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potey Sep 7th, 2010 10:27 AM

Easyjet Prices
 
Hi, Is anyone able to tell me if Easyjet prices are still low for the peak summer period, ie/ August? When I last flew Easyjet in August (2008) to Spain it cost me £380 for 4 flights but when I flew Bristol to Malaga in May half term week 2009 4 flights cost me just under £1000 - not cheap - and booked within a few days of being released! Have booked a property near Malaga for August 2011 and don't know whether to hold out for Easyjet flights when released in Nov or book with other airlines that have their schedules out already - approx £650 for 4 flights. Thanks, Potey.

alanRow Sep 7th, 2010 11:23 AM

You missed a possibility - Easyjet may not run the route on the days you want it at a time that is helpful to you.

My experience is that on popular days for popular routes then the low price tickets disappear within a few hours of the timetable being released and that the low price tickets are less than for other routes

potey Sep 7th, 2010 11:29 AM

Thanks for reply. Previous years Easyjet have flown from Bristol to Malaga most days of the week, so hoping this hasn't changed!

I did wonder whether malaga was a more popular airport and therefore prices were higher - when we travelled in 2008 we flew to Barcelona. Will consider flying to a different airport and travelling or stopping over. Just not sure whether to take a chance or not.

rkkwan Sep 7th, 2010 12:23 PM

Pricing on easyjet and many other discount airlines are pretty simple. They have a set number of cheap seats, then some more expensive ones, and then full fare. Once the cheapest ones are gone, they're gone. So, to get the cheapest fares, you need to book it as soon as they become available.

It's different with major "legacy" airlines where there are many more fare buckets and inventory in each bucket can go up and down anytime.

alanRow Sep 8th, 2010 03:29 AM

<<< Pricing on easyjet and many other discount airlines are pretty simple. >>>

Not really, it's all about "yield management" which to ordinary people means they'll charge whatever they can get away with.

So initially there will be SOME cheap fares but after that the fares available will vary according to demand for that flight - the result being the quicker the seats sell the quicker the prices rise. If the seats don't sell then the price doesn't rise as much and may in fact fall on occasion on the more unpopular routes / times.

Also on a really popular route - like to Malaga on the first weekend of the English summer school holidays - the cheap tickets may be less than for other days on that route let alone for other routes.

In short, the idea is to maximise profit per flight

evanjva1 Sep 9th, 2010 12:24 PM

I don't know whether Easy Jet plays the game some other airlines play by putting cookies on your computer and when you come back to the website after shopping around the original prices are no longer there. Personally, I shop on one computer and book on another that they haven't put cookies on.

walkabout Sep 9th, 2010 03:36 PM

You don't need to switch computers to avoid this. You can simply delete the cookies. It's easy to do. Please see below:

http://www.aboutcookies.org/default.aspx?page=2

Here's an article about airlines and cookies:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog...booking-online

I, too,don't know if this is an anomaly or an urban myth, but I routinely delete my browsing history when surfing the net.

alanRow Sep 10th, 2010 02:35 AM

<<< You don't need to switch computers to avoid this. You can simply delete the cookies. >>>

Or just use a different browser

travelgourmet Sep 10th, 2010 05:23 AM

<i>Pricing on easyjet and many other discount airlines are pretty simple. They have a set number of cheap seats, then some more expensive ones, and then full fare. Once the cheapest ones are gone, they're gone. So, to get the cheapest fares, you need to book it as soon as they become available.</i>

I don't believe that is true of EasyJet. My understanding is that EasyJet uses dynamic pricing to an extent even greater than legacy airlines. I believe that they have models that continuously adjust prices in real time. I can't find the link, but I remember an article about it some time ago in somewhere like BusinessWeek.

One needs to differentiate between low-cost carriers, like EasyJet from the ultra-low-cost carriers like Ryanair. The EasyJets of the world aggressively target costs, but are not necessarily looking to use aggressive pricing to steal market share (though they may do this at times). Often, EasyJet will be as expensive as the legacy competition. They are much more like Southwest than Ryanair.

The Ryanair's of the world, on the other hand, drive their costs exceptionally low such that they can then use aggressive pricing to stimulate demand and then sell you all manner of incremental charges to drive their profit.


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