Round trip or two one-ways better if outbound might be cancelled?

I am planning a vacation in a few months to meet my husband at a conference in San Diego. Unfortunately, there is a chance that I will have a work trip the preceding week, meaning my travel plans are up in the air. If I do have a work trip, what would likely happen is I will go on my trip, and then work will pay to "return" me to San Diego rather than home, since it's closer. If I go this route, that would mean I would need to cancel the DCA->SAN leg of my personal trip but keep the SAN->DCA leg, and I would have a couple weeks notice to do so.

I would like to book my personal travel soon, while the prices are still reasonable, and since my work plans are not solidified, I would prefer to purchase both legs. The prices for booking two one-way trips on the same airline (AA) and a single round trip are essentially the same. Since there is the potential I will have to cancel the outbound leg, does it make more sense to purchase the round trip or the two one-ways?

I've already seen this question about round trip vs. two one-ways in the general case, but it doesn't address the issue of potentially having to cancel one leg in advance.

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What happens if I buy a round trip ticket and only use one-way?

Can I buy a roundtrip ticket for a one-way trip? Technically, you can buy a roundtrip ticket and only use it to go one-way, but airlines frown upon this. And, you can only skip the return flight. If you miss a segment of your trip, the airline may cancel the rest of your ticket without giving you a refund.

Can I cancel round trip ticket for one-way?

Visit one of your airline's ticket offices in the city where you travel to, to cancel the ticket in-person. Ask the representative who cancels a nonrefundable ticket to process the refund on your behalf.

Can I cancel outbound flight and keep return flight?

No, you cannot only use the return ticket. To guarantee that the airline keeps your return ticket, you are required to travel on the first part of your trip and all the way to your final destination.

Is it cheaper to do one-way or round trip?

It can be cheaper When traveling within the U.S., airlines typically price one-way flights at exactly half the cost of a round-trip. There certainly are exceptions, especially for those that fly out of smaller, regional airports.

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