In order to initiate sales and make profits, many manufacturers and retailers offer discounts on air purifiers. Cheap prices make the air purifiers more affordable and hence even the common man can buy one….

I didn’t agree with you first, but last paragraph makes sense for me…

domestic cruises…

…

One time I woke up in Brussels, looked at my alarm clock and saw that it was exactly the minute that my outbound flight for a trip back to the UK was due to depart…I had very much missed my flight, and I had non-exchangeable super cheap economy tickets. I immediately leapt out of bed and phoned BA to explain that I was very sorry I had missed my flight and to see what arrangements could be made – they told me to simply get to the airport when I could, and they’d just put me on the next flight. Fantastic service, completely unexpected, and no grief whatsoever.

Another time I was flying from Brussels to Miami for business, the flight was Brussels-London-Miami, and the reverse coming back. However I wanted to stop in the UK on the way back for my mum’s birthday party…so I booked a single eurostar ticket back from London, and kept my fingers crossed. When I checked in for the return flight from Miami to London, I asked that my baggage be only checked through as far as London, and not all the way to Brussels. I explained that I took full responsibility if I missed the connecting flight to Brussels, that I wouldn’t hold BA responsible for getting my on the last leg of the trip, and that as a British citizen I wouldn’t have any problems stopping in the UK. I would wager that most airlines would throw a fit at such a request, but BA allowed me to cehck my luggage only as far as London, pretty safe in the knowledge that I wouldn’t be rejoining them for the London-Brussels leg. Again; the ticket was a no-frills economy non-flexible deal, so no real excuse for having special priveledges.

From both of these experiences I always feel safe in recommending BA for going above and beyond…and they were my first choice for my honeymoon flight to Hong Kong last year.

Sorry to hear they didn’t work out for you, and I hope that your experiences aren’t indicative of a general decline in customer service. I think the advice to consider booking single legs rather than a return jouney is also pretty good, and something I will keep in mind for the future.

– Pete.

They have this policy so they can continue to sell tickets in different regions at different prices. Each airline has a market and mind share in the various countries they operate in. So for example French folks fliying out of Paris are more likely to choose Air France and UK folks flying out of London might be likely to fly British Airways. Airlines discount to compete and gain market share in their non-native markets, e.g. Air France might offer cheap flights from London to New York (via Paris) to entice UK customers.

Taking this example further, BA will offer a lower price to US customers for a return ticket US to UK than the equivalent UK to US ticket being offered to UK customers. They have to compete in their non-native country and this is how they do it. Their policy to cancel a ticket if you don’t fly outbound stops a UK customer buying a cheap US to UK return and just flying out on it. The US to UK return will likely be less than the UK to US one-way price…

They also reserve the right to charge you extra if you don’t complete your whole ticket(!) Flying BA Club from Paris to New York (via London) is cheaper than doing it direct from London. If you buy this ticket and don’t fly the final leg from London back to Paris, could in theory mean BA charge you the difference between your ‘discounted’ ticket and the normal LHR-NYC return.