Fare savings using Qantas regional sites

[Zeitgeist]

Hello All,

I've seen posts akin to this in the past, and for many this is probably common knowledge, but thought I would post for the benefit of anyone not in the know.

I recently booked SIN-LHR one-way with Qantas in J for Mrs Zeit and I. The Qantas Asia site gave me a price of $5700 SGD (about $4500 AUD) pp.

I phoned Trailfinders and Flight Centre and they had the same flight priced at $6500 AUD. :shock:

I questioned the guy at Trailfinders about the price I had found on the Qantas Asia site and he told me that he had tried to force that fare but wasn't able to select it as I wasn't resident in Malasia or Singapore. He said that if I was able to book it via Qantas, I should as they were unable to get anywhere near that price.

So I have booked it.

Cheers,

Zeit

 

[JetLagged]

Zeit, Australian TAs are not able to access Qantas off-shore sites: so always pays to go to those first: and if you think the fare you paid was good, try booking from the UK - I can get a return LHR-Syd in F cheaper than I can get it for reverse trip in J!

 

[Zeitgeist]

Hey Jet,

I couldn't agree more about travel from the UK. I'm from Britain originally and have lived in Sydney for 5.5 years. The prices of flights from Aus continue to amaze me and at first I was like "I'm not paying that. I could get J for the price of that Y ticket if I was flying from home". You unfortunately have to learn to accept it over time.

I guess it's just down to sheer competition and LHR being the busiest airport in the world. I guess it does have some things in its favour, although it's still a bugger of an airport to travel from/to/through.

Cheers,

Zeit

 

[ozmille]

Hey Jet,

I couldn't agree more about travel from the UK. I'm from Britain originally and have lived in Sydney for 5.5 years. The prices of flights from Aus continue to amaze me and at first I was like "I'm not paying that. I could get J for the price of that Y ticket if I was flying from home". You unfortunately have to learn to accept it over time.

I guess it's just down to sheer competition and LHR being the busiest airport in the world. I guess it does have some things in its favour, although it's still a bugger of an airport to travel from/to/through.

Cheers,

Zeit

I still fly BRU to SYD on QF for about AUD3700 in J every year. The other way around (what work pays) is almost 10000... Strange strange

 

[serfty]

...Strange strange

Not strange at all.

Purely business; if most Australians are prepared to pay more for fares purchased in Oz, more power to the airlines.

The economy oneworld explorer base fare is almost AUD1000 less expensive if you fly out of New Zealand rather than Oz.

Have a look at T-T fares ...

Up until last year, I had travel "nodes" where I'd purchase my international fares to/from OZ as well as onward locations. These were AKL, LAX and SIN.

 

[JohnK]

I have no doubt that we are being gouged by airlines in Australia but they are only charging what the market is a able to bear.

Is another reason why ~4 years ago I decided I was going to purchase return airfares to Australia from SIN/BKK as I was travelling there regularly. The momey I have saved on airfares I have used to get status.

The other issue with Australian travel agents selling airfares for international departures other than Australia is quite real. They do not have access to the cheaper booking classes available on the overseas websites.

- A number of years ago I purchased SIN-BKK return on AY in economy for ~$200 but the best that any Australian agent could do was ~$550.
- Up until a few years ago QF reservations in SIN could not sell anything less than "V" class over the phone which made airfares a little more expensive than what is quoted on website

 

[jsoprano]

Have a look at T-T fares ...

Good example: I recently saved around $100 because I did split my trip to NZ into two seperate itineraries:

MEL-AKL booked via AU QF site
WLG-SYD-MEL booked via NZ QF site

This was about $100 (20%) cheaper in Y than booked as a Multi-City via the AU site. It always pays off to compare and watch out for other options.

 

[markis10]

Its worth mentioning that unlike other airlines, the blurb you may see about the need to present your credit card to a local agent is enforced, Thailand and China being the two main sites that have this requirement.