one way vs. RT

[JenniJ]

I posted this on the budgetr board but just noticed this board.
What are the pluses and minus of booking one way versus round trip?

I priced out both Southwest RT, Airtran RT and then both one way picking the lowest fares. The one way total cost comes out $52 cheeper.

I know ther are bagage fees for Airtran, but we will be paying an airfare for our 2 year old. So we can add extra things to his carry on.

I have not priced airfare via travel sites (Hotwire, Cheep Air, etc.) I will be doing that next.

It just seams common sense to book one ways....

 

[seashoreCM]

The primary benefit of booking a round trip is if/when it is cheaper than one ways.

The primary benefit of booking one ways is if/when they are cheaper than a round trip.

For many years, most airlines offered round trips for far less than booking one ways hence the general advice to buy a round trip.

There are some secondary issues for example if you have to modify both ways at the same time, you only pay one change fee if you had a round trip.