EFFECTIVE immediately,
British Airways will
determine fares
originating from Southern
Africa based on each fare
component’s season.
This means that,
instead of the fares being
determined solely based
on which season the
departure flight falls into,
the seasonality of the return
flight will also be taken
into account, so that, for
example, agents can book
high-season fares going
out with low season fares
returning, and vice versa.
This would mean that
some fares would decrease
while others might increase,
the airline said in a notice
to the trade.
These changes affect
World Traveller and World
Traveller Plus cabins (and do
not include tactical fares in
O/Q and T class). DIF fares
are included, but only those
generated using annual
fares.
The change does not apply
to business and first class,
which do not have seasonal
fares.
“There should not be any
impact on tickets with the
new seasonality as the filing
remains unchanged,” a
spokesperson for the airline
said.
David van den HeeverLiebenberg, travel director
at Marmalade Toast, says
that while the change will
make fares departing or
arriving on shoulder or low
season cheaper, re-issuing
tickets will be tricky for
agents if the new dates fall
into different seasons.
“When agents do a
re-issue, they will have to
check what the seasonality
is for the new dates and
the initial dates,” explains
David. “If you are changing
the arrival and departure
dates and they now fall
into another season, there
are two extra sets of fares
that you have to combine
and compare with what you
already sold.” If only one
date is changed, one set
would need to be combined
and compared.
BA to align fares based on season of each leg
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