A sudden and drastic shift in how airlines price their long-haul international flights could help you score a much cheaper one-way flight overseas.
For decades, major airlines have charged significantly higher fares for one-way flights to Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and beyond: They weren't half the roundtrip price but often equal to or even more than a trip with a return flight. That meant travelers would have to book roundtrip to get the lowest fare for a big trip abroad.
That's changing before our eyes. Thrifty Traveler's review of thousands of long-haul routes this week found cheap one-way fares – at half the roundtrip price, and sometimes less – widespread from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to many international destinations throughout the calendar. And that's not just on budget carriers but major airlines like American, Delta, United and their foreign partners.
So far, we're only seeing cheaper one-way fares in basic and main cabin economy – one-way business and first class fares are still pricing out significantly higher. And as of publication, it's only working for departures from North America. One-way flights from Europe, Asia, and elsewhere back to the States or Canada are almost always far more expensive.
For example, this one-way flight from Fargo (FAR) to Amsterdam (AMS) this spring is pricing out at $267 or $367 for a main cabin economy ticket – less than half the roundtrip fare. Not long ago, that same ticket would have cost $600 or more.
It's unclear exactly when this shift occurred, though it appears to have taken place within just the last week or two. And there's no telling how long it will last: It could be a fluke or a temporary pricing tactic that will disappear within days … or the sign of a major shift in how airlines set prices for international flights.
No matter, it's a massive and puzzling change. Let's dig into what it means … and what airlines might be up to.
Where to Find These Fares (& Where You Won't)
Our team of flight deal analysts was shocked to see some surprisingly cheap one-way international fares on Wednesday on a major carrier like American Airlines. We've since run thousands of airfare searches to confirm it's real.
These cheaper one-way flights at half the price (or less) than a roundtrip aren't just a one-off. They're shockingly widespread.
We're seeing these lower one-way international fares offered from the U.S. to Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. All the major U.S. network carriers and their three global airline alliances – Oneworld, SkyTeam, and Star Alliance – are doing it. You can find these half-price one-way tickets from most, if not all, airports in North America with service from those carriers, though it's especially prevalent in airports with more than one airline.
And amazingly, it's even happening over the busiest travel periods like summer – albeit at higher prices, since roundtrip fares often increase over those stretches.
This look at flights across the Atlantic Ocean from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) on Google Flights Explore tells the story. Those are some criminally cheap one-way rates.
While we initially suspected this was a Europe-only trend – a way to fight for passengers on those uber-competitive routes that often include low-cost carriers – that's not the case. You can find examples of this new pricing tactic to every continent, even Australia in February – their peak summer!
In many cases, this new phenomenon is most pronounced with airlines that may be looking to poach a competitors' customers at a hub. In that example above, American and United are offering cheaper one-way fares to Australia from Minneapolis, a Delta fortress hub.
But it goes much further. For example, this search for one-way flights to Italy from American hub Philadelphia (PHL) found this fantastic Florence (FLR) fare … flying American!
Perhaps most surprisingly, this trend includes U.S. airports big and small and even airports up throughout Canada. We see you, Calgary (YYC)!
Again, this new trend is only happening for one-way flights from the U.S. abroad – it doesn't work on the way home. This reverse search from Florence back to the U.S. illustrates that. No cheaper one-way flights here.
Still, travelers looking to seize on a deal could book a cheap one-way fare to Europe on a credit card, then book an award ticket using miles for the flight home. You could use some of our favorite award search tools like point.me, PointsYeah, or seats.aero to pinpoint the best options.
Just be sure to avoid departing from airports like Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG), throughout Germany, and especially London-Heathrow (LHR) that charge notoriously high taxes and fees on award tickets.
What's Happening & Why
We can't say for sure when this new pricing phenomenon began, but we're confident it's a fairly recent change.
From a few searches using Google Flights' price graphs, which track changes in airfare over time, it appears it may have slowly spread over the last few months. But it's certainly peaked in the last two weeks or so. You can see that clearly with this flight from Little Rock (LIT) in Arkansas all the way to Rome (FCO), showing that the half-off one-way shift happened exactly two weeks ago before dipping again in the last few days.
Aside from ultra-low-cost carriers like Norse Atlantic, airlines have charged significantly higher fares on long-haul international one-way flights for decades. Those roundtrip requirements largely disappeared from domestic flights … until recently: We found last year that airlines had resumed charging higher one-way fares domestically. It's one of many ways airlines use arcane fare rules and restrictions to “segment” their customers – a code word for charging certain customers (and especially business travelers) higher fares.
So why are airlines seemingly doing the opposite with international flights?
We'll be honest: We're not entirely sure. And airlines never comment on their pricing practices, so they're certainly not going to fess up to it.
But we have some theories … because the driving force behind virtually any change in airfare is always the same: competition.
Low-cost carriers flying across the pond have long offered one-way pricing. Airlines like Norse Atlantic are known for it, sometimes offering one-way fares for as little as $111 from the U.S. abroad. At the same time, Southwest Airlines is building up its foreign presence by inking deals with foreign partners like Icelandair, Condor, Turkish Airlines, and others to bring their customers abroad.
So as ultra-low-cost carriers in the U.S. like Frontier and especially Spirit struggle for survival, perhaps legacy carriers sense an opportunity to strike a blow at their counterparts overseas? Or maybe travel demand is slowing down (again) and airlines are ditching the old rules in order to fill planes?
Regardless, the airline industry is full of copycats. When one airline does something, they all do it. That's what we saw with solo passenger penalties last spring as well as the return of higher one-way fares domestically last year. And that's what we've seen again with this new one-way pricing tactic abroad.
I'll admit that this might be a stretch. I might be seeing things through points-and-miles-writer-tinted glasses here, but it's also possible that the airlines are seeing more demand for one-way flight bookings than before.
The popularity of points and miles has exploded in recent years, with more travelers looking to piece together their own trips using various points and miles. Maybe, seeing more travelers mixing and matching to try and book an award trip in business class or use some of their points and some of their money instead of just booking roundtrip flights, the airlines are selling one-way flights to meet the shifting desires of travelers like me.
Ultimately, we don't know – not yet, anyway. We'll have to see if this is a flash in the pan or a trend that's here to stay.
Bottom Line
Airlines are selling one-way flights overseas for half (or less!) the price of the roundtrip – a major departure from the way airlines have priced long-haul flights for decades, where only roundtrip bookings benefitted from the lowest fares.
While we don't know exactly when or why this new airfare trend took hold, it's clear you can find these half-priced one-way fares from airports, big and small, all over the U.S. to destinations all over the world right now.
