Airlines Getting Smarter? Travel Insurance with ticket. pricing to Thailand

[StevieWonders]

Standard practice nowadays. Airlines charge more if the flight starts or ends in their own country.

For example last year I flew London to Bangkok via Zürich with Swiss and the fare was about £1500 (business). Someone I know did the flight from Zürich to Bangkok only and had to pay £3000.

Another example. I put a dummy flight in Emirates website and London to Dubai and back is £4100 (business) ....but if you fly London to Dubai and then on to Bangkok it’s £3800 on the SAME flights in and out of London.

You can of course use this to your advantage as many people are now flying Europe to Bangkok via Norway and getting very good deals.

As I understand it (not that I care as I always fly via Munich), flights originating in the UK are more expensive because of the long-haul flights tax that Gordon Brown introduced. The longer the direct flight the greater the tax. In gerefan’s example there’s less to pay Dubai to Bangkok because that flight doesn’t begin in the UK even though it may be the same aircraft. So any ticket ex UK to Bangkok via a European or Middle Eastern airport will be less expensive than a UK to Bangkok direct ticket

[Andaman!]

The longer the direct flight the greater the tax. In gerefan’s example there’s less to pay Dubai to Bangkok because that flight doesn’t begin in the UK even though it may be the same aircraft. So any ticket ex UK to Bangkok via a European or Middle Eastern airport will be less expensive than a UK to Bangkok direct ticket

Incorrect Stevie. Long haul flights leaving the UK are categorised as Band B and the tax is a fixed amount - Currently £180 for First / Business / Premium Economy or a reduced rate of just £82 for those prepared to fly long haul in Cattle Class.

The principal driver behind sector flight pricing is convenience. Consumers will pay more for faster direct flights so airlines have to discount to persuade customers to take a slower connecting flight when a direct flight is available.

[StevieWonders]

Incorrect Stevie. Long haul flights leaving the UK are categorised as Band B and the tax is a fixed amount - Currently £180 for First / Business / Premium Economy or a reduced rate of just £82 for those prepared to fly long haul in Cattle Class.

The principal driver behind sector flight pricing is convenience. Consumers will pay more for faster direct flights so airlines have to discount to persuade customers to take a slower connecting flight when a direct flight is available.

Excellent news but, more importantly will the new tax band of which goji writes approvingly act to keep more of the UK riff-raff out?