Originally Posted by
Globaliser
And the sale fare is £158 less than the normal lowest CE round-trip fare. I get a quote of £253.60 from ITA for the current lowest fare (which equates to a quote from ba.com of £237.60), and of £411.60 (= £395.60 from ba.com) for the normal lowest CE round-trip fare.
Today, the lowest HEL-LHR-HEL fare from ba.com is €432.61 which is about £388.65. So that gives you an idea of the non-sale state of affairs.
However, it is not universally true that it is cheaper to fly from (mainland) Europe than from London. You're comparing itineraries which are non-stop in both directions, on routes on which one-way tickets are available in the lower booking classes. I think it's rarer to find big price disparities in this situation.
The situation in which it is commonly cheaper to fly on BA from Europe than from London is when the ex-Europe itinerary connects in London to another (typically long-haul) destination. The BA connecting itinerary EUR-LON-XXX is likely to be cheaper than the non-stop EUR-XXX itinerary, and cheaper than the non-stop LHR-XXX itinerary.
I have found what I would like to call "A little loop hole"
I travel on average once per month HEL > EDI
So I have priced a positioning cheap flight HEL to EDI and can take advantage of the Sale CE price going home in Oct and coming back in NOV and another cheap positioning flight back to HEL from EDI in December
For the full 2 returns 4 legs BA 2 legs not BA is 506 Pounds. 2 legs CE LHR > HEL, HEL > LHR. Which is about the same price as 1 return in CE HEL > EDI so cant complain.