I've just read an article on the BBC website regarding new rules being brought into force which should reduce air fares....first of all does anyone understand it because I found it as clear as mud...and secondly, will it mean cheaper flights to Florida????
Having just read the article it appears it is only going to affect business and first class. The article says that travel agents will be able to issue tickets in another country. One of the examples it gives is -
By s[bad language filtered out]ping this rule, IATA has effectively allowed the price of a one-way business class ticket from Hong Kong to London to fall from £2,600 to £1,900, fare experts say.
It may lower some of the Premium Economy and First Class fares on Virgin and BA but I would not hold my breath.
The way it was reported on the news was............
Plane tickets are expected to become substantially cheaper as ticket sale rules are relaxed from this weekend.
Travel agents in one country will be allowed to issue tickets in another, the international body which regulates air fares, IATA, has decided.
In many cases, buying two single tickets to and from one destination will be cheaper than a return ticket.
First-class and business travellers will save the most, with economy travellers not seeing much difference.
That is because the rise and rise of low-cost airlines has already made economy fares in Britain among the cheapest in the world.
The liberalisation of the rules, which should knock several hundred pounds off the price of many tickets, has been prompted by the growing volume of ticket sales on the internet.
Undercut
IATA has acknowledged that in the internet age, identifying the country in which customers book their tickets online is almost impossible.
It has therefore decided that air fares should no longer be based on the country of sale.
Until now, travel agents in one country could not issue tickets in another, even though that would have meant savings for their customers, simply because people usually pay less for tickets issued in their own countries.
To ensure that passengers would not undercut the price of a return trip, one-way fares from their destination back home would never be less than the fare in the reverse direction.
By apping this rule, IATA has effectively allowed the price of a one-way business class ticket from Hong Kong to London to fall from £2,600 to £1,900, fare experts say.
Similarly, a business one-way ticket from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to London will drop from £3,300 to £1,300.
Flights starting and ending in cities outside the country where the booking was made will become cheaper, too.
The new rules will not apply to flights to, from or via Japan.
It looks like First and business class will save the most.
As you say Maggie its not easy to figure out what the hell it means in plain English but the bottom line seems to be that the higher fares of first class and business passengers will be cheaper to almost every destination,but alas,because economy fares are already quite low (in their opinion not mine) there will be little,or no savings for the likes of you and me
At least a one way ticket will be a lot cheaper in the future though im never likely to use one...lol
But saying that,i always did wonder why the heck a one way ticket cost virtually the same as a return ticket.
I had a friend that came to the UK to visit and for reasons i wont go into here she had to buy a new ticket to get back home,and it cost more that the original return ticket which sucks.
John
If you attempt to buy tickets on line at the moment the site identifies where you are and quotes prices for that location. As ever, a lot of UK prices are at the top end. A good example is some BA fares which mean that a passenger in, say, Spain, can travel Madrid - New York via London on BA for a lower price that a UK passenger can travel London - New York on the same flight (this is a purely hypothetical example).
I understand that the new rules stop airlines pricing their flight dependent upon where the ticket buyer lives. So now a UK customer could buy a ticket from a foreign agent at the rate residents of that country pay. It seems that the main beneficiaries will be First and Business passengers because UK prices are much higher that some other countries (no surprise there!)
In theory all flight prices should fall but transatlantic fares are already competetive so I don't see much of a saving for Florida. It might be different for First/Business passengers though.
If Britain already has the cheapest economy tickets any where in the world does this mean that people overseas will purchase them and thus reduce the number of tickets available in the UK for British Nationals?
Liz
The other thing that will affect it is the ruling on credit cards, some companies will only allow credit cards based in the country of purchase, which will prevent many people in the first place being able to buy the tickets elsewhere. The other thing is , I believe recently there was some sort of ruling that if you used your credit card for online purchases out of the country then the credit cards would not offer the same level of protection if you do not get what you've paid for or if the airline was to go out of business.
Babblin Boo
Ive been paying for a few years now around £365 round trip using BA flying out of Naples Italy to Tampa or Orlando in the summer time and ticket is good for one year but you must present your return dates when purchasing. If you change your dates the cost would be around £80..So does show its cheaper in other countries and I just dont get that.
Patti
www.orlandovillas.com/Villas/263.aspx
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Katys Grandad
If you attempt to buy tickets on line at the moment the site identifies where you are and quotes prices for that location. As ever, a lot of UK prices are at the top end. A good example is some BA fares which mean that a passenger in, say, Spain, can travel Madrid - New York via London on BA for a lower price that a UK passenger can travel London - New York on the same flight (this is a purely hypothetical example).
[/quote]
In past years, i've had tickets purchased on my behalf in the middle-east. I'm given a reference number and i just quote this at the ticket desk, where the tickets are issued. I used this a lot when i flew with klm from stansted-amsterdam-abu dhabi.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by steph_goodrum
The other thing that will affect it is the ruling on credit cards, some companies will only allow credit cards based in the country of purchase, which will prevent many people in the first place being able to buy the tickets elsewhere. The other thing is , I believe recently there was some sort of ruling that if you used your credit card for online purchases out of the country then the credit cards would not offer the same level of protection if you do not get what you've paid for or if the airline was to go out of business.
[/quote]
I have just used my Visa on a US vitamin website with no problems and I have also used it to purchase internal flights in the US in the past - I think if its going to be a problem they would have reported it on the news article[msnwink]
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks