Fly out with one airline and back with another.

I have noticed that when trying to purchase a "sale" offer from the budget airlines that I can often get the sale price going out but coming back I have to pay a much higher price unless I am very quick and very lucky. This is especially so if you are only looking for a 3/4 day city break. Has anyone done the following or similar. Lets say you purchase a flight to Toulouse with Aer Lingus in their "sale". You spend two nights in Toulouse and then travel the short distance to Carcassonne where you spend another two nights. Then instead of returning via Toulouse you fly home from Carcassonne with Ryanair at their "sale" price.
Maximising two different airlines sale offers?

Each airline will charge you a €5 transaction fee for paying by credit card so take this into account. Be aware also that the tax rates can be different going out as oppose to the return leg of the journey but I dont see any other major problem with doing this.

In June we flew to Reus,Salou with Ryanair and returned from Barcelona.Didn't have any problems.I don't see why you can't do it.If it works out cheaper go for it.

Just make sure that you can get confirmed bookings on both - not much point in confirming the outgoing leg of the journey and then finding that the return flight has trebled in price.

did it to rome recently - going out with Ryanair and back with Aer Lingus. This way i got the most opportune times for me to travel. However do make allowances for the different types of airport you will be using. Da Vinci was so much bigger than Ciampino it was lucky that we managed to leave enough time to make it from the check in desk to the plane. That journey alone involved the use of both a train and a bus!

For a 3/4 day break you are likely to be doing one leg near the weekend. For the cheap fares you would ideally like to be travelling on Wednesday, or sometime mid week. Same is true of long haul flights. Midweek can save you a fortune.

The buget airlines bank on getting a cheap leg and an expensive leg for most customers. They get to stick the cheap leg in the Ad's but the average of the two is more accurate. If you are very flexible you can travel pretty cheaply.

I had a wierd situation once trying to change a return date on a flight from the states. It was cheaper to buy a return ticket to Ireland than buy a one way to Ireland, or try to change the return date on the existing ticket.

Return cheaper than one way. Airlines are a mystery to me.

-Rd

Hi

Assuming your happy with the airport(s) being used, then go for it - great idea if the fares are cheaper, but sadly something I & many others I suspect, fail to ever consider. I for one, am always guilty of just booking the return journey with the same airline as I fly out with.

I think the trick with charging a passenger more for a one way flight that a return flight, is simply a scam whereby the airlines see someone traveling one way as a less likely to be, regular customer, so just rip them off on the one way journey.

Cheers

G>
http://www.rpoints.com/newbie