Crazy Flight Prices

[HauptmannUK]

I have a family member who has worked in the London office of one of the Middle Eastern carriers for about the last 20 years. His take is that prices will only be going up. Airlines are not going for passenger numbers, they are going for margin per passenger. Maybe fewer flights, but full flights with higher ticket prices. Moreover 'green' taxes on flights are predicted to rise sharply in many countries. There are still enough people prepared to pay up though. There is also a growing pilot shortage - apparently 50,000 short in a few years.  His view is that the era of 'cheap' long haul is gone forever. 

[Tuvoc]

10 hours ago, HauptmannUK said:

His view is that the era of 'cheap' long haul is gone forever. 

Yes, I think he is correct on that.

[KhaoYai]

11 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

What is the best way to buy flights these days ?

All the online travel agencies seem to be bait and switch merchants and they don't have the fares that there are advertising and its a huge risk buying from them .

  The only other way is to go to the individual airlines webpages and search there individually.

   Is there an easier more convenient way to book flights ?

I use Travelsupermarket.com and I've never had a problem.  I have occasionally had a price come up during a search and when I click on it to go to the agent's site - a higher price is offered. However, my experience with Flightsupermarket.com is that 99% of the flights that came up during a search were available at the price offered - and I've made a lot of bookings through them.

 

One area where there can be problems is that included with the price listings on a search, there are often adverts for your chosen destination from agents that have not included their price in the search. They make claims of very low prices that I doubt have ever existed and sure enough, when you call them, the price is not even near the 'from' prices in their advert.

 

One notable company in that regard is Flights Guru.  They were recently advertising flights to Bangkok from £345 or somewhere around that.  When I called they quoted me closer to £1800 for such a flight!!!

 

I have a rule though, I always check a flight price found on the site against going direct to the airline.  If the airline are less than £30 more expensive, I book with the airline.  When you book on Travelsupermarket, you normally get a comparison with the airline but I don't trust that.  I'm not accusing them of anything but I have found discrepancies between Travelsupermarket's 'airline price' and the price on the airline's website. That could be down to the airline though.

 

I also won't book with any agent that does not have a working telephone number.

 

I'm not flying as much at the moment but pre-covid I was traveling to Thailand every 8 weeks so price really did matter - that's why I am prepared to use an agent rather than the airline. I mentioned the £30 difference above but I would guess that on average, I save £100+ per flight by using an agent.  I think though, that the airlines prices are slowly getting closer to those of agent's. My last 3 flights have all been direct.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by KhaoYai

[nigelforbes]

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Yes... Use a search function such as SkyScanner or Google Flights... 

 

Look for the best options price etc...  then go to direct to the airline website and see if the price is similar.... (it usually is). 

 

 

 

The same is often true of hotel prices using Agoda etc, especially if you call the hotel and ask. We stayed in a hotel two nights ago, Agoda price was 1,800, hotel direct price was 1,500, which probably contravenes some Agoda rule or other but there you are, we're not going to complain 

[KhaoYai]

The airlines are telling us that current high ticket prices are down to supply and demand.  I'm not sure that is entirely true.  I was supposed to fly from Manchester to Bangkok (via Doha) on 8 April - evening flight.  Unfortunately that flight was cancelled due to a technical issue with the aircraft - but that's another story - however, this was Easter weekend in the UK, normally a busy time for travel.

 

There were only around 150 people on the flight and when I mentioned to the staff that it seemed very quiet, they told me that the morning flights had all been full.  Well that certainly wasn't the case the next day - not only were Qatar able to fit all the passengers from the cancelled flight onto the next morning's flight, there were still some empty seats left over.

 

Similar story with the Doha-BKK leg, there were empty seats - something I've never seen on an  Easter bank holiday weekend before.

 

OK, this is just 2 flights but it certainly doesn't fit with the airline's claims.

 

How full have your recent flights been?

[richard_smith237]

26 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

How full have your recent flights been?

I do the outbound and inbound Bangkok - Doha route a lot.... its always very busy.

 

QR had to put on an additional flight due to demand, so now there are 4 flights for the same BKK-DOH route, 3 of them within 2 hours at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm...  (and also a flight at 2:30am)... 

 

That indicates to me that things are very busy for the Asia-Middle East sector.

Maybe the European sectors are quieter... ?

 

 

 

 

 

[KhaoYai]

20 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Maybe the European sectors are quieter... ?

Possibly but there were some empty seats on the Doha-BKK leg.

 

Anyway, the Thai government has at last realised that tourists are not spending money - primarily because they've spent most of their cash on flights.  Let's see if their threat to the airlines that they will employ more staff and open up new slots, thereby introducing the potential of competition has any effect.

 

I certainly spent less on my recent trip. I have a set budget each time and the flight price is included so clearly, the more expensive the flight, the less I have to spend.  I suspect most people do the same - few have a limitless supply of cash.

 

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by KhaoYai

[Tuvoc]

I had an interesting experience recently. Timing can make a huge difference.  Sometimes, you wait closer to the time and seats get scarce and the prices go up. Other times, if the flights aren't full, the prices go down. Post covid it has been the former usually. Book early has usually been best post-Covid.  But this time, in late March I booked a ticket from AKL to BKK via KL, for travel late May - so nearly 2 months ahead. Last week I cancelled the ticket and got a full refund because I thought I would not be able to travel.  I'd bought the class of fare where there was no penalty, so 100% refund. My credit card was refunded in a couple of days. This week I found that I could in fact travel, and booked again the exact same flights on the same dates - and it was $500 cheaper than before. Not often you get a win like that.

[n00dle]

im flying my kid in from the US for the summer and the lowest price i could find is 2400 USD. 

 

Dat focking hurts

Edited May 3, 2023 by n00dle

[Seeall]

Even if I could afford to fly business class, I'm always on the hunt for the best prices. For me, it's less about saving the cash and more about the thrill of getting a good deal. 

 

One trick I always use is checking for alternate days and nearby airports when searching. It's surprising how much difference a day or a slightly further airport can make in the price.

 

Last month, I snagged a flight from New York to London for just $1500! My agent, Martin Belford from TBC, found it. He might be useful for someone looking.

[Nick Carter icp]

Just got a London-BKK return  flight for 590 Quid with a free date change 

[Nick Carter icp]

On 3/28/2023 at 1:47 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Yes... Use a search function such as SkyScanner or Google Flights... 

 

Look for the best options price etc...  then go to direct to the airline website and see if the price is similar.... (it usually is). 

 

 

 

 

   Went direct to an airline, and just got  London  >Thailand return flight for 509 GBP

[Chivas]

Out of interest I pulled up a mid June 2 weeker trip literally today and China Eastern was coming in at £451

Gatwick Bangkok

Fairly long routing but not excessively so. I'm actually flying them home late in March. The reviews were better than I might have expected and using A330 on main leg  2-4-2 across in economy and seats with 32 and 33" seat pitch

 

I may book that/

[proton]

13 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Went direct to an airline, and just got  London  >Thailand return flight for 509 GBP

what airline?

[Nick Carter icp]

8 hours ago, proton said:

what airline?

 

  I'll let you know after my flight and when I got there , I don't want my flight full of ASEANNOW members 

[scottiejohn]

5 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

  I'll let you know after my flight and when I got there , I don't want my flight full of ASEANNOW members 

Are there enough truly living and fit enough ASEANNOW members around to actually fill a long haul  flight!

[proton]

6 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

  I'll let you know after my flight and when I got there , I don't want my flight full of ASEANNOW members 

 

Not many want to go on crappy airlines like Chinese or Malaysian or ones which take 30 hours anyway so I would not worry about it 😁

Edited February 20 by proton

[Nick Carter icp]

10 hours ago, proton said:

 

Not many want to go on crappy airlines like Chinese or Malaysian or ones which take 30 hours anyway so I would not worry about it 😁

 

   Its a two hour stop over and I choose that flight because it doesn't arrive in Bangkok , where immigration can be strict 

[Chivas]

On 2/20/2024 at 1:40 AM, proton said:

 

Not many want to go on crappy airlines like Chinese or Malaysian or ones which take 30 hours anyway so I would not worry about it 😁

 

Nothing wrong with Malaysian (ignoring the 2 motors they lost)

Flown them on 3 legs from London (one return ticket and one single) and probably go down in my top 5 of different carriers I've used to or fro Bangkok (26 in total now soon to be 27)

Bit of a long routing I acknowledge

 

The 27th will be China Eastern in March to finish off the British winter trips

 

Will review it here post trip

 

Fare was just £212 one way back to London absolute no brainer...again bit of a long routing but I enjoy flying
 

Other 4 in that top five would be the stand out Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Eva and Qantas

[Nick Carter icp]

Now at Gatwick and just checked in .

Check in lady asked me why I dont have a visa for the duration of my stay 

The supervisor came over and stated that Thailand had changed its rules in the last few days and tourists do not need to have a return ticket within their visa length .

   Tourists can now enter Thailand without a return ticket returning by their visa leave by date , as long as they have a return ticket

[Chivas]

15 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

Now at Gatwick and just checked in .

Check in lady asked me why I dont have a visa for the duration of my stay 

The supervisor came over and stated that Thailand had changed its rules in the last few days and tourists do not need to have a return ticket within their visa length .

   Tourists can now enter Thailand without a return ticket returning by their visa leave by date , as long as they have a return ticket

 

lol its always been that way I assure you

For example you have a 6 month holiday and you're aged say 40

 

Unless you've purchased some sort of elite visa the best you could obtain is an METV and utilise it to cover the 6 months

 

So much much misinformation over this topic

 

 

Edited February 27 by Chivas

[Nick Carter icp]

On 2/19/2024 at 5:36 PM, proton said:

what airline?

 

  That 1980's Scottish pop star who did a  duet with Prince , her airline 

[zhounan]

They take your money to recover from plandemic losses.

[Chivas]

13 hours ago, zhounan said:

They take your money to recover from plandemic losses.

 

I suggest you watch online current ITV docu/drama "Breathtaking" which is going to win every gong going.....tells the story of one of the UK's top Doctors and her real time experience

 

No one will ever say again who watches that it was a "plandemic"

 

Insulting beyond belief

[Chivas]

On 3/29/2023 at 12:46 AM, KhaoYai said:

I use Travelsupermarket.com and I've never had a problem.  I have occasionally had a price come up during a search and when I click on it to go to the agent's site - a higher price is offered. However, my experience with Flightsupermarket.com is that 99% of the flights that came up during a search were available at the price offered - and I've made a lot of bookings through them.

 

One area where there can be problems is that included with the price listings on a search, there are often adverts for your chosen destination from agents that have not included their price in the search. They make claims of very low prices that I doubt have ever existed and sure enough, when you call them, the price is not even near the 'from' prices in their advert.

 

One notable company in that regard is Flights Guru.  They were recently advertising flights to Bangkok from £345 or somewhere around that.  When I called they quoted me closer to £1800 for such a flight!!!

 

I have a rule though, I always check a flight price found on the site against going direct to the airline.  If the airline are less than £30 more expensive, I book with the airline.  When you book on Travelsupermarket, you normally get a comparison with the airline but I don't trust that.  I'm not accusing them of anything but I have found discrepancies between Travelsupermarket's 'airline price' and the price on the airline's website. That could be down to the airline though.

 

I also won't book with any agent that does not have a working telephone number.

 

I'm not flying as much at the moment but pre-covid I was traveling to Thailand every 8 weeks so price really did matter - that's why I am prepared to use an agent rather than the airline. I mentioned the £30 difference above but I would guess that on average, I save £100+ per flight by using an agent.  I think though, that the airlines prices are slowly getting closer to those of agent's. My last 3 flights have all been direct.

 

 

 

Likewise I use Travel Supermarket after first checking preferred againt Travel Trolley

 

Have only ever booked 5 times with airlines and on two occasions had issues......on the other hand Travel Trolley bent over backwards twice to help me when I needed to change dates including on one trip changing the outbound sector normally never an aoption

 

Agent for me every time because it you do have a problem you've got two pronged attack on the airline itself. Anyone who claims if you book with an agent than the airline wont help you is talking utter shight

[Nick Carter icp]

On 2/27/2024 at 7:43 AM, Chivas said:

 

lol its always been that way I assure you

For example you have a 6 month holiday and you're aged say 40

 

Unless you've purchased some sort of elite visa the best you could obtain is an METV and utilise it to cover the 6 months

 

So much much misinformation over this topic

 

 

 

   The rules previously were that you needed to have a return flight ticket within the timescale of the visa you have or will be getting ,  although that rule wasn't always enforced by airport check-in staff.   That rule has now changed and now you just need to have a return ticket.

  My post wasn't misinformation 

[Nick Carter icp]

22 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

  That 1980's Scottish pop star who did a  duet with Prince , her airline 

 

   Shina Eastern

[Chivas]

15 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   The rules previously were that you needed to have a return flight ticket within the timescale of the visa you have or will be getting

 

Wrong.

Again you've completely overlooked just why its wrong and I gave you a perfect example earlier.

Its completely spurious information you are giving

 

I'll go further

I arrived on Etihad on 25th October one way with 60 day Evisa....no return ticket all

 

I arrived on Singapore on 18th January on return portion of round ticket (so now effectively one way) on 60 day Evisa with no further onward ticket again

 

By your "rules" of previous I would have been hung out to dry

 

I'll repeat for example if you are aged 40 with no elite visa and you have a 12 month return ticket to Thailand it is simply impossible to have an advance visa to cover that period

[Chivas]

I'll copy and paste last sentence and alter 1 word Nick....

 

"I'll repeat for example if you are aged 40 with no elite visa and you have a 12 month return ticket to Thailand it was simply impossible to have an advance visa to cover that period "

 

That now covers the period up to a few days ago when ground handling at Gatwick gave you wrong information

[Nick Carter icp]

3 hours ago, Chivas said:

 

Wrong.

Again you've completely overlooked just why its wrong and I gave you a perfect example earlier.

Its completely spurious information you are giving

 

I'll go further

I arrived on Etihad on 25th October one way with 60 day Evisa....no return ticket all

 

I arrived on Singapore on 18th January on return portion of round ticket (so now effectively one way) on 60 day Evisa with no further onward ticket again

 

By your "rules" of previous I would have been hung out to dry

 

I'll repeat for example if you are aged 40 with no elite visa and you have a 12 month return ticket to Thailand it is simply impossible to have an advance visa to cover that period

 

   Did you not understand my previous reply ?

There were rules, but they weren't always adhered to , just because you weren't made to follow the rules, that doesn't mean that the rule was non existent