As traditional carriers compete with low-cost carriers and
their one-way fares, traditional carriers have lowered one-way fares
themselves. That's the primary reason ARC managing director of enterprise
information Chuck Thackston offers for the findings in ARC's new report, Myth
Busting the Cost of One-Way Tickets.
"We noticed that there was a little bit of a spike in
[the purchase of] one-way tickets" over the past three years, he said. So the air travel
intelligence organization analyzed 350 million tickets—booked across a variety
of airlines, U.S. travel agencies and markets—and found that one-way-ticketed
trips formed 29 percent of tickets in 2014 but 42 percent during the first five
months of 2017.
The explanation, Thackston said, is that in many markets,
two one-way tickets no longer cost a huge amount more than one round-trip
ticket does. The premium for one-way fares shrank by at least 25 percent in 59
of the 200 U.S. markets with the highest booking volume through travel
agencies.
Of the idea that it's better to book a round-trip, Thackston
said, "That myth is no longer true."
What It Means for
Corporate Travel Managers
"That shift to one-way ticketing is not really apparent
yet in corporate travel," though, Thackston said. One-way-ticketed trips
remain at 31 percent to 32 percent of managed travelers' trips. That means
corporate travel managers are not yet taking advantage.
Thackston said ARC wants to call travel managers' attention
to the flexibility available to travel programs now that many one-way fares
don't cost more. Travel managers could consider, say, a nonrefundable outbound
fare and a refundable return ticket; that retains savings on the outbound
flight and gives the traveler flexibility for the return itinerary. Or travelers
could book outbound and returning flights on different carriers, which means
more schedule options.
The idea of allowing one-way bookings raises
questions about benchmarking and management of trip disruptions, which Thackston
acknowledged, noting that there also could be opportunity for travel agents and
booking tools here—to help travel buyers take advantage.