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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2007/04/28/etbaprices128.xml
BA return fares up to 15pc more than two singles
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 28/04/2007
Airlines blames price disrepancies on 'restructuring of website'.
British Airways passengers flying to European destinations could save
themselves up to 15 per cent of the fare by buying two singles rather
than a return, a Daily Telegraph investigation has revealed.
For example, anyone booking a flight earlier this week to Milan, going
on May 5 and returning a week later, would have been charged £159 for
a standard return, but just £142.58 for two singles - a saving of
£16.48, or more than £80 for a family of five.
Similarly, flying on the same dates to Dublin would have cost £108
return or £97 for two singles.
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Passengers choosing to book this way are charged for the first leg in
pounds and for the second in euros (or equivalent local currency).
The findings defy conventional wisdom that it is cheaper to buy return
tickets than two singles.
A spokesman for BA denied that travellers were being unfairly
penalised for booking return flights to and from Britain, but
attributed the discrepancy to an "ongoing restructuring" of the BA
website.
"We recently changed parts of our short-haul fare ladder for UK fares
and we are re-aligning it with one-way fares purchased across Europe
to come to the UK," said a BA spokesman. "Some of the fare
differential quoted on www.ba.com is also due to how the website
states the actual price in euros but only gives guidance as to what
that converts to in pounds." The discrepancy is not found in the fares
of other British and Irish airlines. Booking two single fares with
Bmi, for instance, is usually more expensive than a return flight, we
found. Flights on the same dates as above from Heathrow to Stockholm
would have cost £269.03 for two singles or £214.90 for a return.
EasyJet and Ryanair prices remain the same regardless of whether you
buy two singles or a return.
Simon Evans, chairman of the Air Transport Users Council (AUC), said
it would be useful for travellers to take note of these lower fares.
"In the past it has been Britons who have usually enjoyed the cheapest
fares," he said. "Now it seems maybe those on the Continent are
benefiting. This is probably the result of BA lowering prices to
compete with incumbent brands like Air France and Lufthansa by trying
to undercut their fares." While BA passengers seem to be rewarded for
booking single fares, Eurostar passengers are heavily penalised for
travelling just one-way.
Earlier this month Telegraph Travel revealed that Eurostar passengers
travelling from London to Paris can save more than £100 by booking a
return and using just the outbound tickets. Under the company's
pricing policy, some single fares are almost three times as expensive
as returns.
For long-haul BA flights, it remains cheaper to buy a return than a
single. For example, BA's fare for flights to Sydney on the same dates
as above would have been £734 return or £1,119 for two singles.
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