typical

Was it anything like this one?

auzdafluff

I was checking flights back to Manchester from Dubai at Christmas the other day. Emirates was AED4625 (£785) while Etihad was offering the same route, albeit from AUH for AED3700 (£628), or there about.

The cheapest option I found was Turkish, but it means sitting in Istanbul airport for over 3 hours, but it was about £460.

kittycat1

best food on a flight- emirates- afternoon tea when you get a scone with jam and cream- its my guilty pleasure- I get very excited when they hand out the menu and thats on the list!

al dente

Sadly not, i love that letter.

Tockalosh

Amidst all the madness of flight prices at the mo, there are some gems. Need to fly back to the UK next week for urgent family business and expected the worst however 220 Bd or 2200 aed for Bahrain to Manchester return with KLM, all taxes paid.

I feel really stupid for not knowing this about the KLM site but when the dates are entered and up comes your options screen for a few days either side; there is a little yellow script underneath that says something along the lines of cheapy options.
Up pops another mini screen with all the cheap dates out and back. By staying another day I could reduce the price from 300-odd to 220.

I expect all the seasoned web users know that yellow script already but just in case there is anyone else as unworldly-web-wise as myself it may save you a dinar or two if you have flexibility. Booked for my inlaws only a couple of weeks ago and got ripped on Qatar so wish I had tried this then

Sadly I dont so its Qatar again

Turkish had some great business class prices recently for flights at Xmas. Bah to Manchester 900 inc tax . Happy days

Mr Andy

I always book my flights half a trip in advance so they always originate in the UK and use the return leg of my journey when I fly back to the UK.

I am not sure why but it always seems to be about £200 cheaper!

That said my GF flew from DXB to LHR a few weeks ago last minute - 550 one way!! Ouch!!!

scrubbedexpat141

Spot on, that's what I do. At least 200 notes better off doing it that way.

Eeyore

It's no great secret. If you're flying DXB>UK>DXB then you're an expat who can be gouged, if you're flying UK>DXB>UK then you're someone whose business is actually worth competing for.

Checking on ebookers.com, if the trip originates in the UK, you can currently get a return in December for £350 non-stop on Royal Brunei. Same dates, but originating in Dubai, cheapest non-stop is £600 on Virgin.

The real bargains are flight-plus-hotel packages from the UK. Since the crash, Dubai has been marketing itself aggressively as an affordable holiday destination (and they'd never have used the word "affordable" in any of their marketing before the crash). You don't think tourists are paying £600 for their flight with hotel on top, right? You can get a return flight plus 3 nights in one of the nice beachfront hotels for about £400. That's what my parents do when they come over; they get the package deal and spend the first few nights in a nice hotel.

auzdafluff

I might have a press trip to Barcelona coming up soon. Might see if they'll fly me one way, hop on an Easyjet to Liverpool, spend the weekend with my folks and friends, then fly back on a MAN > DXB.

The only thing is, how far apart can the 'return' be?

shiva

I'm not sure on this one but was there not some debate a while ago about buying flights in the UK and being an expat and it being illegal under some ridiculous international air regulations. Something about buying originating flights outside your country of residence. Not that I care just saying

typical

On Emirates MAN-DXB-MAN regular fares, 12 months except for the most expensive economy class ticket. Sale fares may vary.

typical

Also, in case anyone cares, during the summer on EK:

The cheapest regular fare from Manchester to Dubai return is GBP425+tax. 3 day min stay / 12 month max stay, must be booked 7 days in advance.
The cheapest regular fare from Dubai to Manchester return is GBP611+tax. 3 day min stay / 4 month max stay, no advance booking requirement.

The difference for London is lower:

The cheapest regular fare from London to Dubai return is GBP405+tax, 3 day min stay / 12 month max stay, must be booked 7 days in advance.
The cheapest regular fare from Dubai to London return is GBP525+tax, 3 day min stay / 4 month max stay, no advance booking requirement.

auzdafluff

Oh what a surprise. That price difference is precisely what it costs to travel by train from Heathrow to Manchester. Thieving c***s.

Eeyore

No, it's not illegal. It did used to be the case - and probably still is - that if you were buying a flight that required delivery of a paper ticket, that ticket could not be delivered outside of the country the flight originated from, but if you're on an e-ticket then that's obviously not an issue.

Ethos83

I have a friend who just sent an email whinging about finding flights. He wants to go to Amsterdam and he noticed that on KLM it's cheaper to fly from DXB to London than to Amsterdam, even though the DXB-LON flight requires a layover in Amsterdam. I went to the KLM website and yep, he's right.

Can someone explain this to me?