One-way fares can be cheaper

Many savvy price-conscious travelers and travel agents have adopted a secret strategy for finding the cheapest airfares: Book one-way flights to and from a destination on two different airlines.

The gambit often yields an overall price that’s cheaper than the best round-trip ticket on a single carrier.

For example, United Airlines’ fare for a last-minute round trip, with no Saturday night stay, from Washington’s Dulles International to Chicago then on to Nashville and a return to Dulles is $431.35.

But that same trip, purchased in one-way segments on different airlines, costs just $294.10. The itinerary looks like this: Dulles to Chicago on Independence Air; Chicago to Nashville on American; Nashville to Dulles on Independence.

Many low-cost carriers such as Independence, Southwest, AirTran and JetBlue sell one-way tickets that give travelers more flexibility.

Travelers often find discounted seats for one leg of a trip but not for both on the same carrier. That’s when it pays to search for one-way tickets on various airlines, said fare expert Terry Trippler of TerryTrippler.com.

“The (major) airlines have done a fantastic job of programming travelers to believe once you start on an airline, you have to stay with that airline,” he said. “Travelers should think segments, not trips. By thinking segments, you can save money.”

The search, which can be efficiently conducted over the airlines’ Web sites, may be a little time-consuming, but the savings can be significant.

Here’s another example: A round-trip flight on American Airlines between Dallas and Los Angeles leaving Tuesday and returning Friday costs $338.40. But using a one-way ticket from Dallas to Los Angeles on American and another one-way ticket from Los Angeles to Dallas on AirTran, the total price is $278.40.