Cheaper airfares on reverse routes?

[Moopere]

When you say above "purchased from PER" & "purchased from SIN" what booking engines are you using to determine where the fare is purchased?

matrix.itasoftware as a first step. Then wander off to the airlines and try to use their in-country website (if possible). I have noticed that several airlines, QF in particular, go to some amount of trouble to try to stop people price comparing in this way, but if I have to I can probably call a TA in SIN and get around the issue that way.

Outbound PER/SIN then even if they don't autocancel your return leg SIN/PER, your eticket coupons will have the status "suspended" so you won't be able to checkin on it even if you still have a booking on the SIN/PER flight. Remember you cannot use coupons out of sequence so if you haven't flown PER/SIN first you can't fly SIN/PER.

Yes, I understand. Its not really an option, but its mighty frustrating because it shows up the manipulation of the marketplace and pricing.

Making the most of buying return airfares from other countries isn't to noshow anywhere but to position yourself PER/SIN is the most economical fashion like a YASA or classic one way redemption or even a JQ cheapie PER/SIN, then return back to PER on the outbound coupon of your airfare ex SIN. This means you will have a PER/SIN coupon still to be used to get back to Asia for your next trip.

Yes. Sorry, didn't explain it well. This is the only realistic option. Its fine as a plan, a bit of a PITA though as some additional thought needs to go into planning. Each trip links to the next rather than being self contained. Have to really pay attention to rebooking and date movement fees too. Generally all fine given the size of the savings made - a few hundred AUD$ here or there is nothing when multiple 1,000's are being saved, but certainly more than the usual amount of care in booking needs to be applied.

Luckily, in the case of SIN as a hub for this activity, its only 5 hours form PER and pretty much will link you to the rest of the world without too much wasted airtime.

When I say "purchased in SIN" you could physically be at home in PER on your computer making the actual booking but if you used a SIN based travel website or a global site where you have selected SIN as your home country then the ticket for all intents and purposes is 'issued in SIN'.

Yes, I can't imagine why this wouldn't work and its the way I'd be wanting to do it. Don't really want to do the research and actual booking when I'm physically in SIN.

 

[Happy Trails]

I have noticed that several airlines, QF in particular, go to some amount of trouble to try to stop people price comparing in this way, but if I have to I can probably call a TA in SIN and get around the issue that way.

???
Just select Singapore as your location on the drop-down menu at the top right hand corner of the home page.
Couldn’t be simpler.

 

[Moopere]

???
Just select Singapore as your location on the drop-down menu at the top right hand corner of the home page.
Couldn’t be simpler.

haha, yes, you'd think so wouldn't you.

Try booking PER-SIN-PER from the QF SIN website .....

You can't right? No, you have to go to the QF .au site to do it and cop the .au fine.

Go to an unaligned TA site and try the same thing ... no problem now, and its about half the price. This is what I meant. QF is manipulating sell price based upon the purchasers location and nothing more, and trying at least a little bit to stop casual surfers from making use of cheaper fares from different regions.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I can probably call a travel agent in SIN and get around the issue that way.....Don't really want to do the research and actual booking when I'm physically in SIN.

You could always grab a copy of the New Straits Times on the weekend & check out the airfares & packages available. A friend of mine bought a ski package on AC ex SIN to YVR with accomm, lift passes etc which was way cheaper than booking in Oz. He bought a cheap JQ ticket DRW/SIN/DRW when they had the AUD99.00 one way specials.

According to him SIN travel agents allow you to do flight bookings months in advance with no deposit & just pay for the ticket 21 days prior to travel. If this is still the case would be handy to be able to do this & have it as a backup booking in case other plans didn't work out.

 

[serfty]

I subscribe to QF emails ex Sin - received one last night for SIN-MEL/SYD-SIN at SG$888 inclusive. PER SG$628 ADL/BNE SG$898 - For bookings 'til 30th April for departures now to 31st August.

 

[extracta]

I subscribe to QF emails ex Sin - received one last night for SIN-MEL/SYD-SIN at SG$888 inclusive. PER SG$628 ADL/BNE SG$898 - For bookings 'til 30th April for departures now to 31st August.

If you were to fly into Singapore using this method and were then planning on catching a flight to the actual destination you wanted to go to using another carrier. Is it necessary in Singapore to collect your luggage and go through customs or can it all be done airside.

 

[serfty]

These are retun flights ex SIN.

If on the return you were heading from SIN somewhere else, Qantas would generally only check you luggage through if on oneworld.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

If you were to fly into Singapore using this method and were then planning on catching a flight to the actual destination you wanted to go to using another carrier. Is it necessary in Singapore to collect your luggage and go through customs or can it all be done airside.

You could have a separate booking eg SIN CX x/HKG CX TPE & if it was all same day travel bags can be thru checked as CX is a OneWorld airline. When you checkin at PER for QF77 show them a copy of your CX itin so they can check the bags thru to TPE. Generally CX boarding passes would also be printed out in PER so all you'd need to do would be to go directly to your lounge of choice in SIN prior to boarding your next flight.

If you had a JASA booked separated on another QF pnr eg QF9 SIN/LHR this of course can be added to the QF77 so your bags could be through checked SIN/LHR & you'd receive both boarding passes.

 

[whatmeworry]

I don't know their reasons but I do know for a fact that the airlines love to fleece Australians. We have some of the highest airfares in the world.

At the end of the day, companies charge people what they can get away with. I once contacted the ACCC about prices charged at a certain place and they basically told me it was allowed by law and if I didn't like, then go to a competitor. Just remember, Australia is a relatively small market in terms of Airline Travel and the economies of scale that are seen in Europe, Asia and North America mean that cheaper prices are always harder to come by here. However, with the grounding of Tiger it has been shown domestic prices have risen during its grounding. The only way Qantas and Virgin could be doing something illegal is if they were colluding to set prices.

 

[spudseamus]

I would love to support the Australian Flag carrier !! but I will end up using another carrier that will undoubtedly be cheaper Ok I hear you say "if you want to support the Roo just pay " and I would if the Roo was charging the same fare either way to the destination !! but the Roo is playing games !! charging the same passenger much more one way than the other just because it can !! so I will vote with my feet as I have spent too much time on this !

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I would love to support the Australian Flag carrier !! but I will end up using another carrier that will undoubtedly be cheaper Ok I hear you say "if you want to support the Roo just pay " and I would if the Roo was charging the same fare either way to the destination !! but the Roo is playing games !! charging the same passenger much more one way than the other just because it can !! so I will vote with my feet as I have spent too much time on this !

Don't throw your toys out of the cot because airfares are not identical in both directions - it's not just QF but most airlines if you do the research. By all means join the 'glass is half empty' group but do so knowing that nothing will change with the fare structure.

Or you join the 'class is half full' group ie build a bridge, get over it then smarten up & start buying fares in reverse & working it into your situation rather than expecting the airlines to change to suit you.

You might even find you can support the Australian Flag carrier (albeit in reverse) as even the airline with the cheapest airfares ex Australia may be more $$$ than QF in reverse.

It's up to you.

 

[Moopere]

You might even find you can support the Australian Flag carrier (albeit in reverse) as even the airline with the cheapest airfares ex Australia may be more $$$ than QF in reverse.

Its interesting you should say that. I'm finding that working the reverse ticketing thing is very often throwing up QF or BA (codeshare to QF) as the most economical carrier - so I agree with you .... even for J tickets.

 

[spudseamus]

Thanks for stating the obvious but I dont do travel like I used to and this trip is going to be the last for about 10 years so if I want to high light this anomaly I will! as have many others including some who have posted buying Grange cheaper in London than here also cars that are thousands of dollars cheaper in Europe than here and im not talking European cars either !! My post im sure is of interest to people who because of retirement or whatever now have to pay full fare out of their own pocket so there is little interest in miles or whatever loyalty program might provide and its the blatant tricks of some carriers to hide this price differential on their web sites . cheers ( oops my glass needs topping up ) grin

 

[Moopere]

...also cars that are thousands of dollars cheaper in Europe than here

[Thread diversion warning]

Don't even get me started on the LCT and rapacious local distributors. My car of choice is AUD$80K in the UK, today, right now. $465K here. Yes, I don't joke. On the one hand its an aspirational buy, the local price is cuckoo land.

 

[mannej]

How about the cost of fuel in the UK?

 

[spudseamus]

How about the cost of fuel in the UK?

and your expansion on this post with this question is ??

 

[Foreigner]

I find fares to be less than 50% between SYD and some south Asian destinations with SQ. The cheaper fares include A380 flights between SYD and SIN on both directions!