The Great British Airways Rip-off

Nyquist

interesting thread.

KLM - London to New York via Amsterdam - £365
BA - London to New York Direct - £432

ok we know why, even if we dont agree with it. market forces etc.

I was thinking why not fly to Amsterdam for a few days and fly on to new york for the rest of my holiday. so i then put in a multi trip holiday with the plan of a 3 day Amsterdam Stopover and the same journey spread a few days apart suddenly shoots up to £500 with KLM

why is that?

same flights but the price has gone up. does anyone who works in the industry know of a way to negotiate this back down to £365?

cheers

Voyager2002

Nyquist wrote: »

KLM - London to New York via Amsterdam - £365
BA - London to New York Direct - £432

I was thinking why not fly to Amsterdam for a few days and fly on to new york for the rest of my holiday. so i then put in a multi trip holiday with the plan of a 3 day Amsterdam Stopover and the same journey spread a few days apart suddenly shoots up to £500 with KLM

why is that?

same flights but the price has gone up. does anyone who works in the industry know of a way to negotiate this back down to £365?

If the airline knows that you WANT to travel via Amsterdam, it will charge you for the privilege instead of giving you a low fare for the inconvenience.

There are two ways you could get round this. Check on Travelocity (and similar booking engines) and you may find connecting flights like this spread over more than one day.

Alternatively, just book a cheap flight on someone like BA from Amsterdam to New York (via London, of course). Then find yourself a cheap way to get to Amsterdam a few days before the flight: perhaps Dutch Flyer for 25 pounds.

MarkyMarkD

Good thoughts, Voyager.

Nyquist

Yes!!!!!!!!!! I'm really happy

Heathrow to JFK RTN £447 with BA in March 08

but

Berlin Tegel to JFK RTN £284 with BA (on exactly the same UK to USA flights)

*******

So i'm going to fly to berlin with Ryanair for £25 have 3 days holiday there then fly to New York via Heathrow for the rest of my leave.

On the way back i'll just get off at Heathrow and not fly the final part of the journey to Berlin.

I'll get two holidays while getting a saving of £138. It's more flying but at least i'm doing something with it and not going to Berlin for no reason

this is brilliant.

my only question is this....

When i get to Heathrow on the way back will my bags be sent to Berlin? or am I supposed to collect them from the baggage carrousel at Heathrow and take them to my connecting flight? How do stopovers work have never done one? Do i go through passport control customs and arrivals and then re-check in?

Thanks everyone for the good tips

:money:

Sam_Bee

Nyquist wrote: »

Yes!!!!!!!!!! I'm really happy

Heathrow to JFK RTN £447 with BA in March 08

but

Berlin Tegel to JFK RTN £284 with BA (on exactly the same UK to USA flights)

*******

So i'm going to fly to berlin with Ryanair for £25 have 3 days holiday there then fly to New York via Heathrow for the rest of my leave.

On the way back i'll just get off at Heathrow and not fly the final part of the journey to Berlin.

I'll get two holidays while getting a saving of £138. It's more flying but at least i'm doing something with it and not going to Berlin for no reason

this is brilliant.

my only question is this....

When i get to Heathrow on the way back will my bags be sent to Berlin? or am I supposed to collect them from the baggage carrousel at Heathrow and take them to my connecting flight? How do stopovers work have never done one? Do i go through passport control customs and arrivals and then re-check in?

Thanks everyone for the good tips

:money:

I'm sorry, i'm really confused. When AA have direct, non-stop flights for about the same price (or under £300) in March. Why take a massive detour via Germany unless you really need to go to Berlin?

It seems such a strange '2 centre' holiday? Why not spend the extra time in the US, go to Martha's Vineyard, or Boston or somewhere else? You can do Berlin at any time?

If I am missing something - please let me know!

Regarding your question on the return flight and luggage. Yes, your luggage will go all the way through to Berlin. And BA might refuse to let you offload it in London. Does the ticket allow a 'stopover' in London on the return. If so, and you're really going to do this, then book London - Berlin a few days after NY - LHR. Then ignore your last leg.

Nyquist

Hi Sam Bee

don't be sorry, you haven't done anything wrong, it's ok to be confused and thanks for your interst in my holiday plans.

also thanks for the AA tip. they are cheap!

When i checked various screen scrapers the best direct heathrow price (excluding air india) was £305; but i've just gone to the American Airlines site and have found £285 which is better than the scrapers were showing. Which just goes to show if you really want to get a good deal you have to go through all the individual websites.

having said that i'm still going to go via berlin. Why? I have lots of friends who live there.

No the ticket does not say 'stopover' in London. I'll make sure i travel light and will put everything in my hand luggage, which i prefer anyway just because i had a bag go missing once on route to Tirana via Rome which ruined a holiday i can tell you. better to keep hold of your things all the time, you never wear half the clothes you take in a big bag anyway.

so excited x