What is split ticketing and why is it done?

Split ticketing is when you buy 2 or more tickets each covering part of your itinerary instead of buying one ticket covering all the legs of the trip. There are two types of split tickets. The first is two one-way tickets (i.e. one ticket for BWI-Phoenix and a separate ticket Phoenix-BWI). The second is to split the ticket at the connecting city. For example, instead of buying one ticket to travel from Dulles to Hawaii via LAX you buy one Dulles-LAX roundtrip ticket and a separate LAX-Hawaii roundtrip ticket.

Split ticketing is usually done for one of three reasons –

1. To save money – Combining 2 one-way tickets is usually less expensive only in business or first class, whereas combining 2 roundtrip tickets can sometimes cut costs in any class of service. Both are more common internationally than domestically.
2. Because all of your airlines cannot be grouped together on the same ticket – For example, Southwest cannot be on a ticket with any other carrier. If your company has a discount contract with a particular carrier that carrier must usually be on a ticket by itself.
3. To make it easier to change or refund part of the ticket – In most cases airline rules say that if any portion of a ticket is non-refundable the whole thing becomes non-refundable. So if one part of the ticket is refundable and the other part of non-refundable it may be better to buy them separately to ensure that the refundable portion remains refundable.

Next week we’ll talk about the ramifications of using split tickets and the things to think about and understand when deciding if this is an option for you.