Questions and Answers

I” travelling to Thailand from mainland china for the Chinese New Year holiday. Now I’m aware airline enjoy to take advantage of peak travel periods and add a premium but I think they take advantage here like no where else. Flights are running x10 their regular cost especially with so called low cost airline (air Macao / air Asia being particularly bad). Indeed they are so bad that I managed to find a Kenyan airways 5th freedom route from bkk to hongkong business class for far less than I could find any flights on air Asia witg no check in bagage, meal etc. I find it funny how they dare call themselves low cost airlines in this situation. As an aside I got my Kenyan airways business class ticket for less than half the price they were charging for economy tickets on the same flight. Now I know ticket pricing is a world to its own and it really does pay to check the cost of business class sometimes as you might just find a better deal. Are thes low cost airlines simply taking advantage of customers. flights are cheaper from bkk to the uk than to southern china and Hong Kong during this holiday period, significantly cheaper. Saying your low cost and charging extortionate rates when providing nothing is shameful. It’s not like you can even book ahead and save, looking to the next long public holiday towards the end of the year air Asia’s prices are already running x6 times the normal price. It lose lose for the customer and with these low costs I’d rather save money flying business class with a flat bed.

They can price it that high because there are people willing to pay for it. Ticket pricing isnt based on how far the route is or the time in flight – it depends on the market. Busy travel periods or popular routes mean airlines can charge more because people are willing to pay more for it. Chinese New Year is a popular time to travel, whether it’s to visit family or to take a vacation and since a large majority of people have the time during that period, it gets busy. I’m not surprised at all.

Hi [USER=2740]@Paul in China[/USER], and welcome! Keep in mind “Low Cost” refers to the operating model, not necessarily the ticket prices. Southwest and JetBlue often have more expensive fares than “mainline” carriers in the U.S., particularly over peak periods.