Often in foreign, and in Russian airlines, plane tickets in both directions are cheaper than one. This surprising discovery leaves some passengers wary of buying tickets until they figure out the details.
When buying round-trip plane tickets, you can save a lot, sometimes paying even less than the cost of an individual one-way ticket. Why is this happening and is there any hidden fees and surcharges in this?
Carrier guarantees
It is quite simple to explain this state of affairs: by selling a one-way ticket, the carrier company pays for the flight only one way. However, the plane needs to somehow return back to its country or city of departure. It is important for the airline to ensure that every returning aircraft is well loaded. It can be quite difficult to recruit new passengers in another city or country, so it is best to provide yourself with passengers in advance, which the airline does. Round-trip tickets are a guarantee that a tourist or traveler will not buy a ticket from another company and the money, as well as seats on the plane, will remain with this carrier.
Thus, the airline gives a discount to the passenger for the second purchased ticket, which will return it back on the same flight and makes a surcharge on the ticket price for those passengers who do not fly back, thereby compensating for the costs of finding new passengers. A similar discount and mark-up can be seen on the example of other public transport tickets: buying multiple trips will always be cheaper than buying separate trips using the same mode of transport. So the carrier company can better calculate the number of passengers and the occupancy rate of the transport. For airlines, such rules usually apply only to foreign flights of Russian carriers and foreign airlines. The price of a one-way ticket between Russian cities is approximately equal to half of a round-trip ticket on the same route.
Government guarantees
Another important reason for reducing the cost of travel on foreign flights is the control of the governments of European countries and the United States over the level of emigration from neighboring countries, especially if they are developing countries. When buying a ticket to the United States or Europe only in one direction, a Russian citizen may be required to provide documents for a long-term work or study visa, or a residence permit. Tourists cannot take such tickets, they may simply not be issued a visa or not allowed on board, being delayed at passport control. A round trip ticket from a traveler is a guarantee that he will return to the country.
