Qantas ratcheted prices in 2023?

[Melburnian1]

High prices suggests high demand. Why QF would be in high demand is baffling.

Not necessarily 'high demand' on every route: compared to 2019, QFi has cut seating capacity by 25 per cent between Australia and London because while QF1/2 ex SYD/SIN are back to A388s, QF9/10 ex MEL/PER are 'half size' B789s.

 

[Melburnian1]

On the supply side, or lack thereof….

Absence of Chinese airlines in Australia pushes up cost of flights to Europe

Why does a flight to Europe cost so much? Mostly, it's down to China's airlines

www.traveller.com.au

I dispute that fares are high unless one is wedded to high cost carriers like QFi.

Using lesser known airlines with a good reputation and as kangarooflyer88 said, sometimes booking two separate PNRs (Australia to Asia/Middle East then one of the latter to UK and back from Europe as 'open jaw'), it's not difficult to find J returns under A$6500, or was when I booked.

Oil prices have decreased in the last few days (although they'd previously risen).

 

[Dtrain]

These are really good suggestions.

I did love the QF5/QF6 flights though, they were so convenient and saved a lot of time. Almost effortless to get to my desired location. Also, I do need to pay J to maintain status...

I was just surprised that the Qantas prices are SO significantly more expensive compared to when I booked the same flights in March this year for flights only a few months later, when demand was already high and the invasion had already started (remember I am specifically comparing Qantas' prices for specific routes, and not comparing the prices of other airlines).

Maybe the fares will decrease a bit when a sale comes on, or maybe I just need to consider the other helpful options of booking a less convenient route.

 

[SYD]

I dispute that fares are high unless one is wedded to high cost carriers like QFi.

Using lesser known airlines with a good reputation and as kangarooflyer88 said, sometimes booking two separate PNRs (Australia to Asia/Middle East then one of the latter to UK and back from Europe as 'open jaw'), it's not difficult to find J returns under A$6500, or was when I booked.

Oil prices have decreased in the last few days (although they'd previously risen).

The gist of the article is the lack of competition from the Chinese carriers (who were notorious for dumping capacity on some markets) means the others can charge more. That includes the ME carriers, QF, SQ, AY etc etc.

The average Joe is just looking for SYD/MEL/xx_ to Euro destination <return>. Some will know that to avoid UK departure tax you fly open jaw to LON and home from continental Europe. Beyond that your getting in to AFF’er territory.

Yes, if you hunt around or have a good TA, there are work arounds. I managed to find a QR J SIN-DOH-BER <Ret> for S$4k + seperate QF to SIN <Ret> in whY - all up $5k+ but at the mercy of the Upgrade Gods and obvious risks in flight delays and cancellations but it worked in the end for SYD+1 (just recently returned).

 

[kangarooflyer88]

On the supply side, or lack thereof….

Absence of Chinese airlines in Australia pushes up cost of flights to Europe

Why does a flight to Europe cost so much? Mostly, it's down to China's airlines

www.traveller.com.au

There's a lot of truth there given CA, CZ, CX and other airlines would flood the global market with flights enabling many folks to go intercontinental for a couple hundred bucks in Y and perhaps 2K in PY. This also put some pressure on QF and the like to smarten up and provide us with good fares.

But I think we can go a bit further than even that. I would encourage anyone to pick an airline, any airline and go to its Wikipedia page. I can assure you that you will find a ton of destinations that were terminated due to COVID that haven't yet made an appearance back yet. Demand is high and supply from all airlines isn't where it is pre-pandemic never mind during this time of exceptionally high demand. I'm sure the airlines are conflicted with this, wanting to maximize profits whilst keep their planes filled all the time. If they bring all this capacity online and 6 months later everyone is tired from travelling, what will they do with all that excess capacity? At the same time, all the wrong people are travelling right now. Cheapo tourists like me travelling on $2000 P fares rather than business travellers who can easily shell out $50K a year on business travel with a single airline to hit Global Services or Delta 360. They seem to be quite weary to travel and who knows when they will come back and what incentives will get them to.

-RooFlyer88

 

[kangarooflyer88]

These are really good suggestions.

I did love the QF5/QF6 flights though, they were so convenient and saved a lot of time. Almost effortless to get to my desired location. Also, I do need to pay J to maintain status...

I was just surprised that the Qantas prices are SO significantly more expensive compared to when I booked the same flights in March this year for flights only a few months later, when demand was already high and the invasion had already started (remember I am specifically comparing Qantas' prices for specific routes, and not comparing the prices of other airlines).

Maybe the fares will decrease a bit when a sale comes on, or maybe I just need to consider the other helpful options of booking a less convenient route.

I completely appreciate the benefit of having such seamless connections especially for long haul intercontinental travel like that. Perhaps as a reminder, I should note that as a QFF you have benefits and accrue status not just with QF flights but with a number of quality partners including BA, CX, AY, JL to name but a few. Often these partners will price their products cheaper than QF, offer a better quality product than QF and in some instances even offer more status credits than QF. At the same time, it's important to try new airlines to give your palate a cleanse. I know many folks who swear to only travel a single airline only to miss out on the experiences of a new airline. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and I can assure you flying non-QF airlines will help you appreciate what makes QF so great. After all, the hundredth trip in a row with QF just becomes a routine! And as much as you may praise QF's MEL > FCO service on convenience, I would struggle for you to say that it holds a candle up to SQ F and LX F which is priced only slightly more than what you paid this year on QF. In terms of accumulating status (on a Star Alliance carrier) I reckon that would likely be a no-brainer given the distances and class of service bonuses involved.

If your quest is solely, or largely based on attaining QF status, I would make the argument that there are most cost efficient ways of doing so on QF and partners (particularly when DSC promotion is running). For instance, you can easily earn over 500 status credits for around $1000 on a single trip to AKL flying QF J during a double status promotion.

In terms of pricing, QF is pricing that because there is very little competition on the route. Consider, SYD to LHR or even MEL to LHR. Many airlines fly that route including SQ and BA. So there's price competition. But MEL to FCO? How would you even construct a routing outside of QF that doesn't involve having to visit a third country (I know SIN for those LHR routes is a technically a third country but if you've flown there before I think you'd agree it's not given the transit process).

-RooFlyer88