I have bought a one-way ticket on Etihad for a certain route. I wonder if I can convert it into a return ticket (by additional payment) on the same airline or just will have to buy another ticket now?
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3Which airline did you book with? Most of them allow you to alter bookings, but the conditions vary significantly from one airline to the next.– Chris HCommented Jul 18, 2022 at 9:25
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And from one fare to the next.– jcaronCommented Jul 18, 2022 at 9:27
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Thanks. Its Etihad.– Failed ScientistCommented Jul 18, 2022 at 9:40
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Is it not clear, that will depend first on the airline, and then the type of booking?– Robbie GoodwinCommented Jul 19, 2022 at 17:48
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3 Answers
It is often possible to do radical alterations like this to tickets. Even in the worst case, where the ticket is completely inflexible, you can still cancel it to get your government taxes back and save a few dollars by applying the money to a brand new ticket.
Where it makes any financial sense is going to depend entirely on the ticket conditions: sometimes the change fees will be so large that you save nothing compared to just cancelling and rebooking. The good news is that one-way tickets on full-service carriers like Etihad tend to be comparatively expensive and flexible, so your odds are decent. It's usually not possible to do this kind of thing online, so call up the airline and ask.
Anecdote: due to a last-minute change in plans I once had to change an existing Etihad booking from a simple A to B return into a C-B, B-A reverse open jaw. This turned out to be cheaper than the original ticket, so Etihad gave me the itinerary I wanted and a partial refund on top!
answered Jul 18, 2022 at 11:41
Some tickets can be converted, others not.
Pricing is impossible to predict. Price it out both ways and go with the version you like best (availability, price, flexibility, etc) .
If you keep it seperate tickets, you can also fly the return with a completely different airline, so there may be better options that Etihad.
Price the return trip as a separate ticket, but before you buy, call Etihad and see if they'll give you a deal on a round trip.
Etihad is a first tier flag carrier, and they tend to price round trips quite differently than "two one-ways". And round trip tickets are as a rule more favorably priced (otherwise everyone would just book two one-ways lol).
You can game this out by "going through the motions" of buying all new tickets in the ticket booking engine, try it either way and see. But those are only hints... talking to Etihad will be definitive.
It's impossible to say in advance, due to the way demand pricing works.
answered Jul 20, 2022 at 0:30
Harper - Reinstate MonicaHarper - Reinstate Monica
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I have no idea how good (or bad) carrier Etihad is. But their customer service is awful. They have no contact email address on their website, and the support on the one provide (involving Etihad guest in the address) always asks me to contact the main Etihad's support as they handle only EtihadGuest queries. The contact number for my country doesn't work either. Already lost on a big sale due to their late reply (which was basically a noreply/directing me back to contact main Etihad). Commented Jul 20, 2022 at 13:28
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@Failed I consider email support to be a joke at best. They can ignore it or blow you off. Even inside corporate, you'll get yelled at for not opening a ticket. There is no expectation of urgency with email. You need to call them on the phone. As far as "the number doesn't work in my country", the trouble is, you were trying the "toll free number" (in which the receiver pays the charges) and those don't work internationally. You need to make a point to ask for the non-toll-free number, and then call it on your own dime. This doesn't seem like Etihad's fault, it seems like pilot error. Commented Jul 20, 2022 at 16:32