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Member |
Tickets are now available for January 09 and beyond. We booked for December 27th with trailfinders for £650 with Thai, not a bad price for that time of year.
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Forum Regular |
I just got Eva Air elite class for £990 which is almost £130 cheaper for the same seat last year. I am leaving 24th Dec, so peak time and returning 17th Jan.
Derren |
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Member |
Last year (Jan 07) my direct flight to Thailand was under £480.00.
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Forum Regular |
It appears things have gone mad already for flights back to the UK in Jan 09. For some reason all the agents/airlines I spoke to have not got any cheap seats left already.
Apparently all the decent (read cheap) returns early Jan (I tried up to 8th) connections in the middle east are gone. I could get 8hr stopovers or £700+ flights (I paid £464 Qatar last Xmas with a 45min stopover). I have just bitten the bullet and booked EVA direct from LHR for £642.60 (Dec 6th to Jan 6th) the best I could find (with seats available). |
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Forum Regular |
We started looking for flights for xmas a couple of weeks ago,flying 10th Dec out of Man returning 3rd Jan.
I stumbeld across a site called kayak.co.uk who search other sites looking for the best deal. If you register with them you receive fare alerts to your email account daily or weekly. I registered differnt return dates 1,2 and 3rd of Jan on kayak. The fare alert I got today was £475 for 10th Dec return the 1st.Comming back on the 2nd with an 8 hour stop over £563,the 3rd was £645 all flying with Qatar. The beauty is with registering with Kayak I don't have to go searching the web now as I get an email every Monday with the best offers from ebookers,opodo,southhall etc etc. Ideally I would like to come back on the 3rd to give the kids a couple of days before they go back to school. But the 10th dec returning the 3rd is £2335 for 2 adults and 2 kids where as comming back on the 1st is £1738. Does anyone know any better deals as it looks like comming back on the 1 Jan is a better deal,unless the school allows the kids to finish Friday 5th which means we could fly out earlier,thats if the school allows us. Greg |
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Forum Regular |
Greg
Try leaving the 9th if you can as I am pretty sure prices go up on the 10th. Although you say that you are getting the fares "The fare alert I got today was £475 for 10th Dec return the 1st.Coming back on the 2nd with an 8 hour stop over £563,the 3rd was £645 all flying with Qatar." have you actually tried to book this and see if there are actually any seats. I prefer to fly with Qatar but could not get a flight at £450-£500 (without a lengthy 8 hour in airport stop over, which is not for me). |
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Veteran |
I understand that you might want to get the exact dates you wish to travel on but many airlines/agents don't release their cheap seats until 2-3 months beforehand. WestEast for example, will put you on their waiting list so you get first chance when they are released. £642 flying December 6th??? The Christmas price hike starts around the 10th (depending on the airline)and I have always found flights up to 10th December available from September at around £4-500. Bear in mind that I used to always go at that time of year - I also know other members that go just before the price hike and don't pay the prices you mention. Most of the airlines find it quiet just before Christmas and therefore they try to get as much as they can but as the time approaches - they release their remaining seats at cheaper prices.
I think you have booked way too early Gary, its not that the seats are not available - they just haven't released them yet. £642, I don't think I paid that much for my 30th December (later than usual) 2007 flight - and I don't accept long stop overs. |
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Forum Regular |
Flip
Been doing this for the last nine years and always book this far in advance to get cheap seats, normally around £450 mark and I can't remember ever paying over £480. As I mentioned, it is not because the cheap seats have not been released, it is because they have and are already sold out due to a lot of middle east returns in early Jan 2009. |
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Veteran |
Well all I can say is that I was told about the release system by a member of staff at WestEast. I believe them - many's the time I have called them to try to find a cheap flight but they have not been able to help me - then shortly after I book with someone else, Thai and Eva announce offers. They just did that in January.
WestEast told me that the airlines have a standard discounted price system in the long term and offer a number of seats that way. When all those are sold they state they are sold out. But that does not mean the flight is full. They keep a number of full price tickets back and try to sell them. As the time for the flight approaches, the airline review the available seats and if necessary, make further releases, often at even lower prices. Having said all that, I think we will not see such cheap prices again due to the recent fuel price increases. |
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Veteran |
You're probably right Flip, but when I visited their office about a year back, a decidely low tech affair (no bad thing) it was filled by very young asiatic staff and having entered into conversation with one, it really was a case of 'computer say no' I didn't detect any particular personal knowledge other than acting as processors.
Still, I have a deal to fly with Eva, via WE in a few weeks, tax included, for 452gbp! |
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Forum Regular |
Flip
I agree with what your saying,I have never booked my xmas flights this early before. Last year we booked our xmas flights 8th Dec to 1st Jan in mid july at a cost of £1620 incl for 2 adults and 2 kids via Ethiad,which was about £200 cheaper than anyone else. At the moment I can get flights for £1728 for 10th Dec to 1st Jan with Qatar booking via holiday genie. Ethiad are £620 more expensive for the same dates and £740 more than what I paid last year with Ethiad,it does raise the question have Ethiad not released any cheap seats yet. I know we are not going to get the same deals as before due to fuel,but I do believe Ethiad have not released their cheap seats yet and I have been searching for flights since late Jan. The only reason why we are looking so early this year is to book our accomadation, due to the hassle we had trying to get booked in Patong. As soon as our flights were booked last July I started looking for rooms.All I was getting was fully booked, or we can accomadate you but we would have to check out for a couple of days then check back in.The other options were way out of my budget at 10,000 bht plus. With us being a family of 4 we need something with 2 bedrooms or atleast a very large room.That's The only reason why we are booking early this year so I then have fixed dates to booked our hotels. We are going to give Patong a miss this year and try Hua Hin,agian there is not a wide selection of hotels that have 2 bedroom rooms. I still think that there will be cheap seats being offered for xmas over the comming months,not as cheap as last year though. |
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Veteran |
Greg,
Etihad staff told me that the promotion prices they have been offering over the last few years are finished - it was just to help them get established. However, that was in December, I notice they are back on WestEast's offers page at £280 + tax (Heathrow) and £305 + tax (Manchester) from 3 March to 17 June - so the price hike didn't last long. Maybe they don't feel established enough  In my opinion Etihad are a damned good airline to fly with but they cannot reasonably expect to get direct flight prices for an indirect flight. They're going to have their quiet times like anyone else so in reality, I see the discounts continuing. One gripe I do have about Etihad is that I had to write their customer services manager in November - no reply, mentioned it to ground staff in December - no reply again and still no reply. I also recently e-mailed their airmiles department on another matter - guess what? No reply. |
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Forum Regular |
Are you sure you can actually get these? Have you gone as far as provisionally booking them at that price? I love flying Qatar but all their cheap return seats were gone from Doah to UK in early Jan. I have seen those prices advertised but until you try to actually book them you will either find them not available or there is an 8 hour stopover or you are talking £700 + for a decent time stopover. I have been told I have booked to early but I am not so sure. Good luck to you if you actually get those prices. |
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Forum Regular |
Gary
No luck needed,already booked my flights for 10th Dec returning 1st Jan with Qatar at the price I posted. Flip I have some serious issues with Ethiad about how we treated,but un like you, we have had a written reply to say the matter is being investigated. |
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Active Member |
An ongoing problem that seems not to get resolved. You want a high up personal address then just email me, I can put you in touch with one of the customer service managers |
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Veteran |
Yes please put me in touch Erik, although I believe I did write to a customer services manager - Yvonne Pascall.
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