Ok commence rant:

I need to make a trip back to Blighty Zh - Man at short notice to see a relative who is under going treatment for the big C. Usual suspects return flights Sleazsy Jest with bag CHF 268 but crappy flight times, Swiss CHF 277 with great flight times... easy choice go Swiss. Then we though maybe book a single just in case things go bad with my unc', Sleazy Jest CHF 42.95.... Swiss CHF1,506. How in the name of all that's holy can they come up with that.... and who'd be dumb enough to pay it, why don't Swiss just say we don't do one way fares!

I'll book the return with Swiss and toss the return portion of the ticket if needed but WTF, anyway camomile tea's kicking in now... and relax.

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How do you know if a Frenchman has been in your garden.... your rubbish is gone, your dog is pregnant.... but at least your cabbages are pest free

Has been this way for a while, totally bizarre, when I go back to London and then train up north to see family it's really annoying as want to just do one way from Mcr. Have booked Sleazyjet for trip next month with baby for first time but if is nightmare will have to start booking returns and ditching the second leg.

I don't know about Swiss or Easyjet but if you plan on booking return and using it as a single beware that some companies (I remember a channel crossing co) have in their terms and conditions that they will charge you the difference between single and return fares if you don't use the second part.

Indeed. Or... if you decide to only take the return flight and don't bother about the outward flight, they'll cancel your return flight because you've not taken the outward flight.

That is only if you ask for a refund of the unused part of the ticket.

It is not only Swiss airlines which pull the commercial trick but everywhere else in the world one way flight costs almost twice as much as the return ones. Get two returns instead (it's like getting two one way tickets with exception it is buy one get one free ). Whenever we wanted to buy one way ticket we always ended up getting the return. Just ignore the second part of the trip (return) and you should be fine (not fined).

This is the case for most airlines. You MUST take the outward flight, otherwise, your whole ticket is automatically cancelled due to no-show.

Reminds me of a friend who wanted to go to New York and found a special offer for a return ticket from Milan to New York via ZRH on Swiss which was much cheaper than the simple ZRH-New York flight. To stop people like him taking advantage of this offer meant for Italy, he is of course not allowed to forgo the Milan-ZRH part. So he decided to buy a ZRH-Milan return ticket as well so that he can get to Milan to catch the first leg and altogether it was still cheaper, and he got to collect some extra airmiles.

So flying out he was to fly ZRH-Milan-ZRH-New York. At the airport, his flight to Milan was delayed. He also found out that it is the same plane that will take him back to ZRH to catch the New York flight. As the delay got longer it was getting very obvious that he would miss the New York flight, so he asked if he could simply stay in ZRH and forego the Milan-ZRH part of his ticket, given the circumstances. After some checking around, they told him no! If he did not get on the plane from Milan, his ticket to New York would be cancelled! So he ended up going to Milan and back anyway, and missed his flight to New York, and they had to reroute him via Geneva the next day as all the flights were full! Good thing he is a plane enthusiast and enjoyed all the extra plane rides!

I've just binned a Swiss retun flight to the UK today, never been charged <fingers crossed> lets see what happens.

Sneaky that one way charge.

I have binned a few return flights over the years, and never been charged for it.

Has this actually happened to anyone here?

It was a regular practice to book 2 returns with BA and bin the unwanted parts, as doing it that way was less than half the price of a day return. I did in on UK domestic routes though, and never had an issue.

You need to think outside the box. Buy the Swiss round trip ticket (277.-chf) then cancle and return the unused return ticket and demand your 1,506.-chf refund..!!


If only life was so simple (and rewarding).

binning the return ticket is quite common. you are just treated as a no show for the return leg. you will not any additional charge.

my company books many tickets this way. especially the ones that fly out and return the same day. Works out cheaper always.

If only indeed matey, if only

Just bin it. I've lost count the number of cheap return tickets where I've not showed up for the return. No dramas....

If you do this infrequently, you're likely to get away with it. If, on the other hand, you make a regular habit of "throw-away ticketing" be prepared to get a call from the airline's revenue management unit. Throw-away ticketing is against the conditions of carriage, and they can hit you with the full one-way fare (and deny you frequent flyer benefits) if they want...

BA BA BA BA BA BA BA BA BA BA....


Everyone forgotten our own national flag carrier... One way ticket is half the price of return and you can easily book just one leg.... Swiss is rubbish..........

Our travel agency regularly does this for us... Buying two tickets, e.g. over weekends with fictive returns.

You've been away from the UK too long. Have you forgotten British Rail's (old?) policy of charging more for a single fare vs. a return?

Now now mods make yer minds up, I make a title, Uncle max changes it, then Longbyt changed his change, now she's changed here change of his change... and who uses the term bonkers.

Now if that were 'the Air line' (to save UM sensibilities) a single change would cost....

I was expecting an increase Carlos, but a premium of over CHF 1,200 on the single leg price is OTT even for the Swiss (people or air line)

Still in effect, infact, charge more for everything unless you book your tickets weeks in advance. I was facinated by the cost of rail transport in the UK.

Back on topic though, Kayak has a good engine for finding the cheap ones. My preference at the moment is Zurich - City Airport with BA who are very reasonable on this route. Swiss Air does seem to have gone overboard.