Shanghaiceltic seemed to complain about some yield management practices in another post. I don't have any major problem with that.

What annoys me however is to see that main carriers average rates level seems higher than it used to be (ok, no statistics to back this up except form personal booking history!).

Discounted tickets used to be about restrictions like fixed travel dates/no cancelation or higher change date fees, no stop-over or open jaw, all things that in many cases one can get along with. This is now "FullFlexFares" and similar names that look pretty much like full fares I knew.

Not-so-discounted ones ("TakeOffFare") now seem to be the above + NO MILES. And there are not many around either. Why on eath would I care to fly with you then? Yes, I am talking about you AF/KLM

b.

PS: Khazakh Airlines flies to Europe?

Don't get nailed on the above mentioned airlines with too much baggage! Friends left a few weeks ago and got tagged at the airport. The baggage alotment for their ticket was ONE checked bag, not over 20kg, and ONE carry on item not over 12 KG. Air France put a tag on the carryon so it could control what went on the plane at the gate. I ended up mailing stuff to Europe for a little under 2k rmb vs. the 26k RMb they wanted in excess baggage charges (two suitcases, large purse and backpack is what she was carrying, correction trying to carry!). Let the ticket buyer beware!

I have been here for 8 years now and flying to and from the UK 2-3 times a year.

This time I was very surprised at the price hikes by both Virgin and BA. I went to the UK in April and the cost including taxes was about RMB6,000. Now it is nearer RMB 8,500. I appreciate fuel has gone up but we are talking about a price rise of nearly GBP170 in just a few months.

While you often see Virmin and BA offering some very good deals on US routes and routes to HK I have very rarely seen those being offered to Shanghai.

The airlines are just following the business model that is being used by many tight margin industries today all over the world. The strategy is to "fire" your unprofitable customers so that you can take better care of the customers that bring you profits and keep you in business. Unprofitable customers tend to be those that pay the least, complain the most and expect top service, tie up your customer service and toll free lines, and use the attitude that the customer is always right. The way the "firing" process works is that the company, on an ongoing basis, offer less services to the unprofitable customers while increasing prices to the point that the customer either leaves for a competitor or becomes profitable.

I fly between the US East Coast and China every month and am not happy to see this happening, however, I would rather pay more and make sure the airline stays in business than to see another bankruptcy and merger which will result in much higher prices and cut services. I have been flying between Asia and the US since the 1970's and even in today's dollars pay far less for a round trip ticket than I did more than 35 years ago. So, if anything, the airlines were a ripoff decades ago but today, they are still a bargain on the amount we actually pay per passenger mile.

Figure out what it would cost you to drive these distances (or other modes of transportation including cost of time) if roads were available. Look at the cost increases the airlines have had to deal with over the past decades in salaries, fuel, landing/gate fees, terminal and airplane maintenance.

shanghaiceltic wrote:I have been here for 8 years now and flying to and from the UK 2-3 times a year.

This time I was very surprised at the price hikes by both Virgin and BA. I went to the UK in April and the cost including taxes was about RMB6,000. Now it is nearer RMB 8,500. I appreciate fuel has gone up but we are talking about a price rise of nearly GBP170 in just a few months.

While you often see Virmin and BA offering some very good deals on US routes and routes to HK I have very rarely seen those being offered to Shanghai.

Some friends of mine visited me on tickets costing GBP389 on Virgin this year. There seem to be good deals for tickets originating in the UK but not here. Just paid 17000 RMB for a premium economy return and the last couple I got were more like 14000.

^^ Are you calling me Unprofitable customer?