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I'm planning a trip to South-Korea in April. I was looking at flight ticket prices and found that I can go from Brussels to Seoul (and back) for about 600€. It lands in London however. I then tried to find the same flight but from London (I was expecting I could get the price even more down if I'm not doing BRU-LHR), but no search engine found it and the cheapest was at about 700€.

Here you can see what I'm talking about in action: http://www.skyscanner.net/flights/lhr/icn/140405/140428/airfares-from-london-heathrow-to-seoul-incheon-intl-in-april-2014.html http://www.skyscanner.net/flights/brus/icn/140405/140428/airfares-from-brussels-to-seoul-incheon-intl-in-april-2014.html

It's the same date and everything, and it's much cheaper from Brussels although it lands in London.

Question: This seem really strange. Why does this happen, and is it possible to buy the ticket from Brussels but only get on the plane from London?

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  • This question appears to be off-topic because it is highly specific to your case, and an answer beyond the fact that "airlines can charge you whatever they want" doesn't exist. – Ankur Banerjee♦ Aug 25 '13 at 0:29
  • Although to might be a fairly specific question, it has a very generic answer. Hidden City Ticketing, which is what this is, is a very valid question, IMHO... – Doc Aug 25 '13 at 2:19
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    edited question to be one question rather than two, and made it less specific. I also vote to reopen. – Mark Mayo♦ Aug 25 '13 at 2:28
  • @tofudeliverer I hope I've maintained the meaning you wanted in your question and tried to keep it on topic, but feel free to edit if you think I've changed your meaning. – Mark Mayo♦ Aug 25 '13 at 2:29
  • Hidden city ticketing has already been answered. I'm closing this as a dupe. – Ankur Banerjee♦ Aug 25 '13 at 14:30
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Cheap flights from Brussels that actually consist of a flight from Amsterdam, Paris or London with a transfer from Brussels are common. There seems to be competition to drive Belgian passengers to these other airports. It does end up with ridiculous situations where it's cheaper to buy such a “flight” from Brussels plus a train ticket from London/Paris/Amsterdam than to fly directly from the other city.

The airlines are aware of what they're doing and they do their ticketing in Brussels. You won't be able to get onto the plane in London if you didn't board the bus or train or plane in Brussels. You might get away with it on the return journey if you have no checked-in luggage.

Don't you love market pricing?

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