Wondering if it is possible to buy, in effect, 2 one-way tickets by buying a very long-time RT ticket. Purpose would be to deliver and pick up kid from college. Plan would be to buy RT ticket Florida to Boston (for kid going to school in Florida). Drive to Florida with kid and stuff, use 1st part of ticket to fly home (Florida to Boston) - then 8 months or so later, use the second part to fly Boston to Florida. Drive back with kid and stuff.

Of course, would involve one-way car/van rental each time for his stuff and I know there are other options such as shipping stuff - just wondering if anyone has done something such as this?

You should be able to buy such a ticket, although the roundtrip airfare may be more expensive if the return is more than thirty days after the first flight.
You might want to use Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, or your favorite airline's website to compare prices between a trip with a few days' interval between flight and one with eight or nine months' in between.
Joe

My son got a transatlantic ticket that spanned about four months, but he had to get it through a consolidator that specialized in student tickets; unfortunately, I have forgotten their name.

I have sent three kids off to college, and each took far more than they needed, or that would fit in their rooms, so we ended up bringing some back. So my first suggestion would be that you and your student sharply limit what will be taken to college.

My second suggestion would be that the east coast is fairly well served by trains, which I believe allow quite a bit of luggage, and are quicker and more pleasant than driving. If you can't find suitable airline tickets, look into going down and back on the train.

Of course kids bring too much stuff- I even did that 30 years ago - I think it is largely a "security blanket" type issue. The amount of stuff is not even the issue, as we would accompany him at least the first year no matter what. Trying to avoid a 2-way drive, especially since we have other kids at home. Train is an interesting option.

Interestingly, just typed in hypothetical dates of September and May for such a trip on Travelocity and it appeared they would have let me complete a reservation - USAirways website would not let me.

Gail...where in Florida? If you could take Delta's Song,all of their fares are one way......just a thought...S

Sarasota.

Perfect!! You can fly Song (on delta.com) into Tampa..Just get a one way ticket each time and no worries about roundtrip..you should be set..S

Did not know that - thanks.