Are you trying to decide whether to book one-way or round trip flights to maximize your savings? Then, let me help you by summarizing everything you need to know for the ultimate ticket savings.
Continue reading to learn more about round trip vs one-way airfare, which option lets you save on flights, and its pros and cons.
First, let’s break things down. What makes a flight a ‘one way’ flight vs a ‘round trip’?
A one-way flight is a single booking that takes you to your destination from your departure city with no return ticket. For example, flying from New York to Houston.
But, don’t confuse one-way flights with flight legs (or flight segments). Even if your booking includes a connection or layover–such as flying to Houston from New York with a layover in Charlotte–it’s still considered one one-way booking.
Round trip flights are bookings that take you to your destination and back to the city you departed.
One-way tickets are generally more expensive than round trip flights because airlines want to maximize their revenue. If you book one-way from point A to B, there’s no guarantee that someone will buy the seat from B to A. Airlines raise one-way ticket prices to compensate for the loss.
Round-trip bookings typically offer lower fares, making them the best option for budget travelers. This flight option provides better revenue security for airlines, which, in effect, lowers base fares.
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There are cases when airlines offer fare drops on one-way and round trip flights. Fare drops are temporary ticket price decreases offered by airlines. It occurs because prices fluctuate all the time.
Factors influencing whether prices increase or decrease include last-minute promos, supply and demand, available seats, time and day of booking, airline competition on the route, and other airfare trends.
Look out for these price drops for the ultimate airline ticket savings for cheap flights.
One-way flight savings happen more frequently but have lower rate changes when there are fare drops. It happens more often because airlines want to boost revenue by filling empty seats.
Many factors influence fare drops for one-way flights. One of the main reasons is low demand and high supply. Dynamic fare shifts are another factor. This is when airlines temporarily offer cheaper one-way flights due to competition or fuel.
Round-trip ticket savings are uncommon but have higher price differences when fare drops occur. This is mainly because the drops affect both departure and return flights, known as married segments.
Round trip bookings for international travel or long-haul flights often offer greater savings when fares drop.
It’s easier for you to get credits on round-trip flights. Why? Because these bookings have a total higher sale price. The higher fare means more credit, even if there’s a small price drop.
However, it’s important to note that credits from one-way flights are easier to use and have better flexibility. This flight option has frequent price fluctuations, offering opportunities to earn credits at lower values.
Are round trip flights cheaper? Generally, yes. Upgraded Points, a travel resource website, conducted a study analyzing price differences of both flight options offered by eight US-based airlines. It concluded that round-trip flights are an average of 33% cheaper than one-way flights.
Learn more budget-saving tips by checking out our article on How To Save Money On Airline Tickets.
Round-trip flight savings are more common because it offers significantly cheaper prices than two one-way tickets from the same airline. It’s the better money-saving choice when there’s a high demand for flights.
It’s also a better budget-friendly option when you have fixed travel dates or flying long-haul or international.
There are some rare cases when two one-way flights will save you more money. For instance, because of dynamic pricing, it’s possible that two one-way tickets from different airlines may be cheaper than one round-trip ticket from the same airline.
There are instances, although uncommon, when the fare of two one way flights equal the price of a round trip flight.
You can also find cheaper one-way flights when you’re more flexible with your return date. For example, you can fly on less popular seasons or travel days, like midweek.
Even rarer, some airlines offer lower prices on last-minute bookings for one-way flights. This usually happens to fill remaining empty seats or a drop in demand.
Many will advise you to check Google flights or other flight trackers daily to check for price drops. While this is effective to save money, it’s extremely time consuming.
Once you find a price drop, you need to contact the airlines directly which can take hours communicating with customer support.
But, if you don’t mind the extra effort, here’s what you can do to manually check for flight price drops correctly.
Look through our articles 41 Best Apps for Travel in 2025 to learn more about applications you can use to monitor flights and other useful tips.
One of the best airfare hacks you can use to save money is using Autopilot to streamline the flight-tracking process. With Autopilot, you can make traveling more stress-free and enjoyable.
Autopilot, which offers a Lowest Fare Guarantee (LFG), has a team of ticketing experts and pricing algorithms and software that check for fare drops 24/7. The only thing you need to do is import your flight details, and it will do the work for you.
Autopilot will also instantly claim price drops and identify whether you qualify for flight credits.
For further reading, check out our article on Best Flight Price Tracker to Get the Cheapest Deals.
Are you still confused about which you should book? Don’t worry because I’ve summarized everything you need to know to make your decision.
Round-trip flights have a departure and return ticket. One-way flights include only a departure ticket.
When considering one way vs round trip airfare comparison, round-trip flights are usually cheaper but have a higher upfront total cost.
Yes, because fare drops affect both flights of round-trip bookings.
Yes. But this depends on the terms and conditions of your booked itinerary. Lower fare classes, like basic economy, usually do not allow rebooking. Higher fare classes, like Business Class, have more flexible terms.
Yes. Fight price trackers, like Autopilot, effectively and efficiently scan for fare drops, saving you more time and effort.
Yes. However, this greatly depends on your destination, reason for traveling, and visa status. Immigration also varies per country and some. Take note that one-way tickets for international flights are more expensive.
