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Can you buy the same ticket at a lower price if you buy it from another country?

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Re: Can you buy the same ticket at a lower price if you buy it from another country?

#3
I travel to my home country once a year to visit family, but have it set up so that my origin for the round trip is the home country (ie XYZ-SFO-XYZ rather than SFO-XYZ-SFO). The ticket is generally half the cost, which adds up when you're traveling with family.

I can only do this because I consistently travel to that same place every year, otherwise I wouldn't be able to swap the origin. It also requires you knowing your dates in advance, but generally, even if I have to change the ticket, it's still much cheaper to pay the difference.

Re: Can you buy the same ticket at a lower price if you buy it from another country?

#4
Recently I paid to book better seats on an Air France flight and since the website was a hot mess (specifically the payment portal) I tried various VPNs to try and get through. To my surprise, prices were significantly different (about ~20% variation) depending on country, and it was most expensive in...France.

This was on a flight that had already been booked from the US long ago.

Re: Can you buy the same ticket at a lower price if you buy it from another country?

#5

I travel to my home country once a year to visit family, but have it set up so that my origin for the round trip is the home country (ie XYZ-SFO-XYZ rather than SFO-XYZ-SFO). The ticket is generally half the cost, which adds up when you're traveling with family. I can only do this because I consistently travel to that same place every year, otherwise I wouldn't be able to swap the origin. It also requires you knowing…

In the same situation here.

Yes, it looks like traveling outbound from some major hubs is more expensive than from other places. A round trip SFO-XYZ two week ticket can be substantially more expensive than XYZ-SFO round trip for the same period.

Note that depending on when you travel and for how long, a SFO-XYZ-SFO ticket might be more expensive also because it is a shorter ticket (1 month or 3 month ticket) and it hits a high season period ("tourist season"), whereas the XYZ-SFO-XYZ is a long-term ticket (12 months) that avoids (most of) the high season.

Re: Can you buy the same ticket at a lower price if you buy it from another country?

#6

I travel to my home country once a year to visit family, but have it set up so that my origin for the round trip is the home country (ie XYZ-SFO-XYZ rather than SFO-XYZ-SFO). The ticket is generally half the cost, which adds up when you're traveling with family. I can only do this because I consistently travel to that same place every year, otherwise I wouldn't be able to swap the origin. It also requires you knowing…

Please elaborate since this is not clear. Are you actually doing a round trip on SFO-XYZ-SFO but buying two half priced (or lower than half priced) tickets for XYZ-SFO-XYZ (date 1) and XYZ-SFO-XYZ (date 2) and not using one leg on each of those tickets? Long ago I’d read that airlines don’t take this well.

Re: Can you buy the same ticket at a lower price if you buy it from another country?

#7
post #6

I travel to my home country once a year to visit family, but have it set up so that my origin for the round trip is the home country (ie XYZ-SFO-XYZ rather than SFO-XYZ-SFO). The ticket is generally half the cost, which adds up when you're traveling with family. I can only do this because I consistently travel to that same place every year, otherwise I wouldn't be able to swap the origin. It also requires you knowing…

Please elaborate since this is not clear. Are you actually doing a round trip on SFO-XYZ-SFO but buying two half priced (or lower than half priced) tickets for XYZ-SFO-XYZ (date 1) and XYZ-SFO-XYZ (date 2) and not using one leg on each of those tickets ? Long ago I’d read that airlines don’t take this well.

Also curious, since I imagine airlines try to cancel subsequent flights if you didn’t get on the initial flight to ensure someone gets in that seat (at a higher price)

Re: Can you buy the same ticket at a lower price if you buy it from another country?

#8
post #6

I travel to my home country once a year to visit family, but have it set up so that my origin for the round trip is the home country (ie XYZ-SFO-XYZ rather than SFO-XYZ-SFO). The ticket is generally half the cost, which adds up when you're traveling with family. I can only do this because I consistently travel to that same place every year, otherwise I wouldn't be able to swap the origin. It also requires you knowing…

Please elaborate since this is not clear. Are you actually doing a round trip on SFO-XYZ-SFO but buying two half priced (or lower than half priced) tickets for XYZ-SFO-XYZ (date 1) and XYZ-SFO-XYZ (date 2) and not using one leg on each of those tickets ? Long ago I’d read that airlines don’t take this well.

Maybe buy a one way ticket once and then round trip in the other direction in the future

Re: Can you buy the same ticket at a lower price if you buy it from another country?

#9
post #4

Recently I paid to book better seats on an Air France flight and since the website was a hot mess (specifically the payment portal) I tried various VPNs to try and get through. To my surprise, prices were significantly different (about ~20% variation) depending on country, and it was most expensive in...France. This was on a flight that had already been booked from the US long ago.

Could be taxes making up the difference, 20% sounds suspiciously close to the French V.A.T. rate of... 20% [1].

  [1] https://www.vatupdate.com/2021/04/21/vat-rates-in-france/

Re: Can you buy the same ticket at a lower price if you buy it from another country?

#10
post #6

I travel to my home country once a year to visit family, but have it set up so that my origin for the round trip is the home country (ie XYZ-SFO-XYZ rather than SFO-XYZ-SFO). The ticket is generally half the cost, which adds up when you're traveling with family. I can only do this because I consistently travel to that same place every year, otherwise I wouldn't be able to swap the origin. It also requires you knowing…

Please elaborate since this is not clear. Are you actually doing a round trip on SFO-XYZ-SFO but buying two half priced (or lower than half priced) tickets for XYZ-SFO-XYZ (date 1) and XYZ-SFO-XYZ (date 2) and not using one leg on each of those tickets ? Long ago I’d read that airlines don’t take this well.

I assumed that this year they buy the XYZ-SFO portion of their trip and the SFO-XYZ portion of next years.
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