Flying Transatlantic One Way

I am sure many readers have seen offers that sound wonderful, but there is always some fine print around the asterisk.  For example, if you go to the Lufthansa site today, you will see quite an attractive fare to Greece from the United States.  As usual, the asterisk gives you the catch:  “OW based on RT purchase, excl. taxes & fees. Add’l baggage chgs may apply.”  So, with taxes and fees, you can expect to pay about $840 for the round trip from Washington (IAD) to Athens (ATH), but supposing you only want to go one way?

I tried to make a booking from Washington to Athens on March 9th 2010, the same date as I got the round trip for $840.  It’s almost a month in advance, and Tuesday is usually about the cheapest day of the week for flying.  So, how much would the fare be?  $2,538.98!  (Yes, that is in Economy!)  So, what is the one-way flyer to do?

Here are a few options:

1.  Buy the round trip, and “throw away” the return portion.  Makes you want to cry, doesn’t it?

2.  Fish around to try and find a better deal from the airlines.  British Airways is offering a one-way of $1,434, and that seems to be about the cheapest!  Again, that is economy!

3.  Use a third party.  We did this in 2008 when wanted to go to Rome in November (2008) and travel back to the United States on a cruise.  We used Best Travel Store, and we got a fare of about $500, including taxes.  We flew very comfortably on SAS with a short stop in Copenhagen.  Plus we got full points on Mileage Plus, United Airlines‘ frequent flyer plan.  Best Travel store has the following options, including the wretched taxes and fees) for this itinerary:

British Airways $435

Virgin Atlantic $442

United Airlines $460

Lufthansa $472

Austrian Airlines $473

Air France $550.

Best Travel offers other options, but the prices begin to get ridiculous.  Faced with these options, here’s my thinking process.  First, I’d eliminate British Airways because they credit your Executive Club account with only 25% of the actual miles if you fly on a discount ticket.  Second, I’d eliminate Virgin because I don’t have any miles accumulated in my Virgin Flying Club account.  Then I’d dismiss United because they don’t give you free drinks, and they keep trying to sell you “extras” that have dubious value, like Economy Plus, which is essentially a seat that doesn’t damage your knees!  Then, I’d eliminate Air France because it is too expensive.  This leaves Lufthansa and Austrian, and they both seem like pretty good deals.  And, if you fly on either of these carriers, you get free drinks, friendly service, an OK meal, and points in your Star Alliance account.

4.  The other option is to use frequent flyer miles.  Your options are pretty narrow because most frequent flyer plans don’t let you book one-way tickets for half the miles.  Three exceptions are American Airlines, United Airlines, and British Airways.  Faced with these choices, I’d choose British Airways for a few reasons.  First, it is the best of these three airlines.  Second, it is the least restrictive as far as stopovers are concerned.  So, you could spend a day or two in London on your way out.  Third, British Airways flies out of Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI), the closest airport to our house in Columbia, MD.

We are planning to go on a cruise in November, and we are leaving from Barcelona.   We chose option 4 — flying with British Airways for just 50,000 miles (25,000 per ticket).  Not bad!

The only way that you could do better than that is to marry a flight attendant and fly for practically nothing with a good chance of being able to fly in Business Class.  And that is exactly what one member or our cruise party did!  Congratulations, Mr. B!  You owe everything and more to your beloved wife!