TIP fares
 

Has anyone here on the EK forum flown on Emirates ex-TIP? The good BA forum folk seem very intent on making it seem impossible these days but from what I've heard, Emirates may be a bit more lax than BA.

Please enlighten me, what are TIP fares?
:confused:

BB

TIP = Tripoli, Lybia
There used to be or still are very low C and F class fares out of Tripoli on different carriers, however they were being restricted to residents of Lybia as far as I know and it became more and more difficult for "outsiders" to use them.
I am sorry I can't help the OP with TIP fares on EK

The interesting part are the YY fares that are valid on EK that have no sales restrictions on them... ie, the fare rules specifically allow you to book and ticket outside Libya.

It's not a BA thing that they have been made harder to get.

Basically in March this year the Libyan government imposed restictions on the purchase of "RETURN" tickets orginating from Libya. Currently the government subsidises these tickets for Libyan residents. They seem to have noticed an increase in premium fare sales and as such the governemnt and CAA introduced a new law that only Libyan citrizens or those on Libyan WORK visa's may purchase return tickets from Libya.

If you can find a travel agent who will ticket the fare outside of Libya then there shouldn't be an issue in actually being able to travel...but BEWARE - It is against Libyan law to do this and if it is only issued as a PTA then you will NOT get your ticket issued in Tripoli.

If you buy the ticket ex-TIP and its issued outside (ie, you can get your hands on paper tickets before getting there) then technically you should be ok?

From my understanding yes - however it is illegal.

I did an ex TIP in april and got caught up with the new laws and spent the best part of half a day begging to get my ticket issued to no luck. I ended up having to buy a one way out of the country and having my original ticket cancelled. Its not the sort fo place you want to be when things go wrong.

The main perk of F flights ex TIP on BA, LH et al. was that they routed thorugh europe and were operated by european airlines who usually have extremely high F fares.

For cheap C+F flights to SE Asia, QR, EK and GF offer amazingly low fares from some countries.
As I mentionned here, QR offers F class TUN-SIN for ~1839 EUR all-in R/T. Emirates will start service to TUN as of end of october, they price TUN-SIN for ~ 2232 EUR all-in R/T.

It's a bit more expensive than ex TIP, but there are no visa issues while connecting through TUN. Those tickets may only be sold and issued in Tunesia, but this is only a restriction from the airline, not a governmental restriction like in Libya. Any foreigner may buy these tickets from a Tunesian travel agent.

Re it being illegal -- that means the airline really needs to enforce this law. Ie, if I showed up with a ticket, they'd need to check for my CAA permission? Does anyone know if EK is doing this? Seems like BA is.

As for ex-TUN, fares for my destinations (SYD or CHC) are close to twice as much in F :(

Could you please clarify:

Do they check that CAA permission if you

a) buy the ticket

or

b) when you check in for the ex TIP sector.

What I am going to find out is: If I manage to get a ex TIP ticket issued, do I still have to fear to be asked stupid questions when checking in or does that only happen when I try to buy an ex TIP ticket.

Regards, Martin

Have you tried ex-CAI? I got CAI-CHC AKL-CAI for around £2300 in F.

Cheers,
Rick

To be honest - I wouldnt bother. It's now against Libyan law to sell these tickets (see above) and I wouldnt run the hassle. Stick to Tunisia or Cairo where you are "allowed" to purchase these tickets (As they arent subsidised by the govt like in Libya)

Respectfully, how would the Libyan government be subsidising IATA YY fares? They are set by IATA and funds are paid directly to the airline. Or are you saying that the libyan govt pays airlines a flat rate to fly there?

No idea. This was the information I was given whilst at the CAA in Tripoli after I was refused ticketing. I'm just passing that information on but I presume its not out of the question that the govt liase with IATA?

I suppose that's possible but very highly unlikely.. I dont see why they would subsidize tickets in the first place, but even if they did, still allowing one way tickets (which are also seemingly subsidized) to be booked is bizarre. The whole thing, like most things in libya, doesn't make a lot of sense :)