[Tom Otley]

You’ve probably come across this before.

I thought it was relatively rare, but it seems fairly common at the moment.

I need to visit our Hong Kong office.

I try and avoid staying a Saturday night, and so the price for flying from Heathrow to Hong Kong in premium economy can be as high as £3,000.

So usually I fly with Cathay (non-stop) or Finnair, or Qatar…

But then I looked at the cost through BA Holidays (using the same website, obviously).

Taking the same flights with BA, in premium economy, but with the addition of a booking of four nights in a hotel in HK, the price attracts a discount of some £1,700, and so with the hotel adds up to £1,900.

So even if I didn’t stay at the hotel I would save £1,100 just by booking the flights through the flights and hotel bit of the website.

Won’t work everytime, of course, but worth looking at.

5 users thanked author for this post.

fqtvgla, DavidArnold, canucklad, Ekond222, Henryp1

[DavidArnold]

Good evening Tom. I use BA Holidays all the time for such deals and when travelling in First and Club the saving with hotels are very attractive. Presently in Abu Dhabi and although summer temperatures in High 40’s 7 days at Hilton with First outbound and Club return came in at £1900!!. That is also an Executive Room and along with Tier points and Avios it is a no brainer. Etihad also have regular deals but nowhere as attractive as BA. Service in First last week was excellent but the dreaded A10 gate meant a coach trip to the aircraft whereas in Abu Dhabi the Club and First travellers were picked up from the aircraft in a plush minibus/coach with great A.C. l just wish BA could do more for such events. However for all the BA bashers a great service with excellent Concorde lounge.

4 users thanked author for this post.

Polly, Ekond222, Henryp1, Paul

[MartynSinclair]

Tom – several years ago (probably more) I used to buy tickets to Florida on VS, with a hotel booked for 3 or 4 days. The discounts were substantial in upper. The agency I was using at the time (think it was Trailfinders) stopped selling me tickets when they realised I wasn’t using the hotel. Is this similar to missing out the final leg on an ex-Europe ticket?

Similarly on the QM2, our annual round trip to NYC cruise always included a tour of NYC (last time was the Freedom Tower). This was a condition of selling the cruise at around a 50% discount and we were told, we had to go on the tour..

So are you going to use the hotel voucher?

[Henryp1]

[quote quote=878883]You’ve probably come across this before.

I thought it was relatively rare, but it seems fairly common at the moment.

I need to visit our Hong Kong office.

I try and avoid staying a Saturday night, and so the price for flying from Heathrow to Hong Kong in premium economy can be as high as £3,000.

So usually I fly with Cathay (non-stop) or Finnair, or Qatar…

But then I looked at the cost through BA Holidays (using the same website, obviously).

Taking the same flights with BA, in premium economy, but with the addition of a booking of four nights in a hotel in HK, the price attracts a discount of some £1,700, and so with the hotel adds up to £1,900.

So even if I didn’t stay at the hotel I would save £1,100 just by booking the flights through the flights and hotel bit of the website.

Won’t work everytime, of course, but worth looking at.[/quote]

Yes I agree that this can work favourably in a lot of cases, even if not actually staying at the booked accommodation.

[Tom Otley]

Yes, I’m definitely going to use the voucher. The choice of hotels was huge, and I could choose it by area of Hong Kong, so chose Causeway Bay.

[FDOS_UK]

Just a caveat for anyone booking via BA Holidays – check out the fare rules, as they are not always as flexible as the fare only deals.

If you do not need flexibility, it obviously won’t be an issue.

[CathayLoyalist2]

Tom, I think you will get the support of the majority of posters on the Forum

[Flightlevel]

Discounts may involve the hotel expecting you to spend money so understandable if you don’t check in,’though check in one piece of luggage (duty free wheely bag?) and stay w/friends elsewhere.
In many locations I prefer meals outside rather than the higher costs at hotels too.

[Tom Otley]

Yes, me too.

I have printed off the hotel voucher, but if I didn’t stay I don’t think there’d be a problem. Presumably if I was a no-show they would just rent out the room for the remaining nights.

I’ve booked room-only, and of course in Causeway Bay there’s no problem in getting meals 24-hours a day.

[ontherunhome]

I can confirm this is true, having just booked a one night trip to Lisbon. The hotel, inc B&B, and luggage, was about £5 more than a HBO fare. I will need a hotel, and it was a 4 star, so result. I have used before and the only downside was you cannot change flight times as you’d be able with a ” baggage inclusive” fare. Therefore less flexible, but as always flexible or cheaper. Your choice. On long haul it can make a big difference. One benefit is the extra Avios earned if a BAEC member and you can defer some of the payment costs until about 6 weeks before.

[Tom Otley]

I’ve just tried it for a New York trip.

It works, but with quirks.

If you try and fly Premium Economy to New York Tuesday to Friday, the price is around £2,880.

If you then go through the holidays option and go for flight and hotel, the system ignores any stated preference for Heathrow and says the following

Despite, as you can see, the preference in the top left corner is for LHR.

The price is then…

So it only allows a Gatwick option for this combination, but still, compared with a flight only PE fare from Gatwick, it’s a big saving.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Polly

[travelworld2]

Yes, I have also done this many times. I’ve also booked using travel agents who sometimes have what they call IT (inclusive tour)fares on many airlines which are way cheaper than booking flights alone. In my experience a Saturday night stay is usually required, though.

[AMcWhirter]

travelworld2 – Those IT fares within Europe date back to the 1970s when short-haul air fares were both costly and restrictive thanks to IATA.

Savvy travel agents would issue IT fares with a dummy hotel voucher so their clients would benefit from the lower IT price.

With the removal of the Saturday night rule and the arrival of LCCs I had though they had fallen from favour (on routes within Europe). Maybe I’m wrong …

[travelworld2]

Alex- my IT fares have all been long haul.

[capetonianm]

Different types of IT fares still exist but the regulation to provide ‘land arrangements’, which was once observed, seems to be largely ignored. I’ve not recently seen any agent providing land arrangements.
The benefit to the agent is that he can sell the ticket for any price he likes, since the fare is not shown on the ticket, and as long as it’s cheaper than a published fare, the customer will be happy. IT fares are sometimes more flexible than published fares.

[Author]

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