cheap flight tricks

[domster]

I am always happy in myself if I have got the price I feel comfortable paying. You could walk up and down the palne asking people how much they paid and you will probably make yourself sick to find out how much some paid.

On a flight to New York and then onto Orlando I paid £395 per person with Continental last year, the guy sat opposite me had paid £500 to fly just the New York sector! As you can imagine he asked me and then sat for most of the flight churning this over in his head.

[Robert5988]

Sniff's post above has made the important point. All airlines have a sophisticated revenue management system that predicts the likely loading of their aircraft and they allocate seats to various ticket(cost) categories. This prediction changes all the time and they release seats to various categories based on demand.

For instance there might be less demand for Business/FC seats to a holiday destination like Orlando than a route that carries a lot of business passengers, so they will release seats for upgrading by frequent flyers thus freeing up more seats in coach.

However there appears to be 'base price' below which the airlines are not prepared to sell tickets at certain times of the year. It would be very rare to get a ticket on any routing to Orlando in, say, late July, for under £500 - even if there are plenty of seats available.

[Sniff]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by domster
You could walk up and down the palne asking people how much they paid and you will probably make yourself sick to find out how much some paid.
[/quote]
This is true. But you could be the person that's paid less

Actually I think most passengers would be amazed to find out the variety of fares paid. It's entirely possible (even likely?) that on a typical trans-atlantic flight almost no-one has paid the same price as anyone else, unless they booked at the same time as part of a group.

So many factors affect price...when you're flying, when you're coming back, when you book, how you book, who you book with, what class you book in, how long you're staying, if you're on some car or hotel deal, if you're on a single leg or part of a longer itinerary, special offers & promotions, fare wars, fuel prices, business strategy, and on and on.

The systems are so sophisticated these days, it's almost a lottery. As Robert says, there are clearly prices below which an airline just isn't making any money on a seat, but even there airlines will sell if it gets close enough to the flight date - the uplift costs aren't much different whether you take 499 passengers or 500, and that passenger might just buy some duty free[msnsmile]

Obviously this is less likely on popular routes like Orlando, but maybe that's another argument for flying indirect to a less touristy gateway in the US and onward to Orlando from there.

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:As Robert says, there are clearly prices below which an airline just isn't making any money on a seat, but even there airlines will sell if it gets close enough to the flight date - the uplift costs aren't much different whether you take 499 passengers or 500, and that passenger might just buy some duty free[/quote]

Keith,
I know this is your field, but I suspect that setting a lower limit for prices at certain times of the year is more a determination that a precedent of low prices will not be set. Given the recent spat between BA and Virgin I would hesitate to call it a cartel

For instance prices, direct or indirect, to Orlando on all airlines can be routinely obtained for £300-£350 in the Winter/Spring.

These prices suddenly double in summer to £650-£750 and, as said earlier, no matter how many seats are empty will not drop below £500.

I have looked at 'Expert Flyer'(a subscription service that shows seat allocations - for those not aware of the term) and seen loads of available seats, yet prices remain high.

It is probably that they don't want to return to the situation of yesteryear where people didn't book but waited for last minute cheap Standby tickets.

Perhaps that proves Revenue Management is even more sophisticated these days.

[alastair]

I agree with Robert. Scheduled flight fares are currently in the region of £570 to £620 for mid July and I do not think they will be any lower nearer the time. Interestingly, fares involving a flight change on route are around the same price for that period, so not really any cost benefit between direct and indirect.

[Katys Grandad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by alastair
I agree with Robert. Scheduled flight fares are currently in the region of £570 to £620 for mid July and I do not think they will be any lower nearer the time.
[/quote]

You're right but the few weeks mid July-mid August and Christmas are probably exceptions to the rule. Even so, it isn't completely unknown for short notice fare sales to pop up for those periods.

If previous years are anything to go by, Business & First fares on many airlines will very likely drop during July/August.