Flights within Europe - oneway or roundtrip?
 

I also posted this question under Airlines but it may be specific to Europe. I was happy to get our FF first class tickets to Paris this morning, open jaws, returning to US from Florence, next May. But to my shock a one way ticket from Paris to Florence is $1900!!! Roundtrip was around $350.00. What to do? The train takes too long. But can you buy a round-trip & only use it oneway? Any ideas would be helpful....please :-)

There are plenty of low cost companies that fly that route. Check out www.whichbudget.com to see.

You can buy one way fares.. carefully check the luggage allowance. They are low cost for a reason. They get you everytime you sneeze.

It's typical. In almost all cases the round-trip tickets are far less expensive than a one-way fare. We often book a round-trip when we have to get somewhere (pick up a rental car, catch a flight home, etc.) and forget about the return. Just book the least expensive ticket, but it only works when you use the outbound portion.

YOu can book RT and just use the first flight, but it's way too early to be booking a local flight like that for May 2010, anyway. YOu must be looking at regular big airlines, also.

You can fly Easyjet from Paris to Pisa for only 30-45 euro one-way, I just checked (and that was for next May).

Thank you, thank you! And sorry about the double post. So I will take a deep breathe, don't panic and watch the rates, check smaller airlines & closer to spring. I feel much better now :-)

Low cost flights DO go up a LOT in price closer to the date. With them, booking early is usually the way to go. Read all the fine print and extra fees.. there's plenty of it.

ok, I'll take your advice lincasanova and check out all the options on the low cost flights. Now Robert2533, with all the extra airline security these days, there is no follow-up on unused tickets by the airline police or are you free to wander about the country without recrimination?

Peggy,

I ahve done this several times intra-Europe on major carriers (SAS, Iberia, etc.). Actually, I have also done on tickets between the US and Europe (or viceversa) a couple of times. What I do is play with the dates and the combination that gives me the best price , I book. Obvioulsy, the date you want to fly from Paris to Florence is fixed so you can only vary the phantom "return" date.

I've purchased several RT tickets for European flights too - with the intention of only using 1 leg. So far, the ticket cops have not come after me. Last time I did this was about 5 years ago.

Stu Dudley

The Italian police are not going to spend their time following people who arrive from Paris on a RT ticket and don't use the return. Some people just don't ever use tickets, they could decide to take the train instead, it's perfectly legal. No one can force you to take a flight you don't want to. Besides, won't you be gone from Italy, anyway? I assume you aren't going to stay there forever as you have a return flight home.

This situation was 'written up" in a travel magazine several years ago. The article said that the airline "could" bill you (via MC/Visa, travel agent, etc) the additional cost of a one-way fare - but so far no airline had done that.

Stu Dudley

There are no low-cost flights to Florence from France (and precious few from anywhere else).

For Tuscany, you need to fly to Pisa. For central Italy generally, try Rome-Ciampino. For northern Italy, there's lots of cheap flights to what some airlines mendaciously call Milan-Orta al Serio (cobblers: it's Bergamo), or - equally creatively - Venice-Treviso, which is more or less in Yugoslavia, or whatever they're calling it this week.

Whichever you use, a single flight from Paris will be a very great deal less than $350

With everyone's help, our issue is resolved. We will fly into Paris, spend 5 days there, then fly from Paris Orly to Rome, rent a car & drive to Alleron, which is closer than from Florence & we will not have to backtrack. After 3 days, head to Cortona for 6 day & then on to Floence to spend one night, drop off the car & catchthe flight home. Thanks for all your help!