Article: Qantas Expects International Airfares to Come Down

[mrsterryn]

Husband has just booked a business return Syd to LHR for next sept (school holidays period )
Qantas - $13000
Qatar - $16000
Etc
JAL ( so till one world advantages ) $7600 with a Helsinki layover of a few hours plus a flight in Finnair.
Husband is thrilled , new plane type ,new carrier, new airport .
Bit earlier booking than we thought but funnily enough this release from Qantas plus subsequent discussion made me convince the husband to book the flight now. Done dusted

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

Husband has just booked a business return Syd to LHR for next sept (school holidays period )
Qantas - $13000
Qatar - $16000
Etc
JAL ( so till one world advantages ) $7600 with a Helsinki layover of a few hours plus a flight in Finnair.
Husband is thrilled , new plane type ,new carrier, new airport .
Bit earlier booking than we thought but funnily enough this release from Qantas plus subsequent discussion made me convince the husband to book the flight now. Done dusted

A touch off topic but both Finnair's new J product and the airport in HEL are delightful.

 

[TheInsider]

The prices being charged by Qantas right now are insulting. I’ve been a loyal member for 25+ years (G,P,P1) and for the very first time moved over to another carrier for December flights to USA. Qantas want 14,500 business each way so that’s basically 60K for two. United’s newer business product is 8,800 RETURN! To get that fare, we need to take a quick trip JFK to Switzerland for a couple of days but hey, we saved 44K and that will more than cover a very nice hotel in Zurich and a trip to visit the Alps! Also now doing interstate flights on virgin because they are a fraction of the price of Qantas. How can this be justified. It’s gouging. I feel like a traitor but what else can I do?

Not justifying QF pricing, but UA are charging $21k return to JFK around December for Business, and $6k return for an economy fare!

 

[ShrinkWrapped]

What you're finding right now is that most airline yield management teams are not releasing seats in the lower buckets in hope that people will just pay whatever price to go from A to B. Corporate people I suspect will just book regardless so availability remains thin as there are less flights available.

To be honest I think it's ridiculous that only a month ago I picked up AKL-ATL via DFW in AA on business class for ~ 6.3k return compared to pricing now

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

Not justifying QF pricing, but UA are charging $21k return to JFK around December for Business, and $6k return for an economy fare!

View attachment 303736

Qantas is certainly not alone in charging some of the eye-watering fares we're seeing at the moment.

That said, and anecdotes are merely anecdotes, as someone who's been travelling internationally at least once a month this year along with several domestic and trans-Tasman trips, I've found Qantas to be competitive precisely and only once: a holiday to Maui, where QF priced favourably to HA.

I tend to believe equilibrium will be restored in the next year or two, and I'd be happy to keep my Qantas status active for when that happens, but with QF routinely 30-50%+ higher than competitors, I simply can't justify that premium for a service that isn't 30-50% better, nor will my employer tolerate it when they're paying.

However, Qantas is making an impressive profit and its planes aren't going out empty. Obviously, someone is willing if not happy to pay these fares, so QF doesn't need to care what I think.

 

[RooFlyer]

. It’s gouging. I feel like a traitor but what else can I do?

It is gouging and the very last thing you should feel is being a traitor. Many of us learned a long time ago that loyalty and Qantas is a one-way street.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

To be honest I think it's ridiculous that only a month ago I picked up AKL-ATL via DFW in AA on business class for ~ 6.3k return compared to pricing now

Also a good point. Fares across the industry are up even compared to a month or two ago. Off the top of my head I've flown Air Canada, Air NZ, Singapore, Finnair, BA, Delta and United internationally in the last six months -- all in either J or PY -- and the prices for virtually all of those trips have continued to rise in the same class of service even during less desirable travel months. I've never seen such high fares to North America and Europe in October/early-November and it's certainly not just QF driving those fares.

That said, the issue here is that the relative difference in price has remained, and QF's fares seem to increase in tandem if not faster than their competitors on routes where they were already charging a significant premium.

 

[whughes3]

+1 to the above...I have been looking at some international trips for late Nov/Dec and fares everywhere are just insane, up 50-100% or more on what I was paying just a few months ago and far more than I can justify, Looks like I am grounded for a while!

 

[Saab34]

I was looking HNL for Dec or Jan but we are doing Cairns instead on a Reward booking. The cheapest to HNL was Jetstar, and after $2500 return. Most things on the International front that came in much cheaper was connections with Fiji, Vietnam Airlines, Philippines Airlines, AirAsiaX and so on, all with long layovers. Don't get me started on Jetstar trying to sell $2000 DPS return tickets for the months of December and Jan.

We even had a look at something more local and new to us, the new Jetstar Melbourne to Margaret River route. They have capped all flights for the next three months at $557 each way.

 

[BruceBris]

Not sure if this is the right post but it does related to Qantas pricing. I'm trying to get to either the US or Europe in the Northern ski season but, as mentioned earlier, the prices are eye-watering. I must confess I'm too old to want to travel in cattle truck so looking for a minimum of Premium Economy. My question here relates to Qantas' "International Flight Deals" as advertised on their home page. I decided to check out the reality of their advertised prices, which seemed acceptable until I tried to find a flight. For example, Melbourne to Heathrow (economy as the example) quoted as $1984 return from now until December 2nd. I did find a flight out, leaving tonight for under $1000 but, no matter how far I extended the return date, I could not get below $1500 for the return- ~$2500 return. Has anyone actually achieved one of these deals or is it just false advertising? Even the Business flights were priced reasonably but, again, not available.

I'm lifetime gold and have many points but am looking at almost any other option than Qantas at the moment.

 

[encryptededdy]

Not sure if this is the right post but it does related to Qantas pricing. I'm trying to get to either the US or Europe in the Northern ski season but, as mentioned earlier, the prices are eye-watering. I must confess I'm too old to want to travel in cattle truck so looking for a minimum of Premium Economy. My question here relates to Qantas' "International Flight Deals" as advertised on their home page. I decided to check out the reality of their advertised prices, which seemed acceptable until I tried to find a flight. For example, Melbourne to Heathrow (economy as the example) quoted as $1984 return from now until December 2nd. I did find a flight out, leaving tonight for under $1000 but, no matter how far I extended the return date, I could not get below $1500 for the return- ~$2500 return. Has anyone actually achieved one of these deals or is it just false advertising? Even the Business flights were priced reasonably but, again, not available.

I'm lifetime gold and have many points but am looking at almost any other option than Qantas at the moment.

Yeah, usually I can pretty easily see the advertised prices by searching a range of dates, but it certainly looks like the current Europe sale is claiming unobtainable prices. Maybe the prices existed when the sale was first posted? Still not great though.

 

[SYD]

Not sure if this is the right post but it does related to Qantas pricing. I'm trying to get to either the US or Europe in the Northern ski season but, as mentioned earlier, the prices are eye-watering. I must confess I'm too old to want to travel in cattle truck so looking for a minimum of Premium Economy. My question here relates to Qantas' "International Flight Deals" as advertised on their home page. I decided to check out the reality of their advertised prices, which seemed acceptable until I tried to find a flight. For example, Melbourne to Heathrow (economy as the example) quoted as $1984 return from now until December 2nd. I did find a flight out, leaving tonight for under $1000 but, no matter how far I extended the return date, I could not get below $1500 for the return- ~$2500 return. Has anyone actually achieved one of these deals or is it just false advertising? Even the Business flights were priced reasonably but, again, not available.

I'm lifetime gold and have many points but am looking at almost any other option than Qantas at the moment.

Probably sold out in that fare bucket / dates and the website ”Offers page” doesn’t get updated…

 

[BruceBris]

Probably sold out in that fare bucket / dates and the website ”Offers page” doesn’t get updated…

Thanks for the quick responses. It's good to know that it's not just a stitch-up although I tried several ranges. Oh well, back to the searches....

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

I am sure that QF knows it, and they are price gouging.
Looking at Au - HND, Dec this year, was looking a few months ago too, nearly Aud$8k for J, pure revenue.
Ouch.
Of course, no premY on this route, so its either slum it in Y or go with subclass of J, and pay $8k, or close to it.
Now waiting for Dec 2023 to come around.
Best of luck BruceBris though.
QF are trying to make up for money they didn't make during the pandemic, and they don't really care about anything else.
Not sure if we will ever see prices come down, despite what they say they "expect".

 

[jakeseven7]

Of course they will come down once more supply (planes) come back online, but it is taking all airlines much longer than anticipated to restore their existing fleets.

Combine that with massive issues at Boeing getting aircraft delivered and labour shortages left right and centre, I feel like high prices are going to be around for a while.

We’ve adjusted our businesses travel budgets for C23 to allow for this and also C24!

 

[one9]

Don't like paying high/ridiculous fares, but if it could happen to any industry, it's good it's happening to aviation. Like agriculture, aviation is an industry which traditionally gets very poor returns, so it's probably fair that aviation investors finally are able to make some money - especially after the huge COVID losses.

 

[mrsterryn]

Approximately 3 weeks ago a trip in premium economy for the dates of sept 11 - sept 20 2023 was $7200. Yesterday I received an email that the fare had changed to $6288. Tested it out and yes I can get that on QF1 and return on QF2 .
Thought it was interesting that it was such a massive drop
Mind you still mot interested at that price lol

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

For me, just had a look like night, ADL - HND via east coast (for Jul 2023), wait for it, this is revenue subclass of J, going out and coming back, Aud$8500!!!
For sardine class Y, its about $1600.
I know, I could go Y and save a bundle, but still, its so painful to see J that much $$$.

 

[mrsterryn]

For me, just had a look like night, ADL - HND via east coast (for Jul 2023), wait for it, this is revenue subclass of J, going out and coming back, Aud$8500!!!
For sardine class Y, its about $1600.
I know, I could go Y and save a bundle, but still, its so painful to see J that much $$$.

Where is premium economy for HND???
I used to love that for an overnight over and back to HND in PE. Now the only choices are economy and business

 

[SYD]

Where is premium economy for HND???
I used to love that for an overnight over and back to HND in PE. Now the only choices are economy and business

QF PE went with the B747 retirement. Until they get B787 up and back, it’ll only be J/Y on QF.