<p>Is it easier to book tickets as a round trip, or does it matter if you book 2 one way flights if you can get the desired times and for a cheaper price?</p>
<p>Round trip is always cheaper. </p>
<p>Security always look at you suspiciously whenever you book a one way flight.</p>
<p>Sometimes RT is cheaper ... sometimes two one-ways. (I'm talking about one-ways on different airlines here.) For my travel, the one-way's are cheaper and/or at better flight times about a third of the time. If you're picking up (or dropping off) a couple of checked bags you need to factor that in as well.</p>
<p>It depends on the airline also - some, like Southwest, price their fares as 'each way' - i.e. one-way. It used to be that one way fares were ridiculously expensive because the airlines figured they had you over a barrel if you were interested in a one way. That's largely changed - I think largely due to the influence of Southwest Airlines.</p>
<p>Agree that you're more likely to be "randomly selected" by TSA for "extra attention," including separate wanding if you have one-way tickets or even tickets purchased near the date of departure. That's happened to us EVERY TIME!</p>
<p>shay-What 2 cities are you looking to book flights?</p>
<p>I'm flying into Rochester, and I have to be there and depart at semi-specific times. So, I've realized in order to get the desired times I want, my ticket will cost about 600 dollars, if I just book two one-way tickets, it's about 450. One way with AirTran (the whole way), the other way with midwest - delta - delta. All have 2 stops, but I've flown about 5 times in the last 2 years, so I'm used to flying. However, I've always purchased round trip tickets because they're usually cheaper.</p>
<p>15 baggage each way. IF I fly using that route.</p>
<p>Also, when is the best time to buy tickets -- I hear between 12 -1 AM on Wednesday morning?</p>
<p>Oftentimes you can book a multi-airline itinerary on an online travel website. Generally, it really doesn't matter if you have two one-way tickets or a roundtrip ticket other than with a rt ticket there may be less of a change fee and if there are any flight delays, the airline can also modify your return trip (not always the case if another airline is involved, but it can be done). As for a specific date to buy tickets, it really depends. I know the general price of my trips, so I can tell if there is a sale or not. in my experience, weekends are generally not good for finding sales, but stranger things have happened. It really depends on the specific situation if a roundtrip would be cheaper. In the US, I often find that a roundtrip is the same price as two one-ways. </p>
<p>As for additional security when buying one way tickets, that is rarely the case nowadays because additional security procedures have been added in the past year. Lately, I have only been buying one-way tickets and have not been selected for additional security (denoted by SSSS on a ticket).</p>
<p>We flew our freshman daughter home at winter break and recently made reservations for spring break - both times we found one-way fares were cheaper than round trip.</p>
<p>In my experience it used to be that a one-way was almost as much as a round-trip. That has changed, though. I think the big travel web sites (Orbitz, Expedia, . . .) have helped in that regard. They often sell round-trip tickets that are one airline going out and another coming back. Look at them.</p>
<p>college_quey, did this effect anything as far as airline security (ie: longer lines and extra security check)?</p>
<p>Rochester is an expensive city to fly into. If you can, try and fly into Buffalo- Southwest flies there and is much, much cheaper. Even with renting a car, you will probably come out ahead and the drive isn't that bad. I did this for years when I was going home to visit my parents.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I can't. I went with a roundtrip because it was easier, and I ended up finding the flight times that I wanted. (I didn't have much leeway anyway, and I avoided layovers that were less than an hour)
Yes, ROC is VERY expensive my ticket was about 515, plus another 50 dollars in baggage!! Ridiculous, but it is well worth the cause.</p>
<p>American Airlines and Southwest charge the same whether it is round-trip or one-way. I am astounded to hear these dire warnings about one-way fares on this thread - that is not my family's experience at all. We often fly on one-way tickets because the kids don't know their return date, or we can only use FF miles for one-way, or I want to book the less-available flight as early as I can. There is absolutely no difference in how we are treated. American also lets you hold reservations for one day, so you have some flexibility in booking two separate tickets. I'm sorry i didn't see your thread before you bought the tickets, but hope this is helpful for the future.</p>
<p>Yeah, I've flown one-way before also, and I never experience any extra screenings.. etc. Maybe it is because I'm a young high school girl, I don't look too dangerous.
Also, I went with the round trip also because the one way's didn't have long enough layovers, and I've never been to La Guardia or O'Hare so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time between flights.</p>
<p>Did you mean that you were looking into purchasing separate legs for your trip, i.e., Des Moines to O'Hare, then another ticket for O'Hare to Rochester? That is a different question from the one in your title.
If so, you did the right thing by sticking with one airline because you will be protected if something happens with the first flight; if you had separate tickets on
different airlines, you could be in trouble. And O'Hare is famous for delays.</p>
<p>Jet Blue flies into Rochester too.</p>
<p>No, there aren't any non-stop flights from either DSM or OMA to ROC. No matter what flight I choose, I would have to stop 1 or 2 times. So, I went with a little more expensive route, and I only have 1 stop. Also, I fly into O'Hare on the way home so I don't mind a delay wouldn't be as much of a big deal. I am a little scared flying to O'Hare though, I've never been there before, but I'm experienced so hopefully all goes well. (I've flow at DFW - multiple times, PBI, Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta)</p>
<p>I've never connected at ORD, but just follow the signs to your new gate and you should be fine. What midwesterner is suggesting (buying one ticket DSM-ORD and one ORD-ROC) is possible and you can do it with a single itinerary if you know how to get the system to ticket it. It's called end-on-end ticketing and is usually permitted. I've almost done it a couple times when airfares between two cities were high, but the airfares to/from a third city were low.</p>