Peak travel prices take advantage of those who can't choose

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

I think that unless the airlines enter into an agreement that maximum and minimum fares should differ by no more than a certain percentage from the average, we have to pay our money and take our choice.

An agreement with who?  If it is with each other that would be a cartel, which is illegal!

Sorry, I meant "differ by some percentage from their OWN average", not connecting it in any way to a rival's fares, i.e. a promise to their own customers that they will not hike up their fares by wild factors (which, as far as I can see seems to happen more at Christmas then in the summer).

I'm sorry but you're not comparing apples with apples - on most air routes there are several different choices of airlines.......how many choices do you have for a direct train from London to Plymouth or Cornwall? FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are to all intents and purposes a monopoly......I doubt they could get away with some of their eye-watering walk up fares if they had competition!!!

[Puffing Billy]

I'm sorry but you're not comparing apples with apples

I am not comparing ANYTHING with ANYTHING - how you manage to implicate either rail transport or inter-company competition into what I said, I have no idea. I was just commenting on the specific issue of SEASONAL hikes in AIR fares, which is quite simply the point the first part of the original post raised.

[TaplowGreen]

I'm sorry but you're not comparing apples with apples

I am not comparing ANYTHING with ANYTHING - how you manage to implicate either rail transport or inter-company competition into what I said, I have no idea. I was just commenting on the specific issue of SEASONAL hikes in AIR fares, which is quite simply the point the first part of the original post raised.

Didn't necessarily mean you solely or personally, but the original post drew parallels between an actual statement from the PM alluding to air fares/holiday prices rising seasonally, and then the original poster put in the hypothetical context of the railways - my point is that you can't compare the two validly because the market conditions are so different.....

[Puffing Billy]

... you can't compare the two [rail and air] validly because the market conditions are so different.....

In that case, I agree with you - there is not much of a connection between the two.

As a slight aside, I have not actually seen much straightforward competition between airlines. I fly to Poland once or twice a year, and can not think of a single airport-to-airport route served by more than one airline. The logistics of using an alternative airport at one end or the other usually means there is only one realistic choice unless you happen to live in or near London, where there are several airports within easy reach.