Booking a flight - what would you do?

[shafke]

What would you do if when booking a flight the airline is not yet accepting bookings for the return portion of your trip? Would you make two one way bookings as the date are released or wait until both legs are available.

For example: Jet blue is now only accepting reservations through Jan 8. Lets say your trip ran from 1/8 - 1/15. Do you book for the 8th and then the 15th when this becomes available or take a chance that your preferred flight for the 8th may not be available when the 15th is released?

Some airlines charge a higher fare for one way travel, or they used to as far as I know. Do Jet Blue or Southwest (these are the two airlines I am considering for a trip in Aug 2007) charge more if you purchase one way rather than round trip?

 

[janets]

These airlines are priced for one way travel. Many people make a one way ressie then wait until their return dates open up to make the return portion.

When you wait, you run the risk of 2 things...1) that your outbound flight, which is currently available, will no longer have any seats available when you want to purchase or 2) your outbound flight will have gone up in price.

Most airlines now allow 1 way travel w/o the penalty that used to be assessed years ago. Many people fly one airline down and another back because they get a better deal that way.

If you are comfortable with the airlines that serve your market, then you might want to buy the outbound portion to secure the best possible price, and wait for the return dates to open up.

Good luck.

 

[pumpkinboy]

I would (and have) booked two one-way tix in that situation. On JetBlue and Delta to Orlando, there is no price advantage of a round-trip over a one-way. The only downside is that you are more likely to get extra TSA attention with a one-way ticket; however, as we have frequent flyer numbers on both airlines, we have not gotten the extra TSA screenings ourselves.

We did rather well doing using 1-way method: over Thankgiving, we snagged a sweet $88 1-way for our return trip (a great price for the Monday after Thxgiving) early in the year. The outbound flight, however, was very pricy, so we held off, hoping for a reduction, or JetBlue, or as a last resort, SouthWest. Finally when JetBlue released Thxgiving fares in May, we pounced on a $129 one-way outbound. If we had waited for a round-trip, our airfare would have been around $400 per person at the cheapest. Our way, we got it for $217 each and at our optimal times.

Go with the one-ways! IMO there is little to no downside.

 

[shafke]

I will probably go with the one way option and take our chances with the possibility of extra screening. We will have to kids, 8 and 4, so will definitely make sure we arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare.

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Hi shafke,

We fly, usually 2-3 times a year during holidays out of LGA to MCO. The last 2 years, I have been booking one ways also, with different carriers. As of yet, we have not been stopped once. I book early, get great prices, & can rest assure.

pumpkinboy, $217.00 is a steal for Thanksgiving week. Good for your family.

We are leaving Nov 19th thru Nov 26th & got $200.00 round trip non stop 330 days in advance. We will be on the Wonder for Gooble Day.

Can't wait

Patricia