UK vs Oz flight prices

gallagher01

Help?!

My parents live in Perth, Australia and I would like to help them to come visit their baby grandchild. Problem is the huge difference in the price of flights dependant on the traveller's origin.
If we search return flights from Oz to UK they are around twice the price that they are if you search from UK to Oz for the same dates, airlines etc etc!! (c. £1300 vs £620!)

Why and how this happens is a mystery to me.

Any experts out there that could tell me whether there is any way of booking their flights for the price we would pay? My contribution to their fare would go a lot further if we could, and would give them a much better chance of being able to afford their portion.

Help?!

Caz3121

This is not unusual as fares can vary dependant on the market they are selling to - it is cheaper to go from UK to Japan than Japan to the UK. I don't think there is any way to avoid this as you cannot book a return fare that returns before you depart. Might be worth them checking with flight brokers in OZ..like we would check with trailfinders etc...our Sunday papers are normally full of ads, maybe they are the same there

duggo1

I just used skyscanner and found flights from Perth to heathrow in June for about £1200.

HXDave

have the prices you are comparing been based on you looking for prices here in the UK. sometimes, flights are cheaper if booked in the country of departure - in this case Oz. Perhaps get your folks out there to go round a few travel agencies to get some quotes, and then check if they can use your card in the UK to pay for the flights in Oz. (some will, some wont - need to check, or even do a money transfer)

And dont forget, the selling seasons are different too - what is high season here (june / july / august) is probably low season in Oz, and vice versa.

HXDave

jammin_2

Have a look at Air Asia.

whatyadoinsucka

calling flightcentre may be an option too, as they have many shops down under

roadatlas

Check out the Perth based online website www.bestflights.com.au they have a good reputation. Let us know how you go.

spottydog

Unfortunately flight from Oz to the UK are always more than the other way.

The only way of potentially making it cheaper if they are going to fly back at least once a year is to go for a single Perth to London then a return London to Perth where they use the return flight for the flight to the UK on their next holiday.

peachyprice

My mum used to use Flightcentre when she lived in Perth, the girls working there were great at finding the best deal for her, usually with Emirates.

She used to go into them, give them a range of possible dates, they would come back to her in a couple of days with the best deals.

You don't say when you want them to come, but they have flights on the Aus website from £988 in March, but it will get more expensive as Easter/our summer approaches.

http://www.flightcentre.com.au/

HTH

slinga

Sing/HR/Sing is about 750 quid on Qantas.

Dunno what Perth/Sing/Perth is but might be worth a check.

TruckerMike

Supply & Demand. The UK has a bigger market thus a larger demand and this drives prices down of some products/services. Seems strange as the UK generally is a more expensive place to live but thats economics (Confusing eh!). The place to get cheaper quality flights is a second world country like Malaysia but you would have to be resident to buy there.