Is there any real advantage to booking roundtrip?

[Applemomma]

Asking the "experts"! Wondering if there's any real advantage to booking round trip. Been pricing out booking Southwest roundtrip vs one ways down and back and not seeing any real difference. Financially it would be easier for me to buy our flights down now and flights back in a few weeks when more of my income from my crop comes in (I grow apples and we get paid in lump sums months after crop is in). Apart from taking the chance that some of the return rates I'm seeing either being sold out or taking a $ jump, is there any real advantage to booking round trip vs two separate legs?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

For domestic air travel, no. For international flights, round trip tickets are a lot cheaper than buying two one way tickets.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

I've ran into this issue within the past year. There have been times when the roundtrip tickets are saving $35-50 off of the 2 one way. Other times, it was less expensive when I bought them as 2 one ways.

If you can only afford the single direction at this time AND are willing to accept you may be out of luck on a promotion, book now what you can. Of course, by waiting you may see the special price disappear anyway.

There can be a drawback of extra scrutiny while going through security with the one way ticket.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

....

There can be a drawback of extra scrutiny while going through security with the one way ticket.

I don't know why people believe this. It is simply not true.

 

[Applemomma]

Thanks folks.. nice to have reassurance to what I was already thinking.

As far as extra scrutiny I would imagine since I'm crossing the US border to fly out of Portland instead of here at home it really would only be showing customs and border patrol that I have purchased a return ticket of some kind to prove I intended to leave on a certain date. No biggie!

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't know why people believe this. It is simply not true.

I agree.

And the last few flights I was thinking about it...no one else sees the ticket that gets looked at, blacklighted, and written/stamped on. The one person at the end of the TSA line does that and then no one else sees that ticket! If it's some mysterious way they have of communicating with the next person, there's a bit of a "fail" there, LOL.


With international, even doing a multi-city thing got me a much better deal than doing two one-ways. Seattle to Dublin then Shannon to Seattle, booked by clicking the multi-city link on United, was hundreds less than the one ways.

 

[dbarker]

We have booked 2 one way tickets with Southwest. It was cheaper to fly out of one airport and back to another. Our home is between the two.

We will be dropped off and picked up......so no parking.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

I don't know why people believe this. It is simply not true.

I don't know how you state that. Do you workin the industry? Because they do flag a one way ticket. If you have a round trip it is much faster checking in and getting through the security line.
For some reason they think terrorist fly one way since 911. But, we are an airline working family.

Twice when I flew one way I was pulled out, and had a tight security check on me and the luggage. Twice they paged me to security to be cleared prior to the flight. These were the times I did not have a return trip.

 

[Lewisc]

I don't know why people believe this. It is simply not true.

It used to be true. My understanding is now not as much (if at all).


Bumbershoot--It had nothing to do with the TSA agent. Passengers with a one way ticket were (much) more likely to get SSS on their BP.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I don't know how you state that. Do you workin the industry? Because they do flag a one way ticket. If you have a round trip it is much faster checking in and getting through the security line.
For some reason they think terrorist fly one way since 911. But, we are an airline working family.

Twice when I flew one way I was pulled out, and had a tight security check on me and the luggage. Twice they paged me to security to be cleared prior to the flight. These were the times I did not have a return trip.

Activity has to be more than just a one-way fare. Many, many, many, many jetBlue and Southwest passengers frequently purchase one direction fares because ticketing isn't yet available for the return trip. Many passengers on all airlines do the same for a variety of reasons.

There have to be more criteria than the one-way fare, or nobody would get anywhere due to the extra scrutiny - paying cash, no luggage, same day purchase...

 

[johde]

Not the case on Southwest. But on some airline booking 2 one way tickets means 2 change fees if something comes up where a roundtrip would require only 1 change fee.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I don't know how you state that. Do you workin the industry? Because they do flag a one way ticket. If you have a round trip it is much faster checking in and getting through the security line.
For some reason they think terrorist fly one way since 911. But, we are an airline working family.

Twice when I flew one way I was pulled out, and had a tight security check on me and the luggage. Twice they paged me to security to be cleared prior to the flight. These were the times I did not have a return trip.

Sorry, you are just plain misinformed. Having a one way ticket is not what got you flagged twice; it's just a coincidence that you were pulled for extra screening. You also don't get through security or get checked in faster when you have a RT ticket; this is silly.

Both my husband and I have plenty of flying experience; we have both been 1Ks on United for years and have many friends and family members who fly frequently for their work. Not once have we or anyone else been pulled for extra screening because we were traveling on one way tickets.

 

[SirDuff]

Activity has to be more than just a one-way fare. Many, many, many, many jetBlue and Southwest passengers frequently purchase one direction fares because ticketing isn't yet available for the return trip. Many passengers on all airlines do the same for a variety of reasons.

There have to be more criteria than the one-way fare, or nobody would get anywhere due to the extra scrutiny - paying cash, no luggage, same day purchase...

Like my:

- one-way ticket
- bought about 3 hours before flight time by someone else
- for a transborder flight (Canada to US)
- with an empty suitcase (that I checked)
- returning to a city (Boston) that I had come home from four days earlier

This is *just* before I got my Nexus card too. So lot's of explaining to do.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Not the case on Southwest. But on some airline booking 2 one way tickets means 2 change fees if something comes up where a roundtrip would require only 1 change fee.

Absolutely, because with two one way tickets, you would be changing two separate tickets.