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Tuesday, 03 June 2025
The US's biggest legacy airlines — American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta — sometimes charge solo travellers on one-way arrangement more than those in groups or on return tickets.
It's said flight deal analysts searched through hundreds of routes daily to confirm that it’s “real and undeniable”.
Kyle Potter of Thrifty Traveler cites a one-way United flight from Chicago-O’Hare Airport to Peoria that might cost approximately US$269 for one passenger, but says the price falls to almost a third of that if there are four passengers on the booking.
“Just US$181 apiece for that exact same standard economy ticket,” wrote Potter.
This dynamic pricing only appears to happen with one-way domestic flights, not round-trip fares or international bookings and is similar in some ways to hotel bookings, where prices are per double room or quoted as per person twin-share.
Potter believes it’s a way for airlines to keep “segmenting” their customers, such as charging business travellers who pay with a corporate card more while giving a better deal to families or groups on the same flight.