Child's One-Way Ticket BNE to YOW on March 15 with Grandparents? Are cheap tickets possible?

Lnowindex on 26/12/2014 - 18:05
Last edited 27/12/2014 - 18:20

My parents are visiting from Canada and I would like to send my 3-year-old back with them and then bring him back later with me when I go over to join them.

Ideally, I'd just get him a one-way ticket on the flights they are booked on (see below), but the price for one way is more than their return tickets ~$3400 vs ~$2900 return.

March 15 2015
CX156 Dep BNE 00:50 Arr HKG 07:25
CX828 Dep HKG 10:40 Arr YYZ 13:30
AC458 Dep YYZ 16:10 Arr YOW 17:16

My mom hasn't started her trip yet. She departs from Canada on Dec 29. I know that it is cheaper to get a ticket via the USA, so one option is to try to see if we can delay her trip by a year and she travels with the kid on a new ticket. Would she be entitled to get some kind of companion fare?

I don't know why the ticket has gotten to be so dear. I can only guess that the plane is nearly booked out.

I would like to keep my parents travelling together because the kid will probably be a handful and my mom is physically unable to lift a sleeping kid, if need be, while my dad would probably loose track of him in one of the airports.
I don't know when I will be going over to join them, so I can't book my flights until probably early March.

Thanks!

Travel

Comments

  • inherentchoice on 27/12/2014 - 00:00

    http://adioso.com/au/bne-to-yow-march-15

    According to that search on Adioso an (adult) one-way ticket can be had for $1470, arriving at YOW about 30 minutes after your grandparents.

    But I would have no idea if a young child could sit at an airport for 9 hours on the other side of the world by himself?!?

    • nowindex on 27/12/2014 - 10:32

      That is the problem. The airlines can't cope with an unaccompanied minor so young. He needs to travel with a guardian.

      Most online booking things I've seen won't allow you to book a child's ticket without an adult ticket, so if I can manage to get him on their flight, I will have to book through an agent or their phone system.

      Then I still need to ask if there is a companion fare for a guardian if it is better to send him on a different flight.

      • inherentchoice on 27/12/2014 - 20:13

        IF you need those three specific flights I doubt there is any way to get a cheaper fare.

        Only way might be if the grandparents have a ticket which allows them to change their flights to a different date which is cheaper.

        • nowindex on 27/12/2014 - 20:57

          Thanks, I will have a look into that.

  • donga100 on 28/12/2014 - 10:25
    +2

    If you book a return ticket BNE-HKG-YYZ-HKG-BNE on the flights listed above it will cost $2161. Add on a separate one way flight YYZ-YOW using the same flight listed above for $230. Total comes to $2400 for the exact flights you want and you might even be able to make the return portion of the ticket for a date that suits your plans too.

    • nowindex on 31/12/2014 - 17:10
      +1

      Thanks donga!

      I started booking as you suggested, but I had to book my own tickets to attach his return with (not allowed to go unaccompanied at his age).

      Not wanting to tie myself to any particular flights at this point, I checked Adioso again for a one-way ticket. Since I last checked, about 2 weeks ago, the price for the same flights dropped to ~$1500!

      I booked through their phone system and the children's ticket ended up ~$1200.

      As I said before, I have no knowledge as to how airlines price their tickets, but I am happy that the one way price dropped by more than 50%.

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