One-way or Round-trip

[xianu]

If you were studying for an academic year in China, would you buy a round-trip ticket or a one-way to get there? The prices seem so high for OW tickets.

[imron]

2 One-way trips are usually always more expensive than 1 return trip. If you know you're only going to be staying a year it's more cost effective get a one year return ticket.

[xianu]

a quick search found 1, to buy a RT ticket, you can only book 330 days in advance, and the school year doesn't end until the end of June, so if I buy a RT ticket now, the latest return date I can get would be around the end of May. Prices for those tickets booked way in advance seem pretty much the cost of 2 OW tickets. Plus I don't know when the actual return date would be. Can you even buy a OW ticket to China, or does the visa office make you have a RT ticket?

[Lu]

I'd buy a round trip. Cheaper than two one-ways, you know you can always go back even if you'd be out of money by the end of the year. You can usually change the return date after buying the ticket, so it doesn't really matter if you're not sure yet when you'll go back.

[imron]

Just remember that you can only change it up to a year from the initial flight date. You should confirm this when you buy the ticket though because some tickets have 1/3/6 month restrictions on extending the ticket date.

[Xiao Kui]

don't know where you're flying from . . I got a one way flight from NYC to Kunming last year for $600 from Air China, which to me is pretty reasonable and gives me a lot of flexibility as far as when I'm going to buy a tkt to return. But I think to get a good deal on a one-way you'll have to go with a Chinese airline, where it only comes out to abt half the price of a round-trip. For other airlines, round-trip is the less expensive option.

[sandeehoo]

I'm glad this post is created. I'm having the same problem as Xianu.

I realised that you cannot book a return date that is more than about 330 days in advance. Given how unpredictable life is, a one year study course in China will most certainly go over the 330 day mark. But buying 2 one-way tickets is definitely relatively expensive.

By the way, what is a Round-trip? Is that the same as a Return ticket? Excuse my ignorance.

[Kristyx]

You're right, a round trip is just the same as a return ticket.

I'm in a similar situation, but yesterday took the plunge and bought a one-way ticket. Just out of curiosity I priced a return ticket with the airline, returning in 330 days time (too early but I was just interested) and it was 5 times the price of my single ticket! haha I'm sure I could have gotten a cheaper return ticket with a different airline but I wanted the convenience of this particular airline.

You can't plan every last detail, so I'm quite satified with booking a one-way ticket at the moment. It also gives me the freedom to fly back from a different city if I want to go travelling after my course ends.

[imron]

You cannot *book* a return date more than that far in advance, however I believe you should be able to change the dates up to a year from your departuare date, you just have to wait until it gets closer to that date before changing i.e. you book the return date for 330 days from now, but then when it gets to 300 days (or whatever) then you change the date closer to 360 days. At least I have been able to do this before on several different occasions. Make sure you check with a travel agent that this is possible though, just to be sure you can do this with your ticket.

[onebir]

You cannot *book* a return date more than that far in advance, however I believe you should be able to change the dates up to a year from your departuare date, you just have to wait until it gets closer to that date before changing

Some airlines will give you the date change free if you mention that their online booking engine doesn't allow return dates within 12m of departure but more than 12m from now. Just get an email confirming this.

If you can find a reasonable single fare now, & have any interest whatsoever in heading south , in a years time, you might be able to get a cheap singles home from there with oasis hongkong or just possibly air asia (although I'm not sure whether they have near term plans for flights to the US)

[Poemba]

Hey guys, I know this is an old post but with the new regulations I was wondering if anything concerning this subject has changed.

I wonder if it's still possible to book a one way ticket and get an X visa. Since I want to study in China for one year and travel a bit, I can't book any return tickets. I want to go to china from the 20th of August till the beginning of August next year. I hope that's possible since my school ends in july or so, but I want to travel around a bit before I go home.

[Lu]

I'd buy a year ticket, a return ticket that is valid for one year. In your case that is just enough (end of August to beginning of August, right?). You have to set a return date when you buy it, but you can almost always change that later on, although you may have to pay a bit extra (ask the airline before you buy the ticket to make sure).

En sukses met het regelen van een visum.

[Poemba]

Hi Lu,

Thanks for the info!! En met dat visum moet het wel goed komen

[asheh]

If you are a student or teacher, you can get an ISIC card.

http://www.isic.org/

This will allow you to get some 'student fares' in STA / Council Travel (or equivalent). These fares are almost the same price as the round trip but are VALID for 1 year.

[onebir]

This will allow you to get some 'student fares' in STA / Council Travel (or equivalent). These fares are almost the same price as the round trip but are VALID for 1 year.

I don't understand - could explain this a bit?

[adrianlondon]

Each airline is different and most don't care too much about ISIC. They want to see your student card, and/or proof you're under 26, or under 32, or whatever other random rule that they feel like imposing.

Anyway, I'm just bitter because I tried to get a student ticket to Beijing in 2006 when I was studying there, but at 36 they all told me I was too old ;)

Basically, airlines usually charge quite a bit more to buy an open return (one where you don't say when you're returning, only that you want to return within 12 months) but if you match their definition of a student then they usually give you the 12 month open return (plus an increased luggage allowance!) for the same price as a cheapo fully booked and specified return.

[self-taught-mba]

(plus an increased luggage allowance!) for

Because we all know students have more stuff than say someone who is settled in life.