How does a round trip ticket work?

Also known as “return air tickets,” round-trip tickets are flights from and back to the same location of origin. A one-way ticket, on the other hand, only allows you to fly to your destination, not back from it.



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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.

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To offer you the best price on your chosen route, we found that a round-trip ticket is actually cheaper than a one-way flight. However, the practice of “throwaway ticketing” — only using the first part of a round-trip ticket — is prohibited by a majority of airlines in their terms and conditions.

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Yes. Most airlines will cancel your return ticket if you miss a portion of your itinerary. if you book round trip, they will cancel your return and in some cases, offer no refund.

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Airlines typically require that both legs of the journey be cancelled together in order to receive a refund or credit for future travel. However, if your plans have changed and you no longer need to take the return portion of your flight, some airlines may allow you to change it for a fee.

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The cheapest round trip tickets often have a maximum duration of stays up to 1 month, but some airlines do offer return tickets with up to 1 year stay at reasonably rates and you can change the return date by paying the fare difference plus a change fee, the amount depending on the airlines and fare class you book.

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In short, airlines charge more for one-way flights on the routes when they can get away with doing so. If only one airline is operating a particular route, it might increase the price of one-way flights to generate more revenue from business travelers and others that are willing to pay more for the nonstop flight.

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Average domestic airfare price by day
  • Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest days to fly domestically.
  • Saturday and Monday flights can help you avoid the Sunday rush.
  • Wednesdays and Thursdays are the cheapest day to fly internationally.
  • Book one to three months in advance.
  • Set a price alert.


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Timing plays an important part. Specifically, plane tickets usually don't get cheaper closer to the departure date. Instead, flights tend to be the most inexpensive when you book between four months and three weeks before your departure date.

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Throwaway ticketing is purchasing a ticket with the intent to use only a portion of the included travel. This situation may arise when a passenger wants to travel only one way, but where the discounted round-trip excursion fare is cheaper than a one-way ticket.

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Airlines typically require that both legs of the journey be cancelled together in order to receive a refund or credit for future travel. However, if your plans have changed and you no longer need to take the return portion of your flight, some airlines may allow you to change it for a fee.

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Same day return flights are perfect if you're planning a day trip or business trip to a destination that is not too far away, allowing you enough time to travel back and forth on the same day. At Alternative Airlines, you can search and buy same day return flights by using our search form at the top of the page.

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How far in advance should you book a flight to get the best deal? The best time to book a flight is one to three months before your departure for domestic airline tickets and two to eight months prior for international flights, according to Scott's Cheap Flights.

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A round-trip is a journey that returns to the city where it began, without additional stopovers. Thus, the ultimate destination is the originating city, with the same route used going and coming. A circle trip is like a round-trip except that the route on the return trip differs from the route on the outgoing trip.

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Empty legs are often deeply discounted and priced low enough to entice flyers to take advantage of the low empty leg prices. What is an empty leg discount? Empty leg flights are often discounted by 25 to 75 percent, depending on factors such as the type of aircraft and the route.

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The good news is that hidden city ticketing isn't illegal. The bad news is that you can get in trouble with airlines for hidden city ticketing, as it does violate the contract of carriage you agree to when booking a ticket.

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If you are flying within the USA and have no checked baggage to a final destination, then skipping the final leg of a journey is usually fine. There's no penalty for cancelling (as the missed leg is the end of your trip), and you can just leave the flight with hand luggage without any worries.

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While not illegal, intentionally skipping segments on an itinerary does almost always violates airlines' contracts of carriage. For example, American's contract of carriage says this: Reservations made to exploit or circumvent fare and ticket rules are prohibited.

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