Qantas discounted airfares

[onemore]

There was some advertising yesterday for discounted fares from Melbourne to Manila, of course for specified times of the year, so wanting a flight I started the search but could not find anything that matched the pricing they were advertising.
So just in case I was doing something wrong I gave them a call only to be told that those specials had already been taken up, after 1 hour?

Funny thing, today those same specials are being advertised, so once again did the search, and once again no flights for the advertised cost.

Something fishy going on here.

 

[mannej]

Not unusual for the actual special fare bucket to not have been loaded yet.

 

[Mattg]

FWIW the cheapest fares I can find for MEL-SYD-MNL with QF are $42 higher than the advertised sale fare price. Is that also what you're finding, or is the issue that you're not seeing any "sale" fares?

 

[onemore]

FWIW the cheapest fares I can find for MEL-SYD-MNL with QF are $42 higher than the advertised sale fare price. Is that also what you're finding, or is the issue that you're not seeing any "sale" fares?

That is what I am seeing as well, and on some dates during the sale period up to $120 more.

 

[RooFlyer]

Not unusual for the actual special fare bucket to not have been loaded yet.

Advertising before a product is available. Now, what do we call that?

 

[Mattg]

That is what I am seeing as well, and on some dates during the sale period up to $120 more.

Well the flights are advertised as "from" a certain price, so it's not unusual for some sale fares to be more expensive. But there should at least be one fare available at the advertised price!

 

[RooFlyer]

But there should at least be one fare available at the advertised price!

I know you aren't saying that they will, but under Australian consumer law it cannot be "just one" that's offered, or even just a couple in this type of case. I forget the words, but the seller has to make available what amounts to a 'reasonable quantity' of the goods advertised at a sale price.

 

[Mattg]

I know you aren't saying that they will, but under Australian consumer law it cannot be "just one" that's offered, or even just a couple in this type of case. I forget the words, but the seller has to make available what amounts to a 'reasonable quantity' of the goods advertised at a sale price.

Yes, indeed they must. Except that in this case there isn't even one fare!

 

[Jean Prouvaire]

I forget the words

Bait-and-switch advertising.

The ACCC says this about bait advertising:

Bait advertising takes place when an advertisement promotes certain (usually ‘sale’ prices) on products that are not available or available only in very limited quantities. It is not misleading if the business is upfront in a highly visible, clear and specific manner about the particular product ‘on sale’ being in short supply or on sale for a limited time.​