[bluemooner]

I travelled MAN – ZUR on Swiss last Friday.
I booked the flight out in Economy, however when I selected the return flight on Tuesday this week, the business price was exactly the same as Economy. It was the same for my wife who travelled out with me but who is returning tomorrow.
So for the same price, I got immediate drop off of bags, fast track through security, use of Swiss lounge at ZUR, seat 1A, first service of a delightful early evening meal and priority of luggage at MAN.
My question is how can their booking system be so stupid as to do this?

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Mazin26, Flightlevel, PeterCoultas

[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=754978]I travelled MAN – ZUR on Swiss last Friday.
I booked the flight out in Economy, however when I selected the return flight on Tuesday this week, the business price was exactly the same as Economy. It was the same for my wife who travelled out with me but who is returning tomorrow.
So for the same price, I got immediate drop off of bags, fast track through security, use of Swiss lounge at ZUR, seat 1A, first service of a delightful early evening meal and priority of luggage at MAN.
My question is how can their booking system be so stupid as to do this?

[/quote]

Never underestimate the capacity for stupidity within airlines.

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bluemooner

[Mazin26]

I think we would be more stupid if we still chose Economy 🙂 Good job on getting the Business Class for such a steal.

2 users thanked author for this post.

bluemooner

[Window-seat]

On BA when doing short duration trips to places very far away the First price is often lower than the business price. Very nice especially going very long way for for only a day or so.

2 users thanked author for this post.

bluemooner, Flightlevel

[PeterCoultas]

Bluemooner: and actually you were very lucky as Swiss Business is noticeably better than Swiss Economy….had you got the same deal with BA you might wonder what the difference was…

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bluemooner, Lyn Thomas, Mazin26

[EU_Flyer]

What a steal! I love hearing stories like this.

Clearly the Yield Management people are asleep. In circumstances where Y class demand is high and J class demand is low – these kind of things happen.

Enjoy the extra comfort and status miles etc.

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bluemooner, Window-seat, Mazin26

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

There have been a lot of interesting Pricing decisions by BA recently. Had clients return from DEN in First as cheaper than Premium – only full fare Premium left – yet discounted First (Business was cheaper again than Premium and slightly cheaper than F).

It will be down to yield management systems. It happens all the time so not at all unusual. Just it maybe the case that booking online doesn’t highlight potential for cheaper fares by upgrading (or paying very little extra) whereas using a GDS you can get a good idea straight away.

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bluemooner, Mazin26

[travelworld]

Yes, I flew first class on Emirates to Tokyo cheaper than business class on the same aircraft in June. It does happen- just not often enough!

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bluemooner, Mazin26

[AMcWhirter]

It’s the same situation with UK rail firms. Advance tickets with operators like EMT, VT or VTEC can sometimes cost less for first than for standard class travel.

It’s because the booking system is slow to update itself.

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bluemooner

[KennyK14]

Last year, I managed to bag a return DUB-LHR-LAX-LHR-DUB in First on BA for less than they were offering Business (IIRC <£2000)! I was rather pleased with that find. I had no issues with checking luggage in to LHR only from LAX, and hopped on to a rewards flight back to EDI.

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bluemooner

[Selbyjay]

I’ve seen similar on Virgin and have even come across certain sectors in Premium Economy cheaper than Economy, or less than £50 more expensive.

I also sold a WTP fare on BA a few weeks back which was just £75 more than WT.

1 user thanked author for this post.

bluemooner

[RichardBarr]

I had a similar thing happen to me TLV – LHR on BA a few weeks ago. Booking Premium economy was actually GBP 140 cheaper than economy. Though I had to explain that I was saving money for my client, not costing more. 😉

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bluemooner

[Gold-2K]

I can better that!!

I went to BA.com to book a J class return to SFO in October. I usually book a semi flex ticket so I can change for £150. I got an eye-watering quote for this fare (assume there is something going on in the city). Out of interest I checked the FIRST fare, which for semi-flex (i.e. £150 to change) was almost EIGHTEEN HUNDRED POUNDS less!

Lesson – its always worth checking all classes before confirming a booking!

1 user thanked author for this post.

RichardBarr

[AMcWhirter]

However sometimes it’s worth checking that the saving isn’t a result of what’s termed a “mistake fare.”

SIA to honour half-price business fares

[Nogbad01]

it happens all the time. I got first to JFK last year for £200 less than club.

My sad upgrade story:
About 18 months ago I was returning from Busan (PUS) to Manchester via Heathrow with Korean. I was booked in economy and after a long week I was dreading the 11 hour slog.
So I worked out the amount I was prepared to pay for an upgrade to business, converted it to Korean WON and went to talk to the nice young woman at the Korean service desk. She was very helpful and after about 5 minutes, showed me the cost on her screen. It was about half of what I was prepared to pay so I quickly handed over my credit card, paid and went through security.
About half an hour later while sat in the departure area, the same young woman came rushing up. She explained that she had made a mistake and the cost should really be about 4 times what she said.
Now at this point, I am sure some of you might be thinking “that’s her problem” and I should just take my business class boarding passes and leave her to take the flak. But I didn’t. I handed back the passes and she returned a few minutes later with economy ones. She did bring me a glass of iced coffee as well but I didn’t have the heart to tell her I don’t like it 🙂

That was the last long haul economy trip I did. These days I will pay to upgrade myself if the client wont stump up.

[Author]

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