What's going on with Qantas pricing?

[SCM]

I need to use a $450 voucher before November, and I was hoping to book Japan, but check this out -



I have never seen anywhere near such an expensive economy flight to Tokyo return. What is going on here? It's not even very soon, so I don't understand what the problem is, and it's a very popular destination for aussie tourists!

Any recommendations for how to well spend $450 before November?

I am also starting to really regret getting an AMEX with Qantas specific travel credit, if it's not generic or at least a competetive airline I won't make this mistake again.

 

[aikman]

Looks about right. Qantas doesn't compete on price, they don't really have to.

 

[SCM]

Looks about right. Qantas doesn't compete on price, they don't really have to.

They were selling the tickets to Haneda for $880ish only a couple of months ago though! This has never been the normal price.

 

[MrJetset]

Fares are higher now than they’ve ever been.

Reduced inventory, CX essentially flying nowhere, millions of dollars of travel credits being redeemed, higher fuel costs and strong demand all create the perfect storm.

Also worth nothing AMEX Online Travel tends not to offer deep discount fares.

 

[encryptededdy]

What dates are these? Anyway, I think the previous sale plus Qantas now reducing scheduled frequency to Japan means flights have been consolated, so there aren't many seats left.

 

[SCM]

What dates are these? Anyway, I think the previous sale plus Qantas now reducing scheduled frequency to Japan means flights have been consolated, so there aren't many seats left.

I should probably have mentioned it's for next Jan.

Qantas does have much cheaper sale fares (from $500ish) for Sep/Oct for example.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Couple things: the JAL itinerary you listed on top was a leisure itinerary whereas the QF flight listed below is a business ticket. And by that I mean those travelling to Japan right now, aside from expats are people who are flying on business. Now if you are a business traveller why would you waste a whole day on a plane to Haneda when you can take a convenient overnight flight on QF to Japan, arriving in Tokyo just before the start of business?

Second, Japan actually has significant competition when it comes to international travel. In particular, they have two major international airlines: All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines which are on rival airline alliances (Star Alliance vs One World). In addition, there are a number of discount airlines like JetStar Japan and Peach that force the price of international travel down too. Combine that with the connection options in the region like ICN and TPE and it's no surprise that fares from JAL would be lower than QF. Combine that with the fact that travel remains restricted in Japan meaning the only people on those birds, aside from expats will be people connecting through HND to an onward destination. Hence, JAL wants to keep the load factors reasonable so they can secure their route network in the short to medium term.

In general though, it's normal for airline fares to cost significantly more even if they are on the same alliance. That's just the nature of fares. It's supply and demand. Some flights are more full than others and even if you are dealing with the same routing on the same day, there may be other factors at play such as departure time and for those of us who care about status, what airline it is. For instance, pre-COVID I would go out of my way to avoid Qantas or American since I had status with United and they treated me very well indeed as a Premier Gold. Even if the United fare was a little more than the cheaper fare on Delta or American, I'd still pick United for that very reason.

To your point, about when to book flights to Japan, I'm not sure. It's really going to depend on when Japan lifts the restrictions. You may also want to look at other destinations QF has on sale aside from Japan that may have more competitive airfares such as SYD > SIN or SYD > NAN.

-RooFlyer88

 

[SCM]

Couple things: the JAL itinerary you listed on top was a leisure itinerary whereas the QF flight listed below is a business ticket. And by that I mean those travelling to Japan right now, aside from expats are people who are flying on business. Now if you are a business traveller why would you waste a whole day on a plane to Haneda when you can take a convenient overnight flight on QF to Japan, arriving in Tokyo just before the start of business?

Your weird justification aside, both the ticket type / product (which you can plainly see) and pricing is not business. It's also not right now, but 8 months from now, when everyone anticipates the borders being open.

Ironically if you were to look 4 months out, the tickets are actually cheaper, so it's definitely not a "right now" thing.

Second, Japan actually has significant competition when it comes to international travel. In particular, they have two major international airlines: All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines which are on rival airline alliances (Star Alliance vs One World). In addition, there are a number of discount airlines like JetStar Japan and Peach that force the price of international travel down too. Combine that with the connection options in the region like ICN and TPE and it's no surprise that fares from JAL would be lower than QF.

It is a surprise, as I travel to Japan often, mostly with Qantas, and I have never seen this sort of pricing and lack of competitiveness from Qantas.

I could understand if it was something like a "last minute" ticket on a mostly sold out flight, but this is the polar opposite.