Buying Tickets Last Minute before Departure.. Discounts?
 

Are there any significant discounts for buying tickets last minute before departure??

ie. just show up at the airport 3 hours before and buy a one-way ticket??

:D

Those are usually the most expensive tickets. Walkup fares are usually booked in full fare fare class.

Does CX not offer any last minute fares to help fill up seats? I always thought an airline considered an empty seat a loss. It would make sense economically at least, for CX to want to sell every seat, even if it would be at a loss at the last minute. At least that way they would cover up a bit of their loss.

They offer specials sometimes on the web for flights a few days out.. but walkup fares on the day of departure are usually the most expensive as others have already pointed out. They figure if you're going to go to the airport to buy a ticket, you're desperate to get on a flight that day, so can charge anything they want.. these also are usually business travellers... I mean who goes on holiday without planning at least a few days ahead of time? :)

have asked. not possible... (5000 for HKG-TPE-HKG on new years eve)
but I believe (and have heard) that if you find *consolidated ticket* agents, you might get some luck as they have to get rid of tickets that might have.

also, i wonder how often does CX have the number of empty seats that they have to throw away. often i only see few empty seats. there is no point to start such a *rule* for a seat or 2 so that people would actually start abusing them.

I bought a consolidated ticket from an agent just a few days ago flying out of HKG on the same day of departure. The first HUGE mistake I made was several days earlier asking the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong for advice of a travel agent and that agent quoted me like $600 for a 2.5 hour flight!!! When I returned to HKG I found the right agent on Flyertalk, picked up the ticket that morning and flew out that same day for an amazing cheap airfare. PM me and I can give you the name of the agent. Paper tickets only so they either need time to mail or pick them up in HKG fairly close to Central Station.