archie159

Good morning,
quite often here I see comments that it is cheaper to book return flights to UAE from UK than it is to do a return flight to UK from UAE on the same route. Fairly soon I need to decide whether to take a free flight for my teenage son from the UK, which would then result in me booking him returns from the UAE for the next couple of years - or not take that free flight and instead pay for returns from the UK... I am not new here (6+ years), and have regularly been playing around with flight bookings, and to be honest have never really found much of a difference in Etihad prices unless there happens to be a sale on*. Specifically for Etihad (their flight times are much more convenient for a teenager travelling alone to AUH than any other airline): has anyone really looked into the prices and found a measurable difference (eg more than £40 or so) depending upon where you start the flight - or is this just a street-myth? The cost of the foregone free (one-way) flight would need to be paid off by the savings over the next 2 years (about 5 flights per year) to be worth it!! Thanks!

*ps Etihad happen to have a sale on in the UK at the moment, but even so their prices for the autumn half term period are almost identical to a return flight from AUH at the end of half term and returning before Christmas.

jam25mack

Yes but you should look at other carriers than Etihad and you will save a fortune.

dominoman

Yes. The savings are large. I would definitely recommend foregoing that free flight (or rebook it for another time) and doing returns from LHR, so long as you are able to plan flight dates well in advance.

Even better if you have air miles. I do LHR to AUH returns on BA miles and that means you can change the dates for a very small fee (about 20 GBP if i remember).

dominoman

If you've checked and you are not seeing the savings then don't bother.

In my case the savings are large mainly because I do short trips to the UK. That means buying weekend return tickets which are expensive. If I get it from the UK it's a 2 month return which is cheaper.

archie159

Thanks - are you doing all this with BA, Dominoman? As I said, Etihad is a lot more convenient for us simply due to flight and school bus-transport times (if we used BA he'd end up having to spend a lot more time waiting at airports, which we don't want him to do - half terms are short enough as it is, and he has a long travel in the UK also.) Furthermore, every time I have checked BA prices over the past few years (always UAE-UK-UAE) they have almost always been as expensive or more expensive than Etihad. I did spend some time comparing the 2 alternative options for some of the upcoming school holiday dates (though only on the Etihad website), and really didn't see much difference - hence my question! I was wondering whether this supposed price-difference is only at certain times of the year (eg airlines greatly reduce return prices from the UK at the times that noone wants to come here [summer!] but increase them in the summer??), or whether there is some other booking-trick I was not aware of.
Thanks again.

flood2

Admittedly this is with with Emirates, but i just booked Glasgow to Dubai with 2 month stop over end of September. Dubai to Singapore at national day weekend, back to Dubai a few days later. Then a flight back to UK on 21st December to Glasgow.

his was 200 pounds cheaper than the Dubai to Glasgow to Dubai flights alone so will pay for the hotel in Singapore

sicklyman

been doing it both ways for nearly five years and have status with Etihad because their flight times are the best for me. I've not noticed an appreciable difference over that period because the costs/savings will even out in the long run if you are looking to do this over years. I have however, built up considerable air miles with them and this has come in very handy with regular upgrades (make sure son's miles are pooled with yours as head of family).

jam25mack

That's weird, I always scout around before booking as I have little loyalty but Etihad and Emirates are always waaaay more than BA. Admittedly BA is pretty average these days and so if I can I generally take KLM. I'm sure you're son would enjoy a cheeky stopover in Amsterdam....

Miss Ann Thrope

On a hastily arranged short trip back to the UK over the just passed Eid I had an excellent experience with BA. Outbound to London (from Dubai) the Premium Economy fare was actually lower on the website than the available standard economy; return fare in standard economy was very low indeed. Just over a week before Eid I managed to get a return ticket (Prem Econ/Econ) for AED3,200 when the nearest comparable economy fare on EK or EY was over AED7,000.

Not having flown BA long haul economy for many years and given all the recent upheaval, I had some trepidation but the whole experience was great. That was aided substantially by a free op-up to Club on the outbound sector, ahead of check-in so I got to use the nice Dubai lounge. While I had Exec Club Gold for a decade, I have only been Blue for many years so it was a big surprise. But it wasn't just the upgrade that impressed me (though it certainly put me in a favourable frame of mind). Concourse D in Dubai is far more pleasant than the rest of T1/T3 as it's not swamped with connecting passengers (and that even compares to getting through T3 as an EK Platinum member). Similarly T5 in LHR is miles better to use coming and going than LHR T3 or LGW.

On board, the BA crews were great: pleasant, efficient and with a lot more personality than most EK crews, which are now hit and miss. The BA economy seat is much more comfortable than the EK or EY equivalent - 9 across in the 777 versus EK's 10 across. The seat pitch looks tight but when seated I found it fine and I usually struggle - the ergonomics seem very well designed. The on-board entertainment selection is great - more limited than EK but much better curated (I know, but it's the best word). EK's ICE library really needs an overhaul especially of the music selection. Even the food was decent and the service was fast and sensible. Though I must say I have always found BA service to be much better thought through than EK who still ponce about with lots of pointless stuff (videos, announcements, timing of meal service etc). And BA have always been much faster getting a drink in your hand - I've had to wait more than an hour sometimes in EK Business!! The horror...

Like all airlines, any individual experience has the potential to be awful but that certainly made me much more likely to consider BA more often in the future.

sicklyman

well EY now fly A380s to LHR and, from my experience, they can't be beat for comfort in all classes, but I am getting very tired with their fixation with action movies on the IFE.

dominoman

BA is all 787 from Abu Dhabi, which personally I would much rather have than the A380. Much higher cabin pressure, which means I feel almost normal after landing.

Like Miss Ann I used BA extensively in the past (10 years as BAEC Gold) and at the time I always defended them as the best airline. I've lost my love for BA in the last few years. Not because of their constant piddly money-saving cuts, but just because the service is so variable.

On a good day BA service is the best there is. Human and friendly. But other days it is as bad a flying on one of the US airlines.

I am sure BA know this, but they refuse to sort it out (too scared of the unions?).

jam25mack

Sounds like a pretty good experience all round! Nice one!

As I say, I have little in the way of loyalty as I don't cover enough miles annually to get anywhere on the loyalty schemes even if I stayed with the same carrier, so I am price driven only. As such, I have flown BA quite a bit over the last few years as they are generally cheapest (especially against Emirates and Etihad).... and you're right in what you say, the service when good is excellent but when it's bad its pretty average. On the few times I have flown on Emirates recently I haven't been too impressed. I think they lost their spark quite a few years ago now. I used to use Etihad quite a bit as their prices used to be decent but these days they seem to have a similar fee structure to Emirates.

I'm still a fan of KLM though. Generally decent prices, friendly, chatty and helpful staff....... and decent (clean) planes.

To be honest though, I can generally sleep the majority of a flight so as long as I have a window to lean on and the ability to have a pint or two before I board I don't really care too much..... hence price being the driver for me.

Steady now! American carriers have their own reserved place in hell. Will never fly on one again. Just plain awful!

Londonbus

Try playing with ITA Matrix.

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Its worth forcing matrix to quote prices in the same currency to ensure you're doing an apples-to-apples comparison.

Also be aware of the point of sale issue.

for example if you buy Riyadh-Heathrow-Riyadh in Club with a Riyadh point of sale it is cheaper 9 times out of ten than if you buy the same ticket with a UK point of sale (i.e. from a UK travel agent rather than a Saudi one).

Millhouse

just booked a UK trip for 3 weeks time.

2200 dh when booked out of the UK
3000 dh when booked from Dubai

Sometimes the gap is wider. I do the trip once a month so it works for me.

Miss Ann Thrope

Which airline? All non-stops?