Can you book round trip when and use as a one way?

[WCAB]

I am booking air to Barcelona Spain for my next cruise. I found out by accident that if I book a round trip purchase rather then a one way ticket the fare is actually 50% less. I am wondering why anyone would book a one way ticket if by booking round fare, your price is so much less. Is there any reason, why I would not be able to book my air this way?

 

Carol

[greatam]

It is against the airlines' policies. It is called throw away ticketing. If you are caught, you can be made to pay the fare difference and may loose your FF miles.

 

That said, if you do this, don't book it through a TA. Don't book with any airline where you have FF miles or a business relationship. Pick a foreign carrier, if the price is right.

[mafig]

Just curious as to your saying not to book it through a TA?

 

When I was pricing a repro cruise recently, it was the TA that suggested booking r/t and not using the return. I had read the ramifications on these and other boards, but didn't mention them to her. If I ever book through a TA that suggests this, I'll probably ask them if they would be willing to pay the difference if I'm caught. However, from what I've read, if you only do it once, you'll probably not get caught.

[WCAB]

Thanks for the response, as I really had no where to ask this question. I had

gone over and over the online booking site and could find nothing addressing this issue. This is a one time opportunity for my husband and me and I will have to give it some serious thought. I am not sure I understand the rationale for giving you roundtrip airfare for 1/2 the price of going one way. Hard to go along

with something, when it does not appear logical, but then again, I would hate to find myself in trouble.

 

Carol

[wieslaw]

Hi, I have read someplace on this board (maybe in the guidelines) that we can not write or suggest any activities that perhaps can be viewed as 'not according to the rules' or maybe even 'illegal' .......posts or even the whole thread containing lots of good information maybe (or has to be) removed by the Host. I have seen things like that happened in the past

So, I am sure no one is intending to break any rules or suggests something that can be construed as such.......but we are only 'humans' and we make mistakes and also sometimes misplace or loose 'return' tickets..........so what do we do when we can not find them? try to have the return tickets replaced or just forget about it?

 

Wes

[greatam]

IMHO, booking a throw-away ticket through a TA allows the airline a DIRECT link to reimbursement. Any TA who advocated such is not watching out for THEIR bottom line. Most airline tickets pay no commission. I would be suspect of any TA who would book an airline ticket, knowing it was going to be used as a throw away. What would they benefit? If you were caught, the airline can direct bill the TA for the difference. Sure looks like a loose, loose proposition for the TA.

 

You are probably right. Doing throw away ticketing occasionally, especially on an airline you never fly, should not get you in trouble.

 

To the OP: Are you doing a Barcelona transatlantic or repo Try looking into open jaw flights, especially AA/Iberia. They have been very reasonably priced recently.

[WCAB]

I will research open jaw and see if that will work for me. I would never ask help in doing something that is not ethical, I just did not understand why the prices were coming up with such big differences and know this is the place to come to when it comes to getting answers. All of you are great and I appreciate the education.

 

 

Carol

[jcanino]

IMHO, booking a throw-away ticket through a TA allows the airline a DIRECT link to reimbursement. Any TA who advocated such is not watching out for THEIR bottom line. Most airline tickets pay no commission. I would be suspect of any TA who would book an airline ticket, knowing it was going to be used as a throw away. What would they benefit? If you were caught, the airline can direct bill the TA for the difference. Sure looks like a loose, loose proposition for the TA.

Not only will they come back to the TA with what is called a Debit Memo for the difference in price, but they can also keep that TA from selling any more tickets on that airline.

[greatam]

Carol,

 

Yes, it is almost always more expensive to book a one way, especially international, than a RT. I have never made sense of the one way surcharge and the rule about buying a RT and only using one way makes no sense, but that is the way it is.

 

Please give us your cruise dates, destinations, etc. and we will all pitch in to help you find the cheapest air. Also, where are you trying to book this from?. Sometimes it is cheaper to book two tickets-from your home airport to JFK, Atlanta, Chicago, etc.-one of the main international hubs. And then a separate ticket for your international flight. Yes, you may have to check and recheck your luggage, but if you are into saving money, this may be the way to go. It may also be cheaper to fly to London and then either get on the train or fly one of the intra-European carriers to Barcelona. You must be careful, though, as some of the intra-European carriers have some VERY strict weight limits. There are all kinds of options. If this is really a once in a lifetime experience, please let us all help you.

 

Airlines give the cruise lines special fares. Have you checked what the air would be with the cruise line? I never recommend cruise air, but in your case, it may be the best way.

 

Gina

[WCAB]

Gina,

 

I would like to add an extra day at each end, just so I do not have to worry about missing the cruise ship or rush right after the cruise. So I am planning on leaving on 05/24/05. I will be flying from LAX to Barcelona, Spain. The cruise will end in Venice, Italy, so I will fly back to LAX on 06/08/05.

 

As a second choice and it would solve the problem of round trip vs. one way

would be to do a similiar cruise, beginning and ending in Southampton, England

but it is a 14 day rather then a 12 day, thus harder to get the time off of work and my husband and I both prefer the ports on the first choice. This cruise starts on 05/12/05.

 

I plan to book the cruise right away and then work on getting the best deal on the flights over the next month or two. I know it will all work out.

 

Carol

[greatam]

Hi Carol,

 

Thank you for the dates and itinerary. If you want to do the Med, please do it. There is no sense doing a cruise you don't really want to do, just so you can save a few dollars on air.

 

I just took a look at Travelocity. I see Air France, LAX/CDG/BCN and return from Venice to LAX on your dates for $697.00. That includes a $10.00 service fee to Travelocity. AA multi segment is pricing out at $682.45. AA to LHR, BA to Barcelona and BA return to LHR from Venice. AA Oneworld, which is Iberia is $679.00.

 

What are you finding? If what I have found are not good fares for you (I think they are), then we need to get creative. Cheapest I found one way LAX/LHR was $378.00. Then we need to get you to Barcelona and return to LHR from Venice. Venice air is NOT cheap. Maybe the train???

 

Gina

[WCAB]

Gina,

 

That was so nice of you. I think those are very good prices. I need to go on and make myself a cheat sheet of the airport codes. I would like to keep the airfare at under $2200.00. I got a really good price on the cruise part and ths would allow me to keep within my budget. I will check this out tomorrow.

 

Carol

[Globaliser]

Don't book with any airline where you have FF miles or a business relationship. Pick a foreign carrier, if the price is right.

You're likely to get much better service on a non-US carrier, too, in any event - and most of them will allow you to earn miles in one of the US carrier's FF schemes anyway, and often status as well.

[cherokeesmom]

Has anyone actually been charged for buying round trip and only using it one way?

[winewanderer]

My husband and I are planning on using credit card points. The credit card points are only good for round trip tickets. We were planning on buying round trip and not using the return.

 

Anybody have any idea what would happen in this case?

[winewanderer]

I should have mentioned we would fly from San Francisco to Rome.

[Globaliser]

Has anyone actually been charged for buying round trip and only using it one way?

I can only report having thrown away return halves of tickets and not being charged.

 

It's a bit easier to excuse when you buy a travel-or-bust ticket (no changes, no refunds). After all, if you've missed the flight, you've missed the flight, and the ticket has no residual value. How is the airline going to tell that you never actually intended to use the return half? How is it going to know whether you had an accident or an illness that kept you from travelling home for several weeks?

 

The usual advice is that if you do it very, very occasionally, it won't be worth the airline's while to chase you for the money. The airlines are normally only concerned to get the people who do it regularly for business trips, and are regularly evading the fare rules to get flexibility in their tickets for which they haven't paid.

[joelmarj]

I'm a heavy business traveler and frequently have had mid-trip itinerary changes needed. This has occasionally called for the non-use of a return trip ticket. I've never been charged and never had it hinder my status as a frequently flyer. That being said, it's not done often and it's not done intentionally. I think if you do it more than once or twice in a given period of time it sends up the red flags.

 

Also if you ever notice Song and Jetblue actually now allow you to purchase one way tickets at the same fare as a roundtrip ticket. I've been using Song to fly back and forth from NY to FLA. Since they now fly out of LaGuardia and JFK in NY (both airports are equal proximaty for me), I actually book one airport out, and another airport home and book them as one way tickets. The last flights I did this with, I left out of LGA and returned JFK and paid $129 TOTAL for two one way tickets. Less than $65 per ticket!.