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Old Sep 28, 2018, 3:50 am
  #1  
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BA Flight prices

Maybe I have missed something, but I fly relatively regularly to Canada, and bar the past few months I am usually able to get a fare anywhere from £2.5k - £3.5k in club return so long as I fly usually sunday, but more importantly book atleast 3 (or maybe 4) weeks out.

However, my more recent flights and searches yield nothing less than £6.5k, and that is pretty much regardless of how far out I am looking.

Prices reduce dramatically however if I fly on a Saturday.

Does anyone know anything that may be happening in the background?
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Old Sep 28, 2018, 3:56 am
  #2  
 
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If you encompass a Saturday night in your trip long haul it always makes it much cheaper. I think the assumption is that you are a tourist and not travelling for business therefore will be willing to pay much less.
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Old Sep 28, 2018, 4:40 am
  #3  
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Originally Posted by cupsandsaucers
If you encompass a Saturday night in your trip long haul it always makes it much cheaper.
I think that the fare rule that enforces this for trans-Atlantic fares is now usually along the lines of "TRAVEL FROM INBOUND TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR MUST COMMENCE NO EARLIER THAN THE FIRST SUN AFTER DEPARTURE OF THE OUTBOUND TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR."

I don't think that this has changed recently - I see it in fares available for sale a year ago - so it's hard to explain why the OP was not being caught by it before. However, if previous trips were (say) Sunday out, following Sunday back, then there would have been a Saturday night stay and these cheap fares would have been valid.
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Old Sep 28, 2018, 4:57 am
  #4  
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The Saturday night rule on CW to North America has been there for so long I can't recall when it wasn't there (10 years plus). Some starting places outside the UK have variations on this, such as 4 to 8 night minima, but I'm also unable to explain how the OP hasn't seen it before. Even corporate deals have this in and so immutable is BA to this that when Norwegian (etc) had one-way pricing BA's answer was to cut the Saturday Night rule fare so much that it was still competitive. But Saturday Night is the tune to which BA dances.
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Old Sep 28, 2018, 5:06 am
  #5  
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Chucking a car hire or one night's accom (this creating a "holiday") whether you actually take them or not can alleviate the need for a Saturday night stay
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Old Sep 28, 2018, 5:07 am
  #6  
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Apologies, I guess I should have been clearer in the sense that I think I remember noticing Saturday was cheaper, but it was never a concern as the Sunday option still gave a competitively priced deal so I never had to concern myself with missing a full weekend, just a sunday afternoon.

As to my return - usually a Wednesday or Thursday
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Old Sep 28, 2018, 5:09 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by bermyandy
Apologies, I guess I should have been clearer in the sense that I think I remember noticing Saturday was cheaper, but it was never a concern as the Sunday option still gave a competitively priced deal so I never had to concern myself with missing a full weekend, just a sunday afternoon.

As to my return - usually a Wednesday or Thursday
If you fly out on Sunday and return on the following Wednesday or Thursday, you would never have had access to the cheapest "Saturday night stay" fares. But they would always have been valid for Saturday out, Wednesday/Thursday back - subject to availability in the correct booking classes.
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Old Sep 28, 2018, 6:27 am
  #8  
 
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Other carriers are available at other costs .. What about Aer Lingus via DUB for about £1800 ? Just a random Sunday to Wednesday on the 28th Oct , London to Toronto.. GOOGLE LINK :- https://goo.gl/flights/e5fSJ

I dont know where youre going from/to but there seems to be plenty of Canada deals floating about.

Last edited by sunshinebob; Sep 28, 2018 at 6:34 am Reason: added link
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Old Sep 28, 2018, 6:40 am
  #9  
 
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Originally Posted by bermyandy
Maybe I have missed something, but I fly relatively regularly to Canada, and bar the past few months I am usually able to get a fare anywhere from £2.5k - £3.5k in club return so long as I fly usually sunday, but more importantly book atleast 3 (or maybe 4) weeks out.

However, my more recent flights and searches yield nothing less than £6.5k, and that is pretty much regardless of how far out I am looking.

Prices reduce dramatically however if I fly on a Saturday.

Does anyone know anything that may be happening in the background?
Pricing rules designed to charge businesses and their employees higher fares as typically business fliers fly both outbound/inbound only Mon-Fri inclusive. Where an outbound trans-contininental flight losing time difference direction so need fly Sunday to work Mon morning (ie USA-Europe or Europe-Asia) airlines charge more too

Airlines also 'gouge' for shorter business trips, by having minimum night stays, often night minimums

When cheapest flights have Sat night stay model, then instead of ones inbound flight Friday it then shifts to Sunday 2days later, so good to tourist but no good for a company
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