Book a flight mystery

BadAcidStudios

Ok so i had never heard of this before. Maybe you havent.
When booking flights always compare the return ticket cost with the 2 one ways costs.

Example. Hamburg to dublin (Return Ticket) total cost = 163.44
or, Hamburg to Dublin(oneway) + Dublin to Hamburg(oneway) =158.44

I presumed return tickets would be cheaper if anything.

The flight dates are obviously the same.
a flight on the 22nd of March to hamburg could either cost you 69 or 79 depending on if you buy it as part of a return or single.
I had never heard of this and thought there was a problem with the website.
I phoned aerlingus website helpline and the Girl had never heard of this and thought there was a problem too.
It turns out there is no problem and is standard procedure.
It makes no sense to me or her how the same flight on the same day can have two different prices at the exact same time.

I know i wouldnt have saved major cash but in future i will always check the Two single tickets.

Just thought id share it. I know its not a huge saving but it could vary and i book flights weekly so it all adds up. Gotta get me some coupons :-)

MorningStar

Like coke in a 6 pack being cheaper per can it is a pricing model. They pack flights in "returns" and "singles". So effectively what you are buying is the same thing but packed differently and charged differntly. It is a more complex but that is the basic way it works. SOme people refer to it as the spli/adder model. It is more difficult to split the return flights so they add a split charge making it not worth it. I have bought return flights as it is cheaper than a one way many times. You get used to it when you do it a lot.

BadAcidStudios

Ah yeah, i know its not always gonna be the case the a Return ticket will always be more expensive. Just anohter thing to check when im booking online. I havent been doing this and ive booked so many flights in the last 8 months.

I just presumed that when you book a return flight it adds the two singles together at the same price they are at that moment. I didnt think there would be any variation. i didnt think booking a return was a different deal, just more convinient. 1 credit card purchse instead of 2.

The girl on the phone talked to her supervisor. He said it was to with other countries pricing costs or something.

You see, the flight to hamburg on the 22nd March was my girlfriends return flight back home. It cost her 79 euro as it was part of her return flight.
But, at the same time of booking it would only cost me 69euro for the same flight going out one way.

I dont think the airlines think of them as different pricing structures. It was simply because she was flying return from Hamburg (a different country) but, if i had booked her flights on the same website at the same time i would have saved oney.

These arent special deals or return packages we are talking about.

You know when you go into aerlingus.ie You type in your dates and Oneway or return, you get different prices.
Its not that aerlingus has different price structures for singles and returns, its the fact that she is Buying a return ticket from Germany. Its the fact that flights from Germany have a different price structure. This is what i was told anyway

Attol

I visit Dublin quite regularly and my boyfriend visits me in Birmingham. It's cheaper to fly from Dublin to Birmingham than Birmingham to Dublin so I've done the two singles thing before as well as Dublin prices end up cheaper than a return from Birmingham.

BadAcidStudios

i dont know why it never dawned on me to check 2 single tickets. i presumed the Flight dates had the same price and when you select return dates it just added them together.

I was surpised that the girl on the phone didnt know what was going on either and had to ask her supervisor.

Thats the thing too, not really a return or single deal difference, it depends what country you are buying your tickets too and from. I just was surprised to see two different prices for the same flight on the same website "aerlingus.ie"

learn something new everyday

nobody in my office has heard of this and they are all pretty surprised. Flying to hamburg alot and i know that usually the prices are always cheaper going one way. But, i didnt know that the overall price could be cheaper again depending on what way it was booked

robinph

LadyLotts wrote:

I visit Dublin quite regularly and my boyfriend visits me in Birmingham. It's cheaper to fly from Dublin to Birmingham than Birmingham to Dublin so I've done the two singles thing before as well as Dublin prices end up cheaper than a return from Birmingham.

Most of the difference in those prices will probably be down to airport taxes and similar, especially if it's along the lines of a Ryanair 1p/c flight that you are getting as the only cost then is the taxes.

HelterSkelter

robinph wrote:

Most of the difference in those prices will probably be down to airport taxes and similar, especially if it's along the lines of a Ryanair 1p/c flight that you are getting as the only cost then is the taxes.

It's not, Ladylotts is right. They change different prices for the same flight depending on the country you book from. I fly dub - london regularly and have noticed this. It can be cheaper to book two single tickets than one return.

My gf lives in london. It is more expensive to book a london - dublin return than a dublin - london return. This is because they (BMI) change more to UK customers than Irish customers for the same flight (surprise surprise the Irish are not ripped off in this instance!!!). If my gf books two single tickets instead of one return they assume the single ticket for the 'return' leg of the flight is considered to be bought by an Irish person as it's Dub -> London so it is cheaper. Does that make sense?!!

Megatron

A couple of years ago i was moving back home from Finland.


A Single Fare came to €547,
While a return was just €305

have a guess which i picked.

but sayign that , i usualy get the majority of all my flights for €1 these days

Attol

Another Finn on Boards? How very exciting!

BadAcidStudios

HelterSkelter wrote:

It's not, Ladylotts is right. They change different prices for the same flight depending on the country you book from. I fly dub - london regularly and have noticed this. It can be cheaper to book two single tickets than one return.

My gf lives in london. It is more expensive to book a london - dublin return than a dublin - london return. This is because they (BMI) change more to UK customers than Irish customers for the same flight (surprise surprise the Irish are not ripped off in this instance!!!). If my gf books two single tickets instead of one return they assume the single ticket for the 'return' leg of the flight is considered to be bought by an Irish person as it's Dub -> London so it is cheaper. Does that make sense?!!

I didnt know if i explained myself the right way. You know exactly what im talking about Helter.
It is just strange though how silly it is. Just by clicking on the "return flight" option and choosing the two dates together you get different prices than done separate. I thought my comptuer was using cached pages instead of refreshed "new pages". My girlfriend had called me and said that the flight was 79euro. i went on the net and checked and it said 69euro. :-) Had me pretty confused that early in the morning

Megatron

LadyLotts wrote:

Another Finn on Boards? How very exciting!

Sorry to dissapoint , but i'm Oirish

Attol

Hrmph. My search continues!

BadAcidStudios

LadyLotts wrote:

Hrmph. My search continues!

Maybe try finland?

Attol

BadAcidStudios wrote:

Maybe try finland?

So if I go to Finland I can then find Finnish people on Boards? Err... ok then.

HelterSkelter

BadAcidStudios wrote:

I didnt know if i explained myself the right way. You know exactly what im talking about Helter.
It is just strange though how silly it is. Just by clicking on the "return flight" option and choosing the two dates together you get different prices than done separate. I thought my comptuer was using cached pages instead of refreshed "new pages". My girlfriend had called me and said that the flight was 79euro. i went on the net and checked and it said 69euro. :-) Had me pretty confused that early in the morning

Ha ha, and I thought I was explaining it arseways. Glad we understand one another!!

BadAcidStudios

sorry, should of put a smiley face after that. Just to make it an "Official" joke :-)

Megatron

LadyLotts wrote:

So if I go to Finland I can then find Finnish people on Boards? Err... ok then.

You'd be surprised .. i Whored Boards.ie to all the Oirish staff at "The Brazen head" In Helsinki .

Lets see if i can get this even half right..


Mina Puhun Huonsti Suomi

What i hope it says .. I speak finish Badly

blorg

As people have said, it is due to operating different pricing in different countries. With Aer Lingus at least the difference will usually be insignficant (as in this case.)

BTW, you do all know you can save on the booking fee by using Laser instead of a credit card? It's not really advertised, but the price drops if you put in a Laser card.

jonny68

Yeah sussed this out a while ago myself,it's silly but that's airlines for you

blorg

In fairness it makes sense from a business perspective. There are also currency fluctuations to consider (although obviously not between Dublin and Frankfurt.)