One-way award ticket? SkyTeam adds 20% per direction

A one-way award ticket on SkyTeam partners costs 60% of the round-trip price, not half of it. That makes each direction 20% more expensive (×1.2) when you book one-way instead of round trip. SAS-operated flights carry no such mark-up: one direction costs the same however you book it.

How are one-way tickets priced on SkyTeam partners?

SAS prices SkyTeam partner tickets from a round-trip chart, and a one-way ticket costs 60% of the round-trip price. Since one direction of a round trip effectively costs half (50%), you pay 60/50 = 1.2 times as much per direction when you split the journey into one-way tickets.

The arithmetic looks like this:

With real chart prices: business to North America costs 140,000 points round trip, or 70,000 per direction. Book that same direction as a one-way and it costs 84,000 points. Within Europe in business, the round-trip price is 80,000, while a one-way costs 48,000. The pattern is identical in every cabin: 60% of the round-trip price, without exception.

What does it cost to book two one-ways instead of a round trip?

Book both directions as separate one-way tickets and you pay the mark-up twice: the whole round trip becomes 20% more expensive.

28,000 points for exactly the same seats, a bigger difference than a whole domestic round trip.

Why are SAS-operated flights different?

SAS-operated award tickets are priced from a separate, flat chart where one direction costs the same whether you book it one-way or as part of a round trip. If you only need to travel one way, SAS metal is therefore often the best place to start.

The flat SAS price applies when the entire journey is on SAS-operated flights. Add a partner segment to the same booking and the journey is priced from the partner chart, including the one-way mark-up if you book one-way. And as always after the December 2025 devaluation, it is worth double-checking the points price before planning around old numbers.

When is a one-way worth it anyway?

A 20% mark-up is not always decisive. Sometimes a one-way is the right choice:

• You genuinely only need to travel one way. A one-way at 60% is cheaper than a round trip whose return leg you never use.
• The return is going on a different programme. Outbound with EuroBonus, home with another loyalty programme. The one-way mark-up is then the price of that flexibility, and often worth paying.
• The journey is entirely SAS metal. The flat chart applies, and a one-way costs nothing extra.
• The seats only exist in one direction. Award seats come and go per direction, and a one-way now can beat a round trip that never opens up. Set up an alert for the return leg so you do not have to keep checking manually.

Frequently asked questions