XL....MONEYSAVING IS NOT the be all & end-all-a lesson learnt

khizman

jetboy wrote: »

Longhaul is the highest stakes game of all. The profit is made in the biz class seats. The revenue is keep flowing by the economy cabin. Hence the degradation in service in economy over the years. It is seen as a necessary evil..nothing more.
The principle is the same as the LCC's. If you are currently paying less than £150 to get a return to Malaga then they are probably just breaking even on the seat. On that flight the lucky few will have paid much less, the majority cover the costs and the last 10-15 are the high rollers that bring in the dosh.
The way fares are structured now can give you an idea what an airline really is making from you as they are now directly passing on the costs on check-in, baggage, fuel surcharges, airport handling and alike. Personally I prefferred it when you just handed over the cash and that was it. Booking with some carriers these days is like doing an aptitude test (except every wrong answer costs ££)

Last time I flew on a charter type flight, everyone I could see from my seat were buying the hugely overpriced drinks, god knows why, it was only a 3 hour flight.

Engadine

khizman wrote: »

Last time I flew on a charter type flight, everyone I could see from my seat were buying the hugely overpriced drinks, god knows why, it was only a 3 hour flight.

Maybe they were thirsty!

khizman

Engadine wrote: »

Maybe they were thirsty!

Possibly, but they were adding to the airlines profits, that along with scratchcards (!!!!!!?), headphones, duty free.

TRAVELMAN_2

'QUOTE but i will come back and give you Chris(travelman) some beating because you deserve it'

Very mature PINGU-post reported.........

Please explain to the MSE community WHY i deserve the above???!!

Engadine

poet123 wrote: »

Travel agents are a dying breed. The advent of the internet and its ever increasing accessibility mean that anyone who is even slightly computer savvy can do as good or better job than they can provided you take some basic precautions.

I would disagree that Travel Agents are a dying breed, there are plenty of excellent travel agents out there doing an excellent job. Travel Agents won't be on the high street in the numbers they are currently but they will have a presence for the forseeable future. Not everyone likes to or is happy to book online and they prefer to deal with travel agents. Booking with a travel agent also protects holidays and flights more than booking direct as a lot of people have found out in the last few days.

Everyone is free to make their own choice as to whether they book online themselves or book with a travel agent. I wouldn't agree that anyone who is slightly computer savvy can do as good or better a job, it does depend on the agent you choose but the excellent independent agencies have years of experience and will spend a lot of time finding the correct holiday to meet their clients' requirements.

I am not a travel agent ( used to be )I do still work in the travel industry dealing with agents every day.

Midlandsmum you and hundreds of other agents up and down the country have done a great job in the last couple of days to help many people caught up in the collapse of XL, a lot of people haven't had as much assistance from the online companies they booked with.

Engadine

khizman wrote: »

Possibly, but they were adding to the airlines profits, that along with scratchcards (!!!!!!?), headphones, duty free.

No one makes people spend their money on a flight, to a lot of people it is part of their holiday. If you don't want to spend money onboard then that is up to you but it is everyone's choice to make

dmg24

budgetflyer wrote: »

TRAVELMAN
You completely miss the point of moneysavingexpert.com
Its not a means for you to make a living
Its to help people cut the cost of living.

If you help people freely and ungrudgingly the rule of KARMA says you will get at least double back- maybe not directly in pounds and pence but in some way or another.
So you rubbing your hands with glee at others misfortune, because they didnt overspend 100quid or so for the same deal with a TA like yourself really helps no one, least YOUR REPUTATION.

Your main problem always was, you expected EVERY enquiry from MSE ers to end in a booking.Any successful salesman will tell you, its a numbers game.
The more you help folk and give quotes for, the more business you would have got.
Instead you spat the dummy out, disappeared only returning to stick the boot in to those unfortunate to suffer from this airline collapse.

With this economic climate, your hands are likely to get sore clapping btw as more airlines, tour Ops and TAs go bust.
Lets hope your company isnt one of them:rolleyes:

Spot on, TRAVELMAN was never part of the MSE community, he posted as a salesman and nothing more.

There are some fantastic TA's (and many non TA's also ) that give up their time to post and help others on MSE, but TRAVELMAN is not one of them. If he has such a poor view of MSEers, perhaps we should all ensure that we avoid his company (Future Travel, also trading under several other names) in future?

sloppychops

dmg24 wrote: »

Spot on, TRAVELMAN was never part of the MSE community, he posted as a salesman and nothing more.

There are some fantastic TA's (and many non TA's also ) that give up their time to post and help others on MSE, but TRAVELMAN is not one of them. If he has such a poor view of MSEers, perhaps we should all ensure that we avoid his company (Future Travel, also trading under several other names) in future?

Couldnt have said it better.It seemed he stopped helping/posting on here when it didnt benefit him anymore but comes back to post (erm !!!! stir IMHO) every now and again.

meester

MidlandsMum wrote: »

I'm not saying there isnt a place for cheap travel, there is. I sold a ticket to New York last week. The Fare was £33, the taxes were £267. How on earth can an airline turn a profit with those fares?

Surely you should know, seeing as you're a travel agent?

The taxes are £40, there's perhaps a few quid going in airport charges, maybe a few $ in the USA (not sure), the rest goes to the airline.

If it said fare £250, taxes zero, would you say the same thing?

On top of that, the airline will sell a substantial number of seats on the same price at say £500 fare, or even £5000 in first class.

In addition, the same fare will cost far more in December and August than September.

The airlines have a complex business model that provides a year-round predictable service and does not make a profit on every seat, but does its best to deliver as near 100% utilization as it can, in order that overall the numbers come out in a profit. Even at £33, plus the real taxes, but excluding the fuel charge, it's still better than nothing, if the seat's otherwise going to go empty

poet123

People will become more likely to book online as the use of the internet diffuses down the generations. No one I know uses a TA now except maybe to confirm they have sourced cheaper arrangements,and maybe for long haul,open jaw or multiple destination trips and cruises. So therefore the TA as is today is a dying breed. As I said, there will always be a niche market, but in 5/10 years they will not be as mainstream as they are today. As with any other service paying by CC gives you monetary protection,and so you can rebook if the worst happens.