I recently wrote posts about how I booked award flights to Costa Rica and to Europe next year. So far, I’ve only booked award flights TO those places, and I don’t yet have my return flights. A reader commented that I’m brave to book those flights, not knowing if I’ll be able to find return flights using miles and points. She brings up a good point: Is it risky to book one-way award flights?
The Risks
Booking one-way award flights is what I do 99% of the time. Why? Many times, I use one points currency to get there and a different currency to get home. Also, booking one-way flights gives me more flexibility for changes.
But, booking one-way award flights is taking a leap of faith. There is always the chance that you can’t find award space at a decent price for your trip home. Then, you’re stuck paying cash for a potentially expensive one-way flight or scrapping the trip altogether.
I remember back in 2018 when I booked award tickets for my family of five to Sydney, Australia on Qantas using AA miles. That was the biggest leap of faith I’ve taken with a miles and points booking. One-way flights back to the USA from New Zealand aren’t exactly cheap. And at that time, we would have had to pay money to cancel our award flights.
However, I had some factors in my favor. First of all, we were flying Economy, not Business. It’s easier to find award flights in Economy. Secondly, I had multiple miles and points currencies available, so I wasn’t locked into finding award space on only one airline. And lastly, we were willing to split up into 3 and 2 on different flights or airlines if necessary. Thankfully, I did find award space on the same flight for all five of us, even though we used two different currencies (Avianca LifeMiles and Aeroplan miles) to book the flight.
While booking one-way award flights is risky, NOT booking the award flights when you see them is also risky. Those seats may not be available if you wait until you see if you can find your return tickets a week or two later. For our trip to Australia, I was pretty sure that somebody would snatch up those Economy seats on Qantas if I waited for 2 1/2 weeks until our return trip dates were available. For my trip to Europe last year, Iberia only releases two Business award seats per day. If I didn’t grab them, I was sure somebody else would soon.
Create a Plan for Returning
When I book one-way award flights, I like to have a plan for my return flights. My plan involves multiple scenarios. The worst case scenario is cancelling the trip if I can’t get return tickets at a reasonable cost. Since the pandemic, most airlines have more flexibility with cancelling award flights. But, I don’t think it will come to that for my trips.
For my family’s return trip from Costa Rica, I already have an award option I can afford to book. I just don’t like that the flight leaves at 5:00 a.m. and requires a stopover in El Salvador. So, I’m waiting to see if I can get a better option before converting my flexible currency (Chase Ultimate Rewards) to United. Absolute worst case scenario, we will use a combination of points and cash to fly to Florida and then home.
For my summer trip to Europe, I’m hoping to book Premium Economy award seats using AA or Alaska miles. But, if that doesn’t work out, I have a back-up plan. Worst case scenario, I can book two Economy seats on Iberia for very cheap using minimal miles and cash:
If I can scrape up 6250 Avios + $359.95 for both me and my daughter, we can get home from Europe.
Final Thoughts
Booking one-way award flights without knowing how you will get back home is a bit scary. But, not booking award seats when you see them available is also risky. The more flexibility you have with the points you own and the flights and class you are willing to fly, the easier you will have with finding return flights.
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Nancy, can you speak to how you go about searching for award flights? With all the different transfer partners the process seems overwhelming. Even more so if you have a flexible return flight, for example I already have a ticket to Europe, just need to find a return flight from one of the European countries.
@Marta Great question. I usually look to see what nonstop routes are available to my airport or from a nearby airport in Europe. Kayak.com/direct is a good starting point. I see which airlines have those flights and how they match up with the miles I have. I agree that figuring out which airlines partner with others is overwhelming. I don’t have them memorized, I still look them up! I’ve also bought a 1-month subscription to ExpertFlyer.com in the past, which lets you set up alerts. Iberia is one of my go-to airlines for hopping across the pond. It usually has good availability from Madrid to Chicago, NYC and Dallas. Feel free to email me at nancy@milesforfamily.com if you want me to help you with more specifics for your desired dates/itinerary.
I have always booked one way for years and years…I select my destination based on where I can buy a ticket to on points usually 11 months in advance then, over months, I work out a trip, how many countries, internal flights etc and how to get home..All on points… Never had a problem. Flexibility and the ability to simply pay cash if you really have to are key., but I never pay cash.
You can always cancel and reinstate miles if you find something better. You WILL need a return ticket from an international destination before you depart the US. (award or other)
@Tim Yes, exactly! Good point about needing to book the return before you leave. I’ve never cut it that close. 🙂
If you’re flexible and have a solid backup plan or two it should be just fine.
So if your worried about reward seats home why don’t you just look ahead at the availability then book, if you can’t see that far ahead I look to see a pattern of seats “coming home” This works really well with back and forth to Europe or Africa for safaris ! Just saying
@Ghostirder5408 Usually, when I snag flights it’s on the first day they are available to reserve and the dates aren’t available for the return flights yet. Looking at patterns in the weeks prior is a good start, but unfortunately it’s not always an indicator of what will be available. Holidays usually throw a wrench into those patterns. Sometimes it works though.
Easy answer to your Q is “No”. I’d add that the key is always keeping your points in card currencies i.e., AX Rewards, Chase UR, etc. That way, you can transfer to the program that has availability for the return trip, as one is almost certainly guaranteed to. Also, people should be know the release schedules so you can look for award seats on the day they are first available.
@khati Good points. Knowing the release schedules is key, especially because the international airlines tend to release schedules before the domestic airlines.
How do you find international release schedules?
@Amy Great question! I just go on the airline’s website and start to book a flight and see which dates are available and which dates are grayed out or crossed out. Like today, for example, I can see that Iberia is booking through July 6, 2024 but AA is only booking through June 7, 2024. With these airlines, every day a new day of flights becomes available (unlike Southwest and Spirit where a bulk of days are released all at once).