iaink

"Cheap" and "Xmas" are mutually exclusive I'm afraid.

Least eye wateringly expensive would be more accurate.

loss

if I can't fly home for less than 400quid return then it may be my first Xmas with out being with my family.

iaink

During the actual holiday period I dont fancy your chances. Whats that, $600 or so at the moment? Normaly its double that. Good Luck thought.

Photoplex

Ok, so did some checking.

Canadian Affair

UK Site:
Gatwick to Calgary 11-5-11
Calgary to Gatwick 18-5-11
Flights - 94.50 GBP
Taxes & Surcharges - 273.50 GBP
Total - 368 GBP

Canadian Site:
Calgary to Gatwick 11-5-11
Gatwick to Calgary 18-5-11
Flights - 149 CAD
Taxes & Surcharges - 484 CAD
Total - 633 CAD


If we use XE for our currency conversion (today: 1 GBP = 1.55477 CAD) then you can see the actual FLIGHT portion of the cost is almost exactly the same:

94.50 GBP = 146.90 CAD
149 CAD = 95.84 GBP

The total price for the flights purchased in Canada are substantially more expensive, which proves that yes, the reason flights are more expensive in Canada is due to the taxes and surcharges.

368.00 GBP = 572.02 CAD
633.00 CAD = 407.22 GBP

Canuck74

I made mistake one way taxes included in economy is $268.17 not $187.00. Here is the breakdown:

BANK CHARGES 1 GBP 5.36 GBP 5.36
FLIGHT PRICE 1 GBP 70.50 GBP 70.50
PREMIUM UPGRADE 1 GBP 99.00 GBP 99.00
AIRPORT TAX & SURCHARGES 1 GBP 98.50 GBP 98.50

loss

from Toronto To Gatwick

Traveling This Monday and Coming Back 11th of April
its cost about CAD800 which is £508

From Gatwick to Toronto
this Monday and Coming Back 11th April
It costs £333 which is about CAD523

nearly £200 more.

Photoplex

Don't pick such near flights. There may be other factors in play, like one of the flights being nearly full.

Look at my example (mid may) - that is a far better picture of the situation. There's a price difference (due to taxes) but it's not as wild as your "flying in 5 minutes" example.

loss

ok so the thing to do as already been said is to phone the London office.
or as I will do get a friend or family member to phone up and give them the money.

brizzle

Cheers. Yes that seems more like it. Still, excellent price you secured there.

loss

yes but what I'm looking at is the differance between last min flights, as these are the cheapest,

I can find flights as low £7.50 not including taxes one way from the Uk,

from Toronto I can't find anything less $150 not Including Taxes, and then Canada charge extra taxes on top.

and this looking at last min flights over 2months.

AdrianR

Er...No, actually.

The IATA Ticketing Rules are quite specific. A ticket can only be used from its 'Point of Origin' (ie: the UK, if booked in the UK or by phone from elsewhere with a UK agent) and return.

The return portion of a round-trip ticket can only be used if the outbound part has been canceled. So buying a UK-->Canada return hoping to use only the return part for a cheaper flight to the UK, will not work either.

loss

yes but people phone london and ask for canada-->uk flight,

dbd33

Er, before switching to booking online I used an agent for my business travel based in Texas, we bought dozens, perhaps hundreds, of tickets from Toronto to various locations in the US and around the world through that agent and were billed in US dollars. Whatever the definition of "point of origin" may be for this purpose either it doesn't mean, "you have to go to Canada to buy a ticket outbound from Canada" or the rule is widely ignored. Note also the umpteen recent examples cited on various threads here of people phoning the UK and saving money.

Indeed, now that I think of it, I have a ticket outbound from America for a flight this month. I didn't drive to America to buy it.

AdrianR

Then I stand corrected, apparently.

Photoplex

During my round the world travels I also purchased countless tickets in random countries, for other countries, routes, and airlines unconnected to the country of purchase.