One way flights - advice needed

Don’t forget that although you can use Avios for a one way flight it has to originate in the UK.

In the last 5 years we have used Avios to fly Hawaii to Los Angeles on AA and Sydney to Perth on Qantas. Is this a new?!

Don’t forget that although you can use Avios for a one way flight it has to originate in the UK.

That’s not what I was told by an Avios rep on the phone.

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That’s not what I was told by an Avios rep on the phone.

 

 

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Agree Grandma. Avios can be used on any one world flight. There are stipulations with a 241 voucher, I believe they can only be used on BA flights but no such regulations with straight forward Avios.

Agree Grandma. Avios can be used on any one world flight. There are stipulations with a 241 voucher, I believe they can only be used on BA flights but no such regulations with straight forward Avios.

Correct.

Phil

Also the 241 has to originate in the UK unless it’s the return leg back to the UK

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my Apologies -

Sorry, you are correct. It’s using the voucher that flight has to originate in UK.

We fly internationally at least 3 or 4 times annually - always in business or first class. I have only booked one way flights and the price is always half the round trip price whether using cash or points. The best time to book is 331 days before flight date. Using the cruise ship's upgraded air generally only gives you upgraded air crossing the water - but the domestic legs are in coach. If you book your own flights domestic legs will generally be in first class.

Joel

We fly internationally at least 3 or 4 times annually - always in business or first class. I have only booked one way flights and the price is always half the round trip price whether using cash or points. The best time to book is 331 days before flight date. Using the cruise ship's upgraded air generally only gives you upgraded air crossing the water - but the domestic legs are in coach. If you book your own flights domestic legs will generally be in first class.

 

 

 

Joel

When you say the one way ticket is only half the return, do you mean booking it through the cruise line? It certainly isn’t the case when booking a flight direct with the airline in the U.K. - certainly not for BA.

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Domestic flights within the US are half price for one way. Flights from the US and return are generally much higher for one way than half round trip

When booking open jaw returning from a different city are generally half for each flight. Almost always for a one way for say a TA the flight is significantly higher.

Not undering Joel saying the price in cash is half always unless always using open jaw and the like. Yes with points it is always half.

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Thanks for the idea, but we’re a bit reluctant to book 2 TAs when we’ve never done one before. Maybe we ought to think more about this option!

 

 

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I’m not sure if this will helps your situation but when we did our Alaska cruise we booked two one way tickets on 2 different airlines because the flight times to Alaska were crazy from O’Hare. The prices I found were less than a round trip ticket on several airlines.

When I book a cruise that far out, I don’t bother trying to look for flights. If flights don’t work out I can always cancel the cruise.

As for booking flights 331 days out, there are differing schools of thought on that.

Using miles on very popular routes, sometimes awards seats in business and/or first class will be offered when the flight first opens for booking, but not always. It can even be only 1 seat, not 2. A very prominent US travel blogger, with an award booking service and many years of experience, has often stated that 6 months out, once an airline knows how a flight is selling, they can make award seats available. For some airlines, award seats are sometimes released just before the flight - obviously not ideal for cruisers. Usually you can book award seats as one ways for 1/2 the mileage of a round trip. Be aware of cancellation penalties, award change and redeposit fees, depending on your chosen airline program. That is, if you booked 2 one ways instead of a round trip and need to cancel, you will be paying double fees. Travel insurance may cover those.

Same is true for cash flights. Price can fluctuate dramatically.

You might try using Google flights and momondo and setting up some flight alerts. You should be able to do it for one ways, open jaws (multi-city option - into 1 city, out of another), or round trips. It will help give you an idea of routes, price fluctuations, etc. I personally have never booked through one of momondo's online travel agencies, but I have used their tracker and projection tools and found them informative.

Of course, I am writing all this from a US based flier's perspective. Since you are in the UK, there may be some other aspects. I'm not very conversant in BA's program.

When you say the one way ticket is only half the return, do you mean booking it through the cruise line? It certainly isn’t the case when booking a flight direct with the airline in the U.K. - certainly not for BA.

To be honest Grandma, different countries and different rules. Different terminology too. You’ve had some good information on this thread thus far and before getting overloaded with too much I’d take that information.

If it were me from a UK point of view and use of Avios aren’t possible (I don’t know how many you and your husband have, but if short you can buy extra in each year) I’d look at a quote on cruise air, which you should at least be able to get an idea of even if you are a bit early. I think TAP look a good bet for a one way to Rio too. I’ve tucked that one away for reference.

Phil

Correct the only other UK option is to have two transatlantic cruises one each way within a 12 month period so you can use two halves of a return.

Different rules different countries- applies to Cruise prices, airfares, Insurance, credit cards etc etc which is why I believe in these areas it’s better if we give responders from the posters country a few days before replying on these sorts of questions whether asked here or on our roll call

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To be honest Grandma, different countries and different rules. Different terminology too. You’ve had some good information on this thread thus far and before getting overloaded with too much I’d take that information.

 

 

 

If it were me from a UK point of view and use of Avios aren’t possible (I don’t know how many you and your husband have, but if short you can buy extra in each year) I’d look at a quote on cruise air, which you should at least be able to get an idea of even if you are a bit early. I think TAP look a good bet for a one way to Rio too. I’ve tucked that one away for reference.

 

 

 

Phil

You’re right Phil, posters on this thread have been very helpful. We have enough Avios so will probably try BA in the first instance, but will also look at TAP and cruise air as back ups, in case we don’t manage to get the reward flights.

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Review of TAP Portugal

As promised, here is my trip report using TAP.

Quick summary: I bought their business class ticket from Lisbon to Boston as part of our return after a transatlantic. I paid $823 per person when American and others wanted close to $2,000. TAPs prices rose to as high as $1,600 when I last checked about 60 days before our flight - still several hundred less than others. I would do it again in a heartbeat if I could get that good a price. If the price was the same as American Airlines, I would probably choose American, but part of that would be because it is easier to connect to the same airline or one in the same alliance.

Customer service Airport 10/10 In-the-air 8/10

At the Lisbon airport, there is a completely separate ticketing/check-in area with multiple service agents. I had requested a wheel chair for my wife and the agent confirmed the request and called for the wheel chair first thing (it took an hour but that is another story and not related to TAP).

On board, the service was above average and almost always with a smile. It did feel very structured and a bit rushed but delivered everything I would expect in business class.

On arrival in Boston, there was a line of wheel chairs waiting at the door of the plane so TAP obviously did their job in coordinating that.

Aircraft/Seats 8

Our plane had a 1/2/2 configuration (except for 2 rows that were 1/2/1). The seats are not the best we have experienced, but are quite adequate. They are about 20 inches wide (plenty for this big boy). It was a day flight so I did not put my seat into the flat bed configuration, but it is rated as having 60 inches of leg room and I believe it. Reaching for the in-flight entertainment screen was a stretch. The two window seats did not have quite as much storage room for "stuff" as the middle seats or the solo version but we had enough. The only real negative was the foot rest. To raise it, you had to also move the entire seat into a recline mode. It would be much better (especially for daytime flying) for it to be independently operated.

The airplane was an A330-200 and was clean and looked well maintained. Takeoff was about 5 minutes behind schedule.

Food & Drinks 7/10

This was a little disappointing but still well within what I would consider value for what we paid. There were two choices of red and white wines (felt like Azamara), but they ran out of the one my wife preferred very early (I suspect no more than 1 or 2 bottles were onboard). But the second one was still acceptable. They were all Portuguese wines so not what I would recognize (my wife likes Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio, but these had no grape identity that I could see).

There was a choice of two entrees (a beef tenderloin or sea bass). We both had the beef. It came with a salmon appetizer and roasted almonds, a chilled pear soup that my wife liked (I don't do chilled soups), a very nice green salad with chicken, mashed sweet potatoes (I could have done without that) and strawberry ice cream. My meat was good buy my wife's was a bit tough. Before landing, they offered a fruit/cheese/cold-cut snack which we passed on.

Thanks for that, very helpful. Sounds like exceptionally good value for money.

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Review of TAP Portugal

 

As promised, here is my trip report using TAP.

 

Quick summary: I bought their business class ticket from Lisbon to Boston as part of our return after a transatlantic. I paid $823 per person when American and others wanted close to $2,000. TAPs prices rose to as high as $1,600 when I last checked about 60 days before our flight - still several hundred less than others. I would do it again in a heartbeat if I could get that good a price. If the price was the same as American Airlines, I would probably choose American, but part of that would be because it is easier to connect to the same airline or one in the same alliance.

 

Customer service Airport 10/10 In-the-air 8/10

At the Lisbon airport, there is a completely separate ticketing/check-in area with multiple service agents. I had requested a wheel chair for my wife and the agent confirmed the request and called for the wheel chair first thing (it took an hour but that is another story and not related to TAP).

 

On board, the service was above average and almost always with a smile. It did feel very structured and a bit rushed but delivered everything I would expect in business class.

 

On arrival in Boston, there was a line of wheel chairs waiting at the door of the plane so TAP obviously did their job in coordinating that.

 

Aircraft/Seats 8

Our plane had a 1/2/2 configuration (except for 2 rows that were 1/2/1). The seats are not the best we have experienced, but are quite adequate. They are about 20 inches wide (plenty for this big boy). It was a day flight so I did not put my seat into the flat bed configuration, but it is rated as having 60 inches of leg room and I believe it. Reaching for the in-flight entertainment screen was a stretch. The two window seats did not have quite as much storage room for "stuff" as the middle seats or the solo version but we had enough. The only real negative was the foot rest. To raise it, you had to also move the entire seat into a recline mode. It would be much better (especially for daytime flying) for it to be independently operated.

 

The airplane was an A330-200 and was clean and looked well maintained. Takeoff was about 5 minutes behind schedule.

 

Food & Drinks 7/10

 

This was a little disappointing but still well within what I would consider value for what we paid. There were two choices of red and white wines (felt like Azamara), but they ran out of the one my wife preferred very early (I suspect no more than 1 or 2 bottles were onboard). But the second one was still acceptable. They were all Portuguese wines so not what I would recognize (my wife likes Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio, but these had no grape identity that I could see).

 

There was a choice of two entrees (a beef tenderloin or sea bass). We both had the beef. It came with a salmon appetizer and roasted almonds, a chilled pear soup that my wife liked (I don't do chilled soups), a very nice green salad with chicken, mashed sweet potatoes (I could have done without that) and strawberry ice cream. My meat was good buy my wife's was a bit tough. Before landing, they offered a fruit/cheese/cold-cut snack which we passed on.

Thanks for this Bob. I will pass it on to my friend who is on the Rio to Lisbon cruise next year and looking for feedback on business class flights to book.

Oh and welcome home!

Phil

Phil,

It must be hard to tear yourself away from the beach in Hwaii to read Cruise Critic. You lead such a hard life.:')

Thanks for that, very helpful. Sounds like exceptionally good value for money.

 

 

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I would agree with that assessment. At the same price as others we've flown, I would say it is competitive, but a slight step down.

Phil,

 

It must be hard to tear yourself away from the beach in Hwaii to read Cruise Critic. You lead such a hard life.:')

Lol.

Phil