Cheap international business & first class airfares guide

Consolidators Part 1 – Understanding the International Fare System to get those cheap international flight ticket

Okay, you have already seen how the US fare market works in the previous article – and hence you should bear this in mind when searching those airline flight schedule for cheap first class airfares or cheap coach airfares.

We also like the first class travel website known as First Class Au to look for those premium first class lowest airfare or lowest first class airfares/first class airfare travel deals and holidays.

The savings whether on discount coach or those first class cheap international flight ticket or first class cheap international airfare could certainly add up in the long run to get you a nice free second trip.

The Published Fares

How does the international fare system works? Well, the first thing travellers should note when searching for those international discount travel/international cheap travel tickets and even those premium class cheap international business & first class airfares is that unlike domestic fares in the USA, which has been deregulated since 1978, international airfares remain highly regulated.

International airfares are regulated both by international treaties and by an international airline “price-fixing cartel”, the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) so bear this in mind when searching those airline flight schedule for cheap first class airfares or cheap coach airfares.

Most international airlines are closely related to, if not directly owned by, their national governments.

Most governments in turn have an interest in protecting the profits of their national airline, and therefore approved the fact that IATA fares could be set higher than necessary – there goes those airline airfares cheapest airfares or lowest cheap airfares st you want.

Further, with its virtual monopoly, travellers certainly have less no choice but to accept these higher fares whether they are economy/coach or a so called first class cheap international flight ticket or first class cheap international airfare.

As a condition of membership in IATA, airlines agree to sell tickets only at IATA-approved prices. IATA regulations strictly forbid the direct discounting of tickets directly to passengers.

So when searching those airline flight schedule for cheap first class airfares or cheap coach airfares, you are still getting only the probably the airline airfares cheapest airfares or lowest cheap airfares st of each airline published fares only.

As such, travellers have to officially buy their tickets from the airlines at these expensive official prices or also known as the published prices – which are sanctioned, lodged and approved by the IATA.

Obviously, it’s still good that if we can get those international discount travel/international cheap travel fares or those cheap international business & first class airfares out of the available published fares when we are searching those airline flight schedule for cheap first class airfares or cheap coach airfares, right?

In this case, wouldn’t it be nice if we could get those economy/coach or those first class cheap international flight ticket or first class cheap international airfare below even the cheapest published fare?

Note that all official fares are "published" either in hardcopy in the Official Airline Guides (OAG) or the Air Tariff, or electronically in the computerised reservation systems (CRS's) such as Sabre, Apollo, Amadeus, Worldspan, and Gabriel (so that’s what you see when you search those airline flight schedule for cheap first class airfares or cheap coach airfares.

Note that by the nature of the IATA price-fixing system, airlines cannot admit of any knowledge of the fact that any of their agents are selling tickets for less than the official/approved published fares (although they do and that is were you can use those consolidators to get those international discount travel/international cheap travel fares or those cheap international business & first class airfares).

As mentioned earlier, by the very nature that only published fares are shown in any of the CRS systems, travellers who search using any online sites or travel agencies which are using or being logged on to such systems will only get the benefit of the lowest, if any, of the published fares ONLY.

Such online sites or travel agencies include those big names in the businesses and their associated agents internationally; and also other international travel online sites.

But surely what we want actually is the airline airfares cheapest airfares or lowest cheap airfares st.

The trick is to know where to find these unpublished cheap economy/coach fares or those first class cheap international flight ticket or first class cheap international airfare.

Note that since all the major CRS's are actually owned by the airline companies, it makes it all the more impossible that the systems cannot possibly contain any discounted fares since these airlines are regulated by IATA. (as such, you won’t find unpublished lowest fares when you search those airline flight schedule for cheap first class airfares or cheap coach airfares on their systems).

Almost all of the world airlines or 250 of them representing 94% of the airlines worldwide are members of IATA.

The minority which are not members of IATA could actually set fares that are independent of IATA approved prices such as those lower than the published airline airfares cheapest airfares or lowest cheap airfares st but these are small and too scattered all over the international routes.

Sponsored Sites:

The Unpublished Fares

Luckily for travellers, there are actually discounted prices our there from the official published fares above where you could really find the cheapest international discount travel/international cheap travel fares or those cheap international business & first class airfares.

Well, the reality of it is that the airline companies just can't fill all seats on their planes at the more expensive published prices.

If airlines sold tickets only at IATA fares, they would have too many empty seats that might otherwise be saleable at cheaper prices.

So they have to sell some of those cheap economy/coach fares or those first class cheap international flight ticket or first class cheap international airfare to the consolidators.

So, airlines exploit two loopholes in the IATA system – the first is that neither IATA nor international airfare treaties restricts how much commission an airline can pay an agent for selling a ticket, and two, airline agents could choose to sell the tickets at their own pricing.

Effectively, airlines offer tickets at the published fares to these agents – typically called by terms such as wholesalers or consolidators/bucket shop/discounters – and then offer them a large commission in rebate.

The consolidators/bucket shop/discounters (used interchangeably from here as consolidators although there are subtle differences between the terms) in turn re-offer the tickets at those cheaper first class cheap international flight ticket or first class cheap international airfare prices back to the consumers (effectively passing on the commission savings).

Now you can see why the consolidators could actually offer you the best airline airfares cheapest airfares or lowest cheap airfares.

This is how all international airlines get around the IATA rule against discounting while maintaining a two-tiered pricing system and offering those cheap unpublished international discount travel/international cheap travel fares or those cheap international business & first class airfares.

Often, the discounted tickets travellers receive from a consolidator will be printed with the official published fare (those found when you search those airline flight schedule for cheap first class airfares or cheap coach airfares on the airlines CRS or computerised reservation system).

The difference between price you pay and the published airfare is the amount of saving that the consolidator is willing to pass on.

Note that because of the official rules, all sales of international tickets on scheduled airlines at less than the official or published fares are made only through travel agencies or online sites, and not directly by the airlines (that’s why you can find those cheap unpublished fares searching those airline flight schedule for cheap first class airfares or cheap coach airfares on their systems).

As such, to find such discounted fares that offer you the airline airfares cheapest airfares or lowest cheap airfares – often called Unpublished Fares – because they are not listed in the CRS systems, travellers need to look for airfare consolidators and not ask the airlines (or those associated agents) which sell only published fares.   

It is fruitless to ask the airlines themselves for the lower unpublished fares for those economy/coach or those first class cheap international flight ticket or first class cheap international airfare prices as they will not admit to such practices or be seen to be condoning such practices – given their membership rules in IATA.

It is also true that because of the fact that airlines turn a blind eyes on the unpublished fares market – essentially allowing the consolidators to dictate how much the commission savings to be passed on in cheaper ticket prices to consumers, airlines do not usually know themselves, and couldn't admit to knowing if they did, by which agents or at what prices their tickets are most cheaply sold.

However, airlines do “unofficially” monitors those international discount travel/international cheap travel fares or those cheap international business & first class airfares they sell to the consolidators.

If the fares get too low, they will pull back from selling to avoid the consolidators from cannibalising their existing market too much.

Note that sometimes, especially when the airlines want to keep an “ignorant face”, there are restrictions imposed by them on consolidators selling their economy/coach or those first class cheap international flight ticket or first class cheap international airfare seats on where the tickets can be sold, or whether the name of the airline can be mentioned in advertising, etc.

This unofficial regulation system of the unpublished airline airfares cheapest airfares or lowest cheap airfares market somehow gives order to the whole system of filling empty seats (selling some tickets at lower unpublished fares) while maintaining full-priced ticket sales to travellers who don’t mind to pay the higher published fares (such as business or last minute travellers or simply those ignorant travellers who does not know the system).

Note that because international fares are regulated (unlike domestic US fares which are deregulated), international airfares tend to be available at far greater discounts than local domestic US fare.

Hence, you will get higher savings on international discount travel/international cheap travel tickets or cheap international business & first class airfares.

Sponsored Sites:

Negotiated Fares

A subset of published/unpublished fares, negotiated fares are generally lower-priced tickets negotiated between large travel agencies – typically the large corporate ones and the large consolidators such as OneTravel.com (the best consolidator in our view) – and the airlines.

You also won’t get these negotiated fares searching those airline flight schedule for cheap first class airfares or cheap coach airfares on their systems

These negotiated unpublished fares could include special deals by the airlines to those large travel agencies who can buy bulk on certain routes or destinations (though they typically last for short periods only or designated as “exclusive special fares).

For consolidators who buy in bulk on these routes or destinations, they will get a larger commission rebates than normal, which are then passed back to travellers as even lower unpublished fares to travellers.   

Conclusion

The system of published and unpublished international fares simply means that if you want to pay less than the official international fare, you have to buy your ticket from an agent such as a consolidator who gives discounts, and not from an airline directly (or from a source such as those travel agencies which are also using a CRS system site) that is limited to published fares.

So, always look for a consolidator for those lower unpublished fares.

Editor’s notes: The above strategies are just the tip of the iceberg in searching for cheap tickets to your local or overseas destinations. To get ahead on those other industry “secret” discounts that the average travellers or 90% of them do not really know, and sometimes may be just too sensitive to be publicised, invest in a copy of this fantastic book by Mellissa Obrien called “Travel Industry Secrets” Melissa has even given out together free with the book the best consolidator sources in different countries in her view. And it’s just a drop in the bucket of what you could really learn about the hidden savings and perks of the travel industry. It’s an absolute guide that will leapfrog you into the “real hidden” world of travel perks and discounts – and leaves you planning for a FREE second and third vacations (from the savings you make on the first one). Forget about the small cost - the returns and savings are 100-folds more, even if you only travel a few times a year. It’s a gem of a book and I absolutely recommend that you get it and read it page by page.

Selected other fare saving articles/tips of interest:

1.Where to look for those airline cheap discount flight ticket cheap airline flights?
2.Understanding those lowest first class airfares cheap first class airfare
3.Where to find those cheap international air travel international cheap travel? 
4.Looking for cheap air flights lowest fare airline ticket?

www.cheapairtravelclub.com
Copyright 2006 - How to get those cheap international business & first class airfares? article.