the price savings would be worth the effort. Or the uncertainty.

I've looked, and the tickets are both possible to purchase right now. It's like a $600-$1000 savings, depending on the specific dates of my travel in August/September.

Of course, the Paris-Dallas tickets could be so ridiculous high because it's so far out (if I don't try to be all smart and look at regular Aug-Sept travel.)

But I think the date of advance purchase is something like 330 days?

A couple of things to consider:

1. Do you know your exact travel dates? How much will it cost to change tickets if necessary later?

2. Do you want to tie up money for two roundtrips now rather than wait a bit to see what happens with the Aug/Sept pricing? You might be right about the price being so high because it's early to book that period of travel.

First, thanks for your input, Nancy!

1. Yes, I know my exact travel dates. The Paris-Dallas ticket is your standard industry $$$ change fee; the Dallas-Paris one, because it's a "student" ticket, will be... like $25.

(For anyone who wants to know the website, it's from STA Travel; they have really good "change-date" rates. They don't sell tickets flying in to the U.S. from international destinations-- cabotage?-- but from U.S. outbound, they've worth looking.)

1. I don't mind spending money now if the Paris-Dallas pricing will be $1400 in August. It's high season worldwide... but I truly don't know if waiting is a good bet.

I guess I just want to know if what I propose to do is... legal? I mean, I am using both tickets... just not all at once.

Generally speaking, you'll see cheaper prices for the Aug/Sept travel sometime in the spring, so it'a a gamble either way, I think. Don't know about the legality of it -- perhaps you'll get a reply from Al in Nottingham. He works for an airline and can probably address that.

The industry term for this is called 'Back to Backing'.

There is nothing illegal or wrong about back to backing and your statutory rights under the Toronto agreament are in no way violated. That having been said airlines really discourage back to backers and if you do have a problem at any time on your travels you will find most airlines are really unflexible and will only do the absolute legal minimum.

If you're going to save a significant amount of cash then go for it BUT re-invest some of your savings into really good, comprehensive travel insurance, so that if you do get sick and need transport home, you're covered.

Ah, Al! I knew you would be able to answer that!

Yes-- it's a significant amount ($750).

Thank you so much for answering, Al and Nancy!

Just a note about US standards regarding back to back bookings. Many of the airlines in recent years have but together programs specifically to look for people booking back to back tickets.

It is looked at by the US industry as violating the original contract (your ticket is considered a contract and the rules of the ticket being the parameters).

What has occurred is that your ticket will be flagged and you can be charged at the airport for the ticket you are flying.

Can you get away with it - some have - but the situation is different in the US especially with United. The airline industry has specifically had a crack down on travel agents and online systems who allow such bookings and fines have been in the millions of dollars to those sites and agencies.

I would use caution.

There are tickets available for 6 month and 12 month returns. You may want to think about one way ticket options - they exist. www.sidestep.com

I looked at one-ways-- that's how I got here-- but it's a bigger mess, not to mention that the one-ways I've seen from P-D are $3000+ ($700 on sidestep).

For the first leg-- P-D- it's either one-way or a RT. If it's one way, I will have to buy a RT in order to return to Paris, and while that will bring me back to Dallas, I will need to buy another one-way to return to Paris in September. So 3 tickets (one way, RT, one way). I looked at this and it was about $1850.

The other option is to just buy a RT from Paris to Dallas, but that leaves the old-fashioned way (Jan/Feb, plus another RT for Aug/Sept [$2200]) or what I'm thinking (Jan/Sept, Feb/Oct [$1450]).

Anyone see anything else? I've been thinking about this too much, but thanks for everyone's responses.

Of course, the thing about the summer tickets is that perhaps it's advanced and that's why the prices are so high.