How can it be that a one-way flight is so much more expensive than a round trip ticket?

Question

What logic do airlines employ in making one-way tickets so much more expensive than round trips? I recently tried booking a one-way flight, and it was nearly $300 more than the corresponding round trip ticket. I have no problem at all with booking a round trip flight and simply not "returning", but why do airlines make one-way tickets so expensive? Isn't less travel involved if you just fly in one direction and don't return?

Answer 1

with a round trip, they expect you to spend more money on the plane buying food ect. with a 1 way they don't expect you to buy as much so it costs more.

Answer 2

There are a couple of reasons and it has nothing to do with food. First off, they are targeting people that absolutely need a one way ticket. Next by charging a higher price for the 1-way ticket they may want you to buy a round trip ticket. Suppose they charged a lower fare for a 1-way ticket you would only buy a 1-way ticket, but if they charge more for the 1-way ticket you will end up buying a round trip ticket.

Suppose a 1-way ticket was $200 and RT $400 you would buy a 1-way ticket, but now if they charge $600 for a 1-way ticket you spend $400 to buy a RT. Since planes try to overbook their flights they are glad to have you not use the return seat.

Plus as their planes near capacity they can charge more as there are fewer seats available.

Answer 3

i've never paid over 200 dollars for a ticket in my life, and i generally book my flights about a week in advance.

it all depends on where you are looking for you flight and when you are leaving, you have to shop around, which becomes very tiring and boring, but if you want a cheap ticket, you have to look at every option.

Answer 4

Whenever I buy airline tickets each flight (departure and return) has a price attached to it.  That price varies by flight depending on the number of tickets remaining.

When I book a round trip flight, the prices of the departure and return fares are added to get the total.

I have never experienced a situation in which a one-way flight was more expensive than a round trip flight.

Try looking at a different day or time.  Flight mid-week and later in the day are usually less expensive.

Answer 5

On www.kayak.com, I have been very successful at getting one way tickets, at least within the USA, for half the price of a return ticket. However, for international travel, the host country wants to know you are leaving and the return ticket is seen as enough evidence that you do plan to leave. The airline may not even be allowed to sell you a one way ticket to some countries.