BA, Same Flight, Same Class $900 Difference ???

[Puffy]

Hi Everyone,

I am about to book a flight SYD to FRA with BA.
If I select Economy, I can select a Premium Economy flight cheaper within the Economy search than if I were to select a Premium Economy flight to begin with.
I would have been pretty angry if I did not check the economy rates first and spend almost an extra $900 on a return ticket for no reason :evil:

Can BA legally charge more for the exact same flight that is been booked at the same time?

 

[PineappleSkip]

Hi puffy. If they offered you the cheaper price on their website and you took it then that is what the price is. Enjoy the bargain and thanks for the tip. IIRC some other airline websites will offer higher prices the more you look.

 

[simongr]

It could have been booked into a different fare bucket with different conditions of travel - like booking a red-e-deal to MEL vs a flexible fare - I paid $500 for my MEL trip last week booked into K (economy) and could have paid $370ish booked into N or O (economy still)

 

[oz_mark]

There will be something different about the underlying fares between the two. IME statements such as 'your requested class is not operated' is often a sign to try other options!

 

[Puffy]

It could have been booked into a different fare bucket with different conditions of travel - like booking a red-e-deal to MEL vs a flexible fare - I paid $500 for my MEL trip last week booked into K (economy) and could have paid $370ish booked into N or O (economy still)

BA Premium Economy offers more flexibility over Economy at a lower price.

There will be something different about the underlying fares between the two. IME statements such as 'your requested class is not operated' is often a sign to try other options!

Only reason it says that is because I searched under Economy and the flight I am looking at is for Premium Economy. States the same for Business and first class flights also.

 

[oz_mark]

Only reason it says that is because I searched under Economy and the flight I am looking at is for Premium Economy. States the same for Business and first class flights also.

When you are searching for Premium Economy, that cabin is not available on the London - Frankfurt sector, so is assigning you the most appropriate alternative (which, FWIW, is 'Y'). When you are booking economy, it is putting you into the cheapest available option (which, FWIW, is 'M').

A W + Y will be greater than a W + M. You need to look at the underlying fare basis to understand the price difference.

 

[JohnK]

Only reason it says that is because I searched under Economy and the flight I am looking at is for Premium Economy. States the same for Business and first class flights also.

I saw the same thing when I was searching for flights last week. Once I clicked on the flight I wanted the business class and first class disappeared. There is a glitch in what is displayed on screen and you will not know the actual price until you select flights for the outbound leg and then flights for the inbound are recalculated.

 

[ronza]

IIRC BA were blocking all sub-full Y fare buckets post-Volcano to ensure there was some room for disrupted passengers to be rebooked.

Not sure if that applied to all of their flights or only the special 'rescue' flights but that is a possible explanation