Do you go with cheapest fare or are you loyal to an airline?

[wendlle]

I've noticed the last few times I've flown (I'm in no way a frequent flyer, maybe 1 or 2 flights per year) that I always choose Virgin as I enjoy collecting velocity points and getting status with them.
I'm looking at flights to the USA for November and have only been looking at Virgin, I've noticed if I further my search I can get flights a few hundred dollars cheaper with other airlines (United and even Qantas)

It got me thinking, do you go with the cheapest fare or are you always loyal to your favourite airline?

 

[moa999]

To a point. I place a certain value on the ability to access Qantas and oneworld lounges.

But equally have flown Scoot and AirAsia when the price is right.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've noticed the last few times I've flown (I'm in no way a frequent flyer, maybe 1 or 2 flights per year) that I always choose Virgin as I enjoy collecting velocity points and getting status with them.
I'm looking at flights to the USA for November and have only been looking at Virgin, I've noticed if I further my search I can get flights a few hundred dollars cheaper with other airlines (United and even Qantas)

It got me thinking, do you go with the cheapest fare or are you always loyal to your favourite airline?

I don't think you're going to get any single answer to this! Those with status giving them benefits such as priority check-in and lounge access are probably more likely to stick with one airline alliance. For them, it makes sense, no matter how expensive or how 'bad' the airline they are forced to take.

Plus you have to figure in domestic flying patterns. For some, they'd rather spend a few hundred dollars more for an overseas trip if it will take them to gold status and lounge access for the rest of the year when they're flying economy around australia for work.

If you don't currently have status with an airline, and are unlikely to get it from your flying patterns - best fare of the day is generally the way to go. If Qantas is several hundred dollars chaper than Virgin, look at the potential award you might get from your Virgin frequent flyer points and compare that to the cash saving. If you earn enough points flying Virgin to the USA for a one way MEL-SYD, but save enough cash on the Qantas fare to buy a return MEL-SYD... at the time and day you want (not dependent on award availability), it makes little sense not to fly on Virgin.

Some folk will relentlessly chase status... to the extent they will pay more to fly in a lower class with say Virgin or Qantas than a higher class on another airline. But they may be playing the long game of getting status which they can use for flying domestically at a later stage.

 

[mrsterryn]

We usually go with Qantas however on occasions other Oneworld partners have had much better deals .
I have stayed loyal to Oneworld pretty much since 2006 when we started most.of our internally flying .
Have flown Hawaiian though

 

[Matt_01]

Firstly @moa999 your post above is a nice round milestone post number 10,000. Now back on topic I am happy to fly VA domestically, I have no preference and do not care about the pros and cons of VA vs QF domestically. International travel is different, my choice over the past 20 odd years are the OW carriers and whichever carrier is most direct followed by cheapest. This is closely followed by *A carriers. I will stick with the alliance structures which I know. I have never flown VA Internationally however I have heard their product is not that bad.

 

[Mattg]

I'm prepared to pay a certain % more to fly with airlines/alliances that I'm loyal to, but am not blindly loyal. If I can fly for $20 on easyJet or $200 on Lufthansa, for example, I will go with easyJet. If the Lufthansa fare was $40, I'd probably still go with Lufthansa.

Having status across multiple airlines/alliances makes it easier to shop on price without forgoing your status benefits when flying.

 

[drron]

Basically remain loyal to the OW alliance but don't fly International on QF.
Then throw in a mixture of redemptions.most not on OW airlines.

 

[LadyC]

I'm generally a cheaper fare purchaser (excluding the LCCs). I might consider a higher fare if I needed the status credits to get me over the line with status for that year. I have a foot in both the One World and the Star Alliance camps. I try to avoid Sky Team as I just don't fly enough to maintain any status with them.

 

[tdimdad]

MEL_Traveller pretty much said it. I favour an alliance because the overseas trips I tend to take are better serviced by OW. Additionally, I scoot back and forth enough to have status in one alliance but not more, and this further invites me to put all eggs into the OW basket. But within that I'm happy to shop by the combination of trip time & comfort & price as long as it yields enough status credits in 12 months to maintain the status (e.g. a choice between CX / JL / AY / BA / QF lowest economy prices).

 

[jase05]

I tend to stay away from LCC’s these days but have used them in the past. I prefer the service I get with VA on domestic routes and they are usually cheaper but even at the same price I still choose VA. Really only fly QF domestically if part of an International flight. For international flights we fly almost exclusively in J these days so alliances don’t really bother me, I tend to look more at value, comfort, stop over timings and destinations etc

 

[ozfflyer]

always cheapest, as long as easy to upgrade

 

[Forg]

I‘m not a frequent enough flyer to comment about my own flying-buying habits, but I see with oft-travelling workmates that Qantas traditionally treated them really well & hence traditionally they’d pay even up to a grand more to fly Qantas ... just ‘knowing’ that they’d get the best service.

However I’ve heard grumblings of late. Stuff like massively cheaper airlines like CI running newer & more comfy aircraft yet with ticket prices a few grand cheaper has, from what I see, made them look harder for airfares & not just assume they’ll go with Qantas. Plus one guy (flies Japan distance maybe every fortnight, about 4 Europe trips per year) doesn’t think he’s still getting that love from Qantas, and pretty sure he’s written to SG to see what they’ll do for him in transferring points & status over.

 

[downgraded]

I've noticed the last few times I've flown (I'm in no way a frequent flyer, maybe 1 or 2 flights per year) that I always choose Virgin as I enjoy collecting velocity points and getting status with them.
I'm looking at flights to the USA for November and have only been looking at Virgin, I've noticed if I further my search I can get flights a few hundred dollars cheaper with other airlines (United and even Qantas)

It got me thinking, do you go with the cheapest fare or are you always loyal to your favourite airline?

Don't fly cheapest, but definitely not blindly "loyal". Value is key. That balance between price and product (hard product, soft product, upgradability, flexibility etc etc). If airlines don't differentiate then no point in selecting anything but the cheapest and it's unfortunate that's all the main players are doing at the moment. "Stack'm high and sell'm cheap". The race to the bottom is the current trend and it removes any brand loyalty. Why pay a premium price to enter an upgrade lottery you'll probably lose? Why pay extra for the same 9 abreast seating? Why pay a premium for the same limited legroom? If the airlines want to get you to pay more, they need to think about some tangible differentiation.

 

[juddles]

.... I always choose Virgin as I enjoy collecting velocity points....

Hi there wendlle

I think that the most important thing in making decisions is to truly understand what a given programs "points" are worth TO YOU. Their value is not the same for all as it depends on so many personal things - for example a big one is what exactly will you use the points for? And added to that is the associated benefits such as status - which again has a value very different to many people. (an example of this latter thing is lounge access - it is quite ridiculous to spend hundreds of dollars extra to gain status to just have lounge access on your one or two flights a year...) But every one has different perceptions of value - what I am suggesting is that each person should really look hard at the costs and benefits of accumulating points.

i think that the most experienced frequent flyers all do essentially the same thing - they give "loyalty" to a particular airline until they attain the status they desire, then they move far more freely and look at cost a hell of a lot more.

 

[Kane]

Plus you have to figure in domestic flying patterns. For some, they'd rather spend a few hundred dollars more for an overseas trip if it will take them to gold status and lounge access for the rest of the year when they're flying economy around australia for work.

i think that the most experienced frequent flyers all do essentially the same thing - they give "loyalty" to a particular airline until they attain the status they desire, then they move far more freely and look at cost a hell of a lot more.

These are essentially my spending behaviours/choice regarding loyalty.

I generally fly Y long haul, and lounges help break up, say SYD-SIN-LHR flights, and having the same benefit domestically and through inter Europe flights supports this decision.

 

[Aus ATC]

I'm not a "frequent flyer" like many here, but "value" is the key here. I will look for the cheapest, but then factor in points and/or status credits awarded (or foregone), lounge access, baggage allowance (if needed), and then decide on the "best value" fare. I will also pay extra to avoid 10 abreast B777 and 9 abreast B787s if travelling down the back (which is usually the case on my own coin).

 

[therudies86]

I am loyal to my frequent flyer benefits not that airline. For work, 95% is Qantas / One World - if the price difference isn't material I'll go with Qantas due to lounge access and seat reservations. Personally, it depends on a whole heap more.

 

[Tejas57]

for me - it's honestly neither. I have a preferred airline (QF) and as 90% of my flying is between BNE - SYD - MEL the times are not a killer so it comes down to the difference in fares. if VA is within $50 of QF i fly QF. if it;s more, i'll fly VA.

I sometimes fly JQ but only if its a last minute thing or the price is so cheap its rediculous (last time i flew JQ i went with the family to AKL. got a week in AKL for 4 with return flights and hotel for $1600. couldn't knock it back)

 

[Oakdene]

I guess I go for value, although if two airlines give the same sort of value I would choose QF over another airline.

 

[NoGodsOneQueen]

Mostly loyal to Qantas now because of my points situation but if I was doing a real long haul I'd still likely be tempted by Singapore or Emirates.