How the heck do airlinesdo it?

On my recent trip to Seattle (what a beautiful city), I found the the pricing of direct tickets not to be understandable.The cheapest return flights from Jo'burg were around USD 1000. Those included a stay in London at around USD200 a night.Flight from Jo'Burg to London including a night's stay in London to Washington and then on to Seattle three hours later. The same on the return. Through BA.So, a return flight from Jo'burg to Seattle cost me around USD 1000 (with two nights in a great hotel in between the flights).However, the cost of US air companies and SAA were around USD 1500 for the same flights (direct flights from Jo'burg to Dulles, with a flight on to Seattle and return).It means that return direct flights from Jo'burg to Dulles Airport to Seattle would cost around USD500 extra. Why?It doesn't make any sense. Edited by Pressie, : No reason given.Edited by Pressie, : No reason given.

Thanks for the answers guys. The ticketing just doesn't make any sense at all.Another example, a person I met at the conference in Seattle. He is quite an expert on similar deposits I'm looking at, so he offered to come and have a first hand look.He bought a ticket from Seattle to Jo'burg and back, through the same airlines. He paid double the price I paid for a return ticket from Jo'burg to Seattle. Same route. Same Hotel in London. Just different directions.It just doesn't make any sense.Edited by Pressie, : No reason given.

To fly from Atlanta to Jo'burg or return in one flight is an absolute killer. Those planes are so unbelievably packed. No place to even put your feet down. No sleep is possible. And much more expensive than the alternatives.Edited by Pressie, : No reason given.

Yes, I sure have, that's why I don't understand the pricing system of airlines at all.What airlines basically do is to determine the prices of air tickets according to the country where the journey starts. So, If I buy my tickets in SA; from Jo'burg to Washington return, I would pay around USD 1000. If I bought the ticket from Washington to Jo'burg, return, in the US, those tickets would cost around double (USD 2000).So, fortunate me (paying around USD 500) to get to Washington from Jo'burg will be sitting next to some unfortunate person who paid USD 1000 for the same flight. Just because that person bought the ticket in another country. The fuel used by the aircraft will be the same; the taxes paid in Jo'burg and Washington by the company will be the same; the weight of the luggage will be the same; everything will be the same. Yet prices differ a lot. It doesn't make any sense.Edited by Pressie, : No reason given.

Thanks for that one. Still confusing.

Thanks guys. I got a reply from a guy working for some major US Airline on my e-mail.It basically goes like this:1. Airlines are compelled to charge prices in the country where the journey begins. If a return ticket is bought is SA, by a person with an SA passport, then pricing begins in SA. If a return ticket is bought in the US, by a person with a US passport, then pricing is done in the US.2. Jo'burg is a so-called high and dry airport. Flights from Jo'burg to the US can't take in the fuel needed for a direct flight. Therefore they have to stop somewhere else to resupply the aircraft with fuel to cross the Atlantic.3. On the return journey they can make the journy directly, basically because the US airports along the east coast are not high and dry airports.4. To stop in West Africa on the way from Jo'burg is very expensive.Apparently not many of the airports in those countries are considered to be 'safe' airports. To land there is considered to be risky by their insurance companies and very expensive. For a flight to land over there to take on fuel is also very expensive. Those airports charge a lot of money just to land, refuel and take off again. The taxes and insurance paid to land there apparently are more than what the total amount paid by the passengers for the flights are.That's why direct return flights from Jo'burg to the US are expensive.5. For these reasons it is less expensive to land somewhere in Europe, then carry on with the flight later. Landing rights, taxes, etc. are cheaper in Europe than in West Africa. And the safety factor with accompanying insurance is around 60% cheaper in Europe.It is starting to make some sense now.Edited by Pressie, : No reason given.Edited by Pressie, : No reason given.Edited by Pressie, : No reason given.Edited by Pressie, : No reason given.