The cost of one way travel
Thread Starter
The cost of one way travel
Why do legacy airlines charge so much for a one way flight?
I won't bore you with the reasons why I am asking this question now, suffice to say some flights I am considering are almost the same price as a return ticket. No wonder legacy airlines are losing ground to lo-cost competition.
I won't bore you with the reasons why I am asking this question now, suffice to say some flights I am considering are almost the same price as a return ticket. No wonder legacy airlines are losing ground to lo-cost competition.
The cost of one way travel
Its revenue management. Its an attempt to charge those with higher spending levels and less ability to fix dates/times of flights - Ie business travellers, more than leisure travellers. The same reason it will often be significantly cheaper to stay away over a Saturday night. Most of the time in such situations, the return portion is simply disregarded. Be Warned though, its in the T&C's that technically if you buy a return ticket as the cheaper option and don't use the return sector, they can subsequently charge your credit card with the additional cost! Likewise, if the outbound sector is disregarded, the inbound sector will be invalidated!
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that technically if you buy a return ticket as the cheaper option and don't use the return sector, they can subsequently charge your credit card with the additional cost!
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It's happened to me a few times over a period of (many) years
As you said, persistent abuser, a few times a year and their database will flag you up....
If Paint was sold like Plane Tickets
Buying Paint from a Hardware Store:
Customer:
Hi. How much is your paint?
Clerk:
We have regular quality for $12 a gallon and premium for $18. How many gallons would you like?
Customer:
Five gallons of regular quality, please.
Clerk:
Great. That will be $60 plus tax.
Buying Paint from an Airline:
Customer:
Hi, how much is your paint?
Clerk:
Well, sir, that all depends.
Customer:
Depends on what?
Clerk:
Actually, a lot of things.
Customer:
How about giving me an average price?
Clerk:
Wow, that's too hard a question. The lowest price is $9 a gallon, and we have 150 different prices up to $200 a gallon.
Customer:
What's the difference in the paint?
Clerk:
Oh, there isn't any difference; it's all the same paint.
Customer:
Well, then, I'd like some of that $9 paint.
Clerk:
Well, first I need to ask you a few questions. When do you intend to use it?
Customer:
I want to paint tomorrow, on my day off.
Clerk:
Sir, the paint for tomorrow is the $200 paint.
Customer:
What? When would I have to paint in order to get the $9 version?
Clerk:
That would be in three weeks, but you will also have to agree to start painting before Friday of that week and continue painting until at least Sunday.
Customer:
You've got to be kidding!
Clerk:
Sir, we don't kid around here. Of course, I'll have to check to see if we have any of that paint available before I can sell it to you.
Customer:
What do you mean check to see if you can sell it to me? You have shelves full of that stuff; I can see it right there.
Clerk:
Just because you can see it doesn't mean that we have it. It may be the same paint, but we sell only a certain number of gallons on any given weekend. Oh, and by the way, the price just went to $12.
Customer:
You mean the price went up while we were talking!
Clerk:
Yes, sir. You see, we change prices and rules thousands of times a day, and since you haven't actually walked out of the store with your paint yet, we just decided to change. Unless you want the same thing to happen again, I would suggest that you get on with your purchase. How many gallons do you want?
Customer:
I don't know exactly. Maybe five gallons. Maybe I should buy six gallons just to make sure I have enough.
Clerk:
Oh, no, sir, you can't do that. If you buy the paint and then don't use it, you will be liable for penalties and possible confiscation of the paint you already have.
Customer:
What?
Clerk:
That's right. We can sell you enough paint to do your kitchen, bathroom, hall and north bedroom, but if you stop painting before you do the bedroom, you will be in violation of our tariffs.
Customer:
But what does it matter to you whether I use all the paint? I already paid you for it!
Clerk:
Sir, there's no point in getting upset; that's just the way it is. We make plans based upon the idea that you will use all the paint, and when you don't, it just causes us all sorts of problems.
Customer:
This is crazy! I suppose something terrible will happen if I don't keep painting until after Saturday night!
Clerk:
Yes, sir, it will.
Customer:
Well, that does it! I'm going somewhere else to buy my paint.
Clerk:
That won't do you any good, sir. We all have the same rules. Thanks for painting with our airline.
Buying Paint from a Hardware Store:
Customer:
Hi. How much is your paint?
Clerk:
We have regular quality for $12 a gallon and premium for $18. How many gallons would you like?
Customer:
Five gallons of regular quality, please.
Clerk:
Great. That will be $60 plus tax.
Buying Paint from an Airline:
Customer:
Hi, how much is your paint?
Clerk:
Well, sir, that all depends.
Customer:
Depends on what?
Clerk:
Actually, a lot of things.
Customer:
How about giving me an average price?
Clerk:
Wow, that's too hard a question. The lowest price is $9 a gallon, and we have 150 different prices up to $200 a gallon.
Customer:
What's the difference in the paint?
Clerk:
Oh, there isn't any difference; it's all the same paint.
Customer:
Well, then, I'd like some of that $9 paint.
Clerk:
Well, first I need to ask you a few questions. When do you intend to use it?
Customer:
I want to paint tomorrow, on my day off.
Clerk:
Sir, the paint for tomorrow is the $200 paint.
Customer:
What? When would I have to paint in order to get the $9 version?
Clerk:
That would be in three weeks, but you will also have to agree to start painting before Friday of that week and continue painting until at least Sunday.
Customer:
You've got to be kidding!
Clerk:
Sir, we don't kid around here. Of course, I'll have to check to see if we have any of that paint available before I can sell it to you.
Customer:
What do you mean check to see if you can sell it to me? You have shelves full of that stuff; I can see it right there.
Clerk:
Just because you can see it doesn't mean that we have it. It may be the same paint, but we sell only a certain number of gallons on any given weekend. Oh, and by the way, the price just went to $12.
Customer:
You mean the price went up while we were talking!
Clerk:
Yes, sir. You see, we change prices and rules thousands of times a day, and since you haven't actually walked out of the store with your paint yet, we just decided to change. Unless you want the same thing to happen again, I would suggest that you get on with your purchase. How many gallons do you want?
Customer:
I don't know exactly. Maybe five gallons. Maybe I should buy six gallons just to make sure I have enough.
Clerk:
Oh, no, sir, you can't do that. If you buy the paint and then don't use it, you will be liable for penalties and possible confiscation of the paint you already have.
Customer:
What?
Clerk:
That's right. We can sell you enough paint to do your kitchen, bathroom, hall and north bedroom, but if you stop painting before you do the bedroom, you will be in violation of our tariffs.
Customer:
But what does it matter to you whether I use all the paint? I already paid you for it!
Clerk:
Sir, there's no point in getting upset; that's just the way it is. We make plans based upon the idea that you will use all the paint, and when you don't, it just causes us all sorts of problems.
Customer:
This is crazy! I suppose something terrible will happen if I don't keep painting until after Saturday night!
Clerk:
Yes, sir, it will.
Customer:
Well, that does it! I'm going somewhere else to buy my paint.
Clerk:
That won't do you any good, sir. We all have the same rules. Thanks for painting with our airline.
Paxing All Over The World
Another aspect about single legs is that biz folk often take multi-stop routes between cities with no single return leg. I used to do it myself as it's economical on time but it is more expensive. Nowadays you can do the LCC route but there might no tbe LCCs to link all the cities and doing it all through a legacy makes for ease when changing the itinerary.
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Metro Man, nice bit of absurdia there, I was about to suggest that it would be nice if petrol was half price for return journeys or over-Saturday trips, but you beat me to it!
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The 'normal' economy/business/first class fares are used by the airlines for things other than selling to travellers who are actually travelling one way.
If you think about it there are likely very few international passengers who will not return to their point of origin by air within a year or so. Students, emigrants, ship's crews are a few that spring to mind. Most airlines offer concessions for these passengers, but these fares are rarely in the public domain.
The normal fare is used in 'proration', i.e. the sharing of interline fares. It is also used by some airlines in calculating excess baggage charges (It used to be the full First Class fare, but many routes don't have that product anymore). It is also the airline's 'rack-rate' that they can charge to must-go passengers booking almost full flights at the last moment.
Having low one way fares discourages passengers from travelling out and back on the same airline. If you can buy two low one way fares you could be likely to travel the other direction on another airline.
However, on many routes where the network airlines compete with LCCs (take Geneva-London as an example) the network airlines all offer low one way fares. This hasn't happened everywhere and there likely is reluctance by bean-counters still to move to a true one-way model.
The 'other' reasons are slowly dying off. Proration of through fares, outside of alliances, is almost non-existant these days. Many network airlines now charge per piece, not per kg, for excess baggage, etc. It likely won't be that long until all network airlines abandon this concept.
If you think about it there are likely very few international passengers who will not return to their point of origin by air within a year or so. Students, emigrants, ship's crews are a few that spring to mind. Most airlines offer concessions for these passengers, but these fares are rarely in the public domain.
The normal fare is used in 'proration', i.e. the sharing of interline fares. It is also used by some airlines in calculating excess baggage charges (It used to be the full First Class fare, but many routes don't have that product anymore). It is also the airline's 'rack-rate' that they can charge to must-go passengers booking almost full flights at the last moment.
Having low one way fares discourages passengers from travelling out and back on the same airline. If you can buy two low one way fares you could be likely to travel the other direction on another airline.
However, on many routes where the network airlines compete with LCCs (take Geneva-London as an example) the network airlines all offer low one way fares. This hasn't happened everywhere and there likely is reluctance by bean-counters still to move to a true one-way model.
The 'other' reasons are slowly dying off. Proration of through fares, outside of alliances, is almost non-existant these days. Many network airlines now charge per piece, not per kg, for excess baggage, etc. It likely won't be that long until all network airlines abandon this concept.
As most people want to come back home, return fares are easier to compare. One way tickets can give some surprising savings as they aren't advertised nearly as much, as can open jaw and using different airports in the same city.
Some hubs can be expensive to fly from with tickets originating there, but cheap for through connections. Dubai - London return is about the same price with Emirates as Singapore - Dubai - London return at twice the distance. Rich locals going shopping in Europe or expats with company provided leave tickets get charged more.
Cathay fares are quite low on the Dubai - Hong Kong - Manila route as most of the passengers are Philippine migrant workers who are very price sensitive. Cathay (5* full service) prices are only around 10% more than Cebu Pacific (low cost).
In the USA, a return ticket from Kansas to Miami is far cheaper than a return from Miami to Kansas. The reason is, someone going to Miami is going on holiday and can easily go somewhere else instead if he doesn't like the price whereas someone going to Kansas is going for a particular reason such as business or family and can't change.
Business class on high demand routes such as London - New York can be five times the economy fare, try low demand Bangkok - London and it's around twice the economy fare.
Full service can be cheaper for families with children under twelve who pay child fare, than low cost who offer no child discounts.
Learn how the system works and play it to your advantage.
Some hubs can be expensive to fly from with tickets originating there, but cheap for through connections. Dubai - London return is about the same price with Emirates as Singapore - Dubai - London return at twice the distance. Rich locals going shopping in Europe or expats with company provided leave tickets get charged more.
Cathay fares are quite low on the Dubai - Hong Kong - Manila route as most of the passengers are Philippine migrant workers who are very price sensitive. Cathay (5* full service) prices are only around 10% more than Cebu Pacific (low cost).
In the USA, a return ticket from Kansas to Miami is far cheaper than a return from Miami to Kansas. The reason is, someone going to Miami is going on holiday and can easily go somewhere else instead if he doesn't like the price whereas someone going to Kansas is going for a particular reason such as business or family and can't change.
Business class on high demand routes such as London - New York can be five times the economy fare, try low demand Bangkok - London and it's around twice the economy fare.
Full service can be cheaper for families with children under twelve who pay child fare, than low cost who offer no child discounts.
Learn how the system works and play it to your advantage.
Paxing All Over The World
ExXB and Metro man give very good history. Another factor that will fall out is laziness and the changing generations who tend to think of LCCs first.
Lastly, when you look at certain routes - you can see that the carriers are all very closely priced and for others wide apart. There can be many reasons.
Lastly, when you look at certain routes - you can see that the carriers are all very closely priced and for others wide apart. There can be many reasons.
There are quite a lot of reasons why people don't want to return home. For example I flew LON - NCE a couple of years ago & came back by train with various stops en route - but it could have been car or train.
If you are using an open jaw ticket, which I've done several times, you may wish to buy a one way ticket between the points. (I've done a trip to HKG & China & flown Dragonair HKG - PVG. (Very expensive that.)
Always check how expensive one way fares are. I booked several legs with DL several years ago & found it cheaper to book it as several separate tickets rather than as one. The results are not always what you expect.
If you are using an open jaw ticket, which I've done several times, you may wish to buy a one way ticket between the points. (I've done a trip to HKG & China & flown Dragonair HKG - PVG. (Very expensive that.)
Always check how expensive one way fares are. I booked several legs with DL several years ago & found it cheaper to book it as several separate tickets rather than as one. The results are not always what you expect.
