easyJet group booking

[Paracab]

Hello all,

Anyone know why easy charge more per person if you book as a group? I've emailed them and asked but unsurprisingly have not heard back.

I was rather hoping for a small discount for a group booking, how naive of me.

[BRS_flyer]

Not really sure on this one, but at a guess:

EZY like most LCC's use aggressive yeild management techniques relating to supply and demand. So the less popular seats are cheaper but as they are booked and are more scarce they become more expensive.

In booking a large group you are showing that there is more demand for that particular service, allowing them to then charge more. Don't really know how the exact economics work out on this one but it will probably be something along these lines.

[UniFoxOs]

We booked a group of 15 to go to Prague for a weekend in Jan, no discount offerred for the group, but no extra charge either - we just paid 15 times the single person fare. We were booking pretty early, though (last June, IIRC) so there were probably not many seats booked for the flight at that time. As BRS says, as the seats get booked the price goes up, I expect if we had booked closer to the date each seat would have been dearer than the previous one.

UFO

[Paracab]

Thanks gents, of course I realise that as demand for a particular flight increases then prices will rise, easy are only there for one reason, and I accept that.

However, what I'm struggling with is that we are actually being penalised for putting more business their way. That is slightly bizarre, no?

[Johnny F@rt Pants]

Why not try another carrier?

[Crepello]

As I understand it, EZY sell a fixed number of tickets at each price-point. If your group booking straddles price brackets then ALL seats in the reservation will be charged at that higher price. This isn't necessarily gouging, merely the constraints of the reservation system.

Try reducing the number in the group, one person at a time, until the lower fare appears. Then complete the reservation for the rest of the group. Given that there's no pre-assigned seating, this wouldn't necessarily split you up.

Hope this helps.

[pal90]

I believe their system is a little more sophisticated than that but it's still the general idea.

I once booked 4 PAX in groups of 3 and 1 for a particular flight and got a cheaper price (for both!) than the price it was quoting for 4 - I could only assume their yield management took a block of 4 as a trigger to kick the price up the next step)

[Paracab]

Thanks to all - it makes sense I guess.

Careful individual booking seems to be the way on this trip.

Johnny,

I'll be honest - easyJet are just too damn convenient in terms of departure points and price, despite the increase for a group booking. Some of the party are on a budget.

At the price advertised, group booking or otherwise, it is still a bargain in my opinion. I just wondered why.