 Poster: A snowHead
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As many of us start booking winter flights...
Of late (since March) I have travelled out to Geneva most weekends. In recent years it has been my impression that BA have typically been the cheapest carrier from London.
I have the opinion that Easyjet charge more and trade off passenger assumption that they are the cheapest so they don't shop around.
I also find that Airmiles often have allocations left over so for, say, 100 airmiles, I can get myself a much cheaper ticket than cash elsewhere.
I wouldn't post this except that I hope to NOT have to rely on London-Geneva quite so frequently soon.
Anyway, I've just booked flights to travel out Friday 1 Sep, Back Monday 4 Sep.
BA £72 (it was £69 on Sunday should have booked then < )
Easyjet £92 (similar flight times)
Airmiles £106
I know, I know, it's not the winter - but I have had many similar experiences in the last couple of years.
Just because they claim to be cheap doesn't mean that they are. Low cost doesn't mean low cost to you, it means low cost to them.
Shop around!!
BTW I believe that BA will reinstate London City- Geneva for the winter - worth checking both them and Swiss...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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By & large I agree with this - the exception being that on certain low budget routes there can be real steals if you're alert or time rich e.g. Wednesday to Wednesday daytime flights for example (6 days off work for 6 days skiing) compared to the flights I'm most interested in - Fri night/Sun night. Easyjet et al are certainly savvy to peak pricing.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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David Murdoch, A fair point, but what would the BA fare have been if Easyjet and Ryanair had not emerged ?
I can remember working for a Travel Agent about 15 years ago when ski weekends were only for the wealthy.
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brian
brian
Guest
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Easyjet's pricing is totally demand led. There are a few cheap fares at the start of booking for every flight but if they sell quickly the price curve rises faster. Unless you can book as soon as they come out they're pretty useless for holiday times and peak weekends.
Anyway, I'm looking at flights for that weekend as well, flying out Friday, back Saturday (meeting with architect).
£116 on squeezy direct NCL.
£338 on BA from EDI via Manchester.
Not much of a contest there.
I agree with your general point though, consider all options.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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fatbob, Oh, yes, for sure.
bladeskier, So do I. Yes, there's nothing wrong with competition - generally helps us all. I remember the days when Queasyjet publicly mandated that they would be no more than 60% of the cheapest alternative. Long gone.
I'm just trying to help ensure no SHs go making this particular silly mistake.
I'm not criticising the locos, just pointing out that on almost any route it's worth shopping around. It is also interesting that Easyjet and Ryanair never (almost never?) compete directly? I once heard that they had a "Gentleman's" agreement not to...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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As i keep saying if BA flew direct from newcastle fair enough but only have easyjet.
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| David Murdoch wrote: |
| It is also interesting that Easyjet and Ryanair never (almost never?) compete directly? I once heard that they had a "Gentleman's" agreement not to... |
I find it interesting that on turnarounds then David, we are often parked next to Ryanair 
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BA's mismanagment of the low cost sector has been nothing short of catostrophic.
In 1998 they set up their own low cost airline called "GO" in response to the low cost carriers.
Three years later Barbera Cassini led a management buyout for £110M, within 12 months GO was sold to easyjet for over £300M.
So now we have BA themselves selling fares cheaper than the low cost carriers.
Make sense of that if you can !
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Helen Beaumont wrote: |
| As i keep saying if BA flew direct from newcastle fair enough but only have easyjet. |
I wish it was like that on internal routes too, Helen! To get from Gatwick back 'home', we need to fly BA - or drive to Stanstead to get an easyJet flight!
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Michelle, so do you fly identical routes now then? There are so many that it's hard to keep count! (This is a good, nay, terrific thing).
bladeskier, so Cassini/GO under BA was so crap they had to sell off the operation and so good 12 months later that Easy bought them? Trebles all round...
And clearly BA's current strategy in economy is causing them all sorts of problems. Not. See here
(BTW, I think "catastrophic" has two "a"s)
Just to repeat, I'm not criticising Easyjet. I think they're generally great. Just pointing out that you really deserve to pay more if you don't check out what's cheapest.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Just checked prices for the PSB, Easyjet still £42, BA want £61 (of which only £20 is the fare, taxes etc come to £42!!)
BA also claim on their booking page, "Included in your fare Convenient centrally located airports", since when was Gatwick conveniently centrally located 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| David Murdoch wrote: |
| Michelle, so do you fly identical routes now then? There are so many that it's hard to keep count! (This is a good, nay, terrific thing). |
To be honest - I don't know. I do know that we fly into the same airports a lot of the time though.
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| Just to repeat, I'm not criticising Easyjet. I think they're generally great. Just pointing out that you really deserve to pay more if you don't check out what's cheapest. |
I totally agree
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FenlandSkier, however, factor in ski carriage and Easyjet become £72  - I know cause I'm taking mine along for the PSB
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You know it makes sense.
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FenlandSkier, Gatwick is great for me. 30 mins from the office, 40 mins from home.
Certainly more central than Ryanair's Milan offering (Bergamo). Nowhere near Milan and no transport infrastructure.
And Luton/Stansted are central for precisely where?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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David Murdoch, Your first point was indeed 100% correct, don't shop around and you deserve to pay more.
I think that BA could have done much better if they had hung onto GO, IMHO they could have saved themselves plenty of money by moving most of their European operations across to GO, we shall never know.
I am also happy to praise BA where they deserve it. I'm a taxi driver and 80% of my business is airport transfers. This morning I took someone to LHR who was flying with BA to Tripoli for a 6 month contract. He wanted to take a bike with him and asked if I'd mind parking up and going in with him, he wasn't sure if they'd take his bike and wanted me to bring it back if they wouldn't.
They accepted it with a smile.
Can't see any low cost airline doing that.
Must use spell checker first 
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Poster: A snowHead
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SHello, true but with hire skis at €60 for the 4 days I'm not taking mine 
To my mind it's all about the overall journey, not just the price of one element of it. A cheap flight's OK but if it's from an inconvenient airport at a inconvenient time then it rates low down on my list of priorities.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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A further advantage to budget flights is they often do later "last flights of the day" presumably due to cheaper time slots. This can mean you get a full day in, something to eat then still plenty of time to get to the airport.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Gggggrrrrrrr.. I paid £134 for Heathrow-Lyon...... Sore point, BA....!!! 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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bladeskier, quite right. Selling GO was, IMHO a mistake... I was being a little cheeky about your o for a swap, hope I didn't cause offence! I fly BA a lot because generally they behave as though you are a customer. Unlike Ryanair, whose ground staff often behave as though you are being loaded into a cattle truck. I find Easyjet good on the whole however and until BA changed their economy rules (as they have just done) liked them for business as I could change my flight.
JT, BUt you get the pleasure of Satolas airport?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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DM,
Never mind all this tosh...have you booked the W/E in LG yet...? Cmon man, do keep up...
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DM,
Flights are fixed and booked... We are confirmed at 5 and will probably chill with Arno showing us around on the sat...book guides for the Sun and Mon. I think Brian has requested rooms at the Edelwiess. Thats as planned as we get this far out..Christ. I can't believe its only just August.....!!!!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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David Murdoch, do you have any info on LCY-GVA route this winter?
In the last couple of years I've flown with BA to GVA or LYS more often than I have with easyjet. This wasn't the case just three or four years ago, when it was almost guaranteed that easyjet would be the cheapest way for me to get to the Alps. That doesn't seem to be the case any more, with BA and Swiss getting very close to easyjet's prices everytime I compare the different options. As I live close enough to Heathrow to get there easily/cheaply on public transport it's not worth getting to Gatwick or Luton (and paying for parking) for an easyjet flight which might be £10 or £15 cheaper at most.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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rob@rar.org.uk, Hi Rob, I don't I'm afraid. If I find anything I'll let you know...
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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David Murdoch, none taken at all. I'll let you know how Ryanair treat the kids and I next week. KLM had one too you know, BUZZ, I have no idea what happened to them.
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bladeskier, weren't they bought by tRyan(sc)air?
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You know it makes sense.
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It is not only price that makes a difference though.
Fly from Newcastle direct with Easyjet to Geneva, but you will have to fly via London with BA, or Amstersdam with KLM.
Easyjet have made holidays easier from local airports, but I agree not always cheap.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I have to agree with brian that some of EasyJet's pricing is demand led. But not all of it. And certainly not from London at weekends in winter.
EasyJet now open their ski season Saturday and Sunday flights from London at over £100 each way on release. They then seem to drop and pick up again.
BA's pricing seems much more sane and much more demand led. When flights open they're £40 odd quid including taxes and go up in £10 increments (or so).
My experience is that BA is cheapest in the winter and summer and EasyJet is cheapest in the spring and autumn. Swiss are good when they're got an offer on - and can be very good at the last moment if you're prepared to go via Zurich.
The other thing I think of is that if you go to Geneva in the ski season, eventually you're going to get to Geneva and it's going to be snowed in. Who, in that case, would you rather not be flying with
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Poster: A snowHead
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I use Swiss allot form amsterdam there fares are very good all year round .
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FAQ
to go skiing 
