When planning to book an international flight, it’s common to ask, “Do I book a one-way ticket or a roundtrip one?” In a majority of small and discount airlines, especially those that make short international trips, it’s cheaper to book a one-way ticket than a roundtrip option. Often, you are required to pay a half the airfare of a roundtrip if you book a one-way ticket. In other airlines, especially the larger ones, it’s cheaper to book a roundtrip ticket than a one-way ticket. For example, using a major US airline, you may pay $133 on a one-way ticket and $247 on a roundtrip option. This shows that you spend more than half of the roundtrip airfare if you choose the one-way route. So, why the disparity between the ticket options? To understand which of the two amounts to the cheapest flight tickets, let’s look at a few basics:
1. Nearby Airports
The availability of nearby airports provides airlines with several routes. This means different fares for each route. As a traveler, you are provided with an array of airfares to compare and choose what is cheaper. This freedom is more prevalent in the one-way routes. This is because most airlines that make roundtrips have a strict routine and thus enjoy a limited number of close airports.
2. Airline Sales
Most airline sales are done when less international travels are made to encourage people to travel. A majority of the discounted tickets affect the one-way route. However, we also have airlines that reduce airfares for both tickets, and it is upon you to do the comparison and see what is cheaper.
3. Stopovers
Sometimes, it’s cheaper to book multi-city flights through the one-way route. In this case, you can book a cheap one-way ticket to one city and another to your final destination. Nevertheless, you’ll need to compromise your time. This is ideal for long-distance international trips. But if you are making a short international travel and time is of the essence, you should consider the roundtrip option.
Apparently, both the one-way ticket route and the roundtrip option can be cheaper depending on your type of travel. From the above basics, it’s possible to enjoy cheap international flights through both routes provided that your timing is right and the flight meets your needs. Remember, irrespective of how you choose to fly, the more you can be flexible, the better the flight deals that you can find at any given time. You can also use websites and apps to compare flight rates and to get alerts when there are better flight deals.
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