High Prices to Middle East

[TotallyOz]

I have to make a trip to see a friend and the business class trips are now 3500 USD. That is as much as I paid to the USA last year and it is only 7 hours. It is insane. I have tried every site and airline but this is about as low as it gets for the days I'm going. I hope these high prices do not keep up for Xmas.

[floridarob]

They will

[vinapu]

6 hours ago, TotallyOz said:

 I hope these high prices do not keep up for Xmas.

they won't,  they will go higher is my feeling but you can always reduce your costs by discovering charms of economy class

[unicorn]

We'll be flying to Japan from LAX in October, and it looks like the fares are running $5000 for business and $1800 for Premium Economy. So I guess we'll just fly Premium Economy and take some sleeping pills with some sake or cognac, and hopefully that'll put us out even if we're not in a flat bed. I haven't purchased those tickets yet, but I did find a $3700 RT flight from LAX to Cairo on Qatar Airways, and I found that to be reasonable, so I snagged those tickets, even though the Cairo flights won't be until February. For your 7-hour trip, though, I personally would rather save the money and fly in PE.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/japan-airlines-premium-economy

We're also going to Italy next month. On the way over, with a long overnight to Europe nonstop, we did spring for business class. On the way back, we're switching planes in Charlotte, so we got PE tickets for the return journey, on the waiting list for an upgrade with miles. Since I'm Executive Platinum with AA, I could also get upgraded for free from CLT to LAX. 

Although one doesn't get to lie flat, one also doesn't feel "squeezed in" for those PE seats, and they're pretty comfortable for a 7-hour flight. 

https://travelupdate.com/aa-good-premium-economy-dub-phl/

[TotallyOz]

3 hours ago, unicorn said:

 

Although one doesn't get to lie flat, one also doesn't feel "squeezed in" for those PE seats, and they're pretty comfortable for a 7-hour flight.

I would be happy for PE. It was my preference for a short flight. But, not one airline from BKK to the city has one.

[PeterRS]

16 hours ago, TotallyOz said:

I hope these high prices do not keep up for Xmas.

Like @vinapu I am pretty sure they will be higher for what is one of the peak travel seasons unless the present volume of passengers starts to tail off. I'd certainly wait. 

Not sure to which city you wish to fly, but some Emirates flights have its new PE class. But I see from the Skytrax site that passenger reviews for Emirates are a good deal worse than before, even for first and biz class. 

I recall it was only 4 1/2 years ago I got biz class flights to/from the UK on Qatar for 77,000 Baht! Qatar still gets generally very good reviews on Skytrax. 

For my regular trips to Taipei, I am delighted that the low economy fares on China Airlines from BKK are still what they were 3 years ago. I am snapping up tickets for November 2023 and February 2024 before they rise.

[PeterRS]

Emirates has just offered a special price of "from 70,480 baht" for biz class from BKK to Dubai. I haven't checked any dates but it is valid from April 13 to 30 September. The offer expires in 13 days. At US$2,050 that's a great deal cheaper than quoted by the OP.

[reader]

Remember the old stories about how bars in Bangkok would make up for fewer customers by raising drink prices? Well, airlines are taking a page from that tactic and raising fares and restricting capacity. Within the last 24 hours, US majors American and United announced disappointing earnings last quarter but said bookings are strong going into the summer while they are simultaneously planning to cut the number of flights.

“We’re intentionally pulling back some of the capacity,” United CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC. “We want to make sure we don’t outrun our capabilities.”

Nevertheless, he went on to predict that the airline should be able to get to 2019 capacity levels by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, according to Reuters, "Chinese airlines undertaking the biggest hiring drives in more than three years as travel rebounds are facing a deluge of applicants for cabin crew roles as fresh university graduates turn to the relatively high-paying career in a bleak job market. In contrast to Western countries, where cabin crew roles are relatively low-paid and mostly do not require a university degree, becoming a flight attendant in China typically requires a bachelor's degree and preferably passing a challenging government-administrated English test."

Excerpts from Reuters article (11 April)

Carriers including Xiamen Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Spring Airlines are now on a hiring spree as domestic travel recovers and they plan to resume flights to popular international destinations.

Hainan Airlines, which plans to hire more than 1,000 flight attendants this year, has already received more than 20,000 applications, it told Reuters.

China Southern, which plans to hire 3,000 cabin crew this year, said it already had more than seven times as many applicants by the end of December.

"There have always been a large number of young girls and boys who want to do this job, as the income is not bad, usually between 10,000 ($1,454) and 20,000 yuan a month, and it is fun, allowing you to fly around the world," said Li Hanming, an independent expert on China's aviation industry.

In 2021, only 6.1% of fresh college graduates earned more than 10,000 yuan a month, the Global Times reported in February, citing education consulting and research institute MyCOS.

Despite the surge in job seekers, airlines may find it difficult to deploy new hires immediately because of year-long ground training courses, which could slow their efforts to boost capacity quickly and keep airfares high, Li said.

"Carriers have pretty bright forecast for 2024 so they need to hire crew members now, otherwise they will be short of hands next year," he added.