R/T vs One Way

Checking prices on air fare for a planned cruise next May. On British Air R/T PHX-London premium economy $2600....One Way London to PHX same class, same time period $3400. Can this be right? I know it is not right, but is it correct? Can it cost $800 more for one way? I'm gobsmacked, have a British Isle cruise booked out of Harwich. The ships cruise prior to this one is a TA FLL to Harwich, so me, being naive thought "no brainer" since the TA cruise fare is less than half the R/T air fare....am I missing something?

Checking prices on air fare for a planned cruise next May. On British Air R/T PHX-London premium economy $2600....One Way London to PHX same class, same time period $3400. Can this be right? I know it is not right, but is it correct? Can it cost $800 more for one way? I'm gobsmacked, have a British Isle cruise booked out of Harwich. The ships cruise prior to this one is a TA FLL to Harwich, so me, being naive thought "no brainer" since the TA cruise fare is less than half the R/T air fare....am I missing something?

I have not checked the fares you quoted, but it seems like a common scenario. Experienced flyers often book the R/T then simply not use the return flight. If $2600 is an acceptable price to you for a O/W ticket, then book the R/T and forget about the return.

Remember that cheaper RT fares are usually restricted (generally, cannot be cancelled, refunded and/or changed without hefty feees, if at all) while the expensive one ways can be. This is the price of flexibility.

I think Aer Lingus ex-LAX may be your best bet.

Checking prices on air fare for a planned cruise next May. On British Air R/T PHX-London premium economy $2600....One Way London to PHX same class, same time period $3400. Can this be right? I know it is not right, but is it correct? Can it cost $800 more for one way? I'm gobsmacked, have a British Isle cruise booked out of Harwich. The ships cruise prior to this one is a TA FLL to Harwich, so me, being naive thought "no brainer" since the TA cruise fare is less than half the R/T air fare....am I missing something?

Yes:

1. The price of your cruise is not related to the price of your airfare

2. Airfare is not priced by miles flown.

3. You can't check pricing for this trip with most airlines until sometime in the middle of June (~330 days out). When you can, look at Iceland Air or Air New Zealand. I am guessing you should be able to find a one way ticket for less than $700 for coach. However, if you want premium economy, you can search for that. I don't know what pricing will be like for next May, but for April 2013 PE is pricing at ~$1733 for a US/Air New Zealand combination (PHX-LAX-LHR). Use this webpage to search:

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Yes:

 

1. The price of your cruise is not related to the price of your airfare

 

2. Airfare is not priced by miles flown.

 

3. You can't check pricing for this trip with most airlines until sometime in the middle of June (~330 days out). When you can, look at Iceland Air or Air New Zealand. I am guessing you should be able to find a one way ticket for less than $700 for coach. However, if you want premium economy, you can search for that. I don't know what pricing will be like for next May, but for April 2013 PE is pricing at ~$1733 for a US/Air New Zealand combination (PHX-LAX-LHR). Use this webpage to search:

 

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Thanks for that website. I'm trying to get familiar with all options for my Fall 2013 cruise in Europe.

Checking prices on air fare for a planned cruise next May. On British Air R/T PHX-London premium economy $2600....One Way London to PHX same class, same time period $3400. Can this be right? I know it is not right, but is it correct? Can it cost $800 more for one way?

In my experience, that's not uncommon. I think it's about supply and demand, and they charge extra for one-way because they can. You can buy a round trip ticket and only use the first half (outgoing), but you can't buy a one way ticket and only use the second half (return).

Checking prices on air fare for a planned cruise next May. On British Air R/T PHX-London premium economy $2600....One Way London to PHX same class, same time period $3400. Can this be right? I know it is not right, but is it correct? Can it cost $800 more for one way? I'm gobsmacked, have a British Isle cruise booked out of Harwich. The ships cruise prior to this one is a TA FLL to Harwich, so me, being naive thought "no brainer" since the TA cruise fare is less than half the R/T air fare....am I missing something?

Not quite 'same class'. When you book a ticket, you'll find you have a farecode something like "VNEX14", or "H14J". Anyway, this is the class of your flight. However, the discounted fare codes aren't offered on one-ways, so you'll find if you compare RT "Y" (full fare coach) with one-way coach "Y" the one way is in fact ½. (Well, it will be slightly cheaper USA-UK due to UK departure taxes and US arrival taxes)

Anyway, what you need to find is full discounted one-way tickets; so here's the checklist;

• Cruise Air - They have access to some consolidator fares that the general public don't. However the tickets have strict restrictions (see sticky in cruise air)
  
• Consolidators - Can't list them here, but consolidators also have access to some highly restricted tickets
  
• Airlines that offer discount one ways - From LA, I think AIR NEW ZEALAND's one way LAX-LHR is probably the best bet, but Aer Lingus, Air Berlin and Air Transat are all airlines that offer discount one ways.
  

You are always going to pay big money for a one way ticket and nearly always more than an apex round trip ticket. However there are a couple of "tricks" you can employ.

As has been suggested, a lot of people find the cheapest round trip ticket and simply throw away the return portion. However there are often some good deals with premium class travel round trip tickets. Although more expensive than economy, many airlines will allow you to book each leg (provided it is round trip) in different classes. This allows you to take advantage of a good seat at a bargain price in a better class of travel, and then simply throw away the return at the lowest economy price available to you.

The other "bargain" for one way travel is frequent flier points. Some airlines (and British airways through their avios rewards programme is one of them,) allow you to redeem half the number of points needed for a round trip booking, for a one way journey.) Between the US and the UK it is 25,000 points one way in economy (you can buy that many avios points for around $600.) Premium economy is around 37,500 avios and club world (business) 50,000 avios. First class is 75,000 avios. On top of this you would need to pay taxes fees and fuel surcharges that would add around $240 (economy or premium economy.) You can also mix miles with cash and get some very good one way deals for less avios than quoted above and slightly more cash.

As an example I have just run a booking for next May (ony 2 dates currently available) with a business class (flat bed) club world sleeper seat PHX-LHR and with 25,000 avios points it would cost you around $1100 plus the cost of the points. In premium economy (6 dates available) it would cost you 22500 points and $450.

Keep in mind that if you do prefer to book a R/T ticket, which is the first leg! If you need to get from the UK to the US, make sure your R/T is UK to US then US to UK. If you are planning a couple of TAs, you may need to call them to have the second half left open date so that you can schedule the second half when the dates for the second TA are listed. I specifically say it this way as I noted you priced R/T PHX-London and you need to compare R/T London-PHX instead.

Alternately, do you have time in your schedule to take one of the Queens across the pond? If so, you could experience a Queen, then just fly from NY back to your hometown.