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

[whole diary]

[grahame]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10808011/David-Cameron-Holiday-firms-taking-advantage-of-parents-with-young-children.html

David Cameron: Holiday firms taking advantage of parents with young children

David Cameron has accused travel companies of "deliberately" putting up prices during school holidays and called on head teachers across the country to stagger their term dates to help families with young children.

The Prime Minister said that he shares the ^frustration^ of parents who face higher bills for breaks taken during school holidays.

Mr Cameron said that he himself has had to cope with higher ticket prices from low-cost airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair because of increased demand during school holidays.

Schools should vary their term dates so prices do not surge on a specific day, the Prime Minister suggested during an interview with Free Radio in Birmingham.

^This is very frustrating and I have seen it myself when you are booking on Easyjet or Ryanair,^ Mr Cameron said. ^Prices go up because of the demand and then you've got holiday companies who sometimes seem to deliberately put up prices at holiday time.^

Some interesting parallels ... could the article have been as follows, I wonder ...

David Cameron: Train Operating firms taking advantage of families with working members

David Cameron has accused train operating companies of "deliberately" putting up prices during the early morning and early evening and called on employers across the country to stagger their hours to help families with working members.

The Prime Minister said that he shares the ^frustration^ of workers who face higher bills for journeys taken during early morning and early evening.

Mr Cameron said that he himself has had to cope with higher ticket prices from Train Operating Companies such as First Great Western and Chiltern Railways because of increased demand during early morning and early evening.

Employers should vary their work hours so prices do not surge at a specific time of day, the Prime Minister suggested during an interview with Free Radio in Birmingham.

^This is very frustrating and I have seen it myself when you are booking on First Great Western or Chiltern Railways,^ Mr Cameron said. ^Prices go up because of the demand and then you've got train companies who sometimes seem to deliberately put up prices at in the early morning and early evening.^

[SDS]

since when does scameron pay for train tickets? Most of the ToCs issue free tickets to him and turf out most of the carriage for him and his entourage.

[ellendune]

Sorry I thought this was the core of the free market that he and his party believed in.

I also thought that the consultation on ticket reform from the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) advocated this free market approach - or was I mistaken?

did it not consult on super peak fares and lower fares either side of the peak.

If he does not like the peak fares then perhaps these should become the regulated tickets rather than the off-peak ones. 

[TaplowGreen]

Sorry I thought this was the core of the free market that he and his party believed in.

I also thought that the consultation on ticket reform from the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) advocated this free market approach - or was I mistaken?

did it not consult on super peak fares and lower fares either side of the peak.

If he does not like the peak fares then perhaps these should become the regulated tickets rather than the off-peak ones. 

I think perhaps you missed the hypothetical nature of Grahame's quote!  .....I wouldn't worry though, I'm sure once "Red" Ed has renationalised the railways we can look forward to free travel and 100% reliability.......just like in the good old BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) days!

[Red Squirrel]

.....I wouldn't worry though, I'm sure once "Red" Ed has renationalised the railways we can look forward to free travel and 100% reliability.......just like in the good old BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) days!

I seem to remember Baron Prescott promised that Labour would renationalise the railways back in '97... or at least he said something which could be interpreted as implying that they would give it due consideration, in a promisory context.

As it was, Labour won that election with a tiny majority (179, wasn't it?) and compromises had to be made...

[trainer]

Like ellendune, I am amazed at the effrontery of the leader of a party that espouses 'the market' as the best protector and provider for the consumer, blaming business for doing what business is bound to do - maximise profits.  I only studied Economics to 'A' Level, but I seem to remember that Supply and Demand were the rules for deciding prices unless regulated.  Whether it's a travel company or a train company, they are duty-bound to make profit for the shareholders. Social concerns belong to government and charities (and even the latter have major business imperatives on them these days).

In the quotations from the Telegraph the word 'accused' is used of Mr Cameron's comments.  That seems to like accusing a lion of eating meat: it's the nature of the beast.

IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) the beast needs taming.

[4064ReadingAbbey]

Like ellendune, I am amazed at the effrontery of the leader of a party that espouses 'the market' as the best protector and provider for the consumer, blaming business for doing what business is bound to do - maximise profits.  I only studied Economics to 'A' Level, but I seem to remember that Supply and Demand were the rules for deciding prices unless regulated.  Whether it's a travel company or a train company, they are duty-bound to make profit for the shareholders. Social concerns belong to government and charities (and even the latter have major business imperatives on them these days).

In the quotations from the Telegraph the word 'accused' is used of Mr Cameron's comments.  That seems to like accusing a lion of eating meat: it's the nature of the beast.

IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) the beast needs taming.

I think you will find that the behaviour of business is more subtle and differentiated than 'A'-Level economics makes out. Whilst the balance of supply and demand certainly is one of the factors affecting prices, it is by no means the whole story. Also while a company's board of directors are legally required to act in the company's interests and not in their own, they are not obliged to maximise profits. In fact no company in its right mind would do so - it would only invite competition by others who can also read a profit and loss account!

If you look around one sees that the most successful companies are the ones who have something unique to offer - and the competition then tries to copy the product or service. Dyson's Airblade hand dryer has now spawned a multitude of competitors, Apple produced a better MP3 player (the iPod) and practically wiped out the opposition, and so on.

A solution to the increased prices demanded for package holidays during the school holidays is to stagger the school holidays. This is done in Germany - each Land has a different school calendar. It helps spread the load on holiday resorts and the transport system.

[Puffing Billy]

My heart bleeds for the poor darlings who are "forced" to pay peak season fares for their Mediterranean holidays. When I was sat with my bucket and spade every year on a Devon beach, did I spend all my time moaning "Mum, why can't we go to Greece this year?". No, I don't think so.

[JayMac]

A week in Devon also costs considerably more for a family holiday in July and August than it does during term time.

[Puffing Billy]

Quite true. But not necessarily more in terms of the travel element, which is the topic in question. 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. Maybe save up for an adventurous holiday every other year and do something more modest in between. After all, school does not last for long in the great scheme of things, and you have the rest of your life to take your holiday whenever you want. Education should be the sole aim of the school system, and all the important aspects should be given priority before you do any minor tweaking with term times.

[Red Squirrel]

Seems to me that adjusting the term dates makes a lot of sense. Just bear in mind that we have long summer holidays for the archaic reason that the kids need to help get the harvest in; there's no educational reason.

The education industry can appear hypocritical at times - they levy fines on parents who take their kids out of school during term time because of the alleged damage it does, but apparently inset days or strikes are OK...

[trainer]

The education industry can appear hypocritical at times - they levy fines on parents who take their kids out of school during term time because of the alleged damage it does, but apparently inset days or strikes are OK...

The fines were decided by the Secretary of State for Education and are imposed by law on schools. Teachers and head teachers at local level I believe would have liked to have maintained the discretion they had until they were forced into fining.

I declare an interest in that in a past life I authorised term-time holidays for pupils occasionally.

[Red Squirrel]

I suppose I was including Gove when I used the term 'education industry', but I take the point that many probably wouldn't!

[ellendune]

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!

[Puffing Billy]

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).