Airlines…!! Go figure…!!

I have spent an awful amount of time checking prices for the flights I will need in the next few days, to get myself to Santiago in Chile…

I joined Ken and his Argentinian musician friend for lunch... We spent the time tying up loose ends regarding our shipping plans and trying to find contacts in Argentina...

Using the Sky Scanner website, I am able to access a list of all the flights going to wherever it is I need to get to… I have discovered that buying a ticket direct to your destination, can cost a whole lot more than if you bought separate tickets, and had a little time on your hands to make a short stop or two…

The price of a flight from Melbourne to Santiago with Qantas is currently A$3400.00 …!! The plane lands in Auckland, New Zealand to refuel, and then flies direct to Santiago from there…

I bought a ticket to Auckland for A$609.00, and then another ticket from Auckland to Santiago for A$1656.00, catching the same Qantas flight that starts out from Melbourne and goes on to Santiago…!!

I have therefore paid A$2265.00 for my tickets, and saved A$1135.00 in total…!! Had I not been traveling in peak season, I would have paid about A$250.00 for the Melbourne to Auckland ticket, and saved even more…!!

I wonder how the airlines work their prices out…?? Based on the ticket I bought on Qantas, and deducting that cost from their A$3400 quote, means that they are charging A$1750.00 to fly the short leg to Auckland (3 hours), and A$1656.00 to fly the much longer leg to Santiago (13 hours)…!!Go figure…!!

I guess they rely on the fact that the average person thinks only of the destination when booking their tickets…!!

So if you do a little homework, you can beat the airlines at their devious little games, and save a heap of money…!!