One-way flights - advice?

[kryss]

So me and the wife are going to be leaving Japan and heading to Canada in June and I've been in contact with No.1 Travel, a cheap travel agent here in Japan, and I'm still reeling from their quotes for one-way flights - 158'000yen EACH. Air Canada does some special deals for returns which would work out about 150'000 for the both of us.

What are the downsides about getting return but not using it? I don't care about losing it as we'd be saving a huge wodge of cash anyway. It shouldn't be a big problem for my entry into Canada as I'll be applying for permanent residence after arriving anyway.

In the end, I'm prepared to pay the one-way fees but don't really want to.

[huxley]

I`ve used return tickets in the past for one ways, it makes no odds just go for the cheapest option, you dont need to inform the airline as they will let it go to any standbuy passangers if any. But if you are going for a Visa in the destination country I would try and get the longest return ticket you can get for the simple reason the visa people will look at your tickets etc and seeing a single may not be in your favour.
(got that info from my sis - you know what she does for a living)

[Richard.John]

And if you don't use the return portion, you might be able to apply for a refund via the airline. Not 100% on that and depends on the ticket conditions at point of sale.

[r3z]

I think you're less likely to find discounted tickets on 1-way flights so it's not unusual, especially in Japan where the ticket prices are generally high anyway and few of the airlines seem bothered about competing.

Are those price including all the tax and fuel surcharges as they also tend to add them on at the last minute so the return might come out more expensive with 2x charges added on (although on most unused rtn tickets I think you can claim such charges back even if the ticket price itself is non-refundable - but probably requires a processing fee).

When I went to Korea a couple of years ago and wanted to just fly Tokyo to Seoul and take the ferry back to Fukuoka from Pusan it was the same situation. I just bought a return and only used the outgoing portion of the ticket as recommended above.

[kryss]

Here's the info I got about the tickets:

ONEWAY TICKET
◆AIR CANADA　
◆Airfare
￥157,000
◆Tax / others
￥6,000
￣￣￣￣￣￣￣
￥163,000 (Total)
￥163,000 (Grand total)(Total×1Pax)

◆Flight Schedule (6/16-6/19 SEATS AVAILABLE NOW)
2009/06/16 AC004
TOKYO - VANCOUVER
19:00 - 12:05

2009/06/16 AC216
VANCOUVER - CALGARY
14:00 - 16:24

◆Ticket Type
ONE WAY

********************************************
A ROUNDTRIP TICKET

◆AIR CANADA　
◆Airfare
￥63,000
◆Tax / others
￥12,390
￣￣￣￣￣￣￣
￥75,390 (Total)
￥75,390 (Grand total)(Total×1Pax)

◆Flight Schedule
2009/06/16 AC004
TOKYO - VANCOUVER
19:00 - 12:05

2009/06/16 AC216
VANCOUVER - CALGARY
14:00 - 16:24

2009/07/16 AC185
CALGARY - VANCOUVER
11:20 - 11:50

2009/07/16 AC003
VANCOUVER - TOKYO
13:30 - 15:00(07/17Ar)

◆Ticket Type
1month(s)FIX./Non-Changeable

◆Fare conditions
45 days advance purchase required.

So you can see why I'm getting the return.

[r3z]

Oh, missed that it was 150k for both - 75000 rtn sounds like a good deal even if you are just using it one way. My return ticket for Tokyo-Shanghai last year cost almost the same and it is about 1/4 of the distance.

[kryss]

I Checked Air Canada's website and I might even be able to get a partial refund for the return ticket. If I can't...I'm not really bothered.