[Another brilliant re-posting from another forum... ;-)
[I've put this here in "Living" as it mostly relates to those who have driven a vehicle down to Belize to stay, and now need to find their way back to the States or Canada... 'L]
In another Forum, a reader in Salt Lake City asks:
> Cheap one-way flights? It looks cheaper to buy a RT [BZE->SLC]
[Lena:]
The trick is to not "book through".
If I go to, for example, Travelocity http://www.travelocity.com/Flights/0,,TRAVELOCITY,00.html right now and book one-way from Belize BZE to Salt Lake City SLC in February, I am shown "booked through" connecting flights on AA, Continental, Taca, etc. for $575 to $800+ USD. (Today, the equivalent roundtrip BZE-SLC-BZE is coming in at $724 and up. These fares change whimsically.)
But if I ask for a one-way from BZE to Houston IAH (which I happen to know is a hub) I'm offered a ticket on that same afternoon Continental flight for $190 (though I usually take the $195 Taca flight in the morning -- less crowded, better connections, and they still serve food).
[Interestingly, the one-way ticket in the opposite direction starts at $540, so the strategy doesn't work in the other direction.]
Then I ask for IAH to SLC separately and, lo and behold, Frontier owns that route with direct and connecting flights for $156.
$195 + 156 = $351 (plus tax & fees).
Screw Continental.
What's the catch? If you miss your connection you're not guaranteed that the next airline will honor your ticket, since you were "no show". But they probably will anyway...
BTW, FWIW, I have also used the not-booked-through strategy on roung-trip flights when I've been unable to find a booked-through flight to my liking (in this case I'm usually looking for an extended return date > 30 days at a reasonable price).
'Lena
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MissLena is Galena Alyson Canada
Her Belize Forum email is
[email protected]