V-Flyer

a shocking price. The cost has gone ballistic.

Is there a route? And some dates?

oh, that would help

LGW to MCO

try 3rd to 29th and its now

825 pounds. YES 825!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

August = busiest holiday time of the year.
August = most expensive time to travel in the year as a result.
£790 = Yup. And...?


(Sealink, I'm *guessing* by the OP's username, it's Orlando...)

preiffer I know that and its all supply and demand but come off it 825 quid for an economy flight when its the only time certain people can travel.

You can get PE for that at other times of the year.

Going mad init

Other airlines have gone bust on that route, so that's also a factor.

Analogy: Tesco and Asda shut down and it's hot outside, strangely, bottles of water in Sainsburys and Morrisons go up in price...


It's that age-old rule again and again: Pay the price you're willing to pay. If it's more than that, don't pay it. Life's full of choices - this is just one of them.

but there is not much choice is there on that route. Direct flights from BA or Virgin and you have Richard crying into his web page about dont let the BA AA merger go through as it will effect prices. Hate to think what that will affect it by!

Didnt Virgin make 60m USD profit this year? I bet they are aiming for 100m at these prices LOL.

There WAS choice, when there were cheaper airlines on the same route. Some of those have gone bust. That would tell me something - maybe they were TOO cheap.

Maybe this IS the 'true cost' of flying that route* while keeping an airline profitable/alive. (*obviously, factored in as an average over the year)

A quick check on the BA site for flights to Orlando on the 3rd August returning on the 29th August comes out at £802 so no difference really to the VS price.

The same dates flying with BA is still over £800 for cheapest fare

Even going LHR-DUB-MCO-DUB-LHR on Aer Lingus on those dates will set you back £816 so I think that is going to be the normal fare at that time of year on most airlines.

Originally posted by preiffer
There WAS choice, when there were cheaper airlines on the same route. Some of those have gone bust. That would tell me something - maybe they were TOO cheap.

Maybe this IS the 'true cost' of flying that route* while keeping an airline profitable/alive. (*obviously, factored in as an average over the year)

Not sure if it is the 'true' cost, more likely it is one of a range that averages over the year at something like acceptable margin.

Rather it is a 'true' cost in the sense that it is priced according to the market extremes for the time of the year, and no doubt makes a very healthy profit to counter the times of the year when there's no profit.

No doubt if VS charged a true cost at all times of the year, then lowest would be substantially higher than they are.

Originally posted by preiffer
There WAS choice, when there were cheaper airlines on the same route. Some of those have gone bust. That would tell me something - maybe they were TOO cheap.

Maybe this IS the 'true cost' of flying that route* while keeping an airline profitable/alive. (*obviously, factored in as an average over the year)

Bring back Freddie Laker?

£824 on Air Canada LHR-YYZ-MCO-YYZ-LHR

[:X]

I suspect there are always economy flights available on most VS routes for around £800-£900 - that sounds like a full fare Y, or maybe B bucket. The difference is, on those other routes, there's still availability of the cheaper buckets.

A couple of factors at play with August on the MCO route - it's the busiest time of year, on probably Virgin's busiest holiday route, so it's unsurprising all the cheap buckets would have been snapped up. Virgin Holidays will have grabbed most of the availability before the tickets have gone on general sale through Virgin Atlantic (something like 336 days in advance).

It's not that the airlines are all putting the prices up, you've just missed the chance to get the discounted buckets.

Originally posted by disney_cjd

Originally posted by preiffer
There WAS choice, when there were cheaper airlines on the same route. Some of those have gone bust. That would tell me something - maybe they were TOO cheap.

Maybe this IS the 'true cost' of flying that route* while keeping an airline profitable/alive. (*obviously, factored in as an average over the year)

Bring back Freddie Laker?

That I would like to see, I mean seriously, if you can pull that off you won't have to worry about spending £800 on a flight, the press will fly you around on your own plane.

Originally posted by disney_cjd
preiffer I know that and its all supply and demand but come off it 825 quid for an economy flight when its the only time certain people can travel.

You can get PE for that at other times of the year.

Going mad init

The answer is in your own statement.

Now I will try and be a little help....have you looked at one of the package firms ?

Also, take a look at DL, £638 inc via ATL....you may also want to change the inbound date, one day either way saves you £20 pp

Also...if you go to the CO website you will find the same flight for around £600 as well

Simply down to supply and demand.

Oh, and Gordon bloody Brown and his disgraceful punitive airline taxes dressed up as green measures.

So dont blame Virgin - blame our wonderful government.

Sounds like a typical fare considering the time of year. Not sure what the big deal is.
In any case, if you don't like the price, don't book it.

You will find similar fares at all the peak times. We paid £750 for Economy at Easter this year. All options, including the charters were very similar prices, it is just a case of pricing accordingly to the demand. Go in February like we are next year and prices are less than half the cost!

Im with the don't like it don't book it factor!

Be a bit flexible with dates and you can do it for under £700.

Originally posted by disney_cjd

Originally posted by preiffer
There WAS choice, when there were cheaper airlines on the same route. Some of those have gone bust. That would tell me something - maybe they were TOO cheap.

Maybe this IS the 'true cost' of flying that route* while keeping an airline profitable/alive. (*obviously, factored in as an average over the year)

Bring back Freddie Laker?

Yay, we flew Freddie Laker MAN/MCO twice on rickety old planes, dead comfy, on time, lovely cabin crew. No complaints at all. What a loss. And cheap as chips (in my case with curry sauce [;)])

thelaceys

Dare i say £597 NWA mid aug[B)][B)]

cheers
ALEX

Dare I say Freddie Laker is dead [:#]

Low prices are not good for every situation.