It has come time in my life, this coming winter, to buy a one way ticket. I am not speaking poetically-metaphorically about death. I am talking about a genuine airline ticket, to fly from one point on this mudball to another.
I was mildly surprised to see that round trip tickets are still cheaper to buy than one way tickets. So I imagine when the time comes I will be purchasing a round trip ticket. My question is this:
Is there any way to recover some money from the back leg of an unconsummated round trip ticket? Doesn’t matter if I lose 20, 30 40, 50%. is there any way to redeem something?
I thinkest not. You are basically tricking the airline by buying a two-way ticket for a one-way trip. Since you are saving money by using this trick you now want an additional discount for not flying the return leg? Have you no sense of decency sir?
No, you can’t recover any money and it’s technically against the airline’s rules to engage in what you’re planning, though you’re not likely to get caught unless you do it repeatedly. It’s called throw-away ticketing, I think. I’ll also note that several airlines DO price their tickets as one-ways so when you buy a round trip you’re buying two one-ways and it is often cheaper on these airlines to buy a one-way. Southwest prices their tickets like this, as do some budget carriers like Frontier, Allegiant, and Spirit (I think). I think Air Tran did, but they might be part of Southwest now.
How does that work for partially used tickets, though? Do they just give you back half the price? Even if they do, that still might be more than the cost of the economy ticket with the bonus of dealing with airline red tape.
I think I would actually be making money on the deal you have described…
As well, there must exist (have existed) some cases of “legitimate”, “honest”, “god-fearing” travellers, who genuinely, for one life reason or another, renege on the final leg of their round trip. What happens there?
I took a trip last year where a hurricane decided to interrupt my travel. The airline I was booked on would not move up my departure from this location, so I ended up booking a flight on another airline to exit the area.
I called the first airline and asked what they could do. They gladly issued me a credit of $210 that could be used for future flights on that airline within the next year. Subject of course to a $200 change fee.
Depends on whether the tickets are refundable or not. Cheaper tickets usually allow you to change itineraries (for a hefty fee), but not obtain a refund.
Some airlines allow exceptions in the case of death. This is from Delta’s website:
Airlines, if they do indeed build in a leeway that does not do anything for occasional one-wayers, probably do so because the loss of revenue from angry legitimate cancellers, plus the labor cost of whatever enforcement they plan on, would probably exceed the loss from occasional one-wayers. So legitimate cancellers are probably in the clear if SmellMyWort’s observation is correct.
“Exception: The death of the passenger, immediate family member, or traveling companion. In this case, you will be required to forward a copy of the death certificate to the Passenger Refunds Department mailing address.”
Ok, so I’ll have to kill someone? They really make it difficult these days. Back in the day, kneecapping someone was sufficient.
I think JetBlue also prices round-trip tickets as two one-way trips. And note that these low-cost airlines are often not listed on the big websites like Travelocity, so you may need to go directly to their sites to get prices.
Just to be clear, airlines don’t force you at gunpoint to fly the return leg, but they generally don’t give you any money back because you chose not to take that return flight. Death in the family notwithstanding.
If you don’t show up for the return leg, they won’t really notice nor really care. If the flight is oversold they will give it to someone on standby. If not, they saved 15 cents on the fuel to fly you.
Now if you want to be a jerk, make sure that you check in online to the flight you don’t plan to take. Please note that I fly enough to loathe all airlines and most airports, so I say that without judgement.
Except Lufthansa. For some reason they have treated me very well over the years.
BTW, if Amtrak is an option, I would recommend that. They are very good about allowing you to change or refund tickets, and buying one-way fares is quite simple.
/travel guru hat ON/
It’s unlikely that the OP will be able to redeem something for the unused return portion of a round-trip ticket. Airlines work long and hard writing their “Conditions Of Carriage” to thwart such actions.
Of course, not knowing the points of origin or arrival, nor the date(s) of travel, I couldn’t say exactly what airlines might offer what options.
This is going to come off as a cop-out, but… Consult a travel professional and have them do the leg-work for you.
The one time I needed a one way - a long time ago - It was about three times the price of a return ticket. Which considering it was the same class and on the same flight was somewhat ridiculous.
The only issue with not taking the return leg was that I was doing other legs with the same carrier. (It was an international trip, and I was flying into Edinburgh, but taking my time driving and training back down to London over 5 weeks.) The critical point was that if I didn’t turn up for the return flight from Edinburgh to London, the system would automatically cancel my bookings for the London -> home flights. So the flight bookings had to be made, and the leg not flown explicitly cancelled. The lesson being that the way flights are viewed and handled has some unexpected quirks.
The thing about one-way flights seems to be that not many people need them, and those that do really need them, and so can be gouged.