Throwaway ticketing travel hack

Some airlines surprisingly charge less for round-trip tickets than for one-way flights. With this travel hack, we book you the cheaper round-trip tickets — you can simply “throw away” the return part and stay at your intended destination.
For example, if a round trip Zagreb ⇄ Barcelona is cheaper than a one-way ticket Zagreb → Barcelona, we offer to book you the round trip. You don’t have to use the return part.

If you travel there and back, we might even get you 2 round-trip tickets — Zagreb ⇄ Barcelona and Barcelona ⇄ Zagreb — instead of one.

What’s the catch?

It might be against airline policy

This travel hack makes your ticket cheaper because it takes advantage of the airline pricing strategies. The airlines might not like this, and it might even be against some airlines’ policies.
 
You should read the Terms & Conditions of the specific airline before making your booking. When at the airport, we don’t recommend mentioning that you won’t use the return flight.
Even if it’s against the airline policy, there’s little that the airline can do to enforce their conditions after you’ve flown the first leg. In theory, the next time you book with them, they could ask you to pay for the amount saved on the trip.

You can’t choose the dates of the throwaway return ticket nor change it

All flights are yours to be used, but you can’t choose the return date of the throwaway ticket. It’s generated automatically to give you the best price and might be subject to change.
 
If you decide to use the return ticket, all the extras would need to be added manually. If you don’t show up for the return flight, your seat might be given to someone with a last-minute booking.  And if the airline can’t fill your seat, it may have an impact on the environment. 
If you’d decide to only use the second part of the carrier reservation, it likely would not be possible. If you skip their first flight, you’d be considered a “no-show”.

If you earn frequent flyer points, the airline might freeze them

You’ll probably still earn frequent flyer points for the used flights. But in extreme cases, the airline may choose to freeze your mileage program if they think you never planned on using the return flight.

Did this article help you?