Airlines exploting monopoly?

Murphy_The_Cat

Why isn't the word 'ripoff' in the title ?

tomtontom

http://www.aerlingus.com/help/contactus/#d.en.1201

Did you even look for contact details? Took me a few seconds to find them.

henchard1

jpsartre wrote: »

So what? If Aer Lingus can sell them at that price they'd be fools not to.

In your first post you state that Aer Lingus deserves to be sanctioned because they sell a product for a price that your friends cannot or will not pay. I don't know how to interpret this other than as you feeling you (or your friends) are entitled to cheap airfares.

Jp: you clearly don't know the situation in Aberdeen (at least with respect of options re: travel to Dublin), and I meant that there ought to be some cap on just how sky high prices can go (clearly you disagree, as is your right). It wasn't meant to be linked to my experience or to the personal - although you have certainly been personally offensive about somebody you don't even know. Other posters, whilst being hard-headed and not necessarily agreeing with my position, have been informative and have enlightened me about the legal position, which was the whole point of my going online (given likely delay in any response on this from CMA).

henchard1

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Why isn't the word 'ripoff' in the title ?

Well, while undesirable it seems to be legal. As author, I'm more embarrassed by the typo...

zaffi

henchard1 wrote: »

Thanks to all except jpsartre - what an offensive post. Yes, I do know something know about business, thanks very much. Try living in Aberdeen and experiencing what amounts to a closed shop. Even allowing for market rates, the levy here, this far in advance, is truly spectacular.

When Scotland played Holland we flew from Leeds. Lithuania we flew in Latvia and got a bus similarly with Macedonia we flew into Bulgaria. Czech Republic flew to Berlin and got the train.

Why? because Scotland fans travel in their thousands. The key is to be creative. On the tartan army message boards there is thread after thread of people flying from Scotland to the south of England on cheap flights to get cheaper ferries to Ireland. All the cheap direct tickets will literally have gone hours after the date was confirmed.

A perfect example, below is a copied post from the TA message board about Gibraltar v Scotland which will take place on 11 Oct 15. Note the date it was posted.

"Posted 28 October 2014 - 07:39 PM
fri-mon ryanair from edin return £240 flights went up quite quick

Need to decide on 3 nights in Albufeira or just book Faro"

Unfortunately 5 months in advance isn't that far at all.

I also saw this which was coincidentally posted today on the Ireland v Scotland board.

"If you book your flights separately the are coming in really cheap.

11th June
ABZ-LGW 08.30-10.10 £27
LGW-DUB 12.50-14.10 £33

14th June
DUB-LCY 11.45-13.10 £28
LCY-ABZ 18.55-20.45 £60

Few hours to wait on the way home but not too bad"

henchard1

Tomtom -

Yes, thanks. Most scroll-downs require an existing flight reference, which wasn't applicable here. In the end I plumped for 'group bookings', but that again didn't really match the subject...

DTDfanBoy

So due to demand from the football fans they have sold all of their cheap seats and are charging a premium for the few they have left. That doesn't seem to be any different to any other airline to be honest.

If you have a look at flight prices from other Scottish cities to Dublin you'll see exactly the same peak in prices

bagand96

I meant that there ought to be some cap on just how sky high prices can go (clearly you disagree, as is your right

The airline industry used to be regulated and fares were a LOT higher than they are today. Deregulation and competition is what bought flying so affordable for the masses. Flying today is cheaper than its ever been.

Aer Lingus (Stobart Air) are the only airline ABZ-DUB. Someone else pointed out any other EU airline is free to operate the route but it's probably only operated by one airline because that's all the market can support.

It's a case of supply and demand. You've said there is a sporting fixture on the dates you need. Of course Aer Lingus will have adjusted pricing in response to this demand. Also the flights are probably very full already due to people planning ahead hence the fares you see are the very expensive ones.

It's only the same as airlines charging more in school holidays. Or try booking flights out of Cardiff to Dublin or Paris on 6 nations weekends.

It's a shame this event coincides with your big day but it's only the airline responding to market demand as is their right. Your likely solution is going to be surface travel to get a flight from elsewhere or the ferry.

henchard1

zaffi wrote: »

When Scotland played Holland we flew from Leeds. Lithuania we flew in Latvia and got a bus similarly with Macedonia we flew into Bulgaria. Czech Republic flew to Berlin and got the train.

Why? because Scotland fans travel in their thousands. The key is to be creative. On the tartan army message boards there is thread after thread of people flying from Scotland to the south of England on cheap flights to get cheaper ferries to Ireland. All the cheap direct tickets will literally have gone hours after the date was confirmed.

A perfect example, below is a copied post from the TA message board about Gibraltar v Scotland which will take place on 11 Oct 15. Note the date it was posted.

"Posted 28 October 2014 - 07:39 PM
fri-mon ryanair from edin return £240 flights went up quite quick

Need to decide on 3 nights in Albufeira or just book Faro"

Unfortunately 5 months in advance isn't that far at all.

I also saw this which was coincidentally posted today on the Ireland v Scotland board.

"If you book your flights separately the are coming in really cheap.

11th June
ABZ-LGW 08.30-10.10 £27
LGW-DUB 12.50-14.10 £33

14th June
DUB-LCY 11.45-13.10 £28
LCY-ABZ 18.55-20.45 £60

Few hours to wait on the way home but not too bad"

Thanks, Zaffi. Well, it does pay to be in the know. I'll pass the last bit straight on.
Good luck.

peachyprice

Sorry OP, but this is not something that is particular to Aberdeen or Aer Lingus.


I'm going to Barcelona in May, for the F1 GP. There's also a motor show there the same weekend. I booked my flights the day they were released in October and got them for £175 for two people, those same flight have been between £480 and £530 since November.

It's the way airlines operate. Get in quick or lose out.