Here is an open secret. I love flying Emirates. In my opinion (which you may not care about), Emirates is jointly ranked at the top in Economy (with Singapore Airlines) and Business (with Virgin Atlantic).
If you live in Dubai, Emirates is the default choice of airline. You can fly non-stop to pretty much anywhere in the world.
Recently, I stumbled upon a neat trick while booking a one-way business class ticket on Emirates. So I thought of sharing it with you.
One-Way Fares vs Return Fares
It is well-known fact that one-way tickets for many airlines tend to be a lot more expensive than 50% of a return journey. For many of Emirates’ flights, one-way fares can be as much as return fares.
For example, see the one-way business fare from Dubai (DXB) to London (LHR). This costs AED 12,520 ($ 3,400).
On the other hand, a round-trip ticket on the same onward journey date costs AED 13,625 ($ 3,700)
Mixed Class Fares
Emirates allows you to book mixed-class itinerary on its website. You need to go to the advanced search option. Let us revisit the above example. If I wanted to travel one-way between Dubai to London on Business, I can book a return ticket in Economy for any date.
If you do this, you get the same fare as you would have got for a return journey. Note the Business Fare of AED 6,860 ($ 1,870).
There you go. The total fare for the above reservation will be AED 8,385 ($ 2,280). This is 33% lower than the one-way fare of $ 3,400.
Of course, you may choose not to travel the return leg at all. Although, you will not be eligible for a refund. Note that this is not the same as a ‘hidden-city’ booking. There can be multiple reasons why you could not take the return flight.
Have you tried this before? Let us know in comments below.
Your example is based on the departure tax (APD) which taxes Economy and Business/First differently and on the distance of the LHR-XXX sector. Your stumbling is only applicable to UK flights. Nice for those who didn’t know, but frequent travellers to the UK will be very aware of this and often book a ticket to AMS/DUB/CPH in Economy to avoid the APD. Then use the international carrier of choice for a round-trip, open-jaw Business/First class ticket
Good point. I haven’t investigated fully but I don’t think this is the only reason. I had also seen this for a flight to Cape Town for example.