2

I live in Resistencia, about 350Km away from Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. And about 1000Km away from Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, my own country.

Let's assume I want to go to Miami.

If I search flights originating from my city, most travel websites (Google Flights, Despegar, etc) will try to sell me tickets from Resistencia to Buenos Aires, and then to Miami. This will end up costing me 27.000 Argentine pesos. Usually this includes flights from Aerolinas Argentinas only, as it seems to be the lowest priced airline. The trip to Buenos Aires is usually 2000-2500 pesos for both tickets. So the bulk of the pricing is the international flight.

Instead, if I search for flights to Miami from Asuncion, Paraguay, I also get two flights (usually stopping in Lima or Panama), but the price is actually as low as 12.000 Pesos. There are no flights to Asuncion but it's a 5-6 hour bus ride.

Why is this difference so HUGE? I think maybe because the Aerolineas flight is a direct flight, and the others make a stop somewhere else.

Edit: this is, I think, a diffrent question from How do airlines determine ticket prices? because that one explains about "fine" pricing by airlines, simulations, etc. I don't think this is related, because that fine pricing is usually a few % points. This is a whooping 50% difference. There must be something different going on.

hjf
  • 121
  • 3

1 Answers1

2

The price of a flight on a ticket on it's own may be different from the price of the same flight on a multi-stop itinary and it may be different depending on the particular route or airlines involved. Airlines may lower the price to compete with other multi-stop routes or raise the price to discourage giving buisness to non-partnert airlines. They may lower prices for purely domestic itinaries for political reasons. These differences can be very substantial.

To get to Miami from Resistencia it seems you are forced to use Aerolíneas Argentinas for the first leg and if you want to do the journey in one stop forced to use them for the second leg too. So there is little competition.

OTOH to get to Miami from Asuncion there seem to be at least three different one-stop routes operated by four different airlines. COPA via panama, Avianica via Lima, Aerolineas Argentinas Via Buenos Aires, LATAM via Lima.

In other words there is lots more competition, so it's hardly surprising that there are lower prices.

Peter Green
  • 11,779
  • 1
  • 32
  • 54