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Last week, Going sent out a deal for nonstop New York City to London for $59 one-way on JetBlue in basic economy. This deal was meant for only our most spontaneous travelers, as it departed the very next day—though, if this was a bit too short notice, we also had live deals to London in the February to May time frame from $390–$465 roundtrip nonstop.
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A normal nonstop price from New York City to London is about $800 roundtrip, though Going regularly finds deals on this route for $450 roundtrip (the one-ways we find price out to about $350 one-way, though we don’t usually send these to our members—more on that below).
Needless to say, a $59 one-way ticket to London was a proper good deal no matter how you slice it.
One-way flights can be difficult to master. Are they economical, or a waste of money? Is there a time and a place for one-ways? Let’s dig in a bit further.
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Why are one-way flights so expensive?
In most cases, one-way flights for international travel are overpriced, or more than half of what a roundtrip flight would cost. There are lots of reasons for this, but one big reason is that airlines can subsidize the outbound leg of a roundtrip ticket with the revenue from the return leg. So, if you’re only buying an outbound flight, airlines will hike up the price to cover the difference.
The occasional exception to the rule is foreign carriers. Airlines such as TAP Air Portugal and Norse keep margins between roundtrips and one-ways much closer, so you’ll commonly see one-ways around 60% of the price of a roundtrip. Still not 50-50, but it’s much better than what you’d typically see.
By contrast, one-way domestic flights aren’t always a bad idea. In fact, they are often just half the cost of a roundtrip flight. It can be a good idea to price compare separate tickets for roundtrip domestic flights, taking one airline on the way there and another on the way back. (Many of Going’s domestic deals are structured this way.)
In short, one-way flights are almost always going to be a bad deal when you’re flying internationally. But domestically, one-way flights are worth considering.
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How did Going find this one-way deal?
Willis Orlando, Going’s Senior Manager of Travel Operations & Insights, was searching for unique nonstop routes between the US and Europe to send to our members. We typically source roundtrip tickets, but as a potential lead as to where and when to begin looking, he switched his search to one-way.
The $59 nonstop one-way popped up on a relatively new Europe route for JetBlue. Although they’ve had a few stellar deals like this in the past, this was by far the cheapest that Going had seen on a one-way between the two cities.
(Willis also found this $230 mistake fare to Paris in summer 2023. Let’s just say: When you have Willis searching for your flights, you're bound to get the best deal.)
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How to book cheap one-way flights
Booking a one-way flight is a lot like booking a roundtrip flight. When you go to Google Flights (or another flight search engine), you simply switch the toggle from “roundtrip” to “one-way,” or select it from the drop-down menu.
Remember: Two one-way international flights are almost always more expensive than a standard roundtrip ticket. Domestic one-ways, on the other hand, can be a money-saver and allow you to have more flexibility on your travels.
As for the London deal, there were several options for returns, whether you wanted to pay in cash or with points (more on that below). At the time of writing, if you’d booked the $59 one-way flight to London, you could’ve opted to return on February 18 for $442 one-way, or better yet, February 19 for $373 one-way. In either case, you’d have paid about $500 or less roundtrip for a trip to London. Not bad for a last-minute ticket!
Learn more about how to find cheap last-minute flights here.
And before anyone says this deal wasn’t real, we’re just going to add proof right here that at least one Going member booked the deal before it expired.
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One-way flights with points
As we mentioned before, points can be a great way to take advantage of a cheap cash deal and not overpay for the return (or vice versa).
Points deals are priced per direction, so they’re a particularly good and flexible way to take one-way flights. Virtually all of our Going with Points deals can be booked as one-way flights for half the price (in points) of the roundtrip. (Taxes and fees may vary per direction.)
Not receiving Going with Points deals? Upgrade to Premium or Elite today to start flying for free!
If you find a good one-way cash fare, points can be a great way to turn the cash deal into an affordable roundtrip fare. On the flip side, if you find a good points deal but don’t have enough points stockpiled for a roundtrip ticket, you can still book the one-way ticket with points. Then, you can find a good cash fare for the return leg.
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More deals to love in the app
Bummed you missed out on the $59 one-way ticket to London? There’s more where that came from in the Going app! Download it today for the best one-way, roundtrip, 2-in-1, domestic, international, points, and premium class deals that we can find.
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