round trip vs one way cost

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Two One-Way Flights or One Round-Trip: Which Is Better?

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Booking a flight involves navigating a maze of decisions. Is it better to fly with a budget airline or full-service one? How about basic economy versus regular economy ? And would you prefer pretzels or a cookie? 

Choosing between a single round-trip or two one-way tickets is the most basic decision and — you might be surprised to learn — one of the more nuanced. 

The cost between the two is usually the same for domestic flights but can vary significantly for international routes (assuming you're booking with cash rather than points and miles ).

Given that airfare was 26% more expensive in January 2023 than January 2022, according to the latest consumer price index data, budget travelers need to save every penny they can. 

In general, it can be more convenient to book a round-trip flight for a trip with specific start and end dates, but other considerations, such as cancellation policies and pricing, could make booking one-ways more appealing in some cases. And everything works differently for flights booked with miles. 

Let’s break it down.

Domestic flights

For flights within the United States on the same airline, round-trip tickets almost always cost the same as two one-ways.

There’s one caveat here: Booking two one-way tickets between separate destination or arrival airports can, in some cases, save money (or cost more). 

“Fares don’t have to be booked as returns,” says Laura Lindsay, travel trends expert at SkyScanner, a travel booking platform. “Look at flying out with one airline and back with another, or out of one airport and back into another to save money.”

Many online travel tools will automatically compare prices for these mismatched airline or airport itineraries and automatically include them in search results.

But it might be worth checking manually, especially for plans that involve different local airports or for airlines that don’t appear in search results , such as Southwest.

All that said, for domestic flights, the difference is almost always a wash. 

International flights

For international tickets, the logic changes completely. Round-trip tickets are usually cheaper than one-ways, sometimes significantly so.

NerdWallet compared fares across multiple international routes and found that, typically, buying two one-way tickets costs 20% more than a single roundtrip. 

To determine these differences, we compared routes between four U.S. airports and two airports in each destination region.

The effect is more pronounced when flying to some regions, such as Africa and Asia. That said, for flights between the U.S. and every region we looked at, it costs more to book two one-ways than a single round-trip. 

In some circumstances, such as open-ended trips where you don’t know when you’ll be returning, one-way flights might still make the most sense. But for most international travel, round-trip fares are the clear winner. 

Are round-trip or one-way flights cheaper if booking with points?

What about the cost difference between one-way and round-trip fares when using points or miles ?

Generally, airlines break these fares into one-way sections, meaning there is no meaningful difference between the two, in terms of cost. Yet a few caveats apply: 

Taxes on award flights can be higher when booking two one-ways. Delta Air Lines, for example, tends to charge more fees for flights originating in Europe.

Some airlines, such as ANA, do not allow one-way award flights, period. 

Flights booked with credit card points using a travel portal (i.e. not transferred to an airline partner) follow the same rules as cash fares. 

Other considerations

It’s also worth considering the impact of changes and cancellations on the two options.

Most airlines have eliminated change fees , making it easier to change and cancel both kinds of tickets. But canceling one leg of a round-trip ticket can sometimes be more complicated than canceling a one-way ticket.

In some cases, you might need to call customer service, instead of canceling online, to make sure the change doesn’t cancel your other flight segments as well.

And finally, there’s the question of simplicity.

Is the simplicity of having a single itinerary, managed by one round-trip confirmation code, worth these other trade-offs? This simplicity, paired with the fact that round-trip tickets are almost never more expensive than two one-ways, means that these fares make sense for most travelers.

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How To Decide If 2 One-Ways Are Better Than A Round-Trip Flight

Senior Reporter, HuffPost Life

When you book air travel, the airline offers many ways to filter your search results ― price limits, preferred times of day, nonstop flights versus flights with layovers, and of course, round-trip versus one-way.

As the names suggest, a round-trip journey includes both a flight from your starting point to your destination and a flight back to your origin, whereas a one-way only covers one of those segments. While the former is generally the simplest way to book a trip, some people prefer to buy two separate one-way tickets when they travel.

But are there good reasons to choose one over the other? We asked a few travel experts to share their advice on whether it’s better to book two one-ways or a round-trip reservation for your next air travel excursion.

International travel tends to incentivize round-trip bookings.

“When you’re booking international flights, it almost always pays off to book as a round-trip, since airlines typically price one-ways at much more than half the cost of the round-trip fare,” said Zach Griff, senior reporter at The Points Guy .

Indeed, a cursory search on Google Flights while writing this piece found a round-trip flight option from New York to Paris for $522. But if you were to purchase the same two flights separately ― New York to Paris, then Paris back to New York ― the combined cost would be $1,670, more than three times the cost of the round-trip booking. The price discrepancy can get even more egregious when premium cabin fares are involved.

“In general, round-trip tickets tend to be cheaper than two one-way tickets, particularly if you intend on flying with a single carrier or alliance,” said Willis Orlando, senior product operations specialist at Scott’s Cheap Flights .

So if you’re all about airline loyalty, you’ll likely find better pricing options booking a round-trip journey for your international travels.

But domestic flights have better one-way pricing.

While airline pricing tends to incentivize round-trip bookings for international flights, there isn’t as much of a disparity with domestic air travel.

“When traveling within the U.S., airlines typically price one-way flights at exactly half the cost of a round-trip,” reporter Chris Dong wrote for The Points Guy in September. “There certainly are exceptions, especially for those that fly out of smaller, regional airports.”

Thus, if you’re flying domestically out of a major hub, you have better odds of finding good deals on separate one-way tickets.

Booking separate legs allows you to combine airlines.

Once you’ve determined you won’t lose money booking separate legs for your air travel, consider why you want to do it this way.

“Booking a round-trip itinerary as two one-way segments can make sense in some cases,” Griff said. “For one, it gives you the flexibility to choose between more than one airline in your searches. Sometimes, you can save money by combining flights on different airlines.”

Perhaps you have rewards points with two different airlines that service your destination and want to cash them in during one trip. Booking separately allows you to do that. You might even find a good deal for the outbound part of your journey with one airline and for the return flight with a different carrier.

“That said, you’ll need to pay attention to different fare rules when combining two airlines on one trip,” Griff noted. “For instance, if your outbound flight is delayed or canceled, you’d only be entitled to a refund for that portion of the itinerary, if you booked as one-ways.”

One-ways also offer more flexibility with return dates.

Another factor you may want to consider when booking round-trip or one-way is how sure you are of your dates.

Good one-way rates “can be useful if you’re not quite sure when you’ll be returning from your trip, which is particularly relevant in the age of remote work and extended AirBnB stays,” Orlando said.

So if you aren’t exactly sure when you’ll be ending your stay, you can make the process easier by simply booking a one-way ticket there. Then you don’t have to book your return until you’re ready, and you won’t have to spend time changing it to a later date over and over again.

Orlando said he’s even had some luck booking one-ways internationally with certain carriers, like TAP Air Portugal.

“I frequently travel to Europe for weeks, if not months, at a time, and try to make sure I end my trip in a city served by TAP, because I know I’ll be able to find myself a cheap one-way ticket home,” he noted.

Booking separate legs might help with a complicated itinerary.

Sometimes your travels might take you to multiple places and via different transit methods. For example, you might fly from Miami to New York and then take the train down to Washington, D.C. In this case, you’d want to fly back home from a different city than the one you flew into.

“In many cases, it will be possible to book an open-jaw ticket, coupling the two itineraries into a single ‘round-trip’ ticket, but occasionally that’s not possible,” Orlando said. “In that case, it can be worthwhile to look into one-way prices to see if they offer a competitive price, or favorable routing.”

When you have a more complex itinerary, it might feel simpler to break it up into one-way flights. Just make sure to compare the prices, and be prepared to manage the different airline bookings in your inbox.

As with most aspects of travel, there’s no one magic way to do things when you’re deciding whether to book two one-ways or a round-trip journey. But with research and experience, you can get better at figuring out what works best for your budget, itinerary and overall comfort level.

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Here's When Buying Two One-Way Flights Is Cheaper Than a Round-Trip Ticket

T here are die-hard travelers on both sides of the proverbial aisle — adamant one-way warriors versus the always-reliable round-trippers. If you’ve tried to google which is better, you’ve most likely found yourself more confused than before. So let’s clear it all up once and for all — which is truly the better booking option, one-way flights or a return ticket?

Well, the truth is “it depends.” Sorry, I know that’s a letdown. But simply put, both can be the right choice depending on the situation. The large majority of travelers simply book a roundtrip ticket by default — it’s easy and people typically assume it’s cheaper, but that’s not always the case. There are a few scenarios where booking one-way travel will help save you money and make your booking more flexible.

One-way flights are better when you book with points

A good example of when booking two one-way tickets rather than a roundtrip ticket might be favorable is when using points. Points bookings are usually dynamically priced within a range of prices, however, the number of points needed for a roundtrip ticket usually does not change if you book two one-ways instead. While this might not make the flight any less expensive, by booking two one-way tickets, it is often significantly easier to change or cancel should you decide to stay longer or leave earlier. For example, Jetblue specifically recommends booking one-way fares when dealing with points because it’s easier to update booking dates after the fact, giving you more flexibility.

Similarly, if you have points accumulated across a few airlines, you can book one-way on Airline A and one-way on Airline B. I typically do this when I don’t have enough points to book a roundtrip on a single airline’s points program, but can combine carriers to use points for the entire trip.

One-way flights can also be cheaper when you make multi-airline bookings

Just like with points bookings, sometimes booking two one-way tickets on separate airlines can save you a good amount of money. For example, if you are flying from San Francisco to Miami, you may find a great deal on United to get to Miami and there may be a great deal on American flying out of Miami. If the carrier has to move a plane and it’s not full, you may find some insane deals on one-way tickets if you’re willing to do the extra bit of work.

To find the best deals, I usually search on Google Flights for one-way tickets. You’ll see the lowest-priced flights appear first and can use extensive filtering and calendar views to find the perfect flight.

For example, when looking at the cost of a round-trip ticket from San Fransico International Airport to Miami International Airport on April 18 — April 20, you see:

Photo: Google Flights

The cheapest ticket is $439, but keep in mind you have no baggage allowance.

If you then search one-way on April 18, you find:

Obviously, $68 is an amazing price for a one-way ticket even without the luggage. Now, enter the return:

The best return ticket is $197. So in total, booking two one-way tickets would cost you $265. That’s almost half the cost of the roundtrip booking.

Return tickets make sense with flight deals

So now that you know of a few ways to leverage one-way tickets, let’s talk about a time you don’t want to rely on one-ways.

Flight deals are an area to consider booking roundtrip tickets. Flight deals are typically based on roundtrip fares and therefore you’re not going to find the same one-way prices available. For example, I recently got a notification for a flight deal in my inbox for a roundtrip to Puerto Vallarta for under $300:

You can see here that a roundtrip ticket on May 9 — May 16 will set you back $264.

If you do the math on the one-way tickets, you’ll find a one-way on May 9 to Puerto Vallarta will cost you $116.

The return flight booked separately on May 16 will cost you $189:

If you book the two one-ways, you’re paying a total of $305. That’s quite a bit more than that flight deal was offering at $264.

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One-Way vs. Round-Trip Flights: Which Should You Book?

A question that often comes up during Points Consulting calls is whether it’s better to book one-way or round-trip flights. Of course, it differs with each individual situation, but there are some general principles to go by.

In many cases, booking one-way flights offers greater flexibility and customization. This isn’t always the case, though, and you’ll want to think about the cost, routing rules, cancellation fees, and the use of vouchers when making a decision to book a one-way or round-trip booking.

In This Post

Generally speaking, book one-ways, book round-trip flights with vouchers, book round-trip flights to lower costs, book round-trips to save on cancellation fees, book round-trips for extra stopovers.

For my personal bookings, and in most cases during consulting calls, I almost always book one-way flights. Sure, it adds another booking reference to keep track of, but I find that it works best for me.

One of the reasons why I book one-way flights is that my travels don’t tend to be simple and linear. For example, for an upcoming trip to Australia this fall, I have the following flights booked:

• Toronto to Brisbane via Vancouver ( Aeroplan )
• Gold Coast to Sydney (Virgin Australia)
• Sydney to Canberra (Virgin Australia)
• Canberra to Hobart via Melbourne ( Avios )
• Hobart to Melbourne (Avios)
• Albury to Sydney (Qantas)
• Sydney to Victoria (Aeroplan)

In total, I have a mix of one-way bookings with two different loyalty programs and the rest with cash booked directly with the airlines. 

I was able to score deals using eUpgrades on both of my long-haul flights, and since I’ll be coming from The Travel Summit in Toronto and returning to my home on Vancouver Island, it made more sense for me to book two one-way flights.

Within Australia, I plan to visit with friends and family in a few different places, so booking a variety of one-way flights will allow me to maximize my time in each destination during a shorter trip. 

If I need to change or cancel any of my points bookings, having them booked as two one-ways will allow me to avoid repricing the entire round-trip, which could result in a massive increase in Aeroplan points under dynamic pricing . This way, I can keep one of the bargains that I found, without having to worry about losing it to repricing.

Even if your travel tends to be less dynamic than a trip like the above, I still would argue that one-ways are the way to go for most bookings.

Sometimes, plans change, and missing any flights on a round-trip itinerary invalidates the rest of the itinerary. Having a trip booked on two separate one-way itineraries allows for maximum flexibility, in that you won’t lose out on the rest of your flight if your plans change and you miss a connection.

If you’re savvy, you might compare the cost of each one-way flight with points and cash prior to booking. You may encounter an excellent price for one direction, only to find that the other way is much more expensive.

In this case, you could book the cheaper price with cash, and then use points to cover the cost of the other direction, which helps to squeeze more value out of your points. Of course, this doesn’t usually work for international bookings, where one-way cash tickets are often nearly as much as a round-trip, which we’ll discuss below.

There are some compelling reasons to book round-trips in place of one-ways, though, so one-way flights won’t always be the most ideal way to go about booking a trip.

One of the main reasons for booking round-trip flights is any time you have a voucher to redeem. This could be in the form of a companion voucher from a credit card , such as the Air Canada Buddy Pass , the WestJet annual companion voucher, or the Air Canada Annual Worldwide Companion Pass . 

You can squeeze more value out of a companion voucher by booking a round-trip fare instead of a one-way. This is simply because you usually stand to save more on two or more flights instead of just one.

The savings can be enough to justify the annual fee on a premium credit card, so it’s best to consider using them for high value cash bookings, such as for last minute travel or travel during peak periods.

Other types of vouchers, such as Priority Rewards earned by travellers with Aeroplan Elite Status , also are more valuable when redeemed for round-trip flights instead of one-ways. 

For example, a Priority Reward redeemed by a Super Elite is good for 50% off of a round-trip business class booking with any Aeroplan partner anywhere in the world.

A round-trip flight from Toronto to Bangkok via Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways regularly costs 87,500 points each direction, but a Priority Reward knocks down the cost to 87,500 points for a round-trip.

Sure, you could use a Priority Reward for a one-way flight to Asia and still save a handsome amount of points, but since you have to spend money to earn Priority Rewards, you’re best suited to using them on a round-trip booking for the best value.

Another factor to consider when choosing between round-trip and one-way bookings is the cost. 

For domestic and transborder flights, airlines tend to price out fares as the sum of two one-ways.

For example, a one-way flight from Toronto to Vancouver might cost $200 in one direction and $150 in the other. It makes no difference if you book as a round-trip or two one-ways – you’ll wind up paying $350 either way.

The same isn’t usually true for international flights. This is due to the way fares are constructed, and it’s almost always a much better deal to book a round-trip cash fare for international flights versus one-ways.

For example, a one-way flight from Vancouver to Paris costs $875 with Air France, and from Paris to Vancouver, a one-way flight costs $1,956.

Those same flights booked as a round-trip price out at only $983, which results in a massive $1,848 in savings.

One advantage of booking flights with points is that you usually aren’t subject to the same differences in one-way versus round-trip pricing. With fixed-cost programs, the pricing generally doesn’t change at all between round-trips and one-ways – you’ll pay the same whether you book one round-trip or two one-ways.

For programs that use dynamic pricing that is tied to the actual cost of flights, you’ll want to ensure that you look at the cost per direction to make sure it’s not cheaper to book a round-trip than two one-ways. 

Another cost factor to consider is that the taxes and fees are calculated by the originating airport on a booking. 

For example, if you book a round-trip flight to Toronto out of Edmonton, you’ll be charged 5% GST, as that is the current tax rate in Alberta. If you were to book two one-ways, you’d be charged 5% GST for the ticket from Edmonton, and then 13% HST on the flight from Toronto.

While the difference is negligible for award bookings, the costs can add up if you are paying cash for flights. On business class fares, the difference in booking a round-trip instead of two one-ways could result in hundreds of dollars in savings.

As airlines return to normal-ish operations, the regular change or cancellation fees are also being reimplemented. During the pandemic, passengers enjoyed flexibility with low-to-no cost changes or cancellations, which was a great gesture during a difficult period.

If you’re unsure of whether or not you’ll actually go on a trip, you’ll want to make sure that you can recover your costs. For award bookings, you’d only be on the hook for one cancellation fee if you make a round-trip booking, versus having two cancellation fees for two one-ways.

Let’s use Aeroplan as an example, as the program has recently returned to its regular change and cancellation fees . Cancelling a single round-trip booking online would cost $150, while cancelling two one-way bookings online would be double at $300.

Of course, one method to avoid this is to book a flexible fare to begin with, but you’ll incur a greater cost in points by doing so. 

You’ll want to check the cancellation policies for the points program you’re booking with, as some, such as Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and American Airlines AAdvantage, continue to offer free cancellation on rewards bookings.

Lastly, you’ll want to consider the routing and stopover rules before deciding on a one-way or a round-trip booking. This largely applies to award bookings, but it can also affect cash fares if the fare rules allow for extra stops on a round-trip booking.

Some programs, such as Aeroplan and Alaska Mileage Plan, allow stopovers on one-way bookings. Indeed, this is a great perk with both programs, and one that can be quite beneficial to travellers.

Other programs, such as Cathay Pacific Asia Miles , ANA Mileage Club, or Saver awards on Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, only allow stopovers on round-trip bookings.

So, if you want to stretch the value of your points with redemptions in these programs, you’ll want to book a round-trip over a two one-way bookings.

In the majority of cases, booking one-ways allows for greater flexibility with complex routings and also allows you to optimize the use of points and cash. In most cases, it’s best to book two one-ways over a round-trip.

There are exceptions to this, though, and in some cases, it’s much better to make a round-trip booking than two one-way bookings. These situations can include using vouchers, booking international flights with cash, considering the various costs, and taking advantage of routing and stopover rules.

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Pros and cons of two one-way tickets vs one round-trip (and a warning)

One of the most important things that I’ve learned as a frequent flyer is the value of two one-way tickets vs a round-trip. There are a ton of advantages for purchasing one-way tickets, such as:

• Being able to build a complex itinerary to match your exact schedule 
• Being able to take advantage of special deals or discounts for individual flights that might not otherwise be available with a round-trip purchase
• Being able to build and maintain status on multiple airlines
• Being able to try airlines and airports that you might not have had the chance to in the past

That said, there are a lot that can go wrong when you string together in itinerary built on one-way tickets.  I’ll explain all of that (with specific examples) below…

Table of Contents

Pros and cons of two one-way tickets vs round-trip

For the most part, it’s usually advantageous to purchase one-way tickets. You’ll have far fewer restrictions than you would purchasing a round-trip ticket, and it’s a lot easier to build the exact itinerary that you want (for the price you’re willing to pay).

The easiest way to explain all of these differences is to give you a big fat list of all the pros and cons:

• More flexibility! Instead of being at the mercy of one airline and their limited flight schedules, you’ll have far more options flying multiple airlines.
• Contrary to what you’ve heard from your grandparents, buying one-way tickets isn’t always more expensive than buying a single round-trip ticket. The existence of ultra low cost carriers is keeping prices down (in general) for all airlines.
• Airlines often have special deals or discounts for specific routes (one direction only). It’s a lot easier to take advantage of these good deals by purchasing one-way tickets.
• It can help you maintain status on multiple airlines. For example, if you have frequent flyer status on both United Airlines and American Airlines (and you want to keep said status), flying one airline on the outbound portion of the trip and the other airline on the inbound portion is a good way to help you maintain / reach your goals.
• Even if you don’t care about status, it’s just more fun flying different airlines. I know people who fly one airline for a majority of their life, and quite frankly, that sounds really boring. Trying new-to-you airlines and connecting in airports you’ve never been to before keeps travel fun!

• Despite what I just said about one-way tickets not always being more expensive than a single round-trip ticket, don’t be surprised if you discover that it’s sometimes more expensive. It all depends on your specific itinerary and the particular demand for the dates you want to fly.
• Your connecting flight will NOT be protected if you miss your flight because of a delay or cancellation. For example, let’s say you’re flying San Diego to Chicago on two one-way tickets (San Diego to Denver on Frontier, and Denver to Chicago on United). If Frontier doesn’t get you to Denver in time to make United connection to Chicago, you’re out of luck.
• Sometimes, it’s just more convenient to have everything on one itinerary. Having to juggle schedules and flight information for a handful of one-way tickets vs a single round-trip ticket it isn’t recommended if you’re even the slightest bit disorganized.
• It’ll take longer to book a trip built on multiple one way tickets than it will by booking a single round-trip ticket.
• If you’re flying internationally, one-way tickets might draw suspicion from airline personnel and immigration officers. Basically, they will often require proof that you’re not attempting to illegally immigrate to another country. An onward ticket (in the form of an email confirmation or boarding pass) is enough to satisfy them.
• Some airlines frown upon buying two one-way tickets instead of a single round-trip. Even though they make it easy to do on their own websites and apps, they can flag you for “gaming the system” if you consistently buy one-way tickets to build round trip itineraries. It’s stupid, but it is what it is.

Warning! 3 examples of how purchasing one-way tickets instead of a single round-trip went horribly wrong:

I fly on one-way tickets most of the time, and generally, it’s a lot more convenient than flying on a round-trip ticket. I will admit that I wasn’t fully aware of the risks when I first started doing it, but overall, it has proven to be a very convenient way to travel.

That said, here are 3 examples where it completely fell apart on me (or at least gave me a good scare):

Example 1: The delayed arrival

Back in 2016, there was a special Thanksgiving weekend Delta Air Lines 747 flight from Atlanta to Seattle that I really wanted to try. To get the rest of the way home to San Diego, I bought a separate ticket on Alaska Airlines. It was just cheaper that way.

Long story short, the 747 flight was canceled . Delta held up their end of the bargain by getting me to Seattle as promised (in Delta One on the A330-300 ), but I arrived too late to make my originally-planned connecting flight to San Diego on Alaska Airlines.

Because these were two separate nonrefundable one-way tickets, I had to scramble to get on the phone with Alaska Airlines and cancel that ticket to prevent losing the full value of it. But I still had to purchase another last-minute one-way ticket to San Diego instead. Ouch.

Example 2: The concerned airline agent

Because I really wanted to do a LOT Polish Airlines 787–8 economy review (weird, I know), I purchased a one-way ticket from Los Angeles to Warsaw. For the return, I purchased another one-way ticket on a different airline just to have some variety in my airline reviews .

I checked in online prior to leaving for LAX. Upon arrival, I went straight for the security checkpoint since I already had a boarding pass.  The TSA scanner at the security checkpoint rejected my boarding pass for no rhyme or reason , and I was told to go back to the LOT ticketing counter.

I explained the situation to the friendly LOT employee at the check-in desk, and she got to work trying to figure out what the problem was. The concerned look on her face wasn’t comforting. At all.

It turned out that I needed to show proof that I wasn’t planning on staying permanently in Poland (because my one-way ticket looked suspicious).  Showing her my itinerary for my departure out of Poland the following day on another airline was sufficient.

Even though everything worked out in the end, it added about an extra hour of confusion and frustration that day.

Example 3: My own stupidity

Prior to flying Starlux Airlines A321neo business class for the first time, I needed to get to Taipei. To do so, I booked to one-way tickets:

• San Diego to Tokyo Narita on Japan Airlines
• Tokyo Narita to Taipei on Scoot

Prior to leaving San Diego, I noticed that Scoot uses the same terminal as Japan Airlines at NRT. I figured that I’d just get my Scoot boarding pass from the gate agent when I arrived.

It turned out that the gate agent couldn’t do that. I had exit security, legally enter Japan, and stand in line at the Scoot Airlines ticket counter to get a boarding pass. I had to do all of this within 35 minutes of the flight departure to Taipei. Talk about stressful!

Somehow I didn’t miss that flight, but it was a strong reminder of how naïve I was to think that two separate one-way tickets would be easier.

4 reasons why I usually always purchase two one-way tickets instead of one round-trip

Despite some very expensive (and stressful) experiences with purchasing one-way tickets instead of round-trip over the years, I still prefer the flexibility of building my own itinerary with separate tickets. this is because:

• The airlines can be stupid sometimes. For example, I recently flew to Mexico City and back on AeroMexico. For some reason or another, their website wouldn’t let me pick the exact flights that I wanted when trying to book a round-trip itinerary. I had to book 2 separate one-way tickets instead in order to get the exact flights that I wanted.
• I’ve found that it’s sometimes a cheaper way of flying business class. For example, on a recent trip to Florida and back, I took advantage of a good deal I found for American Airlines 777-200 business class from Dallas to Miami. For the return to San Diego, I booked a super-cheap (and more reasonable) one-way ticket on Allegiant Air. Although I didn’t get to fly business class round-trip, doing it one-way was enough to satisfy the itch.
• Booking one-way tickets instead of round-trip is a great way to avoid airports that I don’t like. For example, if I’m flying to Florida to visit family on Delta, it almost certainly means a connection in Atlanta. That’s fine – as long as it’s not a chaotic holiday weekend. If it is, on the return, I might choose to fly Frontier or United through Denver instead (since DEN is usually a lot less gnarly than ATL on busy holiday weekends).
• As an airline reviewer, I need / want to fly as many different airlines as possible. Airlines make it very easy to book one-way tickets vs round-trip tickets, so as long as they allow me to do it, I will continue to do so.

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Comments (24).

Quite an interesting read! I usually book round-trip, but I have flown on 2 one-way tickets occasionally. Usually, it’s outbound on one airline and inbound on another, which maybe isn’t as exciting as 2 different airlines in one day, but it’s a nice way to compare airlines on a similar route.

Scott (SANspotter)

Thanks! You bring up a good point that I didn’t mention in the article. Comparing two airlines on the same route (on the same trip) is another really good reason to fly on one way tickets.

Remy Godwin

New reader to your blog, nice work and keep it up.

My family and I recently did 2 one ways from Utila to San Pedro Sula, then onward to El Salvador. The UII-SAP is serviced by CM Airlines, a very small regional carrier that connects the bay islands. Upon arrival we had to wait for our bags because they were to large to fit under seats on this Embraer 110. (Bigger Osprey bags, I’ve read your backpack post and am now contemplating getting one of those)

There’s no feeling quite like hearing your family’s name over the PA system in a foreign airport while running through security checkpoints.

Thanks Remy – welcome to the blog! Anyway, yes, it gets tricky flying on one-way tickets sometimes. I’ve heard my name on the PA (as I’m running to catch a flight) more times than I care to admit and it’s always a scary experience!

Hi! I just stumbled across your site! I typically do round trip because it seems easier haha but recently have an opportunity come up to visit my sister in California . I’m in Kentucky so I’ve been tracking flights on momondo for round trips but I was curious if in this case just doing a 1 way to California and a 1 way back to Kentucky would be better? Thanks for any tips!!

Hey Kaitlin! If you can find a really good deal on a round trip (with a convenient schedule), then it’s probably not worth searching for two 1 way segments. I only do it if I can get a better deal, or if I don’t like the limitations of the round trip schedule. Have a good time in California!

This is great information, thank you! I’m out here trying to plan a family vacation to Europe and found that booking a multi-city ticket for arrival and departure (only one flight there and one back to the US from a different city) was about $1K more than booking two separate arrival/departure tickets FROM THE SAME AIRLINE. I was looking for any reason not to purchase two one-way tickets… but, it doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal as long as we plan well and have all of our docs available. About to research landing in one country, departing from another… surely there is a reasonable way to do this! Great blog post! Looking forward to more!

Thanks Dena – glad you found it useful! Purchasing one way tickets instead of a single round trip has it’s advantages for sure (it’s how I book most of my trips these days).

The only thing you really need to be careful about is giving yourself enough time to make connections. If your inbound flight is late, which causes you to miss your connecting flight, you’re basically out of luck. Even if it’s the same airline, they won’t compensate you for the missed flight.

Hope you have a great trip!

Great article and it provides me a great option for my trip to New Zealand next year. Question – I’m looking at award flight bookings for outbound LAX-AKL. And then inbound ZQN-AKL-LAX. With my current research, looks the miles/fees are the same round trip vs. 2-one ways. If all else equal, would you just recommend the 2-one ways since its advantage is more flexibility?

Thanks Jonathan! Honestly I don’t see any advantage of booking two one-way tickets in this instance. Maybe if you think there’s a chance that you’ll want to change your return somehow (once you’re in New Zealand), then yes – having that added flexibility will be nice.

But if the details of the trip are set in stone and it’s the same cost either way, a single round-trip itinerary will be easier to manage. Have a great trip!

New to the blog, good insight here. I’m interested to see your thoughts on my below itinerary/plan.

My wife and I are planning to travel to Italy this fall. We have enough points to book one-way JFK->Milan on American. We plan to navigate from Milan to Rome on our trip, and return to the NYC area from Rome (FCO). For that return flight, I have enough points to book a ticket on United, and will need to purchase my wife’s ticket. Interestingly, United is pricing the one-way FOC->EWR at around $1,100, but if I book a roundtrip FCO->EWR (booking the direct flight to get home and then cheapest “return flight” currently via Brussels), I can get it for about $650. My plan would be to ONLY get on the FCO->EWR leg, and just no-show (or cancel) the EWR->FCO return leg.

This feels like a comfortable no-risk plan. But wondering if you see any issues or have experienced any issues in the past with something like this?

Hi Rob! Good question. Doing it once isn’t going to cause any problems. However, if you start making a habit of it, you run the risk of being banned from flying United ever again. Airlines have been known to ban people for doing this, so you need to tread carefully.

I’m going to Oaxaca for 4 months but want my return date flexible. Is it better to book one way or round trip?

Definitely book a one-way ticket! You’ll most likely have to pay change fees on a round-trip ticket if you decide to move the return date.

Hi, just found your blog. It’s very helpful. I’m looking at options for a trip that includes 3 weeks in Thailand to visit an old friend, with a stop on the return in Taiwan to visit another friend for a few days. Want to do SFO/BKK/TPE/SFO. The cash price on United was $15K per person. Yikes! EVA offers the same itinerary for $6,656 pp. Because EVA is a United partner, I will earn credit for miles with United MP even if I book through EVA (although maybe less, but I’m not concerned about that). Does it sound reasonable to purchase the ticket through EVA? Should I research other alternatives to get a better price? (I only have 155K miles in MP and my husband has 58K, not enough to score a free seat. Using Mileage Upgrade Awards, we would be waitlisted for Business Class, not an option.)

Hi Linda – wow! $15,000 per person is insane. I hope that’s business class, because anything less seems like absolute robbery to me. The EVA option is probably your best bet if you want to earn United MileagePlus credits. That’s what I would do.

If you don’t care so much about that, I highly recommend checking out Zipair from SFO to NRT (and then flying a low-cost carrier such as Scoot down to BKK). For example, I just booked a lie-flat business class seat for myself on Zipair from LAX to NRT for $1350 (one way). There are no video screens in those seats (and onboard service is limited), but it’s still a heck of a deal IMHO.

Just something to think about…

I’m not wearing your shoes but a question she asked isn’t a thing. Visiting they think without a return date is to nosey to me. I would have plead the fifth. You weren’t under oath.

They are legally required to ask for proof that you’re not going to stay in the country that you’re flying to. All airlines will ask if they don’t see either a connecting flight or a return flight as part of your itinerary.

Do you do this with checked luggage? Do you have to go to baggage claim and get your luggage and go through security again or are they able to check it through? Thank you for the insight!

Hi Michala! Yes, you can do it with checked luggage. The only caveat is that you’ll have to retrieve your luggage (and then go through security) between flights. It would definitely be nice if the airlines could check your luggage through to your final destination on two separate tickets, but that isn’t possible.

Julie Buckley

I would like to fly to one destination in Germany, and return to my same home airport from a different airport in the same country (Germany). What could be a problem.? I need to use Delta – can I use their frequent flyer miles for that? Thanks

Hi Julie – sure, that’s not a problem at all. As a matter of fact, I do that sort of thing all the time without any issues. And yes, you can use frequent flyer miles. You’ll just need to book each segment separately, that’s all.

For SEA and SFO to Italy (two people flying from two starting destinations), we are considering non-stop flights on Virgin Atlantic to LON and then booking a regional flight to Rome (and then from Brindisi Italy back to LON on the return). With a 4+ hour connection, would you recommend this route; two separate tickets each way? It would save 1000-1500 on the ticket. Also, is Economy Delight on VA similar to Comfort+ on Delta? That is the cabin choice for the US to LON flights. Thank you!

Hi Jana – absolutely, if it saves you that much money, then booking two separate tickets is the way to go. I’d do that without batting an eye.

In regards to Economy Delight: it’s essentially a standard economy class seat with a bit more legroom. Premium economy offers a much larger (wider) seat with more legroom and recline than Economy Delight. I’d definitely go with that if you can swing it.

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Simple Flying

Is it cheaper to buy one way flights or return tickets.

The short answer still remains: it depends.

Unlike standard retail store therapy, booking a flight is rarely easy - especially for first-timers or infrequent flyers, with airline pricing being significantly more complicated. And while there are die-hard passengers on either side of the aisle, one-way ticket fanatics, and the always-prepared round-trippers, there never seems to be a consensus on which ticket type is optimal.

Even by searching through multiple third-party comparison websites, the answer to such a question is never genuinely answered and tends to get more confusing. Then, when considering how airfare pricing algorithms have plenty of constantly changing variables, formulas, frequent flyer redemptions, and much more, the water seems rather muddy. But fret not, as not all hope is lost, and there are still things to learn that could help passengers save money where needed.

When are one-way tickets cheaper?

Although it's not always the case, one-way tickets are more often than not favorable when using frequent flyer or credit card point redemptions. Since point redemptions or bookings are strategically quoted within a fixed range of prices, passengers often grab the opportunity to book two one-way tickets instead of a single round-trip since the number of points required would not necessarily change.

While this advantage does not make any of the two one-way tickets any cheaper, passengers tend to save on additional fees that would incur. One-way tickets provide much more flexibility - such as not being at the mercy of single scheduled flight days and timings and factoring in the possible accommodation, transport, and insurance costs typically incurred if return-ticket trippers wish to adjust their schedule.

One-way tickets are also considered the cheaper alternative for passengers who prefer to travel with multiple airlines along the same trip, albeit mainly for domestic flights. To further entice this type of passenger, airlines like the low-cost carriers tend to offer special deals or discounts specifically for one-way tickets on various selected routes , making the ticket type significantly cheaper than buying a return-trip ticket for the same period and same route.

The primary hassles in these cases would be for passengers to keep track of two or more separate reservations and airline schedules and hope that there are little to no flight delays during the entire journey, as missing the second leg onwards does spell disaster for the remainder as there is a risk of being offloaded by the other airlines for the later flights if passengers fail to show up on time.

Want answers to more critical questions in aviation? Check out the rest of our guides here !

What about round-trip tickets?

Considering how purchasing one-way tickets seems like the better deal, are there instances when return-trip tickets get the upper - or, in this case, cheaper hand? Like cheaper one-way flight tickets on many routes, airlines also offer cheaper round-trip flight tickets depending on the route and carrier. This is primarily done to encourage passengers to fly the outbound and inbound sectors with the same airline.

Sometimes, passengers will notice that the one-way ticket is almost the same price as the round-trip tickets. Most times, these selected routes are international flights instead of domestic ones. They are slightly restrictive concerning the dates and timings allowed, but overall, they are less stringent than one-way tickets, especially regarding limited cabin class choices.

Round-trip tickets are also typically cheaper when bought through airline and travel consolidators since these businesses purchase tickets in bulk from the airlines and get to resell them to passengers or third-party travel agencies at a heavily discounted rate. In fact, the discounts are sometimes considered heavier than the discounts offered by the airlines themselves, saving passengers quite a sum of money.

Another option where round-trip tickets are considered the less expensive alternative is when passengers book an open-jaw flight - whereby the airlines allow passengers to book a flight to one destination and a flight back from another destination in a different direction but on the same ticket/reservation. So, instead of pricing these two flights as two one-way trips, the airline mainly prices them quite similarly to a round-trip.

What is the final verdict?

After all that back and forth, the conclusion on the cheaper ticket type still rests as it depends on the passengers' travel situation. If the passenger is booking a trip without using any mileage redemption and considering a non-domestic flight, round-trip tickets are often the cheaper alternative. But suppose the passenger plans to fly domestically using mileage redemptions or has significantly flexible timings and itineraries. In that case, one-way tickets may be the way to go.

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Why Does a One Way Ticket Cost More Than a Round Trip Ticket?

What is a one way ticket.

A one way ticket is a type of ticket that allows the respective passenger to travel to their destination only and it does not consider the returning. In simple words, it considers the one-way travel either it is on an aircraft, a train, a bus, or any other mode of travel without a return trip.

What Is A Round Trip Ticket?

On the other side, a round trip ticket is that type of ticket which allows a person to travel to a place or destination and also consider the return back to the place which the traveler left. Hence this ticket considers the whole journey i.e. going to a place and the returning too (usually over the same route). It is quite profitable for the passengers as compared to one way airline ticket.

Difference Between A One Way Trip And A Round Trip:

Well, it is always difficult to predict the airfares, but some loosely defined rules have made it a little easier to make travel plans. But on comparing round trip vs one way tickets, it can be understood that why are one way flights more expensive ! If you are getting two flights for less than the price of one, then airlines must have relatively solid reasons for pricing flights this way. And some of those reasons are discussed below:

• Business Travelers Pay More:

It is a fact that the business travelers’ airfare is round-trip most of the time as they almost always purchased by a corporate travel department. They generally focused to avail the most convenient flying times each way rather than the lowest cost. Airlines have little incentive to offer lower round-trip prices as long as it is for the non-discount round-trip airfare.

• One-Way Airfare is Inconvenient for Airlines Too:

Airlines have a more convenient for their scheduling system when the travelers fly round-trip or book round trip tickets. In case of one-way flights where the passengers need to purchase another ticket for the return journey, the airlines find it quite difficult to make airplane staffing decisions and set flight schedules ahead of time.

• One-Way Airfare Eliminates The Scheduling Problems:

Passengers with the one-way ticket can easily take advantage of the lower round-trip fares by simply discarding the unused ticket portion. Although, this thing is against airline ticketing rules yet it is quite common among passengers and they almost never punished.

On the part of the airline, they can easily adjust flight schedules without losing money whether the passenger decides to book a one-way return or not. They do so by managing the situation when a passenger purchases a one-way ticket at a higher price than the cost of half of the same round-trip journey.

• One-Way Airfare is More Convenient for Passengers:

In case, the passenger is not sure about his/her returning, then purchasing a one way ticket is more appropriate. Since the airline can’t be sure about using these for the return trip of the passengers, that’s why their one-way tickets are more expensive in order to recoup the potential losses of you as a return passenger. Passengers just end up by paying more for the convenience of deciding at your leisure exactly.

How To Buy Cheap Tickets OR Tips To Buy Cheap Tickets:

To avail perfect airfares in your budget, you just need to follow the few tips regarding booking cheapest air tickets . It will help you to know how to buy cheap tickets . This includes stuff like

• Keep your searches top secret
• Use the best flight search engines
• Identify the cheapest day to fly out
• Befriend budget airlines

All You Need to Know While Buying One-Way Airline Tickets:

There are times when you fly to somewhere and have no exact idea when you will be coming back. In such a case, if you buy one-way airfare, then will be the most stupid thing. After all, there is always an option to purchase a return ticket later.

Do take into account the growing popularity of discount airlines and airfares and the increased competition between legacy carriers. This is the reason why round-trip airfare is frequently cheaper than a one-way ticket. There are a few drawbacks which the passenger must be aware of. Following are some of them:

• Role Of Your Destination:

In case, you are purchasing a ticket to a domestic destination (No Return):

For this, the one-way ticket is almost always cheaper. Passengers can easily get the advantage from US-based discount airlines like Southwest Airlines and JetBlue which offer one-way fares for under $100.

On the other side, for Europe or Asia, it is often cheaper to buy a round-trip ticket, especially if you prefer to fly with the major US carriers.

• Airlines Encourage Round-Trip:

It is a fact that one-way bookings are a headache for the airline too as these disrupt the overall flying schedules. Hence, the airline itself discourages passengers from booking for one way. That’s also one of the reasons that the one-way flights are almost always significantly more expensive. The prices for one-way tickets are always high because these are frequently purchased by business class travelers on multi-leg trips.

• Throwaway Ticketing:

Throwaway Ticketing : It is a type of practice in which passengers used to purchase a round-trip ticket and throw away the unneeded portion to get a one-way trip at a round-trip price. Eventually, it proves much cheaper and is very common among frequent flyers.

Airline ticketing rules do prohibit the act of throwaway ticketing. In case, a passenger fails to use the first portion and show up only for the return flight, then the airline changes huge penalties from the respective passenger. It can also deny boarding.

• Try To Be Flexible:

Being flexible will help the passengers keep the price down in case of purchasing the one-way ticket.

For an instant, a one-way flight leaving at 10 am will be more expensive than the first flight of the day flying at 4 or 5 am. Managing the days can also prove helpful like if you fly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; you can save more.

Searching of multiple travel sites can be helpful but keep in mind that most travel sites do not post fares for discount carriers, so visit those sites individually.

Steps For Using a Roundtrip Ticket to Go One Way:

It is the most common activity among the passengers to purchase the less expensive round-trip fare and simply do not use the return portion. Doing so can be easy but it contains certain restrictions that can add considerable complications to the process.

HOW TO DO SO?

• STEP 1: Contact the Airline (before arrival)

First of all, contact the airline before the day of the flight and do modify the round-trip ticket for one-way usage. Most of the airlines modify a round-trip fare to allow one-way use but some airlines may charge a penalty or fee for this service.

• STEP 2: Use the ticket for the outbound flight

Your flight accommodation will not change as it is based on the one-way or round-trip status of your ticket. Hence you can check-in at the airport and board the plane under normal flight procedures on the day of flight arrival.

• STEP 3: Contact the Airline (after reaching your destination)

If you get failed to negotiate with the airline in Step 1, then contact the airline later and ask for a change to your return date is a good option. You can ask for a refund on the unused portion of your ticket. You can disregard this step in the case; you are unconcerned with a refund or change to your return-trip ticket.

• STEP 4: Contact the Airline (ready to return)

In case, you negotiate a change to the return portion of your ticket with the airline, then verify the change and check-in at the airport for your updated return flight. But you may need to purchase a new ticket for your return flight if you are not able to negotiate a change.

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Is It Better to Book a Round-Trip or Two One-Way Award Flights?

"Reader Questions" are answered twice a week by TPG Associate Editor Brendan Dorsey .

Booking award flights can be a complicated process. TPG reader Ashley wants to know if there's any benefit when booking two one-way awards...

[pullquote source="TPG Reader Ashley"]Assuming the number of miles is the same, is there any reason not to book two one-way award tickets vs a round-trip award ticket.[/pullquote]

One-way flights purchased with cash can sometimes be prohibitively expensive compared to round-trip itineraries — making the option of booking two one-ways with miles more attractive if the situation calls for it.

But what are the pros and cons of booking two separate one-way award flights vs. one round-trip itinerary? We've laid out a few reasons why you might want to consider one or the other.

One of the biggest benefits to booking two one-ways is that you can use two different mileage currencies when planning your travel. That added flexibility can help a lot when planning a trip. You might only be able to find award availability on the outbound leg using American miles, while the only way to get home would be using United miles. Holding flexible points currencies like Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards can help in these situations, since you aren't locked into a single program. You can instead transfer points to a variety of carriers that let you book across any airline alliance or even with non-alliance partners.

Another positive for two one-ways may come up if you miss the outbound flight, as you'd run the risk of the remainder of a round-trip ticket getting cancelled at that point. This would force you to find a new outbound and return flight. If you book two one-ways, you won't have to worry about that.

Some mileage programs actually penalize you for one-way flights — Delta, for one, charges a Europe origination surcharge when booking award flights starting in Europe with SkyMiles. This fee can be avoided if you book a round-trip award.

Another issue with two one-way flights comes up if you need to change the dates of your travel or even cancel the trip entirely. You'll likely be stuck with double the amount of change and cancellation fees if you have two one-way flights (unless you have elite status that waives or discounts these fees). A round-trip award will only come with one change, cancellation or mileage redeposit fee, even if you change both the outbound and the return flights.

Family travelers with babies who are flying as "infant-in-arms" may also want to avoid booking two one-way awards. Most mileage programs will charge lap infants 10% of the price of the paid ticket on international awards, and because one-way flights are usually more expensive than round-trip ones (especially to Europe), you'd potentially be looking at hundreds of dollars in additional fees for bringing your little one.

Bear in mind too that some programs won't even allow one-way awards at all. For instance, you can fly in ANA business class from the mainland US to Japan for just 90,000 Virgin Atlantic miles round-trip , but the Flying Club award chart doesn't allow for one-way awards on the Japanese carrier. And ANA itself only allows you to book round-trip award travel as well. You can fly during off-peak dates from the US to Tokyo using ANA miles in business class for an incredible 75,000 miles round-trip, but you wouldn't be able to book that as two one-ways — even though that rate is even cheaper than if you booked a partner award through United's MileagePlus program.

Bottom Line

As you can see, there are positives and negatives to booking both one-way and round-trip award travel. If you don't think your plans will change, it can definitely make sense to book with two one-ways — especially if you need the added flexibility of booking through two different loyalty programs. Just be sure to consider the risks before locking in those award tickets.

Thanks for the question, Ashley, and if you're a TPG reader who'd like us to answer a question of your own, tweet us at @thepointsguy , message us on Facebook or email us at [email protected] .

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Which is the Better Air Ticket: Round Trip or One Way?

One-way ticket vs. round trip ticket.

If you’ve ever looked into one-way foreign tickets like flights to india from USA , you’ve undoubtedly discovered that two one-way flights cost more than a round-trip flight. However, this isn’t always the case, especially when utilizing points and miles to buy tickets. On many travels, loyalty programs charge half the price of a round-trip award airfare for one-way award flights.

When comparing round-trip vs. One-way flights, there are other factors to consider apart from pricing. Travelers may be startled to learn that buying a round-trip award airfare may cause problems if their plans alter mid-trip.

Here are some things to think about when buying round-trip vs. One-way flights, as well as answers to some commonly asked questions.

What Is a One-Way Ticket?

A one-way trip allows passengers to go just to their destination and not return—They can book direct flights from the United States to India or through another country or city.

The benefits

If you’re on a long vacation with a predetermined itinerary, a one-way is preferable over a round trip. If you get one-way cheap international flight tickets , you may enjoy your vacation abroad without having to worry about returning home. Flexible timings enable you to obtain the cheapest return tickets and discounts.

Is It Possible to Buy a Roundtrip Ticket?

If a person has a round trip ticket, they can go from one area to another and return to the same starting point. For example, you may purchase a ticket for flights to India from USA and return through another country or location.

If you have a defined departure and arrival time, this is a better option than booking two separate one-way tickets. Round-trip tickets are frequently less costly than two one-way tickets. Buying a round-trip ticket saves you the trouble of attempting to find a second flight that fits your budget on the day of your departure because everything is taken care of in advance.

When buying revenue prices, choose between round-trip and one-way flights.

When it comes to paid flights, our suggestion is simple: pick the lowest option for your vacation. There’s no reason to book two one-way flights if a round-trip journey is less expensive.

If two one-way flights cost the same as a round-trip flight, it makes more sense to book the round-trip flight. After all, with many airlines no longer charging change fees, it’s easy to modify — or even cancel — the return leg of the round trip.

Let’s look at the main differences between one-way and round-trip tickets now that they know what they represent. Choosing between a one-way and round-trip ticket may be easier.

The Ultimate Guide to Buying Cheap Air Tickets

Travelers looking for one-way or round-trip plane tickets at a reasonable price can use the information given below.

To obtain a better deal on your USA to India flight tickets , try to purchase them during the week rather than on the weekend. Customers can save money by being flexible with their trip dates when booking a one-way aircraft ticket.

Flyustravels can help you find the lowest one-way or round-trip tickets.

To avoid price hikes, always search for one-way and round-trip flights in incognito mode.

Booking a month or two in advance is the greatest technique for receiving the lowest airfare.

To avoid expenditures, consider booking a red-eye flight .

Fly on a low-cost airline rather than a huge airline to save money.

Use your points and miles to get the best deals on flights.

We feel that all of the details stated in this post concerning round-trip versus one-way flights are important for every traveler to be aware of. Before you book a flight, you must consider your preferences, requirements, and budget. It is generally prudent to schedule flights in accordance with your anticipated itinerary.

You may always visit the Flyopedia website for additional information on international air travel and to obtain inexpensive flight tickets. We also provide our customers with the greatest rates on flights from USA to India .

Also read: Cheap Flights From USA to India With Cheapest And Best Airlines

Q1. What exactly is an outward flight?

Ans: An outgoing flight is simply one that is departing or is about to depart for another destination.

Q2. What exactly is an incoming flight?

Ans: An incoming flight is just one that arrives from somewhere else.

Q3. Is it necessary to pay a double cancellation charge if you cancel a round-trip flight?

No, you will not be required to pay the cancellation charge twice or double the amount if you booked a circular journey.

Q4: What is a throwaway ticket, and how is it used?

Ans: A throwaway ticket is issued when a traveler purchases a ticket to a certain location, but only wants to go for a portion of the journey. It generally occurs when a person purchases a round-trip ticket rather than a one-way ticket since the former is less expensive.

Q5. Which major airlines operate from the United States to India?

Ans: The primary airlines that connect the United States to India include Air India, United Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, and Jet Airways.

Q6. To which Indian places, may I fly straight from the United States?

Ans: You may book flights to India from the United States to Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.

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One-way Alaska cruises vs. round-trip: Which is best?

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When it comes to aspirational destinations, Alaska tops the list for many travelers. Because points of interest within the 49th state can be difficult to reach, Alaska cruises offer one of the best ways to see several places in one trip. Still, it can be confusing to choose the right itinerary, particularly if you’re unfamiliar with the region or haven’t cruised before.

The first thing you’ll notice when comparing Alaska cruise itineraries is that some are one-way and others round-trip. You can choose a sailing that begins or ends in Alaska itself or one that departs and returns to another location, such as Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia.

Here, I’ll lay out some of the draws and drawbacks of each type of itinerary, so you can be better prepared to book your Alaska cruise vacation.

For more cruise guides, news and tips, sign up for TPG’s cruise newsletter .

One-way Alaska cruises

The main perk of one-way Alaska cruises is that they allow you to spend time on land in Alaska before or after you sail.

That could mean exploring on your own or signing up for a cruisetour — a cruise plus pre- or post-cruise travel on land, organized by your cruise line for a fee. Holland America Line and Princess Cruises are known for their cruisetours, which generally involve stays in cruise line-owned hotels or resorts and visits to places like Denali National Park and Fairbanks in Alaska, as well as Dawson City and Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon territory.

One-way voyages to the Last Frontier also usually have more than just one day of scenic cruising, allowing you to explore the local scenery — including calving glaciers — in more detail.

As for ports, the locations your vessel visits will depend on its size, with smaller ports like Petersburg and Wrangell unable to accommodate most megaships. That’s why so many large vessels tend to visit popular ports like Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, which are equipped to handle large ships and lots of passengers.

Additionally, if you’re hoping to visit Victoria, British Columbia, a popular port of call on Alaska cruises that’s definitely worth a visit, you typically won’t find it on a one-way itinerary. Because one-way sailings often start or end in Vancouver, they aren’t required to include Victoria to satisfy the Passenger Vessel Services Act .

The biggest downside of one-way sailings — and this applies to cruises in any destination — is that they’re more expensive because you won’t be booking round-trip flights. In this case, you’ll need a one-way flight to or home from Alaska, which has more limited service than Seattle or Vancouver. Routing often isn’t the best, making nonstop options scarce.

Round-trip Alaska cruises

Round-trip Alaska cruises tend to be more affordable than one-way sailings on a total trip cost basis. The voyages leave from and return to the same port, making it easier for passengers to drive to the ship or to save money with round-trip flights.

Most round-trip itineraries leave from and return to either Vancouver or Seattle, with a few scattered sailings departing from California ports. You rarely find round-trip Alaska cruises departing from ports in Alaska (with the exception of small-ship expedition cruises.)

Alaska cruises that sail round-trip from Seattle are required to call on at least one foreign port somewhere along the itinerary, which almost always means a stop in Victoria — a lovely city that offers plenty of rich history, as well as seafood restaurants and a harbor promenade that’s great for an afternoon or evening walk.

Many round-trip voyages visit the popular ports of Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau. They also feature a day of scenic cruising in places like Glacier Bay National Park or Tracy Arm, but typically can’t offer a second day of glacier viewing or visit the more northern ice fields.

However, because round-trip sailings don’t leave room for additional land-based Alaska exploration pre- or post-cruise, they can’t offer as many options to dive deeper into Alaska’s wilderness, wildlife and native culture.

Bottom line

Book a one-way sailing if you have a large vacation budget and don’t mind taking at least one potentially cumbersome flight so you can explore more of Alaska by land.

If you are limited on funds or time but want to experience some of Alaska’s nature-based and cultural highlights, a round-trip cruise is for you.

Have more cruise questions? TPG has answers:

• Banned items: What not to pack for a cruise
• Man overboard: Why do people fall off cruise ships?
• What is baked Alaska, and why is it paraded around cruise ships?
• What are the largest cruise ships in the world?
• What is a gentleman host on a cruise?
• What is the Jones Act, and how does it affect cruise ships?
• What is a lido deck on a cruise ship?
• What’s a cruise cabin guarantee, and will it save you money?
• What’s the difference between a cruise concierge and a butler?

SPONSORED:  With states reopening, enjoying a meal from a restaurant no longer just means curbside pickup.

And when you do spend on dining, you should use a credit card that will maximize your rewards and potentially even score special discounts. Thanks to temporary card bonuses and changes due to coronavirus, you may even be able to score a meal at your favorite restaurant for free. 

These are the best credit cards for dining out, taking out, and ordering in to maximize every meal purchase.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

This article may contain affiliate links that Microsoft and/or the publisher may receive a commission from if you buy a product or service through those links.

Watch CBS News

How to watch the NCAA First Four games live tonight during March Madness 2024

By Meredith Gordon

Updated on: March 20, 2024 / 12:44 PM EDT / Essentials

CBS Essentials is created independently of the CBS News editorial staff. We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms.

The First Four of the men's NCAA tournament  continues today. For the four winning teams, yesterday and today's games mark the beginning of their journey to March Madness . For the other four teams, the First Four is as close as each will get to March Madness 2024 .

Figuring out how to watch the men's First Four can be as tricky as deciphering Dan Hurley's playbook. It's a good thing you don't have to do either. Keep reading for all the ways you can watch the men's First Four. 

CBS Essentials, CBS and Paramount+ are all subsidiaries of Paramount. CBS is one of the broadcast homes of the 2024 men's March Madness tournament.

What is the full schedule for the First Four games?

Below, are the dates and times for the First Four games of the 2024 NCAA men's tournament, held in Dayton, OH. All time Eastern.

Tuesday, March 19 (First Four)

• (16) Wagner vs. (16) Howard  
• (10) Colorado State vs. (10) Virginia

Wednesday, March 20 (First Four)

• (16) Grambling vs. (16) Montana State  
• (10) Colorado vs. (10) Boise State

What time do the First Four games start?

The first games on both March 19 and March 20, 2024 are scheduled to begin at 6:40 p.m. ET (3:40 p.m. PT).  The second game of each night is scheduled to be played at 9:10 p.m. ET (6:10 p.m. PT). 

How to stream the men's First Four games on cable

All of the First Four games of the men's tournament will be broadcast live on TruTV and stream on Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV .

How to stream the men's First Four games without cable

If you've given up your cable subscription, or your cable provider doesn't include the channels carrying March Madness this year, you can subscribe to one of the streaming or live TV platforms featured below.

Sling TV: The most cost-effective way to stream March Madness 2024

If you don't have cable TV that includes TruTV, TNT or TBS (all channels you'll need to watch 2024 men's March Madness), one of the most cost-effective ways to stream March Madness this year is through a  subscription to Sling TV's Blue tier . The streamer offers access to your local network affiliate's live feed (excluding CBS) and also includes the NFL Network and March Madness games on ESPN with its Orange tier plan.

Right now, SlingTV is offering your first month of service on the Orange, Blue and Orange + Blue tiers for half price. The Sling TV Blue tier normally costs $45 per month, but you can start watching March Madness for just $22.50. The Sling Orange + Blue tier is regularly $60, but it's discounted to $30 for the first month.

Note: Because some men's March Madness 2024 games will broadcast on CBS, you won't be able to watch all men's March Madness 2024 games with a just Sling TV subscription. If you're looking to stream the entire men's tournament on one platform, we suggest a subscription to Hulu + Live TV.

Top features of Sling TV Blue tier:

• There are 42 channels to watch in total, including local ABC, Fox, NBC affiliates (where available).
• You get access to most local NFL games and nationally broadcast games next season at the lowest price.
• All subscription tiers include 50 hours of cloud-based DVR storage.

Hulu + Live TV/ESPN+ bundle : The one way to stream every March Madness game

You can watch March Madness 2024, including both the men's and women's tournaments, with the  Hulu + Live TV/ESPN+ bundle . The bundle features 95 channels, including TruTV, ESPN, ABC and CBS, and includes ESPN+, so you'll be able to watch every game of both tournaments. The women's Final Four will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Unlimited DVR storage is also included. Watch every March Madness game on every network this season with Hulu + Live TV/ESPN+ bundle.

Hulu + Live TV comes bundled with  ESPN+  and Disney+. It's priced at $77.

Key dates for the 2024 NCAA men's college tournament

Below are key dates for March Madness 2024.

• First Four:  Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20, 2024
• First round:  Thursday, March 21 and Friday, March 22
• Second round:  Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24
• Sweet 16:  Wednesday, March 28 and Thursday, March 29
• Elite Eight:  Saturday, March 30 and Sunday, March 31
• Final Four:  Saturday, April 6 (TBS)
• National championship:  Monday, April 8 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (TBS)

Key dates for the 2024 NCAA women's college basketball tournament

• First Four:  Wednesday, March 20 and Thursday, March 21, 2024
• First round:  Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23
• Second round:  Sunday, March 24 and Monday, March 25
• Sweet 16:  Thursday, March 29 and Friday, March 30
• Elite Eight:  Sunday, March 31 and Monday, April 1
• Final Four:  Friday, April 5 (ESPN+)
• National championship:  Sunday, April 7 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio (ABC)

What is the First Four in March Madness?

The First Four is a play-in round of March Madness for both the men's and women's NCAA tournaments. The First Four consists of two games between the four lowest-ranked teams, usually comprised of the four lowest-ranked conference champions. It also consists of two games between the four lowest-seeded teams who have earned at-large bids to the tournament.  The winners of the First Four determine the last four teams to qualify for the 64-team bracket that goes on to the first round of the tournament.

• March Madness
• NCAA Tournament
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• Region 11 | National Capital Region
• Per Diem Lookup

Privately owned vehicle (POV) mileage reimbursement rates

GSA has adjusted all POV mileage reimbursement rates effective January 1, 2024.

* Airplane nautical miles (NMs) should be converted into statute miles (SMs) or regular miles when submitting a voucher using the formula (1 NM equals 1.15077945 SMs).

For calculating the mileage difference between airports, please visit the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inter-Airport Distance website.

QUESTIONS: For all travel policy questions, email [email protected] .

Have travel policy questions? Use our ' Have a Question? ' site

PER DIEM LOOK-UP

1 choose a location.

Error, The Per Diem API is not responding. Please try again later.

No results could be found for the location you've entered.

Rates for Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. Territories and Possessions are set by the Department of Defense .

Rates for foreign countries are set by the State Department .

2 Choose a date

Rates are available between 10/1/2021 and 09/30/2024.

The End Date of your trip can not occur before the Start Date.

Traveler reimbursement is based on the location of the work activities and not the accommodations, unless lodging is not available at the work activity, then the agency may authorize the rate where lodging is obtained.

Unless otherwise specified, the per diem locality is defined as "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city, including independent entities located within those boundaries."

Per diem localities with county definitions shall include "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city as well as the boundaries of the listed counties, including independent entities located within the boundaries of the key city and the listed counties (unless otherwise listed separately)."

When a military installation or Government - related facility(whether or not specifically named) is located partially within more than one city or county boundary, the applicable per diem rate for the entire installation or facility is the higher of the rates which apply to the cities and / or counties, even though part(s) of such activities may be located outside the defined per diem locality.