DaveandLinda

Does anyone think that the Emirates fares to Australia, and in particular Perth, might come down again any time soon? They were around £760 for February up till yesterday and have gone up today to £1060.

When the prices fell to around £760 in November we decided to book to visit our daughter in Perth. By the time we had our hols approved by respective workplaces, imagine our disappointment when I checked on 17th November, only to find the prices had gone up by £300! However, on checking again on the 19th they had dropped to around £800 and then kept dropping to £760 again. We booked 2 tickets for ourselves, but our son has decided he wants to come with us and lo and behold, the same thing today, the prices have gone up! Surely, with the credit crunch etc, they are not justified in charging over £1,000? I know fuel prices went up, but they have come down again now. We can only hope that the prices come down again soon.

Pollyana

You may find that they have gone up because all the cheaper seats for that date have been sold. There are always lots of different prices for one flight as each flight has lots of classes.

ray2gill

Airlines do not buy fuel on a day to day basic. They hedge fuel prices by forward buying therefore they are currently paying high prices even though the actual price has dropped.

With OPEC discussing restricting production to keep prices high don't bank on fuel staying down for very long.

bcworld

The credit crunch doesn't really come into it. The airline will set its fares at a level that it thinks will acheive the maximum number of bums on seats...2 months before departute they are maybe confident they can sell these seats for 1k+.

Rather than trying to book online it may be worth your while giving Emirates a call. Ask them if you can waitlist a seat on the same flights as your existing reservation and in the same booking class, assuming the fare for that class hsn't gone up, or it doesn't have advance purchase restrictions e.g. 3 months.

I agree that EK fares do fluctuate wildly on a daily basis...I was keeping an eye on Xmas fares and they would vary $900 from one day to the next...up, down, up down etc.

markandgill

Hi

I have been checking fares for the last few months and they have went up and down quite a lot.

We booked with emirates about 3 weeks ago, it was a sale fare we got, but when I look on their website now, there are no sale fares available to Australia, just far east, so you probably got the same sale fare as us.

It is a bit of a gamble waiting if you want to get a cheap fare with emirates, as they may or may not have more sale fares on before Feb

Gill

DaveandLinda

Yes, I think we must have got the sale fare, but I still think over £1,000 is a bit steep all things considered. Saw an item on the TV about the film 'Australia'. Apparently this is part of a drive to encourage more tourists over to Australia as the tourist industry is flagging at the moment. Can't see it improving at those prices. Maybe they will come down again soon.

stephen elaine

Hi Dave have been to Oz twice in May 2006/07 Emirates/Singapore and paid £600 to fly Brisbane,although this may be out of season for you.
They are still saving you money, depending on what you intend to do?

sinderelle

Probably due to the fact that schools are kicking out here soon
- my daughter finishes next Wednesday, 10th, so probably the price rises are seasonal

sinderelle

following on from your answer to dave and linda - no more flight sales until Feb .....

my daughter returns to school on the 29th Jan, again, as per usual flights are cheaper in term time/more expensive in holiday time

Deutschmaster

I booked a flight today using Emirates for the end of March. It was $1629, which I'm guessing is around 700 pounds, for a return to the UK.

DaveandLinda

Is this from Australia to Uk and then back to Australia? For UK to Australia return the website is showing £1063 up till 16th April when it drops to £797.

Kath & Graham

Did you go on line and do it or go into Flight Centre? As am trying to sort flights for my daughter and boyfriend to UK from Perth return end of January and on line cheapest was $1,800.

thanks

Deutschmaster

It is from Melbourne to London, flying into Heathrow then out of Gatwick.

I went online on to the Emirates website, however that didn't work so I phoned the Emirates office in Melbourne and booked it.

Have a look here for contact numbers:
http://www.emirates.com/english/help...s_offices.aspx

I found out about Emirates by searching through various online agencies (opodo, expedia etc). But, I've found previously that they usually charge a fee on top. Either it is added at the end just before you pay, or it might be that they charge more anyway (expedia wanted $60 more for the same flight booked through the Emirates website).

So if anybody does use an agent, make sure that they contact the airline DIRECTLY and see what the price is!

Prices usually go up the closer you get to wanting to leave. Saying that though for a Jan fare (tail end of christmas and students moving around) only paying $170 more isn't that unreasonable.

Deutschmaster

Yes it is for a return flight
Melbourne to Heathrow
Gatwick back to Melbourne.

Perhaps I got the last cheap ticket