Disparity booking the same flights from O/S vs from AUS

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MikeV8

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The question has been raised on may threads, I'm now asking if this is a viable work-around.

I'm looking for return flights between Sydney and Shanghai.
$ 1,008 Using Qantas' site, homed as Australia (ie default site local at very top-right of home page)
$ 579 Using Qantas' site, homed as China (ie selected China from drop-down at very top-right of home page)

I'm not prepared to condone that disparity (74%), so am looking to mitigate the difference.
I'm looking at working around this, by booking the following :-

$ 804 Using Qantas' site, homed as China, and made up of the following :-
- Red eDeal on Leg#1 PVG-SYD (so that the date can be changed, fare above includes 1,000 Yuan fee on the change)
- Sale Fare on Leg#2 SYD-PVG (this date is known and fixed, so I can commit to no change)
- Changed Leg#1 now to be the return back to Sydney.

Question is... Can I change the Leg#1 (PCG-SYD) date to occur AFTER the Leg#2 (SYD-PCG) ?

Still not fair that we Aussies pay so much more for the same service (38%), but better than the 74% disparity.

Regards, Mike
 
Similar to the above (though not flight related),
I saved 30% on USA Hotel rooms, same date/room/hotel by booking via Expedia.com vs Expedia.com.au !
I saved 45% on Cruises from USA ports by booking via Expedia.com vs ANY AU based travel agent.
Why do we Aussies pay so much more ? (and no, it cannot be explained away by exchange rates)
 
Question is... Can I change the Leg#1 (PCG-SYD) date to occur AFTER the Leg#2 (SYD-PCG) ?
Simple answer is No.

Your best bet if you go to PVG reguarly is to book a one-way there and then book your PVG-SYD returns from there. Note this only works if you travel to PVG more than once a year.

I have been doing the same out of BKK, SIN and HKG for many years.
 
On a similar basis, for flights in July we used FF points to get to and from Singapore and then purchased very cheap business class fares using Emirates into Europe. Singapore is always nice to spend a night or so and had we paid for the Bus class seats out of Adelaide to Europe would have cost us thousands more. The Singapore stop over is a small price to pay. Fares originating from Australia are ridiculous when compared with external sites.

The business class fares were in Singapore dollars and paid by the 28degree MasterCard which has excellent (true) exchange rates. I was happy with the price not realising it was Singapore dollars. The actual price in $aud was even better. And no bank fees.
 
Similar to the above (though not flight related),
I saved 30% on USA Hotel rooms, same date/room/hotel by booking via Expedia.com vs Expedia.com.au !
Why do we Aussies pay so much more ? (and no, it cannot be explained away by exchange rates)
How does the Expedia hotel one work? I've checked a few bookings and the US site adds in the taxes at the end bringing the price to the same as the AUS price (after accounting for exchange rate) which quotes prices inclusive of taxes.
 
Similar to the above (though not flight related),
I saved 30% on USA Hotel rooms, same date/room/hotel by booking via Expedia.com vs Expedia.com.au !
I saved 45% on Cruises from USA ports by booking via Expedia.com vs ANY AU based travel agent.
Why do we Aussies pay so much more ? (and no, it cannot be explained away by exchange rates)

Could it be because we are paid so much more than just about everyone else in the world? Bet you don't think it's unfair that you get paid so much more for doing the same job than someone in China, or even the USA for that matte!
 
Could it be because we are paid so much more than just about everyone else in the world? Bet you don't think it's unfair that you get paid so much more for doing the same job than someone in China, or even the USA for that matte!
Well of course any Year 1 commerce student will tell you capacity to pay could be a factor but competetition is likely to be a bigger factor, it not only China where flights are cheaper (and the low paid argument applies), also true of Singapore/Hong Hong (where in general there is no where near as such a discrepancy) and of course many first world countries including England, US. You could make the argument of course that England and US are worse off than us in current climate but this discrepancy is
 
Similar to the above (though not flight related),
I saved 30% on USA Hotel rooms, same date/room/hotel by booking via Expedia.com vs Expedia.com.au !
I saved 45% on Cruises from USA ports by booking via Expedia.com vs ANY AU based travel agent.
Why do we Aussies pay so much more ? (and no, it cannot be explained away by exchange rates)


Word of warning on the cruise front, I don't disagree that it's unfair we are often pinged more for cruises than American's for the same cruise, but it should be a buyer beware, alot of cruise company T&C's will state that its only valid for sales to US Citizens and they have the right to forfeit your cruise booking should it become known you're not.

It does happen and just because you've got away with it once or 5 times doesn't mean it wont, they've given themselves the right to do it.

I'm a TA so can speak with some authority and no its not a scare post to try and get you to book with Australia based TA's, book with whoever you like, more just a friendly eye opener about possible problems with venturing down that path.

TG
 
How does the Expedia hotel one work? I've checked a few bookings and the US site adds in the taxes at the end bringing the price to the same as the AUS price (after accounting for exchange rate) which quotes prices inclusive of taxes.

this is true - expedia and expedia.com can (not always) offer significantly different prices for hotels and airfares, even after taxes have been added in. It's always worth checking both.
 
this is true - expedia and expedia.com can (not always) offer significantly different prices for hotels and airfares, even after taxes have been added in. It's always worth checking both.

...and a certain Irish site can offer some good prices as well....
 
The question has been raised on may threads, I'm now asking if this is a viable work-around.

I'm looking for return flights between Sydney and Shanghai.
$ 1,008 Using Qantas' site, homed as Australia (ie default site local at very top-right of home page)
$ 579 Using Qantas' site, homed as China (ie selected China from drop-down at very top-right of home page)

I'm not prepared to condone that disparity (74%), so am looking to mitigate the difference.
I'm looking at working around this, by booking the following :-

$ 804 Using Qantas' site, homed as China, and made up of the following :-
- Red eDeal on Leg#1 PVG-SYD (so that the date can be changed, fare above includes 1,000 Yuan fee on the change)
- Sale Fare on Leg#2 SYD-PVG (this date is known and fixed, so I can commit to no change)
- Changed Leg#1 now to be the return back to Sydney.

Question is... Can I change the Leg#1 (PCG-SYD) date to occur AFTER the Leg#2 (SYD-PCG) ?

Still not fair that we Aussies pay so much more for the same service (38%), but better than the 74% disparity.

Regards, Mike

as others have said - you can't do this. however - did the prices you quote include taxes fees and charges? While the base fare is showing as low as RMB1927 each way (total of around AUD589 return) they add the charges on the next page bringing it up to ~RMB6500 - so around AUD1000. Pretty much same same pricing.
 
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