Auckland to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (6 May - 30 Sep) from $780 on China Southern (via Guangzhou) @ Beat That Flight

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  AyyTso on 06/05/2023 - 16:24

  Looking for cheapest to Guangzhou and back…. Why is it cheaper to go elsewhere and stop over Guangzhou rather than have Guangzhou as the destination??

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    Jaxson on 06/05/2023 - 17:03

    Same as Fiji Air to Samoa etc

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    scott on 07/05/2023 - 02:06

    +1

    This is modern airline pricing in a nutshell.

    They price based on customer's willingness to pay, as opposed to based on the costs to operate the service, with limits of course, in order to maximize profits.

    For a customer traveling to Guangzhou, the china southern flight is the only non-stop flight and hence highly desirable. And as such gets priced at a premium to reflect that.

    I entered a random date, and the cheapest one way is NZ$652 via china eastern & Shanghai airlines (stop in Shanghai), but that trip takes 18hr, 13 min. China Southern prices their nonstop ticket at $935. A lot of flyers will pay the extra money to save 6.5 hours travel time and go non stop.

    When china southern is pricing other routes like Auckland to Ho Chi Minh City here, they know they that they are just one of the of the pack competing for your business. On the random date I picked They aren't even that desirable, with the trip taking 21:30. Where say Air NZ & Vietnam Airlines (SYD stopover), will get you their in 14:10. As such, if they want your business they have to be cheap. So if their projections say they are going to have seats to fill, they will price that route cheap.

    I don't recommend it, but there is a practice called Skiplagging, which takes advantage of these pricing structures. You travel carry on only, and just exit the departure airport rather than catching your next plane. Be aware if you don't catch one leg of a ticket, the rest of the ticket gets canceled so it only works on one way tickets. And the airlines hate it, you run the risk of getting banned from that airline. I don't think I would ever do it, but it makes for interesting reading if you want to search the term.

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      AyyTso on 07/05/2023 - 09:12

      Thank you for that, very insightful

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  TheSpender on 06/05/2023 - 18:48

  Is there anything available in October for Vietnam?

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  FiveOneFive on 07/05/2023 - 17:23

  Have you got any tips for finding cheap flights like this with long lay-overs? Sometimes I'd prefer to spend a night somewhere rather than waiting 3 hours at the airport to get a connection. Love your work btw.

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    Associatedbeatthatflight @ Beat That Flight on 07/05/2023 - 20:04

    You can use the site's filter to choose the longest layovers. Generally not more than 23 hours 55 min tho.
    Note also depending on your ticket, CZ offers free hotel accom in Guangzhou too : https://www.csair.com/en/tourguide/transit_flow/flightsTwo_h…