Using round-trip for one-way (return)

August 14, 2005 11:02 PM

I'm in Argentina. Can I buy a round-trip ticket FROM the U.S. (on a cheap site like cheapflights, priceline, etc...) and just use the return trip ticket? Or do I somehow forfeit my return by not showing up in the first place?

It would be much cheaper if this were an option.

posted by punkbitch to travel & transportation (17 comments total)

Major airlines will cancel the rest of your itinerary as soon as you fail to show up for a single segment. In fact, sometimes they will cancel your whole trip if snafus cause them to think you haven't shown up for a segment, even though you have (which is a pain).

It would be much cheaper if this were an option.

That's why they won't let you do it that way.
posted by grouse at 11:43 PM on August 14, 2005

I think I read somewhere - or maybe it was from watching The Amazing Race - that if you are not present on the first half of a round-trip ticket you cannot use the return. It was due to some kind of security policy I think.
posted by Rhomboid at 11:45 PM on August 14, 2005

You cannot travel solely on the return portion of a round-trip ticket. You might want to look at "bucket shops" aka consolidators; they may not care as much about your country of origin. I'm sure someone here has some good links.
posted by trevyn at 11:47 PM on August 14, 2005

Oh now I remember. It was a news story of some traveler who was not allowed to board his return flight because the airline claimed he was not on the first flight, despite that he was. They required some kind of proof from him that he had actually been on the plane, and nothing that he could present would satisfy them. Infuriating.
posted by Rhomboid at 11:47 PM on August 14, 2005

Check to see what the price of a full-fare roundtrip ticket is versus a one-way ticket. You can (usually) cancel the unused portion of a full-fare econ ticket; quite often it's cheaper than a restricted booking on a one-way ticket.
posted by nathan_teske at 11:50 PM on August 14, 2005

You can (usually) cancel the unused portion of a full-fare econ ticket...

Not if you want to use the rest of it, you can't.
posted by grouse at 12:12 AM on August 15, 2005

Grouse - I meant book a round trip flight originating in Argentina and then cancel the return leg once you're in the US.
posted by nathan_teske at 12:19 AM on August 15, 2005

You might be able to find a bit more out by checking a newspaper directed at expats, which for some reason often have better deals than available to the general public. Also, go talk to a travel agent--I'm not sure if it works the same way, but when I lived in Japan I saw roundtrip flights [within a rigid schedule] between Tokyo and LA/NYC for $250 on a regular basis, but never ever saw deals that good when searching US "cheaptickets" type sites.

Also, there's http://www.airhitch.org/ and http://www.airtech.com, both of which are very cheap if you have a flexible schedule & also come with lots of mixed reviews. There's a bit of info (good & bad) about both of them here and here.
posted by soviet sleepover at 12:24 AM on August 15, 2005

One other avenue to pursue is an openjaw - airlines are suprising in what cities they consider "pairs". A specific example that may help you:

I just researched a trip where I would fly from Chicago to Buenos Aires, and return from Miami to Chicago. It priced reasonably close to a round trip rather than the two one ways you might expect. You might be able to do something similar by booking Argentina->[your destination] and then [your destination]->miami as a round trip, and skipping the second leg.
posted by true at 2:37 AM on August 15, 2005

Try Sidestep for low fares. It searches a bunch of different sites and directs you to the ones with the best fares. A quick and dirty search shows flights from BA to JFK starting at about $750.
posted by nyterrant at 4:24 AM on August 15, 2005

No, it only works the other way: you can use the FIRST half of a round trip without ever using the second half. Not the second one.
posted by easternblot at 6:46 AM on August 15, 2005

Couldn't you just book round trip from the US to Argentina and then not fly back to the US? Why do you have to originate the flight in Argentina?
posted by clgregor at 9:18 AM on August 15, 2005

clgregor: Please reread the first sentence of the question. kthxbye.
posted by grouse at 11:18 AM on August 15, 2005

I think the poster is in Argentina now, and looking to get to the US.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:20 AM on August 15, 2005

my point was more of why does punkbitch have to use the return ticket...couldn't they just buy the opposite round trip?
posted by clgregor at 11:22 AM on August 15, 2005

couldn't they just buy the opposite round trip?

Airline pricing is asymmetrical. A return ticket from A to B is often quite different in price from one going from B to A.

(Semi-related: I once travelled on both the return portion of one ticket and the outbound of another, in order to save money compared to a one-way fare, and get double the air miles. It took me half an hour to explain this concept to the check-in attendant.)
posted by holgate at 1:20 PM on August 15, 2005

holgate: "(Semi-related: I once travelled on both the return portion of one ticket and the outbound of another, in order to save money compared to a one-way fare, and get double the air miles. It took me half an hourto explain this concept to the check-in attendant.)"

I'm betting this was pre-9/11. I used to do this a lot, too but haven't been able to recently. I'm still not sure how it makes the skies any safer.
posted by blag at 2:19 PM on August 15, 2005