Airlines and advertised flight prices
I have whinged before airlines and their somewhat secretive approach to flight prices. As a general rule, airlines will emblazon attractive prices all over adverts, but make it incredibly difficult to find flights at said prices. When booking online it can be like searching for a needle in a haystack, and service over the phone isn’t exactly helpful.
British Airways’ Low Price Finder
With this in mind, I should be giving praise where it is due to British Airways. Now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d say…
British Airways has recently introduced a new feature on its website – the Low Price Finder. Essentially, this does what I have been wanting for a long time. Instead of shouting loudly about prices and then going remarkably quiet when you try and actually find that price, BA is being up-front.
Cheapest prices for BA destinations
The Low Price Finder performs the simple task of listing BA’s destinations, and the cheapest price for each one in a given month. Click through to the individual destination’s page, and it gives the cheapest price each month for a year.
From there, you click through, and land on dates where the flights are available for that price. It also gives prices for three days either side (often the same), so you can tailor the dates to your needs.
British Airways prices: uncompetitive
The major drawback for British Airways is that a lot of the cheapest flight prices really aren’t that competitive – especially long haul. There’s the odd European bargain, and the very occasional eye-opener further afield (Sydney for £621 return, for example). But on the whole, BA’s prices are far higher than rival – and often better – airlines.
Nevertheless, the Low Price Finder is an excellent step in the right direction – and may well be a brilliant tool once British Airways announces one of its periodic sales.
BA’s new toy is simple, effective, and will hopefully become standard practice across all airline websites.
Tags: airlines, British Airways, cheap flights, marketing, online travel, Sydney, technology, Transport, web