VirginBlue cheaper than Tiger And Jetstar

[ethernet]

Praise to VirginBlue. They got my money ($88+12luggage +4.5) MEL-SYD on 15 April, being cheaper than JQ or Tigger. Not bad given Virgin's problems with FireFox V4.0 - does not work for me.

Tiger was more expensive than Jetstar, and for $20 odd bucks was not going to waste time on JQ's price match. Given Tiger's woeful 60% on time performance - I am surprised some people still flock to the waiting area of perpetual delays. So I'm not sure why these LCC's are giving away market share, given Virgin are good load estimators as well. Maybe the $1 return deal. Personally I am offended at the amount of hollow junk deals emailed by Tiger - they are simply not good value anymore. Virgin also scored a few car hires.

Other can post deal comparisons, but I think Virgin are being very smart, winning back people who have had it with LCC.

 

[lovestotravel]

Praise to VirginBlue. They got my money ($88+12luggage +4.5) MEL-SYD on 15 April, being cheaper than JQ or Tigger. Not bad given Virgin's problems with FireFox V4.0 - does not work for me.

Tiger was more expensive than Jetstar, and for $20 odd bucks was not going to waste time on JQ's price match. Given Tiger's woeful 60% on time performance - I am surprised some people still flock to the waiting area of perpetual delays. So I'm not sure why these LCC's are giving away market share, given Virgin are good load estimators as well. Maybe the $1 return deal. Personally I am offended at the amount of hollow junk deals emailed by Tiger - they are simply not good value anymore. Virgin also scored a few car hires.

Other can post deal comparisons, but I think Virgin are being very smart, winning back people who have had it with LCC.

These cheap fares are not in Virgin Blue's medium-long term plans so don't get too used to it

 

[Must...Fly!]

Virgin Blue cheap is almost never the case for me. Qantas routinely outdoes them on transcon, and Jetstar 99.9% of the time.

I don't even bother looking at TT.

 

[Virgin Australia]

These cheap fares are not in Virgin Blue's medium-long term plans so don't get too used to it

Sorry but not true. 'Great value' air fares will certainly still be a part of the plan. Obviously the term 'value' is a perception of our guests, (namely you guys!) so hopefully everything that we have (and have yet to) introduce will provide that!

 

[Must...Fly!]

Sorry but not true. 'Great value' air fares will certainly still be a part of the plan. Obviously the term 'value' is a perception of our guests, (namely you guys!) so hopefully everything that we have (and have yet to) introduce will provide that!

How does that Pie + Drink $16 combo weigh up in the "value" stakes

 

[anat0l]

How does that Pie + Drink $16 combo weigh up in the "value" stakes

By the number of purchases and rave reviews (including popular media), apparently "quite well".

 

[ethernet]

24 Hours is a long time. Tiger seems to have lowered that days fares down, to about 2 dollars under - but not many time choices, else more. But with their scabby baggage policy, lateness, AUD7.50 convenience fee (but $4.50 at Virgin) they are not equal.
I'd say Tiger creates the impression of being greedy.

Virgin increased the number of flights at the discounted rate , and increased the price of the times I really wanted to go.

What DJ did right was what others have pointed out - good strategy and letting Tiger shoot itself in the foot, and in the process destroying 'must be cheapest - look there first' myth. There is truth in saying my last flight mostly determines who I book my next flight with. I'll describe 'value' another time.

 

[straitman]

These cheap fares are not in Virgin Blue's medium-long term plans so don't get too used to it

lovestotravel,

I find that to be an interesting comment but have to ask why or on what basis you would say that :?:

 

[ozbeachbabe]

How does that Pie + Drink $16 combo weigh up in the "value" stakes

From personal experience if there are only a few seats left on a flight DJ are more likely still sell you one of their more discounted fares. If on QF they generally only sell the higher yield fares if only a handful of seats left.

When I flew DJ recently BNE/DRW it cost around AUD269.00 one way as I had $143.00 charged to my credit card & used a credit shell of $125.00 also. I booked on the day of travel & thought the flight wouldn't be that full if they were still selling the cheaper saver fares however the flight seemed chockers as I couldn't see any spare seats.

Just on the pies - I was going to order one however the F/A said it would take about 25 mins to heat up. As I'd been up since 0200 that day for work & it was well after 2100 I opted for cheese and crackers instead so I could eat then nod off asap.

 

[lovestotravel]

lovestotravel,

I find that to be an interesting comment but have to ask why or on what basis you would say that :?:

Okay a little more detail

From all the comments and the hype over the past 6+ months from various people within DJ stating that they are moving away from the "low end" of the market.

Yes they will have some sale fares, but their standard fares are already very close to Qantas and when you include baggage and a meal on Qantas. Qantas is cheaper

Let's look at MEL-SYD with 20kgs of checked baggage. I have picked standard fares as much as possible, but Tiger has so many sale fares, I couldn't find a normal fare :shock:

Tiger $ 76.45 (No Food)
Jetstar $ 89 (No Food)
Virgin Blue $ 105 (No Food)
Qantas $ 112 (No Food)

Add on about $15 for food on Virgin Blue and you are more $$ than Qantas.

Yes there are sale fares, but Qantas seems to lead the way with sale fares lately and Virgin follows. Of course at times any of the 4 airlines can be cheaper than each other, if you are flexible with times, but the fares above are the standard everyday fares. Virgin is NOT cheap anymore!

Also, as we all know, there are only so many seats on a plane and with Virgin aiming to lift the number of business/corporate travelers, there will be less need for discounting and super cheap sales. If the seats are filling, no need to discount....

 

[ethernet]

By looking at your IP address, your card membership number, cookies and other things, airlines can make an informed decision what 'fare' to display to the booker, as they can guess if you are business or other. Thus they can have their cake and eat it. They can mostly even see what site you just came from. They could use other means - monthly bus/train tickets, but none of them are this bright yet. Lounge membership - or not having it is another prime indicator, as is date/time of booking.

The fact that QF is often cheaper, we agree is something DJ needs to work on.
Any date around AFL grand Final Day creates the memory imprint of 'don't bother with DJ' and QF has a better understanding of corporate booking engines. In the same way I am pi--sd off with Tiger - they stopped being attractive and became a TOO elusive gimmick shop, and insist on some twisted non-service scams.

But in this case, DJ are visible and conspicuous in making Tiger and JQ look relativity bad, If their computers do not bungle/crash again, and QF strikes a little, they may get a few more ex 'ers back.

 

[lovestotravel]

Don't get me wrong I am huge DJ fan, at this stage for the rest of this year

2 QF flights (not booked by me, but company did)
12 DJ flights (booked by me)

So you can see where my loyalties lie :mrgreen:

 

[ethernet]

Re: VirginBlue (and now Qantas) cheaper than Tiger And Jetstar

Things change Again. Can now read Qantas cheaper than Tiger or Jetstar.
QF has some red deals for $112 Vs 104.50 for Virgin, plus Bpay, so I suffer some 'buyers regret'.

I was not expecting fares to come down, and choice of time slots increased with 14 days to go. I speculate big players moved some excess capacity, and the LCC's have not woken up, and using last year as a guide. Good time to be putting in the boots.

 

[markis10]

Q2 is looking very soft for the airlines, throw in the increasing number of corporate failures of late such as Red Group and this week Colorado and you get a soft business and lesiure market, not to mention the odd natural disaster wrecking havoc on peoples lives (I drove through Cardwell this week and cannot believe the state of the place - but thats OT), as a result I expect prices to be more fluid than the stock market!

Bottom line is the BFOD can change hourly, between various carriers and comparisons are only valid for a short time. Personally I value airline food at around a $1, so picking the best is easier for me given I dont pay for baggage on DJ. There should be some good deals over the next 8-12 weeks, and probably a 2X SC offer or maybe even better given the changes the competition are making .

 

[lovestotravel]

Clearly DJ don't value their food at $1....

 

[markis10]

Clearly DJ don't value their food at $1....

I do, and thats all that matters when it comes to my personal choice, its not like you are with them for 8 or 24 hours and cannot source an alternative better value choice!

 

[oz_mark]

Q2 is looking very soft for the airlines, throw in the increasing number of corporate failures of late such as Red Group and this week Colorado and you get a soft business and lesiure market, not to mention the odd natural disaster wrecking havoc on peoples lives (I drove through Cardwell this week and cannot believe the state of the place - but thats OT), as a result I expect prices to be more fluid than the stock market!

While there is no doubt the market is soft at the moment, Red and Colorado were both Private Equity plays, where the business were loaded to the hilt in debt, and have run in to trouble with that debt. So their failures are more due to the fact that retailers need to be run by retailers and not financial engineers who fail to take into account things like the seasonal nature of retailing. While it is no doubt tough in corporate land, I am not sure that there are more corproate failures than before.

 

[neon_crossing]

I must say I prefer DJ and will always book them even if they are $20 more than anyone else, having said that I am a sucker for a very cheap deal.

Being based in Adelaide, DJ flights at good value are hard to come by.

What I have been doing very recently (probably the last 4-5 flights I have booked) is price match JQ with TT.

I find it to be FANTASTIC, you get JQ punctuality at 10 % off TT prices (without the credit card fee). I priced matched a few flights last year through JQ (overseas foreign style phone operators) and it was a lengthy exercise but in the last 2-3 months I have booked 4-5 trips and It has been a breeze. DJ my first preference but JQ price matched to TT is a close second!

 

[777]

I find it to be FANTASTIC, you get JQ punctuality at 10 % off TT prices (without the credit card fee).

Sorry, but i had to laugh at how relative this is. "JQ punctuality" has often been a bloody disaster for me! Had several flights (all MEL-NTL) that were between 3 and 6 hours late - never had anything even close to that bad on DJ or QF. Still, i've never tried Tiger and can't say i have plans to any time soon.

Although to be fair to JQ i had a LONG wait one night in NTL for what supposed to be a 6pm-ish MEL flight and the NTL based crew turned around the incoming 10pm-ish flight at what was supposed to be clock off time (just before curfew) and took the plane back to MEL and overnighted when they were all supposed to be knocking off and going home to their families. Above and beyond the call in that particular case.

 

[neon_crossing]

I was comparing JQ to TT in regard to punctuality.

It's a given DJ and QF are in a different league altogether.