New research and analysis from a leading travel site shows that the largest U.S. airlines have resumed charging higher fares for most one-way domestic flights than they do on roundtrip bookings.
Thrifty Traveler searched and analyzed 2,000 domestic flights, comparing prices for 1,000 one-way flights against 1,000 with a return added. That analysis found that the nation’s five largest airlines were charging higher fares on more than 50% of one-way domestic flights – not half the cost of a roundtrip, which had been the norm for years.
The higher fares on one-way bookings ranged from just a few dollars more each way to charging two to three times more for a one-way ticket than the total cost of a roundtrip.
These findings signal a stark change in how airlines set prices. Higher one-way fares largely disappeared from domestic flights years ago, leading more and more travellers to book flights separately for greater flexibility.
“Higher one-way fares for long international flights have been the norm forever, but that practice vanished from domestic flights long ago: You could almost always book a one-way flight within the U.S. for half the price of a roundtrip. Not anymore,” said Kyle Potter of Thrifty Traveler. “While the return to charging pricier one-way fares is likely designed to punish business travellers, this should serve as a warning to all travellers: booking your (U.S) domestic flights separately may now be costing you dearly.”
Big takeaways
While major U.S. airlines are now penalizing more than half of domestic one-way flights, the findings of this research go even deeper:
- Delta Air Lines has gone further than any U.S. carrier, charging higher fares on more than 66% of its domestic one-way flights, according to Thrifty Traveler’s analysis. No other airline charged higher one-way fares on more than 51% of flights.
- One-way domestic flights booked close to departure are far more likely to incur higher fares. One-way flights booked 60-plus days before departure were more expensive than the per-segment roundtrip cost in 47% of cases. Within 30 days of departure, that increased to 75%. And within the last two weeks, airlines were charging higher one-way fares on 91.1% of flights.
- Weekdays are critical. Frequent business travel days like Sundays, Thursdays, and especially Fridays were the most likely to see one-way penalties, while flights departing Tuesdays and Wednesdays were the least likely to be penalized, at 35% or less.
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