View Full Version : New Face of Discount Travel
Rollingthunder
8th May 2012, 14:51
$9.00 for ticket....$17.00 return plus taxes...plus fees.. plus $45 for checked bag...plus $ 70 for second checked bag...plus $100 for cabin baggage if it doesn't fit under seat in front, if you don't buy it on-line.....think I would rather travel Costa, coastlines, nevermind, I have my own lifevest.
This industry is in downhill spiral.
Yet 20 years ago you couldn't get a ticket (to anywhere) for less than $250. Now you can pick and choose what you want. I don't think I've ever checked two bags, for example, which used to be free! So the same ticket today with one checked bag and a back-pack under the seat in front is $75.
Prices have never been lower, which means more flights, more planes, more pilots, longer queues at Heathrow etc.
Hotel Tango
8th May 2012, 18:31
You could buy cheap (return) tickets 20 years ago. However, the main restrictions to qualify for them were the advance purchase requirement and the Sunday rule in between the outbound and return legs. Single sectors were expensive, although there were often instances when an APEX (Advance Purchase Excursion) return was cheaper than a one way ticket!! That lead to the obvious and lots of no shows. With the exception of the Sunday rule one still has to purchase well in advance to obtain a dirt cheap ticket unless the flight in question is not selling so well. Try and buy a last minute one way ticket on a popular route and you will still have to cough up a substantial amount.
Airlines use their 'one-way' fares for a number of reasons, other than to sell to a dumb punter. It was/is the basis for excess baggage charges and airlines use them in sharing interline revenue. So the classic network airline will always have high one way fares. Some may also offer 'cheap' one-way fares but the prevailing philosophy is that nobody travels one way, other than ship's crews, students and immigrants - and they have special fares for those.
LCCs like squeezy and cryanair don't do it this way, in fact they don't have round-trip fares.
$9.00 for ticket....$17.00 return plus taxes...plus fees.. plus $45 for checked bag...plus $ 70 for second checked bag...plus $100 for cabin baggage if it doesn't fit under seat in front, if you don't buy it on-line.....think I would rather travel Costa, coastlines, nevermind, I have my own lifevest.
Do some challenging mathematics (:rolleyes:) before you travel to make sure your bag fits then?