$11k for an economy flight to London? Why airlines are not your friends

Airlines always like to pretend to be your friend. Just check out the slogans. “Going places together,” says Qatar. “To Fly. To Serve” assures British Airways. “Soaring together,” declares JAL. “Fly the friendly skies,” smiles United.

It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn’t it? Airlines: big, faceless corporations that just want to be friends.

That is, of course, until they don’t have to be friends. Until you need them more than they need you. Until they sniff a little desperation and then they absolutely fleece you for all you’re worth.

Case in point: now. If you’re trying to get from Australia to somewhere in Europe and you are supposed to be flying through the Middle East, you will know all about this. If you’re trying to get home to Australia via the same route you probably have an inkling as well.

Very few travellers are prepared to fly through Qatar or the UAE right now, even if they do manage to score a seat on the limited flights departing. Those countries are rated “Do not travel” by Smartraveller, meaning not only are you flying into an actual war zone but if you get stranded there or anywhere else on your journey because of the war you won’t be covered by travel insurance.

So that’s not too appealing. The alternative, then, is to cancel your plans to fly, or if you can’t do that, look for some other way to get where you’re going. And if you’re heading to Europe that appears straightforward, with plenty of carriers departing Australia and heading to the northern hemisphere via ports across Asia or even the US.

Only, let’s just check in and see what the airfares are like, shall we? What are our good friends the airlines charging in our time of distress and need?

Oh. Wow. Turkish Airlines has fares from Sydney to Paris next week for $5500. One way. In economy. Singapore Airlines only has premium economy seats to London next week, and they’re $6200 (if you’re flying in June that same seat will cost $3800).

Qantas can get you to London next week for $2400 one way, but you will have to fly via Johannesburg and it will take 30 hours. Still, at least the fare is semi-reasonable.

A friend tried to book a seat from Sydney to Frankfurt for this week and was quoted an economy fare of $11,068 by Singapore Airlines. One way. She looked into going via LA and using Velocity frequent flyer miles, only it turns out she doesn’t have the 1.9 million points required. Operators of the Instagram account @dmarge just posted a screenshot of a business class fare (with one leg in first class) from Sydney to London on Cathay Pacific for almost $40,000.

And this is now several weeks after travel was disrupted by the war in Iran, and ticket-holders began scrambling for alternative flights.

The impacted Middle Eastern carriers, to give them their due, appear to be acting in good faith. Emirates is offering refunds for tickets up to March 31, or rebooking up to the end of April without extra charge. Qatar is offering refunds up to March 15, or rebooking, but only up to a fortnight later (when hostilities will likely be ongoing).

Both airlines, however, are still selling tickets for current scheduled flights, offering passengers the chance to roll the dice on flying through a war zone and hoping not to get stuck (that is, if the flight even departs), if they really want to save a few bucks.

Now, you might be looking at these astronomical fares and thinking, well, that’s just capitalism at work. It’s simple supply and demand.

To which I would say: what sort of bleak world do we live in when that is accepted as normal and reasonable? When airlines, our good friends in the sky, can sniff an opportunity to make some money from desperate people and charge them whatever they can get away with? What sort of system is this that we have come to accept?

Those desperate people have snapped up the fares, too. Some airlines are completely full on flights to Europe for the next few weeks. It’s like the toilet rolls during COVID, or the petrol stations right now – the fear of an impending shortage causes all sorts of unreasonable behaviour, increasing the desperation, the tendency to forget the financial pain and just get something locked in.

It’s worth reminding yourself that those airfares don’t have to be that expensive. Airlines make a choice to raise fares in times of heightened demand, sometimes outrageously when desperation is rife. They could be charging normal prices, or just slightly increased to account for extra fuel usage on altered flight paths, but they’re not.

And it’s not like they’ve suddenly invented this system – they’ve been doing it for years. Try to book a last-minute flight any time, whether in a war or not, and you will discover how much your desperation is going to cost you. Have to fly for a family emergency, a funeral, to see a sick relative, to do something for your kids? Great, says the airline’s algorithm. You’ll pay heaps.

The reality is that airlines are not your friend, regardless of what the warm, fuzzy slogans might have you believe. They’re businesses. They’re not interested in your friendship; they’re interested in your money. And they’ll take as much of it as they can get.