flight question: pricing for single vs return

[Neoshoegal]

Next year we need a single flight from the US (Miami or Orlando) to the UK. I've had a look at BA and Virgin to get an idea of the pricing and a single flight costs the same as a return, sometimes even more than a return.
WHY???
Airlines like Eos, Silverjet and Maxjet charge per flight, a single flight with them is about half the price as a return. Seems to make more sense to me. Why isn't it the case with regular airlines? Unfortunately the ones I just mentioned don't fly from where we need to go (unless I take an internal flight with Jetblue)

 

[wayneg]

Thats just the way UK airlines like Virgin and BA work. They want to sell round trips not one way.
What date are you wanting to return?
We are going out next August on free flight using our Virgin miles but then coming back with a 90 min stop in Chicago with BMI who I prefer over Virgin or BA. Cost me £235 each, a bargain for end of August.

 

[AliceGardner]

Next year we need a single flight from the US (Miami or Orlando) to the UK. I've had a look at BA and Virgin to get an idea of the pricing and a single flight costs the same as a return, sometimes even more than a return.
WHY???
Airlines like Eos, Silverjet and Maxjet charge per flight, a single flight with them is about half the price as a return. Seems to make more sense to me. Why isn't it the case with regular airlines? Unfortunately the ones I just mentioned don't fly from where we need to go (unless I take an internal flight with Jetblue)

Hi try pricing a MIA/MCO-UK RETURN ticket - you can often get some good prices on British airlines ex-US. You could then just fly the first leg and "throw-away" (i.e. not use) the return. Should be a lot cheaper than a single...

You can't just buy a UK-MCO/MIA return and throw away the outbound segment - that isn't allowed.

Alice