Originally Posted by
Woofrey
... however are you SURE the offer was £12 ? I've only ever seen Premium Economy available from c£200 each way, and I've always used online to book.
I don't know if it's the same on VS, but you often get this sort of effect on BA.
Say the cheapest economy fare is £200 return (+ tax, which we'll ignore for the moment). The discount WT+ fare may be priced at a supplement of £200 each way, so a total of £600. If you book when the cheapest economy fare is available, you might see an offer to "upgrade" for £200 outbound, and £200 inbound. (I put "upgrade" in quotes, because the reality is that it's simply asking if you'd like to buy WT+ instead of economy, rather than it being a fee to upgrade.)
But if the cheapest economy fares are sold out, then you might see something different. If the lowest available economy fare is now £500 return, but discount WT+ is still available, then the website might offer you an "upgrade" at £50 outbound and £50 return.
Sometimes, the cheapest economy fare will be sold out in one direction but not the other. So you may be quoted £350 return in economy, composed of half the £200 fare on the way out, and half the £500 fare on the return. So the website will now ask you if you'd like to upgrade for £200 on the outbound, or £50 on the return.
Of course, when tax is added, you'll find that one of the extra extras, as it were, is the extra £40 tax for travelling in a premium cabin.
My suspicion is that something similar happened here to make the extra fare £12 in one direction.