Why is a Round-Trip MORE than Two One-Ways?

[jimdee3636]

My wife and I recently sailed on the QM2 for 21 nights. We enjoyed it a lot, and are considering doing a NY round-trip in December---i.e., no ports other than Southampton. According to the prices listed on the Cunard website, booking it as a round-trip is quite a bit more expensive than booking it as two one-way cruises (B2B's). The December 8-22 14-day round-trip price is "from" $1999 for and inside and $2799 for a balcony. However, the eastbound crossing (Dec. 8-15) is "from" $879 (inside) and $1219 (balcony), and the westbound crossing immediately afterward (Dec.15-22) is "from" $924 (inside) and "from" $1284 (balcony), for a combined cost of $1803 (inside) and $2503 (balcony). Why would booking a "true" round-trip cost $106 more for an inside and $296 more (per person, of course) than booking two one-ways? I would think that the opposite would be true.

[jimdee3636]

I meant to say $296 more "for a balcony."

[jimdee3636]

God, I'm sloppy today! I should have said a round-trip inside is $196 (not $106) more than two one-way insides. Sorry for the confusion, but my basic point is the same.

[BlueRiband]

Yes there are strange inconsistancies like the one you found on the Cunard site.  Last year a couple found it cheaper to book the 19-day WB - 5 day Canada - EB trip and just stay in New York during the 5-day Canada part then reboard in New York as opposed to booking two seperate 7-day crossings.  Go figure how 19 nights can be cheaper than 14 nights. 

 

Cunard uses the POLAR booking system which employs an algorithm that adjusts pricing according to demand.  So if more people want a NY-UK-NY round trip you will see higher pricing on the round trip compared to the two seperate crossings. 

 

You can save some money if don't mind changing your cabin at Southampton.  It's pretty painless.  You pack up your stuff except for those items of clothing on hangers.  You get your new stateroom card the night before and housekeeping will move everything to your new cabin while you are ashore. 

 

Do check however if you might be missing some promotion or if one of those one-way deals is a category guarantee.  Sometimes the devil is in the details. 

Edited August 25, 2019 by BlueRiband

[david,Mississauga]

Sometimes it can be cheaper or more expensive depending on the accommodations on the same round-trip. For example: the 14-day e/b crossing on 31 July 2020 followed by the 7-day w/b crossing on 14 Aug. A balcony stateroom is considerably cheaper if booked as two separate voyages but a Princess Grill is cheaper if booked as one 21-day voyage.

 

I have seen this anomaly several times, but the aforementioned voyages are the first time I have saved a considerable amount. The two of us have saved a total of Can.$2400 by booking it as two voyages. We did get the same stateroom on each segment even though we booked the second segment two months after the first.

[jimdee3636]

2 hours ago, BlueRiband said:

Yes there are strange inconsistancies like the one you found on the Cunard site.  Last year a couple found it cheaper to book the 19-day WB - 5 day Canada - EB trip and just stay in New York during the 5-day Canada part then reboard in New York as opposed to booking two seperate 7-day crossings.  Go figure how 19 nights can be cheaper than 14 nights. 

 

Cunard uses the POLAR booking system which employs an algorithm that adjusts pricing according to demand.  So if more people want a NY-UK-NY round trip you will see higher pricing on the round trip compared to the two seperate crossings. 

 

You can save some money if don't mind changing your cabin at Southampton.  It's pretty painless.  You pack up your stuff except for those items of clothing on hangers.  You get your new stateroom card the night before and housekeeping will move everything to your new cabin while you are ashore. 

 

Do check however if you might be missing some promotion or if one of those one-way deals is a category guarantee.  Sometimes the devil is in the details. 

Thanks to you and David, Mississauga for the explanations, but to me it still doesn't make sense. It would be as if they charged MORE for---say---a world cruise than for the sum of the segments on it. On most cruise lines, you normally get charged less---not more---if you book a longer voyage. In other words, they're penalizing people who want to take longer cruises. I like the Cunard experience but this strange pricing is turning me off.

[bluemarble]

jimdee3636, as you have found, it is indeed possible to find round trip crossings that cost more than the sum of the two separate crossings. I have taken advantage of that situation in the past myself, booking a round trip as two separate crossings.

 

However, it is more typical to find that a round trip crossing does cost less to book as a single voyage. I just took a look at all of the 14-day round trip crossings for 2020 (both starting from New York and from Southampton) as currently priced in the US. There are a few cases in 2020 where you can save a bit by booking a round trip as separate crossings. On average though, I found that booking a 2020 round trip crossing as one voyage in either a Britannia Inside or Britannia Balcony cabin would save about $140 per person over booking those same categories of Britannia cabins as two separate crossings.

 

While what you are seeing for the Dec 8-22, 2019 crossing does happen, that is not the typical situation for most crossings. Cunard does not routinely price round trip crossings more than the total of their separate component crossings. Hope this helps some.

[shipgeeks]

This happens on other lines, as well.  We are booked on two 7-night cruises as it was cheaper than the same as a 14-night.  Fortunately, our TA was willing to spend the extra time on the phone arranging that, including getting us the same cabin for both.  All our documents will be for separate cruises.  I don't get it, either.

[bluemarble]

By the way, there's another one of those strange pricing anomalies going on now on a crossing I have been watching for a while. The July 6, 2020 crossing from New York can be booked as a 7-day crossing to Southampton (voyage M021A) or as a 9-day crossing to Hamburg (voyage M021). The current pricing on the Cunard US website shows that booking the 7-day crossing to Southampton in an "IF" Inside cabin costs $200 more per person than booking an "IF" Inside for the 9-day crossing to Hamburg. Similarly, booking a "BU" Sheltered Balcony cabin on the 7-day crossing costs $160 more per person than booking a "BU" Sheltered Balcony on the 9-day crossing. So you can pay less for two more days on board. Go figure.

 

The website is showing a lot less availability on the 7-day crossing (currently no availability for Oceanview, Obstructed Balcony, or glass-fronted Britannia Balcony for example) as compared to the 9-day crossing, so that probably has a lot to do with it. Of course there could be availability on the 7-day crossing for any category that is available on the 9-day crossing if Cunard chose to make it available for sale on the 7-day crossing.

[Windsurfboy]

If you can book 2 separate trips on the Cunard fare in the same cabin and it's cheaper, go for it. Be sure to say no upgrades then they won't move you.

 

Safest way is either direct phone with Cunard,, or online but get two computers/tablet/smart phone working in parallel and hit the final button at the same time. If you use a TA tell them same cabin both legs

[bluemarble]

Just for the record, make that $140 more per person to book an "IF" Inside on the 7-day July 6, 2020 crossing to Southampton on the US website, not $200 as I incorrectly stated above. Still odd pricing where you can pay less for two more days.

 

The later July 22 and July 24, 2020 westbound crossings from Hamburg (M023) and Southampton (M023C) to New York do not show the same pricing anomaly. On those crossings the fares are higher for the longer 9-day crossing as one would expect. And the current availability is not as limited on the 7-day July 24, 2020 westbound crossing from Southampton as it is on the 7-day July 6, 2020 eastbound crossing to Southampton.

[cyprustania]

Last year we did the TC Southampton to NY in an inside cabin (first ever cruise/TC) for £899 each.  We loved it so much so booked the round trip May 2020 in an ocean view for just £1200 each.  On top of that, our return to Southampton has now become a special event week, London Theatre Week So we are over the moon!