One Way Airline Tickets

Hoping I have posted this on the correct board, if not please advise me.

Hello .. we are planning a Alaskan cruise and are embarking from Vancouver. I have looked at several avenues (booking through Costco, Princess, USAA, and AmEx) in an effort to decide on our airline reservations.

I've put together a plan booking the flights myself. I would book one way from Atlanta to Vancouver on Alaskan Airlines and book one way return on United back home.

I was discussing this with a friend and she said "I hope your one way ticket to Vancouver doesn't create an issue with Canadian Immigration."

Are there any of you who have traveled to Vancouver in this manner? Were there any problems? Obviously I would have our return tickets to show our flight back to the U.S.

I would appreciate any feed back.

Thank you, CJ

If you have a return ticket, no problem. Wasn't it more expensive buying two one way tickets; it usually is for international flights?

If you have a return ticket, no problem. Wasn't it more expensive buying two one way tickets; it usually is for international flights?

While technically international, many airlines almost consider flying to Canada from the US domestic, and thus there can still be a benefit to booking one way flights. Similar happened to me this summer flying into Toronto.

Whether or not there is an issue about flying a one way into Canada is a problem, that would be with Canadian Immigration, not with the airline, and yes, you could be asked when you clear Canadian Immigration. But in reality, the "return flight" or "onward travel" proof is rarely checked any more. You are more likely to be checked in a more restrictive country, like Russia.

When we did our Alaska cruise last year we did one way tickets. I think most of the cruises that are not round trip would have to be that way. We went Tampa to Vancouver (where the cruise began). And returned from Fairbanks to Tampa. We used 2 different aurlines and no questions asked.

And as to being more expensive - in the last few years, we have not seen where it matters much as to round trip or one ways like it use to be years ago.

Thank you for your prompt replies.

Grandma Knows Best - I had always thought one way tickets were more expensive, too. The problem I was having dealt with our return airfare costs. Returning to Atlanta if I booked round trip through Alaskan (keep in mind everyone recommended not booking flights till after noon to allow disembarking, transport to the airport, and any delays the ship might experience coming into port) resulted in dramatic fare increases through the afternoon. United offered a great fare for a 1pm flight but when I researched using United round trip I couldn't make the departure times from Atlanta work.

So..in conclusion (😁) I decided to go with the one way bookings and saved myself around $200.

I found my best rate as a multi-destination fare instead of two one-ways.

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Folks with little experience are not familiar with the term "open jaw" bookings. It refers to travel from A to B and return from C to A.

Pricing for Open Jaw bookings are usually made by clicking on the "multiple city" tab at online booking sites.

From Atlanta, I would look at the Multiple City bookings on Delta. We flew to YVR and returned from ANC several years ago...great flights and connections.

And no, you won't be questioned on arrival in Vancouver; thousands of people arrive on one-way or as part of open-jaw itineraries every day.

Look at open-jaw itineraries on any airline; ATL-YVR//ANC-ATL is a very easy itinerary to set up. Book through the airline or use an online service like Expedia or Google Flights to see the options.

Orbitz calls it "Multi-city"

and my advice is way too late for the OP but for any future posters, I recommend at looking at flights from Seattle. When we finished our Tampa to Vancouver cruise, flights in economy plus (or whatever the various airlines call their product) from Vancouver to Houston were marginally cheaper than from Seattle BUT flying first from Seattle to Houston was only $50 dollars above the economy plus fare (at six foot seven it is impossible fo me to sit in an econ seat for longer than an hour) from Vancouver...so we ended up busing it from Vancouver to Seattle and then home. For the almost five hour flight, so much more comfortable and well worth the $150 total cost addition for the both of us.

As a Vancouver resident/Canadian citizen I haven't been personally exposed to any extra questioning after a one-way flight, but I certainly agree with the above posters that this factor alone is unlikely to get you 'red-flagged' as a potential risk, especially in cruise season. Normal CBSA questioning does tend to include "Why are you visiting?" and if you answer that you're cruising to AK that's a perfectly reasonable answer - you might be asked to show cruise booking info to confirm you're leaving promptly but unless you look suspicious or CBSA are bored I doubt you'll even be asked to do that... since US citizens can stay in Canada as tourists without visas for 6 months at a time, not even having a booked return flight is far from rare.

We fly open jaw around and between US frequently - at least once a year we've flown PDX-Somewhere, Somewhere or even Somewhere Else-YVR or reverse. Never had any hassles with US CBP, and they're further down the paranoia spectrum than CBSA in general with much greater chance of asking follow-up Qs about exact location of accommodation you're staying in, how long for, etc.

...

I've put together a plan booking the flights myself. I would book one way from Atlanta to Vancouver on Alaskan Airlines and book one way return on United back home.

 

I was discussing this with a friend and she said "I hope your one way ticket to Vancouver doesn't create an issue with Canadian Immigration."

 

Are there any of you who have traveled to Vancouver in this manner? Were there any problems? Obviously I would have our return tickets to show our flight back to the U.S.

 

I would appreciate any feed back.

 

Thank you, CJ

It is not a problem. If Canadian authorities ask anything it will likely be how long you plan to stay in Canada. If they ask for anything it is going to be on-ward travel out of Canada. That would be your cruse ticket. Once your on the ship heading to Alaska as far the Canadian authorities are concerned your have left Canada. How you get from Alaska back home is of little interest to them.

When we did our Alaska cruise last year we did one way tickets. I think most of the cruises that are not round trip would have to be that way. We went Tampa to Vancouver (where the cruise began). And returned from Fairbanks to Tampa. We used 2 different aurlines and no questions asked.

There are usually 3 options when you book airline tickets:

1. One way, self explanatory

2. Round trip, also self explanatory

3. Multi-city. You book an arriving flight into one city, and your departing flight out of another city. It's convenient for one way cruises, or any land-based trip where you'll arrive, and then travel around on the ground and end up somewhere different than the city in which you landed originally. On numerous occasions I've traveled to Europe and flown into Rome and then flown home from Venice, or flown into Barcelona and flown home from Rome or whatever. All were booked as ONE ticket using the multi-city option.

The multi-city option doesn't just have to be used for one way cruises, and it isn't limited to just 2 flights, one out and one back. You can link multiple flights together this way. I had a trip planned that ultimately didn't pan out, but it would have involved:

1. Fly from Charleston to New York (Bermuda cruise)

2. Fly from New York to Sacramento (wine events in Napa)

3. Fly from Sacramento to Charleston

I am doing what the OP also is doing. Booking one way with Alaska Airlines and the other way with West Jet. You could do this on a 3rd party booking site such as Expedia. I prefer to go directly to the airline to book my ticket. If something goes haywire, you can deal with them and not wait for Expedia to solve your problem

Folks with little experience are not familiar with the term "open jaw" bookings. It refers to travel from A to B and return from C to A.

 

Pricing for Open Jaw bookings are usually made by clicking on the "multiple city" tab at online booking sites.

 

From Atlanta, I would look at the Multiple City bookings on Delta. We flew to YVR and returned from ANC several years ago...great flights and connections.

Could you do

Jacksonville to Amsterdam

Jacksonville to Amsterdam

As a open Jaw ticket??

Could you do

Jacksonville to Amsterdam

Jacksonville to Amsterdam

As a open Jaw ticket??

I'm not an expert on the rules of open jaw bookings, but I know there are some rules for open jaw bookings that determine whether you will get true open jaw pricing, or if your ticket will be priced (usually higher) as two one ways even though you book it as one ticket using the multi-city option. The key is that the unflown portion of your itinerary needs to be the shortest portion of the journey. In the example above, the unflown portion is Amsterdam to Jacksonville, but obviously that would be the same distance as Amsterdam to Jacksonville, not shorter, so I doubt you'd see open jaw pricing; the airline would likely price your ticket as though it were two one-ways.

Some of the folks here can probably explain it better than I can. Flyertalker? Globaliser?

Could you do

Jacksonville to Amsterdam

Jacksonville to Amsterdam

As a open Jaw ticket??

No, it's not an open jaw. It's going to price out as two one way tickets.

Before posting, did you go to the airline webpage and try? It will give you the answer.

We often do one way flights in North American. We price returns/open jaws and then look at the one way fares. A few times during vacation periods returns have been costly but a combination of two one ways on different airlines was the way to go.

Now retired, we often fly on a one way ticket without having booked a return simply because we may not know when and from where we will be returning. Found out in Costa Rica that we were lucky to be admitted without a return ticket. We have never been asked to show a return flight though we know friends who have been.

Unless there's a significant price difference, I usually prefer one ways to multi-city. It gives you more flexibility and often increases your ability for self-help in the case of IRROPS. If you miss any leg of a multi-leg ticket, all subsequent legs will cancel out unless you pay a change fee in advance and possibly a reprice, but with one ways you can throw away the segment.

One thing to check is the effect of one-way versus multi-city on various city airport taxes and departure taxes.

One ways are not really cost effective for legacy carriers to increased fare one-way markets like NA to EU, while open jaw is usually better. Also, if using miles, it may be cheaper to redeposit multiple segments on one ticket than one-ways. Last if you have to make multiple changes, it may be cheaper on a multi-city ticket than one ways. So it's a balance for sure.