A few ultra-cheap tickets: Switzerland advertises alleged flight discounts

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Airfares are high since the Covid outbreak. Or not? Switzerland has been advertising attractive prices on various channels for some time. The flight to New York is sold for only 396 francs, and the flight to Atlanta (USA) is sold for 397 francs.

The highest prices also attract people to the West Coast of the USA: 488 francs for a flight to San Francisco, 537 francs for a flight to Los Angeles. There are low prices even for very remote destinations: Switzerland lists Anchorage in Alaska at 557 francs, Honolulu in Hawaii at 658 francs.

Are flight capacities high enough to require Switzerland to resort to dumping prices again? Presenting the nine-month figures, Swiss finance chief Markus Binkert (51) admitted that competition with other airlines has increased again due to high demand in the USA. Swiss flies to New York four times a day and to Boston, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco every day, and has to fill the planes.

But low prices are not the essence of the advertising campaign: “We want to use the campaign to draw attention to our US routes and arouse people’s desire to travel,” explains Swiss spokesman Michael Pelzer. These are not new prices or discounts, but rather the current “lowest possible prices for the cheapest booking class”. There are actually very few tickets available at these prices.

You can only get the bargain price with luck

Blick is trying to book New York for under 400 francs. Not possible until the end of the year. At least we manage to find a plane for 413 francs. Return via Barcelona (Spain) direct on Tuesday, December 12 for 231 francs and on Sunday, December 17 for 182 francs. Arrival will take place on Monday afternoon.

The “sensible” option for Christmas shopping in New York in the same period: 688 francs non-stop on Wednesday, December 13, non-stop return home on Saturday evening, December 16, and arrival on Sunday morning 622 francs. Total: 1310 francs.

As a rule, prices are well above the level declared by Switzerland.

Prices remain high on average

A classic marketing tactic: Switzerland makes you want to go to America with low prices that are rarely available. The fact is that Switzerland is doing an excellent job with ticket prices much higher than previous values. In the third quarter, the company achieved the best result in its history.

After all, the availability of a small number of “lowest possible prices” during the winter months tends to be higher than during the summer peak travel season. However, this does not change the fact that average prices in Switzerland are now higher than before the pandemic. And that probably won’t change. “We expect flight tickets to become more expensive in general, as greater sustainability commitments require particularly high investments and costs,” Pelzer concludes.

Source :Blick