Guv
Isn't not, isnt that a double negative, but I guess we get the drift.
Until someone opens up a chain of restaurants offering british food and beer the US won't be as popular a destination as the Mediterrainian resorts are that lay on all the comforts of home.
A friend of mine is going to San Fran (not that type of friend) for a business conference and if he flies out on Monday and returns on Friday the fare is £1000, if he stays over for the weekend the fare reduces to £250. If Easy Jet could beat that they would be doing quite well.
The LCA's work on advertising rock bottomm fares that they sell at a loss, because if you fill up a plane at that fare there is no way they could make any money. There standard fares must still be about the same as any other carrier and they get the people who are desparate to get there and will pay the high fare at the last minute.
The Businessman will always pay the high fare because they want the flexibility, if the meeting is cx at the last minute or the times are changed they can either take a refund or change the time that they fly. The more discount you get on your ticket the less flexible the airline will be changes to flights or refunds, also the less you pay for the ticket the less guarantee you have of getting onto the flight in teh first place. If the flight is overbooked the last on is the traveler that has payed the least for his seat.
One thing that amazes me is that no one has challenged the LCA's for anti-competitive behaviour. eg FR have seen off Go on the Scottish to Dub routes by undercutting them on the fares, if FR have been making a loss on those routes to get rid of GO then that must be anti competitive. I'm not a lawyer, does anyone know what the law is on that type of activity.