Re: Flying one-way to Thailand ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by kjun12
My experience is that a one way fair is almost as expensive as a return ticket. Recent checking for a flight to BKK has shown that to be true at present.
Thanks all for the (mostly) informative responses. Consensus seems to be that there is little problem with one-way fares as long as the correct visa is presented.
Kjun, I agree that traveling on a one-way fair can often be nearly as expensive as a return ticket. If that was a set circumstance I would probably re-think the who enterprise. But I have been looking at those travel sites which offer a comparison shopping experience for ticket prices and have often found a very significant difference in prices between different airlines ... so if that holds true then I may give it a go.
On the other hand, if the one-way price is consistently exorbitant across the board then of course I'll give that a good long think before jumping in.
For instance, doing a search on the United Airlines website (I usually fly United because of my billions of accumulated airmiles) I plugged in my preferred date of return next flight from Canada. Using the 'One-Way' choice I received a price of $1627.00 . . . a bit ludicrous when one considers the return ticket with the same departure date (and a return date plugged in) is only $40 more. Singapore Airlines and EVA were quite a bit better at around $1150. (All examples are Vancouver >> Bangkok)
But when I tried a random variety of those airline ticket shopping centres and found these prices (plugging in the same date and the 'One-Way' option):
Cheaptickets: $821
Expedia: $830
Travelocity: $830
Kayak: $630 (China Airlines) $ $750 (Cathay)
Looks like the expensive one-way prices are found mainly using the airline websites. Cheaper prices ~ up to about half the airline price ~ can be found using the search websites.
Cheers ...
Re: Flying one-way to Thailand ...
A few weeks ago I was checking fares out of Seattle and found something out of the past. EVA offered the option of an OPEN RETURN. Remember those good old days when you could be flexible with no penalty.
EVA did not have any rate penalty for using the option. Don't know details about scheduling the return flight. I would guess options are limited at that rate. But the flexibility is well worth any inconvenience.
At that time they had awesome specials running out of Seattle. Like as low as $850 RT or you could upgrade to their Business Economy (think they have another name for it) for only $1,050 RT. I used that class about three or four years ago and was on one of their older 747's. Nothing like first class but seat space and reclining was way better than economy. Well worth the few hundred bucks extra each way.