You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I have to get to Paris for the 16th and 17th of December for essential business reasons, and have been looking at fares using every conceivable means of getting there from Cardiff. I am willing to drive to any (reasonably-distanced) airport (say, even Leeds-Bradford in the North, and Stanstead in the South), or - preferably - get on the Eurostar.
But MY WORD! how expensive is it right now?!?
What's with that? I thought that airlines and/or train companies would be practically begging for people to use them; not ratcheting up the prices so high that no one expect Richard Branson could pay!
Not a professor of economics then? The race to the bottom isnt sustainable. (Just lowering your prices below operating cost)
They are having to fight substantially increased costs and lower passengers.
must depend on where you want to go... i can get to inverness from bristol (similar distance), leaving sunday, returning a week thurs, for about £85 with easyjet - 3/4 of that cost being the outbound flight...
Shame I'm not allowed to go 🙁
I think they are probably working on if you need to travel you will pay, they are all in a terrible place so need any revenue they can get.
... essential business reasons...
... not ratcheting up the prices so high that no one ...
Simple - if its really essential business reasons then cost will not be the deciding factor whether you go or not, therefore they can, and indeed should (from a business and probably moral perspective) charge any price they want.
How much is it?
As above, they are probably pricing it on the basis that employers will be picking up the bill for the big majority of travellers.
Like peak rail travel pre-Covid, asking £350 for a day return from MCR to LDN.
The pre-covid model of airplane ticket pricing is that all the money was made with premium passengers with economy class just covering costs if that and the main area of competition (premium seats are rarely competed on price, mainly on convenience of flight times and departure and arrival airport). No premium passengers at the moment and restriction on capacity so prices inevitably go up.
If the premium traffic doesn't return post covid expect higher economy fares full stop.
EDIT: and for low cost all economy then they don't have the volume of passengers to accumulate the extremely slip profits they made per passenger - the stack em high and sell em cheap model.
Sorry Wobbli, you are slightly incorrect..
Short haul low cost is about volume and ancillary sales (baggage, etc).
There is no premium option with Sleazyjet or Ryanair. If the fares have gone up post COVID, it’s to do with demand and basically there is none.
hence my edit. Low cost make very slim margin per passenger and rely on volume...which they're not getting at the moment. Ancillary sales can only happen if you have a passenger to make the sale in the first place.
Post COVID traffic should come back and low cost will/should start to do well again, however scheduled and medium/long range will probably have the challenge of alot of the premium traffic not returning and they might need to reconsider their entire business model. It is far more challenging to do low cost on long haul. Those that had succeeded are now struggling big time and facing bankruptcy and chapter 11 or equivalent.
There is no premium option with Sleazyjet or Ryanair.
They still charge businesses more, it's just done indirectly. Business travel tends to be booked at short notice, so prices tend to rise the close to the flight taking off (regardless of occupancy). They also charge a premium for flexible tickets, again something business travel uses more than holiday takers.
The only people who are going are people making essential journeys. So because of their essential nature they can be more expensive. The low fares are for the people who travel just because they feel like it - they aren't allowed to travel now.
Capitalism - doesn’t work?
I think this is proof it is.the price is rising to the what is the value to the consumer.
I fly regularly for work, the cost of flights in September was 40% higher than I would usually pay. I have just booked December flights and they were about 10% above pre covid rates.
The flights in September were also full.
I m looking at flight prices Spain UK and 18 Dec seems to be the turning point, pre 18 Dec 150 quid post 18 Dec 20 quid. Usually spike towards Christmas but this year the opposite. Pricing algorithm usually fills the plane although last flight mid Oct was half full.
To the OP, what about driving all the way? Probably about 8 hours. That must comparable door to door for going via Stansted and avoids the airport and being herded onto a plane. Make the most of a last hurrah shopping trip on the way home before it all collapses, too.
high demand - prices go up
low demand - prices go up
high demand – prices go up in effect subsidising the incredibly cheap fares which headlines and online search tools have us think is the "normal" price
low demand – prices go up to pay for things like airport fees, fuel and staff
When something is run on such thin margins any deviation from the standard means either charge more or lose money.
But I definitely vote for drive/tunnel. 4hrs to folkstone, a nice relax in your car for a bit, followed by 2 to 2.5 hours of driving in france (depending on where in paris you are going)
and come back with a boot full of cheap french wine.