Secrets Unveiled: Canceling the Outward Flight of a Round-Trip and Saving Big

Secrets Unveiled: Canceling the Outward Flight of a Round-Trip and Saving Big - The Loophole Airlines Don't Want You to Know

Airlines would prefer travelers book round-trip tickets and take both flights. But savvy flyers have discovered a little-known loophole that allows them to cancel just one leg of a round-trip ticket and save big.

This hack takes advantage of the fact that airlines price round-trip flights differently than one-ways. Often, a round-trip ticket is cheaper than two one-way tickets on the same itinerary. However, airlines don’t want you using this to your advantage.

See, when you book a round-trip, the airline prices both flights as a package deal. This allows them to offer an appealing total price. But if you end up only needing one leg of the journey, you’ve uncovered a hidden opportunity.

By canceling the unused leg, you’ve now got a one-way ticket for much less than if you had booked it outright as a one-way. And here’s the key: most airlines will still honor the remaining flight, even though you canceled the other half.

This is not something the airlines advertise, and their complex fare rules try to discourage it. But consumers have wised up. And while each airline’s policies vary, many will permit you to cancel one leg of a round-trip without forfeiting the entire ticket.

Just beware of a few catches. First, the sooner you cancel the unused leg after booking, the better your odds of getting a refund. Airlines hate last-minute cancellations, so do it as far in advance as possible.

Finally, mid-journey stopovers can complicate things. Say you book LAX-DEN-ORD round-trip, with a stop in Denver. Be careful about canceling the DEN-ORD leg, or you could lose your LAX-DEN flight too.

The trick is identifying round-trip fares priced way below equivalent one-ways on your intended route. It takes a bit of searching, but deals are out there if you know where to look. Sites like Mighty Travels Premium can help uncover them.

Once you’ve booked the right round-trip ticket, cancel the outbound leg you don’t need. Pay the change fee, but still fly for less overall. It’s a win-win, unless you’re the airline now losing money on what became a cheap one-way fare.