Aer lingus Issue

[heidelberg]

10 Days ago I priced a return flight with EI: DUB/AGP/DUB. Dep Dub 14 Dec and returning 21st Dec.
EI quoted 83 Euro incl taxes & charges.
To-day I see they are offering 50% discount for the same dates and the basic charge is the same i.e. 19.99 one way plus charges/taxes.
However the bottom line price is within 1 to 2 Euro the same (83 to 84 Euro)because their charges/taxes have been increased!
Very sharp practice indeed by Aer Lingus!
Correction - it's duplicity by them.

[snipes]

Yawn,

And you'll probably pay 60 euro for the taxi outside the airport to take you to your hotel and not even comment...

[Zippy Monster]

Not only does that miss the point completely, but the difference is the taxi driver will probably quote a price of €60.

Not €19.99 plus taxes and charges in an attempt to look cheaper than he is.

[Based]

Yawn,

And you'll probably pay 60 euro for the taxi outside the airport to take you to your hotel and not even comment...

I've never come across a taxi offering 50% discount. Taxis are often on a meter or even a fixed fare from the airport so not much of a comparison.

[dantheflyboy]

This is nothing new for LoCo airlines, not that makes it right but it is a marketing ploy. I have seen Flybe offer zero £ fares plus taxes and charges that work out more expensive than the next flight with 18.99 fare plus taxes and charges. I have emailed customer services but never received a reply about this practice.

[Cloud1]

I would suggest you contact them again then because they reply to everything, even things which really are not decided by them at all......such as fares

[snipes]

I've never come across a taxi offering 50% discount. Taxis are often on a meter or even a fixed fare from the airport so not much of a comparison.

The point was actually that you (or other people - you were not the original author complaining) are happy with paying 60 euro to take you 20 miles to your hotel, but 80 euro to safely fly you 1160mi is disgusting.

Fair enough. I'll leave with my tail between my legs.

[GayFriendly]

Snipes, I understand your point completely. Fly to an obscure destination or go somewhere just because its cheap and then pay double the air fare for onward transportation and hotels.......airlines are in a tailspin partly because of the complete and utter long term unsustainability of charging such cut throat low prices. Great for the customer (and I am one that has taken advantage many times of such deals) but at what price for airlines? A heavy one it would seem especially for EI now rumoured to be moving its HQ to the UK to keep as a going concern. I would suggest that a very high % of loco routes would simply not operate from the majority of airports if they were costed to truly take account of the true cost of operating it as well as the damage to the environment. Time will tell.....

[iwhak]

Snipes....no need to leave you are absolutley correct. Today's passenger expects to pay next to nothing for an air ticket. This expectation has been driven by the low cost model (for which there is no doubt huge demand) but expect nothing. Yet, they have no problem as you rightly point out paying for a taxi to the airport, a nice hotel for the few days away, a nice meal. At the end of the day if it costs an airline x to fly a sector, and if the revenue generated does not meet or exceed that cost airline loses money. The difference between airlines is the cost of x. If a business model offers a higher service level the cost of x rises, as well as the fare. Not everyone wants to travel low cost. Aer Lingus must reduce its cost base to survive, as most of its competition is from low cost. Let's wait and see what comes out of the consultation process. However, there are too many people in this forum (normally FR biased) who take the legs from constructive commentators making valid points as just happened to snipe.

[Based]

The point was actually that you (or other people - you were not the original author complaining) are happy with paying 60 euro to take you 20 miles to your hotel, but 80 euro to safely fly you 1160mi is disgusting.

So your point bears no relation to what you replied to? heidelberg's post was with regards to the advertised up to 50% off sale. Whether the flights cost €83, €8.30 or €830 is irrelevant.

Where's the '80 euro to safely fly you 1160mi is disgusting' comment coming from? heidelberg may feel the €83 fare is an absolute bargain or a complete rip off, I don't know. I don't find it disgusting, I can also count on one hand how many times I have got a taxi to my hotel.

Today's passenger expects to pay next to nothing for an air ticket. This expectation has been driven by the low cost model (for which there is no doubt huge demand) but expect nothing.

Yeah in a way the locos are turning into their own worst enemy, once people get the taste of a €1 flight, a lot of them to expect it all the time and at times that suit them.

However, there are too many people in this forum (normally FR biased) who take the legs from constructive commentators making valid points as just happened to snipe.

So what exactly is constructive about broad generalisations that have no relevance to the point made by the person they were replying to?

[snipes]

So your point bears no relation to what you replied to?


Exactly the opposite. My point has never changed, you just didn't understand what i was saying the first time.

People whinge about a cost of a flight, but can regularly pay for a round of drinks on a Saturday night that's twice the cost of an airfare/ a taxi ride at the other end/a bet at the horses/etc etc.


Where's the '80 euro to safely fly you 1160mi is disgusting' comment coming from?


Original poster wrote - 'Very sharp practice indeed by Aer Lingus! Correction - it's duplicity by them.' In fact the title of his post was - 'Shady Tricks by EI - alleged?'

Now the definition of Duplicity (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/duplicity) - "the belying of one's true intentions by deceptive words or action"

Whilst 'disgusting' may not directly translate into 'duplicity', the general intent of the author was to be 'irritable' towards the cost of 80euro to pay for a safe 2 1/2 hour flight to Spain.

So I'll say it again.

Yawn.

[ryan2000]

People should realise that EI fly into mainstream airports that are more costly to use. Having said that there are fewer bargains to be picked up in recent times. In my view they should offer a small number of seats at knockdown prices as it does encourage people to fly.

[L'aviateur]

snipes I think you've missed the whole point, what a thread drift. Regardless of the cost of the flight, if the airline is offering 50% off you'd at least expect that the price would have reduced. We could be really daring and actually expect that when an airline offers 50% off it would actually be 50% cheaper, oh no thats insane talk maybe.....

Doesn't matter if the price was 80 euro or 200 euro, the point is about the offer in place, not the ridiculously cheap prices that are expected by people.

[Final 3 Greens]

snipes

Who sets the prices for taxis, flights and hotels?

Please, no crocodile tears because the low cost airlines created this expectation, so as ye sow, shall ye reap.

These low cost operators have soured the whole market and those of us ho are prepared to pay reasonable fares have been caught up in the nasty knock on effects, such as reduced service levels at airports, rude security etc.

If taxi drivers work for sensible rates, then good on them and a pox on the locos.

[Rainboe]

One is rendered speechless. Doesn't happen often! Is this person really bitching about 80 odd Euros for a 2 1/4 hour flight? When all those taxes are taken by the government, and most of the charges go on security and airport fees?

I think it's time such uneconomic fares were banned altogether. It encourages false expectations, encourages the wrong people to travel (like quibbling, bitching peasants), and ultimately drives companies down.

[Rusland 17]

Is this person really bitching about 80 odd Euros for a 2 1/4 hour flight?No, "this person" is not, which should be obvious if you read his original post properly.

His point is that despite the advertised "50% discount", the actual fare is almost identical to the fare he had been quoted the previous week, with increased "taxes and charges" compensating for the lower headline fare. This is a relatively common ploy with all airlines these days, but particularly (it seems) with low-cost carriers, whose special offers change on a weekly or daily basis, making it all but impossible to gauge what, if any, discount is actually being offered.

[PAXboy]

To add others that do this - Air Miles (as in airmiles.co.uk) do this and, if any of the main line legacy carriers do not currently do this - they soon will. Since the UK gov has zero interest in stopping these practices (could easily be done through the office of Fair Trading Standards etc) then you just have to do what humans have always done:

Look a the bottom line, decide if that is an acceptable price for the car/cake/tickets on offer and then purchase or walk away. I used to look at the charges item but no longer do as I presume that it is being fiddled and the only point of interest is the final charge (including any surcharge for using anything other than cash in a brown envelope.

Happy landings! :}

[The Real Slim Shady]

Sure if you think that is bad just try hiring a car in the US.
The pirce they quote is nothing like what they charge after CDW and all the other additions.

[eastern wiseguy]

The way in which airlines now pitch fares must surely be looked at. The headline fare often bears little relevance to the bottom line,and,whilst I do not often like it I admit that generally provided I follow the rules of travel with paid for luggage within acceptable weight and dimensions etc it works out close to the fare.

However some "extras" over which I have no control really tick me off. Would TRSS explain WHY I have to pay for check in? That is NOT an optional extra and as such should be part of the headline charge. Would he also care to explain the daylight robbery of the credit card charges prevalent throughout the industry based on a per person per sector(don't tell me to get an electron card...I have one)? Could an Aer Lingus person explain what the "handling fee" on a web booking covers?

[PAXboy]

Since numerous companies do this - it is easier to consider it a part of modern life, than to fight it. When theatres started booking through call centres, rather than the box office (in the days before the web) they added a 'booking fee' and have merrily continued with that, so the airlines were just following others.

The next generations of punters will see that this is how it is and not think anything of it - only us who are seeing the transition. NO - I do not like it but there is nothing to be done. Since the govts cannot keep their own house in order and have been salves to the media and city, there is no chance they want/can do anything about this.

So, it's time to chill. :p

[heidelberg]

Rainboe - I'm not a 'quibbling, bitching peasant'.

I was simply pointing out the sharp practice of Aer Lingus advertising up to 50% off fares to Malaga and elsewhere when in fact there was really no difference in the bottom line cost to the customer because they 'transferred' 9.99 (50% off basic rate) to the taxes & charges window. The bottom line price was effectively the same as the pre 50% discount price.

Whe an airline advertise a 50% discount I expect the fare will be less than the pre discounted one. Isn't this a reasonable expectation?

The bottom line price is what I look for always and it was pure chance I happened to notice what EI were doing. That's all and it is not about being a 'quibbling, bitching peasant'!

I wonder if other airlines are similarly disingenuous with their so called discounted specials?

[Scumbag O'Riley]

Sainbury's do the same with their chicken breasts.

Buy two get one free works out at £8.00 per kilo.
Buy one get one half price works out at £8.00 per kilo.
Buy two get a fiver off works out at £8.00 per kilo.
And sometimes, in a fit of marketing honesty, they actually price them at £8.00 a kilo.

One just has to be smarter than the company selling you the goods, unfortunately they are experts at this pricing and we aren't. I am sure airlines know more about my purchasing habits than I do. Though unlike airline tickets, it really is worth paying extra for quality chicken and not going for the loco version :)