(Relevant to BA/OW I think?) ex-EU fares post Brexit
Aug 2, 2019, 6:15 am
#16
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Aug 2, 2019, 6:21 am
#17
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This is true currently due to the EC regulation. If UK leaves the EU, BA could decide to have different fares for exEU (and other) tickets depending on whether the point of sale is the UK or EU.
Aug 2, 2019, 6:28 am
#18
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I believe this is a function of the internet rather than EU regulation
I do not believe an American buy a ticket from a US IP address on the BA website for a flight from Stockholm to the US sees a different price than I do from Poland
If what you are saying is true, would there be anything stopping me buying tickets for BA flights from my Polish IP address at for example the Swedish POS (would still be bound by EU regulation as its a service they are providing in Europe) but for a traveller from the UK?
Aug 2, 2019, 6:41 am
#20
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it wasn’t a snark, I think the original got closed as the question may not have been posed as the OP meant, it then got closed or moved out of BA.
Lighten up it’s Friday and I’m tucking into a late lunch in a wonderful EU OW airport lounge 😊
Aug 2, 2019, 6:44 am
#21
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Actually with the way GBP is behaving the closer Brexit looms, all those "exEU" fares are going to go seriously up in price because they'll be priced in (mostly) Euros... So the answer is yes, but not for the same reasons you thought 
Aug 2, 2019, 6:47 am
#22
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So maybe I need loads of VPNs then to pretend I am in whatever country gets me the best price?
I believe this is a function of the internet rather than EU regulation
I do not believe an American buy a ticket from a US IP address on the BA website for a flight from Stockholm to the US sees a different price than I do from Poland
If what you are saying is true, would there be anything stopping me buying tickets for BA flights from my Polish IP address at for example the Swedish POS (would still be bound by EU regulation as its a service they are providing in Europe) but for a traveller from the UK?
I believe this is a function of the internet rather than EU regulation
I do not believe an American buy a ticket from a US IP address on the BA website for a flight from Stockholm to the US sees a different price than I do from Poland
If what you are saying is true, would there be anything stopping me buying tickets for BA flights from my Polish IP address at for example the Swedish POS (would still be bound by EU regulation as its a service they are providing in Europe) but for a traveller from the UK?
Of course not, but there might be other considerations such as the traveler being required to show your credit card at the airport to prevent fraud (in terms of payment, not the use of a fare that depends on a EU point of sale).
Aug 2, 2019, 6:51 am
#23
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Aug 2, 2019, 7:00 am
#24
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Conversely, short of imagining a given EU Member State suddenly implementing the rules that exist in a handful of controlled economies in third world countries that rates for plane tickets or hotels are different for local residents vs visitors* which would seem extraordinarily unlikely, or short of imagining some arbitrary control by the UK government which would restrict what UK residents can purchase from abroad (which is, admittedly, less extraordinarily unlikely), there should be no issue in your average Liverpool-based FTer being able to purchase a plane ticket from Istanbul, Cairo, or indeed Madrid or Prague under the local conditions.
* For the sake of comprehensiveness, MS are allowed to seek exemptions relating to territorial action - this exists when it comes to subsidised ferry pricing for residents of some Mediterranean islands visiting the mainland for instance.
Aug 2, 2019, 7:04 am
#25
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It would appear BA could, if it wanted, vary pricing based seller domicile/residency/whatever, thus preserving lower fares for EU residents and charging fares more aligned with ex-UK fares for U.K. customers even where they want to depart ex-EU.
If they legally and technically can do this, whether they would do it is a whole other question.
As other posters have noted, the weakening of sterling will do a good job of disincentivising ex-EU flight arbitrage.
Aug 2, 2019, 7:07 am
#26
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Am I right in thinking these cheaper fares only work for us currently because EU rules are that once you sell a fare in one EU country, you must make it available in any other, and that's why we can do this? So presumably the whole concept of positioning/cheaper fares could collapse once we leave, since we're basically just taking advantage of the fact that we can live in one country but use the fares from another for routes which are less in-demand and therefore cheaper than ex-UK.
Presumably, there CX or QR will be under no obligation to offer cheap ex-ARN or ex-OSL fares to Asia (say) to UK residents, post-Brexit - based on where you live and are buying the flight from, they could just presumably peg their fares to whatever BA would charge you from London and get more money from you (or, if deliberately marketing to us, at least increase them to halve the difference). Similarly, AA or Aer Lingus could charge you whatever they want for a TATL J flight ex-DUB, as there is no longer a legal obligation for them to offer the same price to UK residents as to Irish (or any other EU) ones.
Presumably, there CX or QR will be under no obligation to offer cheap ex-ARN or ex-OSL fares to Asia (say) to UK residents, post-Brexit - based on where you live and are buying the flight from, they could just presumably peg their fares to whatever BA would charge you from London and get more money from you (or, if deliberately marketing to us, at least increase them to halve the difference). Similarly, AA or Aer Lingus could charge you whatever they want for a TATL J flight ex-DUB, as there is no longer a legal obligation for them to offer the same price to UK residents as to Irish (or any other EU) ones.
Aug 2, 2019, 8:39 am
#27
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Thanks for all the replies. The purpose in asking was to see if my assumptions were incorrect, so the specific responses are much appreciated and I (and maybe some others) now know more than I/we did before so thank you 
Aug 2, 2019, 9:21 am
#28
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There's still quite a price difference in an xONEx OneWorld round-the-world fare depending where you buy it, and you cannot easily buy such a ticket in South Africa unless you are in ZA (for example). Travel agents are discouraged from selling them to people not in ZA, the airlines flatly won't sell you the ticket if your payment method is not in-country, and so on.
Airline price discrimination based on where you reside, not only on where you buy, is not dead.
Airline price discrimination based on where you reside, not only on where you buy, is not dead.
Aug 2, 2019, 11:32 am
#29
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The EU forbids discrimination of EU citizens, hence it is illegal to charge a Swede more than a Pole for the same service/product for example. Airline prices are based on point of sale as has been pointed out, and I strongly doubt any airline today will charge a different price based on your IP address as long as your departure point is the same.
Denmark got into trouble a few years ago as many Danish businesses would charge a higher fee to use a non-Danish credit card than a locally issued one. They were taken to court, and are now required to charge the same fee for any EU/EEA issued credit card as for a local one.
Denmark got into trouble a few years ago as many Danish businesses would charge a higher fee to use a non-Danish credit card than a locally issued one. They were taken to court, and are now required to charge the same fee for any EU/EEA issued credit card as for a local one.
Aug 2, 2019, 1:21 pm
#30
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Anyone in the world who has one of the credit or debit cards accepted by BA, or access to a travel agent who can book through the GDS, can buy these so-called ex-EU fares (unless their country's government forbids buying things from abroad) at the same price.
As the majority of the world is not in the EU/EEA, whether the UK is in or out should not make any difference.
As the majority of the world is not in the EU/EEA, whether the UK is in or out should not make any difference.