- Open-jaw ticket
- $1,067 per person
- The same two legs as one-ways
- $1,067 per person
- Nine seats together versus one seat
- $514 either way
- Total worth taking
- $0, all three tied
Drawn as the tie, because a tie is the usual answer and the plan says so on three separate cards rather than going quiet. When it is not a tie, the open-jaw undercuts two one-ways outright and the group check is the most valuable line on the page.
One booking instead of two. Legacy carriers often price this well under two separate one-ways, and one booking protects both flights: if the outbound is cancelled, the airline owes you the return too.
The catch. One booking means one set of change rules; two one-ways can be changed or abandoned independently. It needs both ends long-haul, and some low-cost carriers do not sell multi-city tickets at all.
Legacy airlines routinely price a one-way close to the round trip, and sometimes above it. Buying the round trip and never taking the return is cheaper, and against the fare rules you agreed to. It is shown with its rules, and it is never used to lower your plan's headline total.
The catch. Never in reverse: skipping the outbound cancels every later segment, including the flight you actually wanted. Nothing else may be on the same booking, and doing it repeatedly on one airline can cost you miles or the right to book.
Airlines sell seats in price buckets. Ask for six and everybody pays the price of the sixth. Ask for two and then four, and the first two may be cheaper. The check runs for groups of four or more on the pricier legs.
The catch. Separate bookings are separate contracts: a cancellation is rebooked per booking, groups can be split, and sitting together usually costs extra.
- The throwaway return breaks airline rules. It sits in the same section as the two legal tricks on today's results page, which is a wart we are fixing. Treat it as a rule-breaker regardless of where it appears.
- Open-jaw needs both ends long-haul; an intra-European start and finish never triggers it.
- The group check only runs at four or more travelers, and only on the more expensive legs.
- Every one of these costs a live search, so they run once per plan on the recommended order, not on the runners-up.
Two of the three are the airline's own products. The throwaway return is not, and carries its own red badge wherever it appears.
- Use the outbound only and simply don't show up for the return; nothing else may be on the same booking.
- Airlines' rules forbid it; done occasionally it goes unnoticed, done often on one airline it can cost you miles or future bookings.
- Never do it in reverse: skipping the outbound cancels the rest of the ticket.