The doomed

Looking to fly EDI - MIA 01-Mar return 05-Mar.

Various oneworld options for less than £400. SkyTeam options all £1,200+

​​​​There's a few good routing options from EDI to MIA, primarily connecting in:
LHR (BA or Virgin)
AMS (KL)
CDG (AF)
JFK (DL)

Each of the SkyTeam flight have leapt in price this week. A good example of abuse of market power with ticketing strategies? Or is it simple market dynamics and all the SkyTeam flights are busy and BA isn't? Doubt its the later.

irishguy28

I don't think it's "abuse of market power". EDI does not fall in a natural Skyteam catchment area. It doesn't make sense for them to charge so much more for flights onthis one day, other than because they already have sold a sufficient number of seats on that day to be able to afford to. Flights are similarly expensive from other origins on the same date.

If you move your trip forward 24 hours you can cut almost GBP1000 off the asking price! This is because you benefit from lower fares by having a Saturday night stay included.

Alternately, you can travel with United for GBP298 on your preferred dates.

NickB

What market power? EDI-MIA is not CDG-DTW. It is not a route on which ST are in a dominant position.

The less conspiratorial explanation is that cheap tatl fares on ST airlines have a Saturday night stay requirement whereas BA, UA, etc... do not.

The doomed

Which is a ticketing strategy rather than an accident...

irishguy28

I think it's more a response by the legacy airlines to the incursion of longhaul low-cost operators in the UK market (albeit that none currently operate from EDI)

Given that EDI can in no way be considered a "captive market" for AFKL, then they are under less pressure to react in a similar manner. If you're BA, looking to route via LHR, or UA operating direct TATL flights out of EDI, such carriers and pricing strategies are more of a threat.

The doomed

I agree it's not the EDI legs thats pushing the skyteam fare up, its the transatlantic legs.

There were cheap fares available via AMS, CDG and JFK earlier this week. And all leapt in price at the same time.

irishguy28

You passed the XX-day mark.

You do realise that fare buckets progessively get closed off as the date of departure approaches - right?

Any of the cheaper advance fares with a minimum advance purchase period are successively timing out

NickB

Well, they would: there is a joint venture between AF, KL and DL on tatl and therefore fares are common to all airlines in the joint venture.

NickB

I don't think that it is the issue. It clearly is the Saturday night rule at play here.

irishguy28

That's definitely there.

But the OP suggests the price for this very trip "leapt" since last week:

The Saturday night rule alone doesn't explain a sudden rise in prices for a trip that never had a Saturday night...unless you suggest the OP was incorrectly searching his dates last week and only now started searching for Sunday departures!

The doomed

Dates were correct. Fare under £400 was only available if returning via JFK direct to EDI (one stop). AMS / CDG connection on return was around £700.

Have been told in premium service line there's a 50 days-out pricing increment, which would have occurred this week in this scenario. But not from £400 to £1400 surely. It's a massive price difference vs oneworld.

SkyTeam fares are not any better if book two return tickets returning weeks / months apart.

irishguy28

Then I was right, with the XX now clarified as being 50.

Beware, there could be further price rises still to come as additional advance fare purchase dates are passed.

But I'd advise you to with UA for this trip. For GBP300, it's quite a steal.

The doomed

Yeh, a no-brainer to fly with UA or BA on this occasion. Sadly.

NickB

I do not think that this is correct. There is no published fare at £400 or £700 return on AF/KL/DL that does not involve a Saturday night stay, whether with zero, 7, 10, 30, 50, 60, 90, 150 or 300 days advance purchase.
Moreover, even last week, we would still have been past the 50 day advance purchase period so that would not have explained a rise this week.

It is possible that there might have been a promotional sale that did not require a Sat night stay which has ended; it may well be that the JV has changed the minimum stay requirements on cheap fares (I doubt it as I seem to recall such rules before but I may be wrong). It may be that the OP mistaken entered other dates without realising it, etc... I don't know but two things are very clear:
a) there is currently no cheap tatl fare on the AF/KL/DL JV that does not require a sat night stay
b) given that ST has no dominance on the EDI-MIA route or, globally, on the tatl market, this can hardly be described as an abuse of market power: there is more than ample competition on EDI-MIA or tatl routes generally. As you suggest, the OP may make use of that ample competition to buy a ticket on an airline offering a considerably cheaper fare to those offered by ST airlines for his travel dates.