Virgin price increase within hours

monruth

In the early hours of this (Sunday) morning I checked on Virgin's website for a flight from Heathrow to Cape Town departing 2 February and returning (from Johanesburg) approx 3 weeks later, in premium economy.

The price was £1253 returning any day from 22 - 25 Feb and if on 26 - 28 was £1268 as on the weekend and then in the following weeks it was the same price. A few hours later I checked again and lo and behold the £1253 fare had increased to £1403 and the £1268 to £1418 ie both by
£150 exactly in a matter of hours.

If only Sir Richard read this website but doubt he has to as I would love an explanation. I have many other uses for the £150 and £1253 was the maximum I could pay but by hesitating I have lost the chance.

Do fellow readers think the prices fluctuate and in fact could go down again. I need premium economy as need the extra luggage allowance and also I am no twiggy.

mrme

You don't need Sir Richard to explain... its pretty simple, Virgin have a plane which has x amount of seats and they want the maximum ££ per seat. If this flight is proving popular and the rate of sale is too high the price goes up, basic its supply and demand.

The price is most likely to only go one way and that is up for scheduled services, charter airlines are a whole other ballgame! If you need seats on this flight my advice is to book now and for future ref agents are able to hold seats for carriers such as BA, Virgin but too late for you this time :beer:

Louisa_Jane_2

I have heard, whether it's true or not I don't know, that airline websites store cookies on your computer and if you visit or search for a certain flight more than once or twice they will increase the price. It may be worth clearing your cookies and trying again - only an idea?

Caz3121

Airlines use a yield management system which fluctuates the prices with supply and demand - the intention being to sell each seat for as much as possible. (hence no cheap seats on premium flights as they know people will pay the higher prices)
They also use different classes within each cabin type and have will release a limited number of the lowest cost before it goes to the next price up
There are 3 fare types in PE - W (full fare), S and K which are advance purchase. Not sure which is the cheaper but the liklihood was that £1253 could have been one type and the £1403 the other - either they had sold the last remaining seat(s) in the lower class or removed from sale.
How it 'should' work is that, if no-one buys the seats at the higher fare for a period of time they may reintroduce the lower type...if people buy at the higher fare they may even restrict them and move to the W fare for PE.



mrme says it all shorter and quicker :-)

Louisa_Jane_2

Another thought - I'm sure BA and Virgin have a sale within the next few days - I can remember booking flights to New York on Xmas eve a few years ago - it may be worth asking a question on here or doing a search.

monruth

Thank you MRME for your reply. I am not too dumb to understand the principle of supply and demand but I especially wrote that the increase did not apply to ONE specific flight but to all those returning to the UK in that week and in the following weeks. So why was there an increase for more than one flight. They could not all have proved popular at the same time and it was in the early hours of the morning - it was around 1.30 am when I first checked.

Lady_S

Louisa_Jane wrote: »

Another thought - I'm sure BA and Virgin have a sale within the next few days - I can remember booking flights to New York on Xmas eve a few years ago - it may be worth asking a question on here or doing a search.

I was going to say exactly the same thing. I booked flights NYE with them a few years ago in a sale at massive discount.

KonkyWonky

They are selling a product, if you don't want to pay the price quoted then don't pay it. Businesses try and maximise profit at every opportunity, they don't really have to provide an explanation of why they increase their prices or give prior notice that they plan to.

Its annoying yes, but scheduled flights increase in price the closer you get to the flight date. I'm more confused as to why you didn't chose to book when you had a price you seemed happy with.

PolishBigSpender

More importantly, why complain?

If you didn't book at the time and can't afford to pay more - it's no-one's fault but your own. Virgin offered you x price, you declined, and now you have to pay price y.

HGLTsuperstar

It's probably related to the panic over BA striking etc.
I'm feeling very lucky actually as I'm flying PE to Delhi in January and got in at the righht time as that same flight on the same dates is now showing on Virgin's website for a full £1000 more.

mrme

monruth wrote: »

Thank you MRME for your reply. I am not too dumb to understand the principle of supply and demand but I especially wrote that the increase did not apply to ONE specific flight but to all those returning to the UK in that week and in the following weeks. So why was there an increase for more than one flight. They could not all have proved popular at the same time and it was in the early hours of the morning - it was around 1.30 am when I first checked.

I never said you were dumb?!?! There are many possible reasons for fare increases whether it be by specific flight or route. Maybe capacity has been cut, maybe their costs have increased or maybe as a previous poster stated they think they can get away with the increase due to the bad BA press.... I could go on for ages.

At the end of the day they can charge what they like, if you're not happy paying that much don't fly... it's that simple!! Pricing flights is a lot more complex than people realize and they wouldn't just whack £100 on a flight without good reason.