Long-term return ticket?

Hello all! I am currently planning my 15 month African trip/study abroad, and just realized I might have some trouble buying a plane ticket... Usually I like to use a site like Kayak, and to leave from a different country than I arrived in, example previously I have flown into Indonesia, out of Vietnam, into Colombia, out of Bolivia, and into Egypt, out of Turkey. So this time I was browsing (using random dates) to get an idea of ticket prices, into Ethiopia, and out of Senegal (and no, not doing that overland!) There are some really good prices for that trip, cheaper or same price as a regular return ticket.

Now the problem is, I can't buy a ticket lasting more than a year? Is my only option to buy two one-way tickets (the return ticket which I would buy a year from now), which will turn out much, much more expensive? I was also thinking I could buy a plane ticket for one year, then call airline and change return date later for a fee, but since the flying-in and flying-out airline is different this might not work??? (In not a single case was there same airline offering the entire trip for the best price, for example the Dakar to Montréal leg, AirFrance has the best flights, but they don't have flights to Ethiopia) I also thought that maybe if I talked to them directly (instead of using internet search engine), I could get a ticket for 15 months, but here again same problem since the cheaper tickets use different airlines. Obviously not interested in a RTW ticket or air passes either, since I am just doing there and back, not flying or traveling all over. What do people usually do when they are gone for a long-ish period of time??? Usually I just leave for 6 months at a time, so never had this problem!

(Sorry if this has been asked already, I did try to search a bit but so many threads (that are not relevant to me) popped up when I searched plane tickets!) Thanks for any replies!
Raye

Can you post what your departure and destination airports are for both outbound and inbound .... might come up with some ideas then.

Hello Ricky! Sorry for that omission - I guess I am just looking for general tips regarding buying tickets for such a long trip, anyways I won't be buying for another couple of months till I get confirmation from university.

Short answer - Montréal (or New York) to Addis Abbaba, Dakar to Montréal

Overly detailed answer - My first semester is in Uganda, but I have three months to travel before that. Then getting myself over to West Africa (not worried about ticket for this part), I have second semester in Ghana, then three months to travel afterwards, before going home (which is Montréal), so total of 15 months. So arrival/departure is quite flexible, as long as I get there.

I can leave from either Montréal or get myself to New York (which I often do since tickets are several hundred $ cheaper), arriving in Ethiopia, then leaving from either Dakar or anywhere around there that is the cheapest, back to Montréal.

Using Kayak, and playing around with dates (not for 15 months since it doesn't work, but just a few months to see prices), I found many flights New York-Addis, Dakar-Montréal for around $1300-1500 taxes included, which is great. This might sound horrendous for someone from Europe, but Canada-anywhere in Africa is really expensive (not to mention, a simple Montréal-Accra return ticket is the same price!). Looking at the two legs separately, the one-way are about $1000 each. :(

Thanks!

The short answer to your question is that all round trip (or open jaw as it is called when you fly into one city and out of another) flights can only be purchased for up to a year. It depends on the rules of the ticket and the airline that you purchase it through. Also, airlines do not schedule flights longer than a year in advance so it is actually impossible to purchase this.
I am in the travel industry and I have never seen anyone be able to extent a ticket longer than a year. I could be wrong but I've never seen such a ticket. What I would do if I were you is call the airline before you buy it and ask them if it is possible to extend. If you ask this in advance they might be nice and give you a waiver so you don't have to spend the extra $$ to change the date.
I still doubt that they would let you do this but it's worth a shot!
Good luck and happy travels!

I can't imagine that you can do what you want to do without paying a change fee which might be several hundred dollars. Still given the outrageous cost of one way tickets it might make some sense.

I suppose the other possibility is to plan to come home or someplace closer to home in the middle. Perhaps Canada to Africa to Europe, then Europe to Accra to Canada. After all, you need to get from one side of Africa to the other. I don't think there is much travel from Addis to Accra....How were you planning to do it?

Ruth

Koosh - Open jaw, I knew there was a name for it :) That's what I was worried about, I thought that might be the case... still, extending for a couple hundred bucks cheaper than alternative.

Ruth - That is actually a very interesting idea... I did not think of that! I have no desire to go back all the way to Canada, but anywhere in Europe might be okay. From Ethiopia I was planning on overland through East Africa, then flying from Kampala or Dar to Accra ($750), so I was budgeting a bit over $2000 total. IF I can find a good deal, your idea might work! I tried all different dates and major airport hubs, and most are really really expensive (which makes sense, since 'returning' to a different continent). I did find New York-Addis Ababa, return Dar es Salaam-Frankfurt for $1100! (Of course, this is EgyptAir :), with flights arriving in Ethiopia at 3am, leaving Tanzania 2am, 12 hour layover, so not ideal, but I'll take it!) I would need to find similar price for way back (which would be Frankfurt-Accra, return Dakar-Montréal), and then it would come out about the same price as my $1400 ticket plus $750 Africa flight. Definately something to think about, thanks!
Raye