Originally Posted by
whimike
Why do people keep quoting a $100-$200 ticket? The amount charged to my credit card wasn't remotely that low. In the US, at least, it would have been illegal, and considered deceptive, for any agency that sells the ticket we bought to advertise or sell it as being a $100-$200 ticket
$110 was the "base fare", which is irrelevant to the consumer as it isn't the complete price that the consumer pays, and is often just a fraction of what the consumer pays.
As a case in point, I paid $1500 for my tickets.
Perhaps it is partly explained that in many parts of the world tickets come with massive fuel surcharges that are usually included in the base fare in the USA.
While component pricing has been stamped out in plenty of countries, the fuel surcharges still appear on our tickets... and can be half (or more) of the actual 'fare'.
Qantas for example might charge $400 fuel component on an $800 fare.
CX fares (if booking via their portals in Thailand or HKG just as an example) can sometimes double the advertised fare on the booking page by the time extras are added.
So if we see a $1000 fare, it would not necessarily be unreasonable for many to appreciate the base fare could be low... whereas in the USA you might think you are paying close to $1000 (less actual taxes).