One-way vs Round trip ($1200 vs $100)

[Bill4728]

Just looking to book our trip to Europe next spring. Air France now flys direct from Seattle to Paris. So we were thinking about flying to Rome via Paris ( then on to Venice) than spending a few days in Paris before flying home.

The price to fly was ~$1500/person but if I added a venice to paris leg the price jumped to $2800/person. So I looked at was it cost to fly venice to paris. $125 round trip and $1200 one way. WHAT?? $1200 one way??

Will I get in trouble if I book it a two seperate packages?

One -My flight to Rome via Paris then home from Paris. (ticketed from Paris only)

two -My flight round trip from Venice to Paris ( not using the return trip)

TIA

 

[gorevs9]

Just looking to book our trip to Europe next spring. Air France now flys direct from Seattle to Paris. So we were thinking about flying to Rome via Paris ( then on to Venice) than spending a few days in Paris before flying home.

The price to fly was ~$1500/person but if I added a venice to paris leg the price jumped to $2800/person. So I looked at was it cost to fly venice to paris. $125 round trip and $1200 one way. WHAT?? $1200 one way??

Will I get in trouble if I book it a two seperate packages?

One -My flight to Rome via Paris then home from Paris.
two -My flight round trip from Venice to Paris ( not using the return trip)

TIA

I think the big problem will be when you DON'T show up for boarding in ROME for your flight back to Seattle. The airlines will most likely cancel the entire ticket.

Did you see how much package ONE would cost if you initiated your trip home from Paris instead of Rome?

Just for kicks, using kayak.com I did a search for SEA to Rome THEN Paris to SEA.
I didn't know any of your dates, so I used early April; ticket prices were being listed at ~$1200, which was about the same price listed for SEA to Paris to Rome and back again. This would then allow you to buy your Venice to Paris R/T. Not showing up for your return trip to Venice should not be a problem

 

[Talent312]

Just looking to book our trip to Europe next spring. Air France now flys direct from Seattle to Paris. So we were thinking about flying to Rome via Paris ( then on to Venice) than spending a few days in Paris before flying home.

The price to fly was ~$1500/person but if I added a venice to paris leg the price jumped to $2800/person. So I looked at was it cost to fly venice to paris. $125 round trip and $1200 one way. WHAT?? $1200 one way??

Will I get in trouble if I book it a two seperate packages?

All I can say is that, when planning a multi-segment trip in Europe last year, I found that the best thing to do was take the cheapest R/T to a European threshold, and then separately price and book O/W flights within Europe, returning from the same threshold (an open-jaw return from the last stop being a close second).

What we did: R/T from the States to Frankfurt (spent the weekend at a nearby wine-fest), and then O/W (non-stop) Frankfurt to Santorini, O/W from Mykonos to Athens, and O/W Athens to Frankfurt (using three different airlines). None of these O/W's exceeded the price of a R/T.

 

[BSQ]

I do the same as what Talent posted without issue. The key is to make your round trip ticket separate from the others.

 

[Icarus]

Will I get in trouble if I book it a two seperate packages?

One -My flight to Rome via Paris then home from Paris. (ticketed from Paris only)

two -My flight round trip from Venice to Paris ( not using the return trip)

TIA

Probably not, and you should be fine booking it as two separate tix. If you booked it all as a single itinerary, the airlines would cancel the rest of your reservations if you miss a leg in the middle of the itinerary.

It works best if the airline for two is different than for one.

Have you considered taking the train? You may still see some strange pricing for one-way vs round trip, but the train is a good alternative to intra europe flights. Still not cheap though.

-David

 

[Carolinian]

You should also look at air passes at www.europebyair.com and at LCC's, a good tool for which is www.whichbudget.com

 

[Bill4728]

We are going to use the train between Rome, Florence and Venice. But it seem like we should fly between Venice and Paris. It just hard to believe that a round trip is $100 (plus taxes and fees) and a one way is over $1100 (plus taxes and fees).

Yes, we will keep the reservations seperate. And we will have the return leg of the round trip, (we're not planning to use) well after we fly back to the states.

But the airline is the only one flying direct from venice to Paris so I can't use a different airline.

 

[x3 skier]

Every time I have gone to different locations in Europe, I use FF TALT both ways from whatever destinations I can get. While in Europe, I either use the LCC's like bmibaby or the train or one time, bought a BMW and drove around Europe for a couple of weeks. :whoopie:

What I usually do is find the lowest (or in the case of FF miles, any available) Open Jaws or single destination then use LCC's or the train to get from one place to the other.

I second the use of www.whichbudget.com to find the LCC's.

Open Jaw tickets are usually not any more expensive than R/T from the same destinations. In your case use the Open Jaw from SEA to Rome and return from Paris. Then find the cheapest LCC or train from Rome to Venice to Paris. Just be aware that most LCC's use airports in the boondocks although some are starting to use the main airports now. They also have VERY strict baggage allowances.

Cheers

 

[Laurie]

But the airline is the only one flying direct from venice to Paris so I can't use a different airline.

www.whichbudget.com probably won't have fares for next spring yet, but you can get an idea. This is a great website for checking out all kinds of alternative airports too. And the LCC's add new routes all the time, and when they do, they offer sales, so keep checking, you have lots of time to book that one.

I checked easyjet.com for September - you can fly one way Venice-Paris for about $50, plus minor baggage charge etc. Easyjet has the most generous weight allowances, too.

 

[Icarus]

We are going to use the train between Rome, Florence and Venice. But it seem like we should fly between Venice and Paris. It just hard to believe that a round trip is $100 (plus taxes and fees) and a one way is over $1100 (plus taxes and fees).

Yes, we will keep the reservations seperate. And we will have the return leg of the round trip, (we're not planning to use) well after we fly back to the states.

But the airline is the only one flying direct from venice to Paris so I can't use a different airline.

Sounds like you have everything covered, Bill.

-David

 

[x3 skier]

But the airline is the only one flying direct from venice to Paris so I can't use a different airline.

Checking www.whichbudget.com shows both Easyjet and Vueling flying to CDG and MyAir flying to Orly.

Cheers

 

[Bill4728]

Checking www.whichbudget.com shows both Easyjet and Vueling flying to CDG and MyAir flying to Orly.

Cheers

Thanks that was a BIG help.

Now I have lots more questions.

Which airport in Venice should I choose?

What the story on RyanAir, It was suggested that I go to their website and they have a "FREE" flight to Paris and a 35 euro return to venice. Is that possible?? ( both flying in & out of airports I've never heard of.)

 

[Laurie]

Marco Polo airport is closer to old Venice, if you have a choice.

RyanAir: "Free" flights aren't, once you add in taxes, fees, baggage, charges to us a credit card, etc. But you can test one out at their website by inputting imaginary dates, if they don't have flight info for your dates yet, and go as far as you can without purchasing. Then you'll see total charges. We flew a couple of RyanAir flights that were maybe .99 or 1.99 last month - plus add-ons - in their currency, not bad but far from free. And if your check-in bags exceed their limits, you'll pay even more.

So if you have a choice of low-cost European airlines, just compare total charges, just like you would do on US airlines.

 

[x3 skier]

Which airport in Venice should I choose?

What the story on RyanAir, It was suggested that I go to their website and they have a "FREE" flight to Paris and a 35 euro return to venice. Is that possible?? ( both flying in & out of airports I've never heard of.)

I would use Marco Polo (VCE) if you can get it. The other airport is Treviso and I don't remember the symbol but I believe its about a hour away by airport bus. Ryan Air does not serve either of the major Paris airports Charles De Gaulle or Orly AFAIK so its probably another long haul to the city.

Free flights are free except fees and taxes. I have a non stop flight booked for next month on bmibaby from London Heathrow to Marco Polo for about $30 so you can get some really good fares.

Cheers