Been looking at booking a UK-Bangkok for end of November return in mid December in Y, paying this myself. My departure point from UK not that important as I have a connection to make anyway from ABZ.

Etihad coming in at between 484-506 pounds.
Qatar at 550-600 pounds.
Emirates 700 pounds plus.

What is Tim Clark thinking, I like Emirates and have been gold for a few years now. With falling standards and prices like that who in there right mind would pay it. Still I suppose somebody must be as the profit sheet says.

I am about to book with Qatar, probably tonight, looks like I won't even retain Silver this year with Emirates. Bye Bye Emirates, it was good while it lasted.

Regards

You haven't explained what the "pricing model" is, and why its "outrageous".

You really answer your own question, "who in their right mind would pay for this": obviously the value is competitive to warrant the higher price. I don't know the respective airlines' loads on this route, but it's a fair bet that Emirates is holding its own.

Some reasons to choose Emirates even though it costs more, and accepting arguendo that the on-board service is the same on all three:

-- Skywards membership
-- Slightly better frequencies (a check shows that EY has 2 flights from LON and 3 to BKK per day; QR has 4 and 3; EK has 5 [from LHR] and 5) (not including code-shares)
-- Better aircraft (A380 on EK)
-- Better airport in which to connect

Of course are free to not value Emirates and choose an alternative. But obviously not everyone agrees with you.

Hi Fireman, are you comparing prices that were quoted to you or list prices? I am asking because you might have been quoted EK prices on flights that were close to full (for whatever reason) which results in higher fares.

Only if you compare the list prices (can be found on expertflyer for example) you hypothesis is valid and we could start the discussion..

All the prices that I quoted were taken from each individual airlines website. I priced departures from, GLA, BHX MAN and LHR for Emirates. Sorry I have no access to expert flyer.

Whilst I agree that Emirates have the slight edge on service over Etihad (haven't flown Qatar yet), I still think that 216 pounds more for Emirates on this journey is outrageous.

As for the value of the skywards programme, IMHO that has been going south since the changes when the revamp took place at the beginning of 2010. Today, been trying to upgrade two sectors on the A380 next week with no luck.

Regards

This really depends on sales/ fares that each of the airlines has at any given time. Maybe EK plans to fill up planes later, or is able to, while QR and EY find the need to fill up in advance, and therefore offer cheaper fares now.

A friend wanted to fly BRU-SIN earlier this summer. Initially, EY looked like the best option at under 600 euros, but the fare did not allow a stopover in the UAE. The stopover eligible fare was much higher. Then, later, EK had a fare sale to SIN/BKK/HKG and he ended up getting DUS-SIN for under 700 euros while the Etihad equivalent was 800 + euros.

It's all about inventory management. Pricing model only comes into play if we compare list fares, like GigoloArt said.

But if the plane is busy and they can charge it, it would be a poor business decision not to.

Flights on EK to and from ABZ are always more expensive as they don't seem to have a formal regional connections partner. They will route you through MAN on either Flybe or BMI, BMI or BA to LHR, Flybe to Gatwick or even Eastern to Newcastle. Etihad and Qatar have however seem to have clearer agreements / code shares with BMI and this will help ticket prices be lower i suspect.

I wish the price did include the regional journey as well, but the prices I quoted were from Emirates original departures points within the UK. No need for this rant if that were the case.

Regards

You are not alone in taking your decision. i have stopped flyign EK (ex GRU) as I get better value from others in Business Class...so has my organisation and many other organisations and individuals from what I hear A major change which they did not notice was that many European countries dropped transit visa requirements for travellers early this year. This led to a widening of choice for many travellers who otherwised used EK to avoid hassles. European airliens also dropped prices and offered discounts to get the business.

EK response was clunky. They raised prices even as the others dropped theirs. Loads dropped. Then the response --- recently they upped miles accelerator bonuses and initiated small temporary discoutns iin J and F. Not working... presumably they will drop prices if loads continue to be sluggish especially with the new Frequency loooming

So vote with your feet and if you are voting with the flow then the airline will respond unless its eye is off the ball (As EK's was)

On the other hand the factors mentioned by mecabq are also relevant. My wife just booked an open jaw LHR-PEK MAA-LHR in economy Class. Point to point, BA is the only choice. But it was outrageously expensive USD 2100 -- because they dont fly daily to PEK. Etihad was the cheapest (900 dollars) But their MAA-LHR flight involved a 0415 departure and a four plus hour layover in Abu Dhabi which she thought was too long for that hub, from previous experience of its qualities.
Finnair (and my wife is a Oneworld FF) was USD1100 and convenient timings. But my wife had heard bad things about their discriminatory behaviour in transit This perception, having to go to DEL to catch her plane, and the fear of IRROPS due to weather in a HEL transit (she returns end november) meant she ruled out this option

EK was USD 1227 with A380s on 3 of the 4 sectors no layover exeeding 100 minutes and a 0900 or thereabouts departure from MAA
She discussed it with me and we chose EK So they got someone for a higher price with valid (ie not illogical) reasons! Relative product (A380 latest generation seats) , timing, choice of connections hub attractiveness and prerceptional differences trumped price. And EK sold a seat!

OK - do you actually know how an airline pricing 'model' works? It's all dependant on fare buckets an availability. It could be that EK has no availability in the cheaper buckets because the flight is selling well.

For example, I just took a random date in the future, MAN-BKK return. Out 2/7/12, back 14/7/12. Prices are as follows :

EK �738
EY �890
QR �962

These were lifted from Expedia.

The fares will most probably go up and down between then.

Cheers,
Rick