The Budget Airline Paradox: Why Cheaper is Not Always Better
Posted by Dan on July 07, 2009 in Travel Tips
On my trip to Cambodia a few months ago I was sitting in Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport waiting for my my flight to board, Emirates MEL to SIN. At a nearby gate was JetStar MEL to SIN, the low cost carrier (LCC) of choice for this route and the packed gate was a testament to that. My own gate was sparsely populated, a few families, business men and oddly a few backpackers.
The LCCs are always first port of call for finding cheap flights and they often throw up plenty of bargains, they have made travel both domestic and international more affordable to many people, I fly with them regularly and have somehow avoided any significant delays.
It had been a long time since I had last flown on a full service airline, in fact I had pretty much forgotten what full service involved. Sitting down to a window seat and two vacant seats next to me was nice, even if it was still economy. My flight was light, very light, it would have been at most 1/3 full, 1/4 is probably closer to reality. Of course boarding a light flight is nothing but luck but I knew the JetStar flight boarding at the same time was anything but light. They had paid their base fare, then food, then entertainment and anything else they might have wanted and they were packed in on top of each other. This was all included on my flight (minus the people stacking, but lets face it, unless you are in business class any extended flight is uncomfortable) and my flight was cheaper than theirs.
I’m not knocking the airline or the people who took that flight, what was clear to me is that far too many people assume that the LCCs will have the cheapest flights available. Even if they have a cheaper fare that doesn’t mean they are the best or will even be cheaper in the end. You have to consider that full cost carriers are on time more often plus they include things in the fare that are extras with LCCs. Another factor that can work out for or against LCCs are layovers, I’ve seen many flights that fly right past my destination stopover and then turn back, this may be cheaper or more expensive, it’s hit or miss but you have to consider if it is worth it, I’d say for the sake of saving $50+/- it really isn’t. Plus there is the benefits involved with cancelations and delays that come with
My two favorite tools to find cheap flights are Adioso(AUS/US) and STA. Adioso does a good job of searching the LCCs (Int/Dom from Aus, US to AUS/Dom) and I like STA for its discounted flights with the major airlines, much of the time the bargains are still there even if you are not a student or under 26. I normally search direct from the airlines sites too.
I think the best way to get cheap flights is to be flexible with your dates, its not always easy but if you can find a cheaper day and it won’t inconvenience or shorten your trip there are significant saving to be made. And don’t dismiss the the majors as being to expensive.
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I take the time to see what the cost includes or doesn’t include, if I really need those things (for example, I’m probably not going to require an inflight meal for an hour-long flight departing before midnight), then figure out the total costs. I also check out for promos by major airlines. For my Southeast Asian trip, I found that a Malaysia Airlines flight from Siem Reap to Kuala Lumpur (which was on promo) was ultimately cheaper than a flight on Air Asia. And yes, it was nice to be on a full-service airline for a change.
Not even just day of the week, but especially for domestic flights, time of day can play a big part. A flight at 6.30am may be $79 while the same flight later in the day say 2 or 3 pm can be $200+ with the same airline. The being flexible really is the key i think.