One-Way Flights

Long story short, I had a one-way flight booked for July 8^th from Atlanta to Luxembourg (via London) since February. And since I promised to keep this portion short, I’ll spare the details and just say that I considered it a freebie, or a bonus, and was willing to lose the ticket if I couldn’t find a flight back to Atlanta.  The problem is, when flying internationally, one-way tickets tend to cost more money than a round-trip ticket. A little strange, but mainly just an airline tactic to make sure you book your whole trip with them. Or maybe to ensure balanced flights going both directions?

Every few weeks I would check my favorite flight-finding website, kayak, for ticket prices, hoping I would find a cheap round trip ticket which I could justify only using half. But rarely can you use the word “cheap” to describe flying to Europe in the summer.  Flight prices to Europe are sometimes more than double in the summer than in the springtime or autumn. But after searching and searching, the boyfriend and I discovered that Air Berlin offers one-way tickets for half the price of their round trip fares! I decided I could justify that half-price ticket (since my flight over to Europe was kinda free), so I booked the flight.

Searching for flight deals online and actually boarding the plane are too different things. When looking online I turn into Ms. Frugal, rarely considering the hassle involved in some of the connections I book for myself. And when I booked this return flight back to America it was no different. Air Berlin is nice enough to offer reasonably-priced one-way tickets, but their departure airports near Luxembourg mostly connect through Berlin (that is way out of the way) with the exception of Dusseldorf. Then I had to choose an arrival airport in America that would offer a cheap connection to Atlanta (which I would purchase separately).  A New York connection was too problematic since it involved different airports; same with DC; Chicago was an option, but domestic connections were outrageously expensive.

Checking in for my flight from Dusseldorf.

Alas I found one that would work: A flight departing from Dusseldorf airport flying direct to Fort Myers, Florida (who knew that would be a direct flight?!). Then I separately purchased a flight from Fort Myers to Atlanta for under $100. This was a slightly risky move since booking separately means I am responsible if I miss my connecting flight, not the airline.  But I gave myself a three-hour connection time, which I figured should be plenty. To be extra safe I also tracked the flight for a few days and it seemed that Air Berlin flight to Fort Myers was regularly one time: a good sign!

I have another story to tell about the flight, so you’ll have to check back to read about the connection tomorrow!