Why are day-return flights so much pricier?

The July flights would be £403 and the August flights £223 plus a few pence.

However, if I was to book Guernsey out on 17 July in the morning and return the evening of 6 August from Gatwick, the flight is £203.

The same would be if I booked London Gatwick to Guernsey on the evening of 17 July and return the morning of 6 August, i.e. £203. A total of £406 to do the same flights. How can this be?

Also, if I book the day return in July the cost was £403 – this is £90.99 each out on the red eye and £110.99 each back on the last flight, but if I stay overnight my outward flight drops to £40.99 and the return the next night £60.99. Why does the outward price drop by £50 each if you stay overnight when it is carrying the same passengers as it would be if it was a day return?

Finally, there was an offer on the low fares and one seat left, but if I booked for two passengers we got charged for two seats at £49.99.

So if you were to go to a shop to buy two items and one was at the old price and one at the new, you would not expect to be charged for two at the new price, so how can airlines get away with it?

This is why Aurigny run at a loss, because people cannot afford to fly.

newliberation@cwgsy.net

Name and address withheld.

Editor’s footnote: a spokesman for Aurigny replies:

Thank you for the opportunity to reply to this letter and to address the points raised about our pricing strategy.

Ever since the introduction of excursion fares at airlines back in the 1970s, it has been common for airlines to charge different amounts for flights depending on when a flight is booked, how many seats are still available and how long the stay is.

Our pricing rules are based around this model in order to offer a variety of different prices, depending on what kind of trip you are making and how early you book.

Importantly, by varying the fare depending on the length of a trip, it means we can offer some lower fares to individuals and families booking leisure breaks and holidays away.

As a community airline, we are conscious that it can be expensive for families to travel at peak periods and this pricing model allows us to reduce the price of travel if you are staying at a destination for longer than a day – say a weekend away or two-week holiday.

Like many airlines, we have been operating

under this model for over 10 years, and, if we did not, it would be more difficult to vary our prices and offer lower fares where possible. We also recommend that customers book as early as they can for the very best deals, particularly when travelling at peak times of the year.

To address the last point in the letter – airline reservations systems are not designed to allow you to buy different fare levels in the same booking. As far as we are aware, this is the same no matter what airline you book with and what reservation system they use.

One way to overcome this is to make separate bookings.