Just in case anyone has a trip booked later this year.

Last month booked a couple of trips from LHR-AUS/NZ.

On checking fares last week noticed they had decreased by about 20% - after paying the cancellation charge on the flex tickets this ended up as a saving of around 16% (and still have the same seats on the same flights).

There is nothing showing up in the special offers section for these routings in J/F.

When this is added to the fact that LHR-SYD-CHC-BNE-LHR costs the same as LHR-BNE-LHR, EK seems a good choice at the moment.

Are the new tickets saver?

No they are still flex but with higher cancellation and change charges.

Aha . So a posh saver with flex miles then.

Yup

Mind you I have never seen a flex fare on EK.com that didn't have a cancellation charge although the amounts are quite variable. The website does say that the flex refers to easier use of skywards miles and more miles earned.

We booked J class flex returns GLA-MEL a few months ago; out of interest I put the same dates in (leave Jan return Mar) and they came up nearly �100 dearer than what we paid. Fare decrease, compared to when???

Trans tasman fares

Saver fares have $100 change fee and $150 cancellation penalty
Flex fares have no change fee and are fully refundable

As usual J fares jump up in early December. Currently there are saver F fares GLA to AKL some �1400 cheaper than the Flex fare available on departures up to 10 Dec 2014. Fingers crossed that the Saver fares become available for flights in Feb, haven't booked yet!

These were tickets originally booked in June and July for LHR - BNE (one trip also going to CHC via SYD on the outbound). Trips in early Nov and early Dec. Both originally c�6.5k and reduced to �5.3k by 1 August (fares in F). Looking now the price has gone up by about �500 (but cancellation charges reduced again).

i don't pretend to understand the fluctuations in pricing but made the original ppost in case anyone else could benefit from the unusual change I stumbled across.

On Aug 6th checked fares from MAN to AKL in F - outbound 25/10 return 08/11 - and indeed they were about �2700 cheaper for two than they had been previously. Have just checked again and they're back up to the normal price. Is the offer over already?

I never saw an offer advertised and east coast AUS and NZ fares in J/F have not been includeed in the 'Special Fares' ex UK for some time - that's why I started the thread.

To rub salt into any wounds - although EK charge UK customers in � the refund is made in $. Because of the recent change in exchange rate (and possibly the exchange rate EK use) I actually received back more than I paid - even after the EK penalty and Amex foreign exchange charge.

Yep; I was comparing exactly like for like - i.e. flex fares paid a few months ago vs an enquiry for the same dates now which were dearer.

I know fares go up early Dec until early Jan - our previous 4 or 5 visits were late Nov to avoid this peak. In 2014 we decided to go later and I looked for the 1st day when prices went down and so we flew out on 10th Jan (higher fares until 9th). For 2015 I found the fares on 6th were the same as 10th/11th Jan so have booked for then.

Just to add therefore to the other comments - not only is it hard to fathom when fares will be cheaper in terms of how long before departure you book; it seems that Emirates change the dates for the peak season around Christmas/New Year. I would have expected for example that the peak was say 10th Dec to 9th/10th Jan but this doesn't appear to be the case as the goalposts keep getting shifted.

Anyway, we gain from this - last year we arrived the day before the Australian Open started; next year we'll get there 4 days before so will be more acclimatised!

First fares GLA - AKL in Feb/March 2015 have fallen by about �1500 overnight. J fares have only gone down a couple of hundred pounds compared with yesterday's prices. Flex fare but with lower mileage accrual nevertheless I am a happy bunny, 1A on the 777 and 2K on the 380 )

Cheap Trans-Tasman fares for travel Oct/Nov and Feb/Mar are almost always offered for sale around this time of year. Picked up J class return for the equivalent of 520 quid about 3 weeks ago.