Sell you 4 for less than the price of 1

[DHCJr]

I have a chance for a 2 to 3 month contract in Hawaii, so I was doing some research on housing and getting there. So I went on-line and looked up how much it would cost for a round-trip ticket assuming 3 months. It was a little less than $400. I thought maybe I better get a one-way ticket considering how much the airline might charge to make a change. So I looked at the same flight going without a return flight and the cost was OVER $800.

In other words, I could buy a round-trip ticket and throw away the return ticket. When I know when I am going back buy another round-trip ticket and throw away the return ticket and I will save money.

What other industry will sell you 1 of an item and tell you if you take 3 more identical items I will sell it to you less than I would have for just the one?

So I e-mailed the airline today and asked the simple question, “Why would anyone buy a one-way ticket?” When I get an answer I will report it.

[WGH]

If you've got some time, I hear you can just get to hawaii via pudding.

[I_luv_saber]

I have a chance for a 2 to 3 month contract in Hawaii, so I was doing some research on housing and getting there. So I went on-line and looked up how much it would cost for a round-trip ticket assuming 3 months. It was a little less than $400. I thought maybe I better get a one-way ticket considering how much the airline might charge to make a change. So I looked at the same flight going without a return flight and the cost was OVER $800.

In other words, I could buy a round-trip ticket and throw away the return ticket. When I know when I am going back buy another round-trip ticket and throw away the return ticket and I will save money.

What other industry will sell you 1 of an item and tell you if you take 3 more identical items I will sell it to you less than I would have for just the one?

So I e-mailed the airline today and asked the simple question, “Why would anyone buy a one-way ticket?” When I get an answer I will report it.

Yup. It's asinine. The excuse I've heard is "Because with a round-trip ticket we have a guaranteed customer on the way back, too". When I mentioned the fact that if I'm paying one-way they would have the opportunity to fill the seat on the way back and make more money, or at least have less weight and save fuel, they said, "That's just the policy".

And I have heard that if they get wise to you simply buying a round-trip ticket and simply tossing the return trip ticket, you'll eventually get blacklisted. If true, not sure why they care if I take the trip home providing I've paid for it, but again that is hearsay.

[Inquartata]

Try an aggregator like Orbitz instead of the individual airlines. I just plugged in LAX to Honolulu on January 28th and got a one-way non-stop fare of $228 on multiple carriers...

[Alexander Kai]

But have you tried honolulu to LAX?

[DHCJr]

Try an aggregator like Orbitz instead of the individual airlines. I just plugged in LAX to Honolulu on January 28th and got a one-way non-stop fare of $228 on multiple carriers...

It was actually Orbitz that I used. The dates were Nov 15 and Feb 19. The airline with the cheapest round-trip fare was American. Now there was a cheaper one-way fare on Hawaiian for $300, but that is not the point. I stayed on Orbitz and noted how much the exact same flight on American cost for a one-way fare.

If you are looking months in advance, yes you can get a better deal on a one-way. My point is if you only know a few weeks in advance buy a round-trip ticket with the return months away and you will get a better deal. Where is the logic in that?

But have you tried honolulu to LAX?

On the same dates I did and it was just as bad. If I entered Feb 19 and 3 months later, it is more reasonable, but the reason for this exercise was I am not sure at this point when I will be going back. It will probably be a couple of weeks, so I will probably have the same problem.

[DHCJr]

Yup. It's asinine. The excuse I've heard is "Because with a round-trip ticket we have a guaranteed customer on the way back, too". When I mentioned the fact that if I'm paying one-way they would have the opportunity to fill the seat on the way back and make more money, or at least have less weight and save fuel, they said, "That's just the policy".

You got it right. Here is the actual answer. I have to figure out how I am going to respond.

Considering the price differences you noted, I understand your inquiry about the cost of one-way fares versus roundtrip fares. Allow me to explain.

Basically, the distinction in price equates to the difference in the two products -- our one-way fares generally have fewer restrictions in comparison to our roundtrip fares. Fewer restrictions mean more flexibility for the customer but translate into a higher price. Because roundtrip fares carry more restrictions (advance purchase requirements, length of stay limitations and nonrefundability), we accept less product spoilage (empty seats when flights depart). This benefit helps to drive down our costs associated with providing roundtrip service and we pass these savings on to our customers.

Taking into account a purely "bottom line" perspective, roundtrip fares guarantee us more revenue. When customers purchase roundtrip tickets, they are actually buying two trips instead of one -- booked and paid for in advance. As a result, customers receive the benefit of a "volume" discount when purchasing roundtrip tickets.

While I'm sure our pricing specialists would be inclined to proffer a more comprehensive explanation, the above clarification is the "simplified" version. This pricing approach is comparatively standard among airlines.

[fdad]

My kid is away at college in a school that is a far drive from home. When booking the airfare for the recent NAC A. I had planned to book a flight from the airport near school for my kid, and one from the airport near home for me. My kid's ticket turned out to connect through the airport near home. I tried to book the same flight for that last leg (direct for me). My ticket on that flight was going to cost several hundred dollars more than my kid's two leg ticket that included the same flight.

[I_luv_saber]

[quoting response]
Taking into account a purely "bottom line" perspective, roundtrip fares guarantee us more revenue. When customers purchase roundtrip tickets, they are actually buying two trips instead of one -- booked and paid for in advance. As a result, customers receive the benefit of a "volume" discount when purchasing roundtrip tickets.

That's what I was told too, which doesn't make sense. A volume discount would be like either buying a one way for $700, or a round trip for $1k (saving $400 with a volume discount). Not having the one way be more than two trips in the first place! More than half of a round trip, absolutely understandable, but a whole one?

That is the first time I'd heard the excuse of it being less restrictive, which I didn't think about and I suppose makes some sense. But not to the degree we're talking here, I would think. IIRC, when I was booking to Hungary and was unsure if I would be coming back, a one-way was going to run me around $1,400, whereas I could land a round-trip for $900. Craziness.

[Inquartata]

It's also insane in terms of the magnitude of the differential alone...

Maybe there's some underlying motive involving the TSA. One-way tickets are, or used to be, thought to trigger some red flags for security reasons.

[PretAllez]

Interesting... maybe it is a TSA thing....
Air Canada now quotes all fares as one-way, with the customer choosing the second/return leg as a separate flight.
(see:http://www.aircanada.com/en/home.html)

This may seem logical, but the combined price generally ends up being ridiculously higher than what you see in the US
(up to $1000 more than United Airlines for basically the same flights to/from Australia when booked through the carrier itself)


(*sigh* At the risk of showing my age, I miss Wardair and their Royal Doulton china... for coach!)

[occasionalfencer]

Interesting... maybe it is a TSA thing....
Air Canada now quotes all fares as one-way, with the customer choosing the second/return leg as a separate flight.
(see:http://www.aircanada.com/en/home.html)

This may seem logical, but the combined price generally ends up being ridiculously higher than what you see in the US
(up to $1000 more than United Airlines for basically the same flights to/from Australia when booked through the carrier itself)


(*sigh* At the risk of showing my age, I miss Wardair and their Royal Doulton china... for coach!)

It can't be only a TSA thing. I remember this policy from many years ago, before TSA got so crazy.

[kalivor]

Interesting... maybe it is a TSA thing....
Air Canada now quotes all fares as one-way, with the customer choosing the second/return leg as a separate flight.
(see:http://www.aircanada.com/en/home.html)

This may seem logical, but the combined price generally ends up being ridiculously higher than what you see in the US
(up to $1000 more than United Airlines for basically the same flights to/from Australia when booked through the carrier itself)


(*sigh* At the risk of showing my age, I miss Wardair and their Royal Doulton china... for coach!)

Air Canada flights have always been more expensive than most American carriers. It has nothing to do with security, it is because Air Canada does not look to compete on cost due to low competitive pressure in the Canadian marketplace for air travel.

And looking for the maximum cost differential will surely drive that difference up -- particularly when you are looking at "basically the same flights", rather than identical routes on identical planes (which ought to even out fuel costs, taxes, airport fees and so on).

[KD5MDK]

My kid is away at college in a school that is a far drive from home. When booking the airfare for the recent NAC A. I had planned to book a flight from the airport near school for my kid, and one from the airport near home for me. My kid's ticket turned out to connect through the airport near home. I tried to book the same flight for that last leg (direct for me). My ticket on that flight was going to cost several hundred dollars more than my kid's two leg ticket that included the same flight.

I'm just going to pretend that LGA is your home airport, and your kid is at say MHT (Manchester, NH).

CVG-LGA and CVG-MHT are two different markets, and it is likely that people in NYC are willing to pay more for airline tickets than people in Manchester. So the airline sells the person in NYC a $600 ticket, and the person in Manchester a $300 ticket, because that's what the market will bear, even though the person in Manchester actually ends up flying through La Guardia.

[PretAllez]

@kalivor
Actually, they were identical flights on identical planes (Ottawa-Washington-LAX-Sydney-Melbourne on United, partnered with AC)

[kalivor]

@kalivor
Actually, they were identical flights on identical planes (Ottawa-Washington-LAX-Sydney-Melbourne on United, partnered with AC)

Aha. Got me there.

Still makes sense that there is a price difference -- Air Canada probably has much higher demand for an Ottawa --> Melbourne route than United does. $1,000 seems like a bit much, though, unless the tickets are remarkably different in terms of terms. Or if one of them happens to be business class.

[DHCJr]

And I have heard that if they get wise to you simply buying a round-trip ticket and simply tossing the return trip ticket, you'll eventually get blacklisted. If true, not sure why they care if I take the trip home providing I've paid for it, but again that is hearsay.

You hit the nail on the head. Here is their answer to my further question.

Thank you for your subsequent email message.

In response to your direct question, our corporate security department runs a computer software program that scans reservation records to identify travelers who make arrangements such as you described, a practice called "throw-away-ticketing". If throw-away-ticketing is suspected, the reservation will be flagged and your ticket could be confiscated at the counter. An applicable one way fare would then be required in order for you to travel and you would lose the value of the confiscated ticket.

I hope this information is helpful.

I like the word suspected. In other words Guilty until proven innocent and we won't hear any of your arguments.

[WGH]

This is totally from hearsay and has no real knowledge behind it, but I believe you can push the return ticket pretty far in the future for either free or for a much smaller charge than the one way tax.

[DHCJr]

It's not hearsay. I did it. I could get 2 round-trip tickets for less than 1 one-way ticket. All I can see is they are gouging anyone who buys a one-way ticket. I am going to be looking at probably Hawaiian Airlines. They are a lot more reasonable between one-way versus round-trip.

[WGH]

Well that's good to know. It's ridiculous that they punish people for tossing the return ticket, but at least you aren't stuck with an early return and no way to stay longer.