Flights are more expensive than ever

[PlaneCrazy]

We have had a lot of issues with my work and VA putting in fake / optimistic schedules only a couple of weeks out then consolidating and cancelling the night before. It was part of the reason we have moved a majority of flying away from them despite the money they owe us.

To be fair we had the same with JQ for a while but QF and JQ seen to have more stable schedules and more reliable to fly, perhaps carrying more freight than VA?

Similar scenario happened to me. Last week booked virgin syd-ool for 12 December due to better schedule than Qantas as their last flight left around lunch. Was surprised virgin had greater frequency into the evening. Virgin subsequently reduced their offering to a daily flight departing circa 11am. Thought it might be insider knowledge that the boarder would still be shut?

 

[AIRwin]

FWIW, I'm seeing a fare of $149 for the 9.15am SYD-ADL flight on 8 February.

It's dropped again to $119...

 

[eastwest101]

It's dropped again to $119...

Yes - I think at the moment its going to be a case of the yield managers at all airlines going back to being on their L plates again, as the random state border closures and change in consumer behaviour, lack of scale/frequency, no international tourists, less business travel and other Covid-19 effects are going to put all their historical data and assumptions about price elasticity in the dustbin of history for the next little while.

 

[wendlle]

I had flights with Virgin from Canberra to Sydney booked for $89 each way for Feb 11-12.
They were cancelled when Sydney had the covid scare and ACT locked them out.
They aren't flying again until Feb 22, flights with Qantas are over $189 each way. INSANE!

 

[kookaburra75]

They aren't flying again until Feb 22, flights with Qantas are over $189 each way. INSANE!

That's about the normal price for Canberra-Sydney flights pre-Covid - allowing for the "Canberra tax", so not much difference.

 

[wendlle]

I’ve never ever paid that. Must always get them on sale as I never pay more than $99

 

[jase05]

Have ADL-MEL booked for this Thursday and VA was $399 for J whilst QF wanted $1372 and their cheapest Y was $322. No lounge here currently is a bummer but I’m sure if I get peckish the extra $1000 in my pocket should buy a snack or two (even at ADL airports inflated prices)

 

[AIRwin]

"Let the good times fly" sale now on until 8 February:

Virgin Australia Specials and flight sales

Find flight sales and airfare deals for domestic and international flights with Virgin Australia.

specials.virginaustralia.com

 

[AIRwin]

"Let the good times fly" sale now on until 8 February:

Virgin Australia Specials and flight sales

Find flight sales and airfare deals for domestic and international flights with Virgin Australia.

specials.virginaustralia.com

Extended until 15 February...

 

[PlaneCrazy]

Extended until 15 February...

It didn't look like all of the sale fares were extended when I checked unfortunately

 

[AIRwin]

It didn't look like all of the sale fares were extended when I checked unfortunately

DRW?

 

[AIRwin]

72 hour domestic sale until 24 February:

Cheap flights to Brisbane (BNE) from AUD $105* | Virgin Australia

Find and book great value flights to Brisbane (BNE) with Virgin Australia. Good times, great fares. We can't wait to fly with you.

specials.virginaustralia.com

 

[AIRwin]

For the Fans sale until 12 March:

Virgin Australia Specials and flight sales

Find flight sales and airfare deals for domestic and international flights with Virgin Australia.

specials.virginaustralia.com

 

[Jurahn]

For the Fans sale until 12 March:

Virgin Australia Specials and flight sales

Find flight sales and airfare deals for domestic and international flights with Virgin Australia.

specials.virginaustralia.com

I'm intending to fly to NSW in May to visit my father, so went to have a look at this sale. After entering destinations, dates etc and clicking "Continue to Flights", both Chrome and Safari are returning "site can't be reached" messages - with Chrome it's "check if there's a typo in book.virginaustralia etc etc" and Safari message states the server can't be found. Same thing when trying to go through the main booking page as well, not just the sale page.

ETA: Just started up the work laptop (Windows) and the booking page loaded eventually, so not sure what's happening with my Mac - it's usually the other way round that there's an issue with Windows!

 

[AIRwin]

After entering destinations, dates etc and clicking "Continue to Flights", both Chrome and Safari are returning "site can't be reached" messages - with Chrome it's "check if there's a typo in book.virginaustralia etc etc" and Safari message states the server can't be found.

What date? It's working for me on both Chrome and Internet Explorer...

 

[Jurahn]

What date? It's working for me on both Chrome and Internet Explorer...

Any dates I enter. Have just edited my original post, as tried the work laptop (Windows) and the booking page did load (eventually), but still get the same messages on my iMac via Chrome or Safari. My husband has just tried with his laptop (Macbook, using Safari) and same "server cannot be found" error.

 

[eastwest101]

Fares on the rise across the board, even the SYD-MEL pair which would expect to have increased competition due to Rex. Note that the yield premium that QF was able to extract over VA is shrinking so VA and QF coming closer together in price. Jetstar base starter fares increased by a fair bit from a month ago, but the Plus bundles by not as much, which might indicate that Jetstar yield managers are having to trim the price of their bundles as the JQ base fares rise. Or an alternative theory might be that the extremely low JQ base fares failed to stimulate any demand over summer so the JQ yield managers have gone for base fare increases to return JQ to profitability.

The randomised "basket" of VA mainline domestic fares dropped 2% compared to the same "basket" of QF mainline fares dropping by 15% so it seems regardless of product - everyone is converging towards a similar price point. Note these fares are all BFOD Y class prices as of today.

 

[jase05]

Booking some more flights to the footy and ADL-MEL $67 in Y and $279 in J as part of a 7 day sale starting today. For comparison QF was $107 in Y and $665 in J for the same dates/time

 

[Carrots]

Booking some more flights to the footy and ADL-MEL $67 in Y and $279 in J as part of a 7 day sale starting today. For comparison QF was $107 in Y and $665 in J for the same dates/time

Just been looking at the exact same thing... Only problem is trying to decide which game(s) based on probability of Adelaide not getting flogged (which is a pity because the first free weekend for me is when they play Richmond at the G!).

 

[jase05]

Just been looking at the exact same thing... Only problem is trying to decide which game(s) based on probability of Adelaide not getting flogged (which is a pity because the first free weekend for me is when they play Richmond at the G!).

Hey I’m a Essendon member and we will get flogged most weeks but it’s still good to get over there and have a few days in Melbourne every couple of weeks