# Aer Lingus- Tricksters.



## Odea (3 Mar 2012)

Yesterday I was pricing flights to Marseille with Aer Lingus for next May. They were coming in at €9.99 plus taxes. Outwards taxes were €36 and on the way back €34.
Today Aer Lingus have announced a summer sale of 25% off. I assumed therefore that the €9.99 flight price would be reduced by 25%. Not at all.
Today they have increased the flight price to €13.99 and then reduced this higher fare by the 25% summer sale.

The nett effect is an actual increase in the cost of the flight during their summer sale. It is now more expensive to fly in their summer sale than before it when there was no sale.


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## Janet (3 Mar 2012)

The prices of flights change all the time and there are often only a couple of seats available at a particular price, especially the very low prices.  Checking flights for particular times and days show web operators where there is a demand and they will adjust their prices accordingly.  It's annoying, but that's the way low-cost airlines work - if you get a good price and don't book it immediately there's a very high likelihood that it won't be available a couple of hours later.


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## helllohello (3 Mar 2012)

I have to agree with Odea.  I priced  return flights dublin to Barcelona, returning on 18 march - €46.99 for Barcelona to Dublin journey.   1 way flight from Barcelona to Dublin (18 march) €35.99. So it is cheaper to book each leg of the journey seperate.


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## Odea (4 Mar 2012)

Janet. I should have said that I had been monitoring flights to Marseille for some time at €9.99 for the month of May. I knew that a "summer sale" was on the way so I held off making a booking.  I wasn't expecting them to put up the prices as the sale was announced and then pretend to be reducing them.


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## Gekko (4 Mar 2012)

Odea said:


> Janet. I should have said that I had been monitoring flights to Marseille for some time at €9.99 for the month of May. I knew that a "summer sale" was on the way so I held off making a booking. I wasn't expecting them to put up the prices as the sale was announced and then pretend to be reducing them.


 
What were you hoping to save...€5?


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## Odea (4 Mar 2012)

Gekko said:


> What were you hoping to save...€5?


 
No. I was hoping to save more than that.


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## shesells (4 Mar 2012)

Am I missing something OP? You saw flights to France for €9.99 and held off booking because a sale was coming up? Did you really think you could get all the way to Marseille for less than that?


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## Gekko (4 Mar 2012)

Odea said:


> No. I was hoping to save more than that.


 
But if Aer Lingus had just applied their 25% offer to those €9.99 each way flights, that's what you would have saved...€5.

I don't understand what you were hoping to achieve?


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## SoylentGreen (5 Mar 2012)

I'm with Odea on this one. Maybe the saving was more than €5 maybe he was purchasing more than one ticket?  The fact that Aer Lingus can have flights at €9.99 on the 2nd March. Then on the 3rd March they are €13.99. Then on the same day they announce a summer sale of 25% off that effectively brings the price back down to almost the original pre sale price..... stinks.


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## Grizzly (5 Mar 2012)

shesells said:


> Am I missing something OP? You saw flights to France for €9.99 and held off booking because a sale was coming up? Did you really think you could get all the way to Marseille for less than that?


 
Well I was expecting their sale as well but I was expecting a 50% off sale. Normally it is 25% and then it goes to 50% to mop up the remaining seats.
What is wrong with saving €5 or €10 for two people anyhow?

Shesells in another thread you say you save "airmiles" but it is hardly worth the bother. Why do you bother?


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## shesells (5 Mar 2012)

I have had wonderful trips courtesy of my airmiles, that's why I bother! Not on Aer Lingus though


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## IsleOfMan (5 Mar 2012)

*"People need to fight back when these clowns try and shaft them". *
Gekko. This is what you posted in a thread about Ryanair. Do you not think that you should have the same attitude to Aer Lingus when they try to shaft people...even if it is only for €5?


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## galwegian44 (5 Mar 2012)

The Celtic Tiger still lives on, cannot believe that some people are questioning the fact that someone is trying to maximise their savings for a transaction. 

Not only do you get the best price by doing this but equally importantly you rewards the person/company that is most efficient at delivering the product/service.

Hope you get your cheap flights to Marseille Odea and have a great time. When you are on the plane imagine SeShells on one side and Gecko on the other and both having paid more for the privilege of sitting beside you. If you are feeling unselfish you might also use the time to instruct them on obtaining the best bargain available.

Good luck.


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## shesells (5 Mar 2012)

galwegian44 said:


> Hope you get your cheap flights to Marseille Odea and have a great time. When you are on the plane imagine SeShells on one side and Gecko on the other and both having paid more for the privilege of sitting beside you. If you are feeling unselfish you might also use the time to instruct them on obtaining the best bargain available.
> 
> Good luck.



Trust me, you'll never find me on an AL plane. And if I'm flying, I'm probably flying for free on my miles


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## Laramie (6 Mar 2012)

shesells said:


> Trust me, you'll never find me on an AL plane. And if I'm flying, I'm probably flying for free on my miles


 
Well fools and their money are easily parted.  I have a friend who will only travel Air France at hugely inflated prices. I remember on one occasion a few years back that we were both going to the same destination, Nice.  He paid about €600 for his flights and I paid about €100 with Ryanair.
Of course he was able to tell everyone at his candlelit suppers that he would only travel Air France because they were such a wonderful airline and he thought it great value and a privilege to fly with them.


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## IsleOfMan (6 Mar 2012)

Laramie said:


> Of course he was able to tell everyone at his candlelit suppers that he would only travel Air France because they were such a wonderful airline and he thought it great value and a privilege to fly with them.


Or tell everyone about their free air miles......


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## Bronte (6 Mar 2012)

Odea said:


> Yesterday I was pricing flights to Marseille with Aer Lingus for next May. They were coming in at €9.99 plus taxes. Outwards taxes were €36 and on the way back €34.
> .


 
Based on these prices I cannot see how anyone would expect prices to be less than that. That is a complete and utter bargain for a flight to Marseille. 

The new fare of 13.99 X 25% 3.49 = 10.50 The new fare is the princely sum of 50 cent more. And it's still a bargain. 

Aer Lingus flights in my experience start off cheaply and slowly increase as the seats get booked. So it's best to purchase from them in advance.


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## IsleOfMan (6 Mar 2012)

Maybe but why the trickery?


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## Daisy2012 (6 Mar 2012)

It is actually quite disgraceful. I booked for my niece, her OH and their two kids from Dublin to Nice at the end of June at the beginning of January. Not cheap, but at least got the flights we wanted. It cost 1067.00 incl taxes. When I saw this thread about the sales, I was interested to see what it would cost with 25% off. Total is 1,354.00 (I've rounded up both figures). That's a hefty 25% + rather than minus.

@Laramie - your friend is French, right? No other excuse!!


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## Bronte (6 Mar 2012)

Daisy2012 said:


> It is actually quite disgraceful. That's a hefty 25% + rather than minus.
> 
> @Laramie - your friend is French, right? No other excuse!!


 
You cannot compare the price you paid in January with the price of flights now in March. 

Re the French, they will fight over a cent, never mind a fiver. Very thrifty race.


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## IsleOfMan (6 Mar 2012)

Bronte said:


> You cannot compare the price you paid in January with the price of flights now in March.


 
But you can compare the price on the 2nd March, the day before the sale, with the price on the 3rd March, the day of the sale and see that the prices had not been reduced by 25%.


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## Slim (6 Mar 2012)

IsleOfMan said:


> But you can compare the price on the 2nd March, the day before the sale, with the price on the 3rd March, the day of the sale and see that the prices had not been reduced by 25%.


 
Is there not a law against hiking prices for a short period and then offering an apparent sale? I think I remember reading that the higher price should have been in place for at least 28days. Perhaps that states that it is 28 days in the previous X no. of days?


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## BOXtheFOX (6 Mar 2012)

Aer Lingus had their €9.99 prices to many destinations for several weeks. They then kept the same prices but put a banner across their page with the words "Spring in to summer" suggesting that there were some special offers available under the "spring in to summer" campaign. There weren't.  Now they have their 25% off summer sale and actually they have increased their prices as the sale commenced.
Slim. I think they get around the rules by suggesting that their new "summer sale" commenced immediately after their "spring in to summer" promotion. Even though their earlier "spring in to summer " promotion was not a sale at all just the same priced flights with a banner saying "spring in to summer".


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## Slim (6 Mar 2012)

BOXtheFOX said:


> Aer Lingus had their €9.99 prices to many destinations for several weeks. They then kept the same prices but put a banner across their page with the words "Spring in to summer" suggesting that there were some special offers available under the "spring in to summer" campaign. There weren't. Now they have their 25% off summer sale and actually they have increased their prices as the sale commenced.
> Slim. I think they get around the rules by suggesting that their new "summer sale" commenced immediately after their "spring in to summer" promotion. Even though their earlier "spring in to summer " promotion was not a sale at all just the same priced flights with a banner saying "spring in to summer".


 
The way you put it, it seems like an even clearer case of false advertising!


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## Gekko (6 Mar 2012)

ParkLane said:


> *"People need to fight back when these clowns try and shaft them". *
> Gekko. This is what you posted in a thread about Ryanair. Do you not think that you should have the same attitude to Aer Lingus when they try to shaft people...even if it is only for €5?


 
You're not even comparing apples and pears...you're comparing apples and sunglasses.

The comment you're referring to relates to Ryanair staff trying to trick passengers into believing that their hand luggage doesn't meet the relevant size rules.



galwegian44 said:


> The Celtic Tiger still lives on, cannot believe that some people are questioning the fact that someone is trying to maximise their savings for a transaction.
> 
> Not only do you get the best price by doing this but equally importantly you rewards the person/company that is most efficient at delivering the product/service.
> 
> ...


 
Thank you for educating us on how to secure a bargain flight.  Just so we're clear, when you see a medium haul flight with (say) Aer Lingus or Ryanair for €9.99, the smart play is to hold off for a sale that may or may not happen in the hope that you might save €2.50?  My God...and there's silly me with my decadent ways thinking that it'd be way smarter to lock in the flight for the price of four trips through the Westlink.



Daisy2012 said:


> It is actually quite disgraceful. I booked for my niece, her OH and their two kids from Dublin to Nice at the end of June at the beginning of January. Not cheap, but at least got the flights we wanted. It cost 1067.00 incl taxes. When I saw this thread about the sales, I was interested to see what it would cost with 25% off. Total is 1,354.00 (I've rounded up both figures). That's a hefty 25% + rather than minus.
> 
> @Laramie - your friend is French, right? No other excuse!!


 
There are some incredible posts in this thread. Fares generally increase as it gets closer to the flight. If you see a flight to France for €9.99 (plus taxes and charges), you take it...simple as that. Not doing so is ridiculous. What was the potential upside? €2.50? €3.50? €5? What was the potential downside? Hundreds of Euro.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with a Celtic Tiger mentality...it's common sense.


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## shesells (6 Mar 2012)

How many of the people complaining about the sale have access to premium tools like seatcounter where you pay for a service that indicates how many seats are available at each ticket bracket/fare class?

Because otherwise you have no way of knowing how many €9.99 seats were left (if any) at the time the sale was launched. Aer Lingus like all airlines sells tickets at a number of prices, a plane of 100 seats for example could be priced 10 @ 10, 20 @ 15, 10 @ 20 and so on. If the cheaper seats sell out then you would be offered the next lowest price. It's not necessarily trickery.

On the comments about my choice of airline, I assure you I am very savvy about the flights I book and the fares I pay, it's also not the only way to earn airmiles. I travel smart. I did however have a flight from hell with AL about ten years ago and swore they would never get a cent of my business ever again. Nor have they.


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## oldnick (7 Mar 2012)

Having spent  a lifetime in the travel business I am convinced that of all the services and goods that one can buy in this world there is one  that makes people behave in the oddest manner -and that's flight tickets.

Although I don't often share Gekko's opinions on everything I absolutely agree with his comments about  people who actually hold off paying a tenner for a flight to the Med -in case the price goes even lower!


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## BOXtheFOX (7 Mar 2012)

Gekko said:


> You're not even comparing apples and pears...you're comparing apples and sunglasses.
> 
> The comment you're referring to relates to Ryanair staff trying to trick passengers into believing that their hand luggage doesn't meet the relevant size rules.


 
And the OP is referring to Aer Lingus trying to trick passengers into believing that their Sale price is genuine.


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## SlurrySlump (7 Mar 2012)

Gekko said:


> There are some incredible posts in this thread. Fares generally increase as it gets closer to the flight. If you see a flight to France for €9.99 (plus taxes and charges), you take it...simple as that. Not doing so is ridiculous. What was the potential upside? €2.50? €3.50? €5? What was the potential downside? Hundreds of Euro.
> 
> This has nothing whatsoever to do with a Celtic Tiger mentality...it's common sense.


 
The OP was referring to the €9.99 flights. Probably the midweek flights. For those people who may have been flying on the weekend the price saved or lost might have been considerably more. Not just €5 that Gekko seems to be fixated on.
The point that the OP was making and which some of us picked up was that Aer Lingus were charging more for their flights on the day of their sale than they were the day before.  Is that not trickery?


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## SlurrySlump (7 Mar 2012)

shesells said:


> Because otherwise you have no way of knowing how many €9.99 seats were left (if any) at the time the sale was launched. Aer Lingus like all airlines sells tickets at a number of prices, a plane of 100 seats for example could be priced 10 @ 10, 20 @ 15, 10 @ 20 and so on. If the cheaper seats sell out then you would be offered the next lowest price. It's not necessarily trickery.


 
So how do you define a "Sale" then if there is no benchmark?


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## WaterWater (7 Mar 2012)

Gekko said:


> Thank you for educating us on how to secure a bargain flight.  My God...and there's silly me with my decadent ways thinking that it'd be way smarter to lock in the flight for the price of four trips through the Westlink.


 
I am happy to travel the pre M50 route to save on the toll.


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## shesells (7 Mar 2012)

SlurrySlump said:


> So how do you define a "Sale" then if there is no benchmark?



It would be up to AL to prove this if challenged to prove that they haven't done that. 

There are actually flight nerds who watch for sales to be uploaded and pounce on bargain flights, they use fare tracking software and have extensive knowledge of the booking engines. I can't guarantee that this is what happened in this case but it's not as unlikely as you'd think. Fora like flyertalk.com are full of people who take flight sales very seriously. 

There are also ordinary travellers who log on as if they are booking concert tickets...the minute they go on sale they snap up the bargains.

Maybe Oldnick can clarify but I don't know of any scheduled airline that charges the same price for every seat in the cabin. I know some of the short lived all business class airlines used to but I don't think any of the regular ones do. Hence when you book you often get a "only X seats remaining at this price" warning on some of the fares.


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## seantheman (7 Mar 2012)

Daisy2012 said:


> It is actually quite disgraceful. I booked for my niece, her OH and their two kids from Dublin to Nice at the end of June at the beginning of January. Not cheap, but at least got the flights we wanted.


 
Is that flights for 4 or 5 people?


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## Daisy2012 (8 Mar 2012)

That's flights for 2 x adults, 1 x 5 year old and 1 x 2 year old. The adults and the children pay the same amount. There are two suitcases included also.

A sale is meant to be a sale. You are meant to be getting a bargain. If certain flights/routes/dates seats are not included in a sale, then the website should say so, and not claim to be giving you a bargain when clearly you are not getting a bargain.

I don't think anyone who is getting excited about this is upset about the 5 or 10 quid involved, more about the sense of being conned. 

@ Bronte - the French may be a thrifty nation, but not when it comes to national pride.


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## T McGibney (8 Mar 2012)

Daisy2012 said:


> If certain flights/routes/dates seats are not included in a sale, then the website should say so, and not claim to be giving you a bargain when clearly you are not getting a bargain.



Seats that are already sold can hardly be included in a sale?


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## Bronte (9 Mar 2012)

IsleOfMan said:


> But you can compare the price on the 2nd March, the day before the sale, with the price on the 3rd March, the day of the sale and see that the prices had not been reduced by 25%.


 
No you absolutely can not, you cannot compare prices 2 minutes ago with right not.


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## Bronte (9 Mar 2012)

Daisy2012 said:


> A sale is meant to be a sale. You are meant to be getting a bargain. .


 

Not always true.  In relation to flights, June would be just before peak season for flying to the South of France and Airlines price flights accordingly.  I think June is also school holiday in Ireland for some schools.


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## SoylentGreen (10 Mar 2012)

Well their summer sale is over. The long standing €9.99 seat prices that were increased to €13.99 on the morning of their sale and then reduced by 25% are now firmly at €13.99 (mid week flights). If Aer Lingus follow their usual sale pattern there will be another sale offering within two weeks. It will be interesting to see what happens next time around.


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## Laramie (11 Jun 2013)

God be with the days when you could get flights at these prices!


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## AlbacoreA (11 Jun 2013)

Bronte said:


> No you absolutely can not, you cannot compare prices 2 minutes ago with right not.



You would have a point if the prices were directly increased in direct proportion to the nearness of the dates. My understanding is that didn't happen. They were only increased with the start of the sale. 

In my opinion the word "sale" has been grossly miss-used, corrupted to the extent it has lost all meaning in Irish retail sector. I don't know if that true in other markets. But in Ireland when I see the word sale, I expect it to be a trick that will cost me more. Same with family packs, 2 or 3 for 1 prices. if its not more expensive then it will either be past the sell by date, or very close to it. 

There really should be stronger consumer protection against these kind of "sales tactics".


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## seantheman (11 Jun 2013)

Laramie said:


> God be with the days when you could get flights at these prices!


 
And ye can see that even at those prices €13.99, there were people moaning


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## AlbacoreA (11 Jun 2013)

People moaning about people now.

Its the principle of a sale that's the issue.


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