International "Open Return" on Delta?

Was wondering if you can buy a ROUNDTRIP international (US-Europe) ticket on Delta with an open return date (like 6-8 months later)? Their website search function is not the best--for me at least. And, if you can, is it possible to have that return date outside the 331 day rule?

Was wondering if you can buy a ROUNDTRIP international (US-Europe) ticket on Delta with an open return date (like 6-8 months later)? Their website search function is not the best--for me at least. And, if you can, is it possible to have that return date outside the 331 day rule?

You can't purchase a ticket they aren't selling, and that would be one over ~331 days or so from today.

You can't purchase a ticket they aren't selling, and that would be one over ~331 days or so from today.

But would you not have to indicate your return date now - instead of an open-ended date?

Just book the return leg as fully flexible Y class.

I'm not sure how long DL will allow the validity to be on a Y class segment like that. Paging Flyertalker....

Just thinking about doing several cruises and land trips in Europe and having the option of returning when we need a break... :rolleyes:

You can buy an "open return". It's called a full-fare round-trip ticket. It would have a validity per the fare rules, but no longer than one year at maximum. You would likely need to book this direct with DL and not through the website (which is not configured for such ticketing).

I cannot understand why anyone would want to buy that, considering that it is twice the full-fare one-way price (which rarely changes between city pairs). Any possible advantage of locking in a price would be hugely negated by the large price of the underlying full-fare ticket rather than a discounted fare.

If you are trying to buy a ticket, and have some flexibility about when you would use the other half (say trying to utilize this for TATL cruises), then you would do much better to buy a R/T ticket with a set return date and then pay change fees (and possibly fare differentials) to adjust your return date.

As always, if you would just lay out what you are trying to do, we can figure out if it can be accomplished. Abstract questions will usually return with abstract answers.

Thank you all for your inputs. We actually don't have anything in concrete yet, just trying to brainstorm. We are trying to be real flexible with our timing--maybe doing a few cruises and renting some apartments for awhile. We have lived in Europe and there is still so much we want to do. I looked at one-way tickets and they were more than double the round-trip fares.

I tend to buy our tickets really early to get the best fares/seats. So, if I bought roundtrip tickets ten months out for the outbound, then the return could only be a month later (331 rule). I assume...

FlyerTalker--I did not think about your idea about using a change fee. Do you know if you can change to a date later than the 1 year anniversary of the original ticket?

Wouldn't it be better to purchase two one way tickets via a Consolidator or other source? If you have Frequent Flier Miles perhaps you can use them for your ticket.

An open return ticket is very costly as they may have you upgrade to the next fare base depending on the fare base you purchased your ticket with.

One other idea is to consider taking a cruise back to the States and fly one way or even do two Trans Atlantic Cruises using Choice Air for your airfare to and from the port the Trans Atlantic Cruise leaves/arrives at. For instance a SFO-MIA 1 way could be $300 dollars sometimes less. And a New Orleans-SFO would be around $280. The cruise would be around $900-$1000 depending on the stateroom you decide. If you wanted to do an interior cabin it would be less. It seems like this would be the least expensive option such as on a Cunard 7 Day to New York or if you have more time a 14 night cruise.

Thank you all for your inputs. We actually don't have anything in concrete yet, just trying to brainstorm. We are trying to be real flexible with our timing--maybe doing a few cruises and renting some apartments for awhile. We have lived in Europe and there is still so much we want to do. I looked at one-way tickets and they were more than double the round-trip fares.

 

I tend to buy our tickets really early to get the best fares/seats. So, if I bought roundtrip tickets ten months out for the outbound, then the return could only be a month later (331 rule). I assume...

 

FlyerTalker--I did not think about your idea about using a change fee. Do you know if you can change to a date later than the 1 year anniversary of the original ticket?

I doubt you can change the date past the 1 year anniversary. This is the reason to purchase two one way tickets(with the second one being purchased at least 21 days before your return journey.

Wouldn't it be better to purchase two one way tickets via a Consolidator or other source? If you have Frequent Flier Miles perhaps you can use them for your ticket.

 

An open return ticket is very costly as they may have you upgrade to the next fare base depending on the fare base you purchased your ticket with.

 

One other idea is to consider taking a cruise back to the States and fly one way or even do two Trans Atlantic Cruises using Choice Air for your airfare to and from the port the Trans Atlantic Cruise leaves/arrives at. For instance a SFO-MIA 1 way could be $300 dollars sometimes less. And a New Orleans-SFO would be around $280. The cruise would be around $900-$1000 depending on the stateroom you decide. If you wanted to do an interior cabin it would be less. It seems like this would be the least expensive option such as on a Cunard 7 Day to New York or if you have more time a 14 night cruise.

You're recommending both ChoiceAir and a consolidator in the same posting on this forum. Brave one you are!

Airline tickets are never valid longer then 1 year. Many airlines donot issue open tickets, you need to set a date for the return.

If you cannot yet book the return your only option is to book a changeable ticket.

Changes arenot always possible, often only if you buy a changeable ticket. Read the conditions before you book.

Also be aware if you want to stay longer then 3 months in the `Schengen`

countries in Europe, you need a visa.

Thanks again for all the inputs--we got that question answered for our planning purposes. I guess we'll just be real flexible and throw money at it one way or another. :cool:

There is a price for flexibility. It's your choice if you wish to pay it.

Airline tickets are never valid longer then 1 year. Many airlines donot issue open tickets, you need to set a date for the return.

If you cannot yet book the return your only option is to book a changeable ticket.

Changes arenot always possible, often only if you buy a changeable ticket. Read the conditions before you book.

Also be aware if you want to stay longer then 3 months in the `Schengen`

countries in Europe, you need a visa.

Open tickets are mostly used by people traveling for work. When you do not know exactly when your going to finish some activity. Airlines work hard at designing their pricing model to extract as money as possible form people traveling for work.

There are a couple of smaller airlines that offer one-way fares are competitive prices.

Open tickets are mostly used by people traveling for work. When you do not know exactly when your going to finish some activity. Airlines work hard at designing their pricing model to extract as money as possible form people traveling for work.

 

There are a couple of smaller airlines that offer one-way fares are competitive prices.

We flew from Kona to Portland in first class on Alaska Airlines and the fare was changeable and fully refundable. Not all of their first class fares are (for some locations, there is a choice between changeable and non-changeable, with the former always costing more). We've also flown biz class internationally on UA, AA, US and DL, and the fares were never changeable (at least not without fees). Price difference for fully changeable/refundable was usually very large.