Shocked at Prices for Flights in December 2024

[BenStark]

4 minutes ago, Seppius said:

BA is now coming up 850 slightly different dates, the Thai ones have gone back up. Search by whole month for depart and return

 

Why don't I get the same prices, using the same search engine with the same dates. We are talking about 30% difference

[Seppius]

Just now, BenStark said:

 

Why don't I get the same prices, using the same search engine with the same dates. We are talking about 30% difference

Strange Ben, not sure why, I live here but use a UK VPN, just searched again

[BenStark]

11 minutes ago, Seppius said:

Strange Ben, not sure why, I live here but use a UK VPN, just searched again

 

With VPN enabled I get 892 on the those dates, and 1162 for Eva on the 16 > 28 dates, so VPN indeed seems to give better results.

 

Learned something new today

[blazes]

9 hours ago, BenStark said:

 

With VPN enabled I get 892 on the those dates, and 1162 for Eva on the 16 > 28 dates, so VPN indeed seems to give better results.

 

Learned something new today

 

I don't follow: why is using one's VPN likely to give better results?  My VPN is on almost permanently, so I can't easily distinguish whether that is good or bad in the searches we are talking about here.

[Chivas]

13 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Which agents do you use that are giving you a much better price than the Airline Websites ???

 

I could name at least 10 without drawing breath

Travel agents whether physical or online are the life blood of the aviation industry

 

They exist as consolidators by buying blocks of discounted seats ensuring that the airline reaches minimum income on any one flight

 

I'd love to know how much I have saved long haul via agents

 

[Rampant Rabbit]

15 hours ago, Chivas said:

 

No standard return on Oman Air in fact half the price of what the OP was suggesting

 

Lot of you guys enjoy throwing money away by booking direct with airlines is half the problem and this myriad of spurious information which claims if you book with an agent you cant contact the airline subsequently for any reason

 

Utter boll****

ok so i was  correct also GULF air  can be even cheaper, Emirates are  a joke I paid £1700 last year with Gulf, Emirates wanted £4000 .....hilarious and Gulf And  Oman both use  new 787's with direct aisle access, Theyre darn good  seats.

Service like all of them these  days ( inc  emirates), mediocre in Gulf, absolute sheit with Oman

[superal]

9 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Not quite... I booked a flight (£2500) through an agent with Qatar Airways. 

Qatar Airways cancelled the flight 2 days before hand...   I put in a claim with Qatar Airways, the response was that I had to put a claim in with the Travel Agent.

 

Of course, travel agent put in their claim, 5 months later offered me 80% of my money back with the excuse that it was not their fault the ticket was cancelled and they still had costs to cover - I reverted to an ombudsman and received a full refund eventually. 

 

The initial issue here was that as the ticket was booked through an agent the Airline simply was not interested in dealing with me.\

 

 

 

 

Booking with agents may get you a cheaper ticket but if there is a cancellation of your flight , you are on your own if booked with an agent , as you have said . If booked with an airline direct and the flight is cancelled the airline will offer an alternative flight . However , recovering your money from a cancellation is not always straight forward , often with agents and sometimes with airlines . That is why it is prudent to take out a travel insurance at the time of booking because the insurer will pay you out whilst dealing with the agent / airline . 

Further more , there are many dodgy agents out there and some show a London office but they are often based in India and the Indian agent says his name is Dave , Mike , Peter etc . It was such a company that ripped me off for a grand but I recovered it within 1 week using my banks fraud team .

Lastly the likes of Momondo , Skyscanner , Kayak etc , are not direct agents , they are third parties acting for many direct agencies . Not forgetting that when booking with agencies you must check your luggage allowance as often that come as an expensive extra . Unlike with airlines , booking with agents , sometimes does not give you the option to select your seats which could be a problem if travelling with family or friends which could mean you are sat apart , especially on a popular flight .  

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, Chivas said:

18 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Which agents do you use that are giving you a much better price than the Airline Websites ???

 

I could name at least 10 without drawing breath

Travel agents whether physical or online are the life blood of the aviation industry

 

They exist as consolidators by buying blocks of discounted seats ensuring that the airline reaches minimum income on any one flight

 

You could...  Yet you didn't.....    

 

I have never found any travel agents cheaper by any worthy margin (i.e. some consolidators on Skyscanner etc ring up cheaper prices by a marginal etc).

 

 

4 hours ago, Chivas said:

I'd love to know how much I have saved long haul via agents

Me too.. but first of all I'd like to know how much I could save on Summer and Christmas tickets to the UK with one of the agents you say are always cheaper than going direct with an airline.

 

 

You can name 10 without drawing breath ??? -  how about just naming one ?

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, Chivas said:

18 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Which agents do you use that are giving you a much better price than the Airline Websites ???

 

I could name at least 10 without drawing breath

Travel agents whether physical or online are the life blood of the aviation industry

 

They exist as consolidators by buying blocks of discounted seats ensuring that the airline reaches minimum income on any one flight

 

You could...  Yet you didn't.....    

 

I have never found any travel agents cheaper by any worthy margin (i.e. some consolidators on Skyscanner etc ring up cheaper prices by a marginal etc).

 

 

4 hours ago, Chivas said:

I'd love to know how much I have saved long haul via agents

Me too.. but first of all I'd like to know how much I could save on Summer and Christmas tickets to the UK with one of the agents you say are always cheaper than going direct with an airline.

 

 

You can name 10 without drawing breath ??? -  how about just naming one ?

 

 

 

[Chivas]

Absolutely classic case in real time yesterday of why I will ALWAYS use an agent 99% of the time rather than direct with airline

 

Friday I had issues with China Eastern (not huge but something that needed sorting)......As in Thailand I attempt to get hold of them via Phone Calls to Bangkok offices and Airport office (closed all weekend)......I contact via Twitter....no response.......I contact via FB page....no response

 

Instead I email to Travel Trolley back in London knowing that office wasnt open until 9am the Saturday morning.........at 09.46 back comes the soothing email that all is well its a glitch with the China Eastern website we've checked and checked and status is good to go both sectors as expected

 

This is WHY I was always use an agent because they are there to serve you because you're their customer

 

Out of interest the fare I paid was available for just £9 more direct from CE....not a chance in hell would I have paid it and rightfully so because I'd be sat in hotel waiting for taxi wondering if their was a real problem

Edited March 17 by Chivas

[Chivas]

Why someone would put a sad emoli above I have absolutely no idea lol

[Chivas]

On 3/14/2024 at 4:50 AM, richard_smith237 said:

 

You could...  Yet you didn't.....    

 

I have never found any travel agents cheaper by any worthy margin (i.e. some consolidators on Skyscanner etc ring up cheaper prices by a marginal etc).

 

 

Me too.. but first of all I'd like to know how much I could save on Summer and Christmas tickets to the UK with one of the agents you say are always cheaper than going direct with an airline.

 

 

You can name 10 without drawing breath ??? -  how about just naming one ?

 

 

 

 

Just use google flights kayak skyscanner or Travel Supermarket albeit some are powered by same search engine

If you use Travel supermarket though it will list the individual prices for a particular flight (not always in ascending/descending order I might add) but it also lists normally around 10 alternates for same flight and normally (but not always) includes the airlines direct price

 

I reckon I've saved £10.000 a least down the years probably lot more

[Chivas]

ok live example....

Have picked dates in August knowing fare will be expensive

 

So I entered 1st August till 22nd August

 

The best fare as you can see is £1115 with Travel Junction....using the drop down alternates you can see direct from Eva airline at £1255

 

£140 more expensive via the airline

 

Standard in my opinion and experience

[Nick Carter icp]

38 minutes ago, Chivas said:

ok live example....

Have picked dates in August knowing fare will be expensive

 

So I entered 1st August till 22nd August

 

The best fare as you can see is £1115 with Travel Junction....using the drop down alternates you can see direct from Eva airline at £1255

 

£140 more expensive via the airline

 

Standard in my opinion and experience

 

   Try booking with those cheap travel agents though and try making changes to your booking 

Travel agent advertised flight that aren't available 

   A recent review from an above agent 

 

"They are best at conning people ,would keep at cheap fare until your process a payment but once you entered your card details price will double and simply say price has increased and this is how they trap you.Please be aware of this scammers."

 

[Nick Carter icp]

4 hours ago, Chivas said:

Absolutely classic case in real time yesterday of why I will ALWAYS use an agent 99% of the time rather than direct with airline

 

Friday I had issues with China Eastern (not huge but something that needed sorting)......As in Thailand I attempt to get hold of them via Phone Calls to Bangkok offices and Airport office (closed all weekend)......I contact via Twitter....no response.......I contact via FB page....no response

 

Instead I email to Travel Trolley back in London knowing that office wasnt open until 9am the Saturday morning.........at 09.46 back comes the soothing email that all is well its a glitch with the China Eastern website we've checked and checked and status is good to go both sectors as expected

 

This is WHY I was always use an agent because they are there to serve you because you're their customer

 

Out of interest the fare I paid was available for just £9 more direct from CE....not a chance in hell would I have paid it and rightfully so because I'd be sat in hotel waiting for taxi wondering if their was a real problem

 

   So the Travel agent just informed you that China Eastern website had a glitch ?

Did the agent make any adjustments to your booking ?

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, Chivas said:

Why someone would put a sad emoli above I have absolutely no idea lol

 

A lot of people are just trolls....   I wish they're bring back the older system where we could tell who posted which emoji's so we can just ignore the trolls... It would also cut down retards just posting emojis when they don't like someone. 

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, Chivas said:

 

Just use google flights kayak skyscanner or Travel Supermarket albeit some are powered by same search engine

If you use Travel supermarket though it will list the individual prices for a particular flight (not always in ascending/descending order I might add) but it also lists normally around 10 alternates for same flight and normally (but not always) includes the airlines direct price

 

I reckon I've saved £10.000 a least down the years probably lot more

 

Ah ok..    So I've used SkyScanner a lot - its always the first 'go to' when searching for flights.... I also often give Kayak a try 

With both of them I never find any significant saving over going direct with the Airline.

 

Given your earlier reply I thought you had a 'specific travel agent' which had good fares rather than the travel search engines (Skyscanner / Kayak).

 

 

There is also another reason I go direct with the airline - After searching on sites such as SkyScanner and establishing that Emirates (usually) is the better option for us (my family) we can then go direct to the airline and get a cheaper fare still using AirMiles to offset the cost. 

 

 

Also; Travel Supermarket only searches flights originating from the UK so its not useful when base in Bangkok (and choosing flights originating from Bangkok). 

[superal]

17 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

A lot of people are just trolls....   I wish they're bring back the older system where we could tell who posted which emoji's so we can just ignore the trolls... It would also cut down retards just posting emojis when they don't like someone. 

I have been saying that for some time . Original system was much better without anonymous emojis 

[Chivas]

On 3/17/2024 at 4:50 AM, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Try booking with those cheap travel agents though and try making changes to your booking 

Travel agent advertised flight that aren't available 

   A recent review from an above agent 

 

"They are best at conning people ,would keep at cheap fare until your process a payment but once you entered your card details price will double and simply say price has increased and this is how they trap you.Please be aware of this scammers."

 

 

so why have I never ever had a problem with agents I jave used for decades and at least 120 return trips plus around 50 with BA/Qantas staff ticketing !!  I'm just going to start seperate thread over China Eastern booked through Travel Trolley so bear with me......for the first time there WAS a (very) minor caveat incurred by not booking through the airline

 

Give me a few hours and will get it uploaded

Edited March 19 by Chivas

[EVENKEEL]

On 3/17/2024 at 1:42 AM, richard_smith237 said:

 

Ah ok..    So I've used SkyScanner a lot - its always the first 'go to' when searching for flights.... I also often give Kayak a try 

With both of them I never find any significant saving over going direct with the Airline.

 

Given your earlier reply I thought you had a 'specific travel agent' which had good fares rather than the travel search engines (Skyscanner / Kayak).

 

 

There is also another reason I go direct with the airline - After searching on sites such as SkyScanner and establishing that Emirates (usually) is the better option for us (my family) we can then go direct to the airline and get a cheaper fare still using AirMiles to offset the cost. 

 

 

Also; Travel Supermarket only searches flights originating from the UK so its not useful when base in Bangkok (and choosing flights originating from Bangkok). 

The main reason I book directly with airlines is if there is a glitch you have to deal with the "other people" The Airline won't help you, or that's been my experience.

[Nick Carter icp]

1 hour ago, Chivas said:

 

so why have I never ever had a problem with agents I jave used for decades and at least 120 return trips plus around 50 with BA/Qantas staff ticketing !!  I'm just going to start seperate thread over China Eastern booked through Travel Trolley so bear with me......for the first time there WAS a (very) minor caveat incurred by not booking through the airline

 

Give me a few hours and will get it uploaded

 

  You have been lucky so far .

[Chivas]

1 minute ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

  You have been lucky so far .

 

33 years worth then......lol

Have just uploaded that flight review and make a positive if minor concession to booking with that airline directly

[Nick Carter icp]

4 minutes ago, Chivas said:

 

33 years worth then......lol

Have just uploaded that flight review and make a positive if minor concession to booking with that airline directly

 

   Yes, I used a travel agent once and fell foul to a scam , so never used a travel agent again .

Do you get flights cheaper using a travel agent ?

Have you bought a flight and then found airlines are selling more for the flight ?

Agents often offer cheap flights that aren't available anymore

[Chivas]

1 minute ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Yes, I used a travel agent once and fell foul to a scam , so never used a travel agent again .

Do you get flights cheaper using a travel agent ?

Have you bought a flight and then found airlines are selling more for the flight ?

Agents often offer cheap flights that aren't available anymore

 

I have already indicated I must have saved a minumum of £10,000 down the decades

 

Just use Travel Trolley part of Southall Travel who also have 5 other online agents. earlier in thread I had indicated on just 5 occasions since 1992 I have used airlines direct. On 2 occasions had issues

 

I have never had slightest issue with an agent

[Nick Carter icp]

12 minutes ago, Chivas said:

 

I have already indicated I must have saved a minumum of £10,000 down the decades

 

Just use Travel Trolley part of Southall Travel who also have 5 other online agents. earlier in thread I had indicated on just 5 occasions since 1992 I have used airlines direct. On 2 occasions had issues

 

I have never had slightest issue with an agent

 

   You haven't , but many others have 

Have you changed flight details often ?

I changed a flight date and just logged into the airlines website and changed my flight date 

If you use an agent, you would have to go through them to change details and they often charge a fee for the process 

[NoshowJones]

On 3/9/2024 at 1:22 AM, flyingtlger said:

You're looking at the busiest time of the season.

Supply and demand......

Capitalists at work again.

[NoshowJones]

On 3/9/2024 at 1:43 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Note that BA are only flying three times a week but daily to KL. Might be an option to go via there? Check the fare for both.

 

As for profiteering, it might be because they ran on empty during the pandemic and need revenue to stay operational? And if people are prepared to pay it, why not? I'd call that responsible business practise. Airlines work for themselves, not the passengers. Same as any business.

Capitalism strikes again.

[Matteball]

I faced a similar situation last year when I was booking flights for a trip. I was shocked at the cost of economy seats too, so I decided to look into business class options. I ended up finding some great deals on https://travelbusinessclass.com/lufthansa-business-class

 

The prices were surprisingly reasonable, and the extra comfort and space made the long flight much more enjoyable.

 

It was a great experience, and having that extra room and service really made the trip feel more special. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re considering splurging a bit for the added comfort.

[johng]

Just now, Matteball said:

if you’re considering splurging a bit for the added comfort.

How much of a splurge was it from economy to business..2x  3x 4x   ???

[Chelseafan]

On 9/11/2024 at 9:57 AM, johng said:

How much of a splurge was it from economy to business..2x  3x 4x   ???

 

General rule of thumb is Biz is x2/3 and First x6/7 although pre-covid it was nearer x2 x4.