Cheap travel

[coliholic]

Don't know if I'm teaching you all to suck eggs here but anyway here goes.

Needed to book a flight today for one of my staff who works in USA. He needs to go back to Washington from Newcastle on 3 Jan and then back to UK on 3 April. Spoke to 3 or 4 travel agents and they quoted me between £480 and £1150 for the return trip as did lastminute.com.

Then had a go on the BA website and got it down to £375 but when I tried to book it, price jumped up to £460. Then came across a new to me on line booking thingy, that I'd sort of heard of before, but not used, Opodo and checked there. Same flights as BA offered me for £460, they offered at £315. So I booked it and paid for it and it's all confirmed and done.

Now I believe that there's a poster hereabouts who mentions these folks in his Bio, so without naming names, I'd like to say fantastic deals. And well done.

And what a bargain. Fly Newcastle to LHR then on to Washington (USA, not Tyne and Wear) and BACK again, all for just £314.50 to be precise.

So if any of you have a hankering to get away somewhere, (bit of Chrimbo shopping in New York?) may well be worth a look. www.opodo.com

Oh and to get some sort of relevant boaty link in before Dickmeister has a pop, could look at flights to visit the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show too.

 

[pistonbroke]

I've also used them and found their prices excellent, I also use ebookers.com

 

[tcm]

Opodo: spreadsheet please

well, i'm not so sure. I think we should have a spreadsheet of all the prices, and I'm sure u-kno-who would approve...

 

[coliholic]

Re: Opodo: spreadsheet please

Ooh Excel lent idea.

 

[jfm]

Re: Cheap travel - howcan we predict?

Seems very cheap, esp if BA.

As everyone knows, easyjet/ryanair etc use some fancy computer model to set prices. Any particular trip can be between £9.99 and £179 depending on some obvious, and non-obvious factors. But, does anyone here have the exact model? I mean, the code? Or some clever spreadsheet. So we can book tickets at precisely the right moment. Or predict how much extra £££ it will cost by dithering another week before booking

I once thought easyjet tickets would become dead cheap 24hrs before the flight, if it wasn't full. So I held off booking till last minute (with refundable BA ticketsall booked, to hedge my bets). It didn't work. They didn't become cheap at the last minute...

 

[tcm]

Re: Changing model

i had a look at ezjet for next year - but they were only taking bookings to next march, no further. So, whereas they used to be all people's champion, now they are opportunistically profiteering gits, perhaps.

 

[wakeup]

Re: Changing model

A friend of a friend has a place in Nice. He has done a deal with easy jet £4K up front he gets 40 return flights to LHR to Nice but can take them any time he likes as long as they are taken over 12 months. Not sure if this is a great deal (I think he has done this more for his convenience) but it does show you can put a deal to them if there is some upfront moula rather than be constrained by their web site.

I just can't be arsed...

 

[tcm]

Re: ooh, not bad

i will have a think about that then! I wonder how you get hold of them? "click here if you would like to dream up some wacky deal"...

 

[wakeup]

Re: ooh, not bad

I'll try and find out how he did it and report back as I'll be looking for a simillar deal to get me and SWMBO to Sof quite a bit next year and beyond.

You're right there doesn't appear to be a contact Steelyarse for bargain basement cash in brown bag only deals option on the web site!!! May be that's why the've boot him off the board....

I just can't be arsed...

 

[jfm]

Re: Changing model

Sounds interesting wakeup. I'm going to contact em and see.... Any more details ??

The other approach is book loads of tickets now at the 20 quid sort of prices, and bin the ones you dont use.....

 

[tcm]

Re: booking cheapy tickets now

but doesn't the extra price kick in later if you changit from january to july??

 

[wakeup]

Re: Changing model

I'll fire off an e-mail to my pal and ask him to get the details from his pal and I'll report back. It seemed like a reasonable deal to me but and I take it you and TCM think this is a reasonable deal then???

I just can't be arsed...

 

[jfm]

Re: booking cheapy tickets now

Yes it does. I mean, if you book a middle-of-the-night in january for £20 then u want to change it to July, you pay the extra. So, if at the time you do that, July is £150, you pay the extra £130, plus an admin fee. So, no benefit at all.

But if the July flights are say £50 if you book now, and £150 if you leave it till later, I'm saying it's maybe worth booking them now for any weekend that you MIGHT go. If you decide nearer the time not to go, then you cancel and credit the £50 (minus admin charge) against another trip. But for the cases where you predicted the dates correctly, and you actually make the trip, you save £££ by booking early (though you pay when you book so u suffer cashflow wise). Oops can feel a spreadsheet occurring now...

 

[tcm]

Re: sounds a bit spensiv

Hm. maybe. But I have already flown seatfuls of fresh air around europe, incluing one portion this am to pisa for 50 quid, and another load back from nice on monday nite, damn.

 

[tcm]

Re: Cant book loads a long way ahead

at the mo, can only book to end march. Used to be a year ahead, like BA. My advice: dither.

 

[EME]

Sounds like

...a jolly nice chap...

JFM- I've offered to write a free article for MBY/MBM/YW whenever they like on the subject of how to find etc..

Ray Webster the CEO of Easyjet allegedly wrote the Yield Maanagement software himself...and still maintains it himself!!

<font color=blue>I am WHAT I say I am</font color=blue>

 

[EME]

Re: Cant book loads a long way ahead

His advice currently very sound...lots of major capacity coming on next year around Europe...

Simple rules of Supply and Demand still work

<font color=blue>I am WHAT I say I am</font color=blue>

 

[tcm]

really, o wise one?

oo, but we all thought everyone was holding back from flogging the tikits cos they cd charge more later?

 

[david_e]

Re: Cheap travel - howcan we predict?

i have found with ryanair the prices come down nearer the time, but not by huge amounts.

brother does the ezjet cheapo tickets/bin em thing to nice, always seems to find a reason to go even if his swmbo can't!.

 

[EME]

Re: really, o wise one?

...some do , some don't...obsession with integrating GO, precluding next Summer's schedule being finalised is probable answer...

<font color=blue>I am WHAT I say I am</font color=blue>