Airlines and price gouging

Last week the secondary teachers in New Zealand had a days industrial action, in the main making a stand for smaller classes and better learning conditions, but also a salary increase; unsurprisingly the clown currently running the country turned it into a case of 'those greedy, over paid, under worked, socialist pigs' -v- the poor defenseless tax payer. Where is this going? Well something I overheard was, but remember as teachers we have to pay a premium to go overseas on leave, which got me thinking, how true is this (I had guessed it would be).

We are thinking of going on one last big holiday with the kids before our eldest heads to Uni, so I started looking for next Easter.

One of the wonders of the internet is you can search all the airlines and find out how much they will gouge you for having the cheek to travel during the school holidays.

First up Air New Zealand - looking at travel before Easter you can get an outbound flight to Brisbane for the pricely sum of $99, or $119 if you actually want to take a case; inbound is a little more expensive, but for the full family the cost would be $1933; leave till after Good Friday and guess what the cost for a family of five is nearer $2600 for the same flights, nearly $700 more. Of course the argument of supply and demand comes into the equation, but how can they justify expensive late booked fares on half empty aircraft when you need to travel at short notice?

The big red kangaroo of Qantas fares (like the pun) no better; their cheapest deal comes in at $2100, although you do get a meal included in the price. Try the holidays and they up the price by $600, or $120 per person. So the teachers make a fair point.

Emirates sometimes offer good deals, so they were the next choice - plus they have wide bodied jets, good inflight entertainment and copious booze! Now I wasn't expecting this; outside of the holidays their fares were a stonking $2944 for the family, but during the holidays they dropped to $2655.40 - and unlike Air New Zealand we don't have to pay for drinks, meals, movies or anything else!

So what about the alleged 'low cost' operators? Pacific Blue manages to come in at $2210 for the clan, and like Emirates they do not seem to change during the holiday periods (although there are odd days where it fluctuates wildly). Jetstar come in at $2265 and are $10 extra per person, per seat at the weekend. But get this, Pacific Blue charge you $5 EXTRA (and thats per person) for booking online - what's that all about?

So what has this told us?

1. Generally teachers do have to pay more to go one holiday
2. Most airlines do add a bit on; quite a bit in the case of Qantas and Air New Zealand
3. My holidays will be cheaper once the kids leave the nest!!