The price war has begun (again) apparently. Low cost carriers are offering one-way fares between Australian cities for less money than it costs to take a return train ride from the Sydney CBD to the airport. $28 one-way? Now that truly is an "air bus."
Of course, the question will be how long will these fares be sustainable? And for whom? Sure, there will only be a limited number of seats at this price on any given aircraft, but if that seat could have been sold for $280 rather than $28 you have to believe this type of pricing is, well, for the birds.
The Australian earlier this week ran a story which highlighted that "domestic airlines are in the midst of a discounting war, with fares down almost 30 per cent since September and likely to keep falling over winter. Cheap ticket prices fell 18 per cent in April, with fares now the lowest since federal transport records began in 1992." Since 1992? Wow, that IS cheap.
But is this good for the industry? Grabbing market share is one thing, but doing it at record low prices can't really be a long-term strategy. Especially in an industry as volatile as the airline industry, what with them being just another ash cloud/animal flu/oil price spike away from turning profit into huge losses.
As a consumer, I usually have little sympathy for airlines losing money if I'm flying on the cheap. However I also want to be sure that airlines will indeed keep flying - after all, I live on an island that's thousands of miles from anywhere.
And although I've not checked lately, my wings don't seem to be growing all that quickly, so airline revenue managers, please stop the madness and get pricing back to sustainable levels? Your future - and mine - depends on it.
EXTRA SHOT FOR THE DAY
Can someone please explain to me the logic behind hotels that have those inane glass half-screens in the bathtub? You know the ones - too small to sufficiently stop your floor from becoming a mini-Sydney Harbour, but big enough to make you nearly throw your back out trying to reach the taps? Not to mention that the side of you under the water is nice and warm and the side facing out is sub-arctic.
I used to think this was a British thing as I remember seeing my first instance of this useless device in a tiny Victorian B&B some years ago. I put that off to it just being an old hotel, but it seems that the Union Jack in the corner of the Aussie flag isn't the only tie to the old mother country. I've stayed in 5 straight hotels in the past 2 months that all had these useless excuses for shower containment.
Makes me want to take a page out of the best travel movie of all time (that would be Planes, Trains and Automobiles) and start selling shower curtain rings. I would like to think I have 5 immediate customers....
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