Quote:
Originally Posted by Camelopardalis
My local BP takes Amex with no surcharge 
Flight prices are subject to supply and demand. There's a lot more choice for flights to Europe these days and London is a major destination. If the Aussie $ is taking a pounding, it definitely makes it less attractive to be travelling to Europe as everything becomes more expensive. Therefore if the airline find themselves with lots of empty seats, they cut their losses and sell 'em cheap.
IMO I can't imagine Heathrow is that much more expensive than other major European airports...in addition to all the long haul flights with large jets there are lots of domestic flights in and out of Heathrow with relatively small jets as it is a (if not the) major hub for the UK and international travel.
One recent change that could affect prices significantly is that the UK government recent adjusted the levels of air passsenger duty (tax!). For the most frequent range of 2000-4000 miles (read: US, Caribbean) they naturally increased the tax  but for destinations over 6000 miles it was reduced by a decent amount.
Another tip (maybe) for flying into London is not to exclude London's other airports. Last time I checked, Emirates also fly into Gatwick at reduced price. Gatwick is London's second airport and is a little further out than Heathrow (Heathrow is 15 minutes by train, Gatwick is 30 minutes), but is less congested and IMO a more pleasant experience. |
Thanks, though we're not going to London this trip - though we do want to go back one day. We became quite fond of Heathrow last time we were there. We`stayed at a 5 star place at Heathrow, which we liked much better than the 4 star place we had stayed in, in London. Yes, catching the bus and train into London every morning was a bit of a nuisance, but it was actually quite relaxing on the way back to the hotel when one's feet were aching.
How come your BP has no surcharge and mine does? That means that for $60 of petrol you get 2 points on my Amex card place a point on the Velocity card. 180 points in all, whereas I can only get 60 points.
Pretty clever the British Government. They'll charge Americans more, but the Americans won't notice it as their dollar has appreciated so greatly.
Cheers,
Renato