118
votes
Accepted
Hotel booking: Why is Agoda much cheaper than booking.com?
Booking.com uses the Agency model, this means the website is a place where hotels list their offers and booking.com gets a commission with every booking done through their website.
On the other hand, ...
- 98.6k
69
votes
Accepted
"5 = 1€" for souvenirs in Paris, why do they write the price this way?
They write it this way to create confusion. This attracts more potential customers to engage with the seller, since people conclude that the price is lower than it actually is. This technique is a ...
- 140k
65
votes
Accepted
What’s this symbol in Europe that looks a bit like an upside-down V, or ⩘?
It's the number one, with a left-hand stroke, and is not uncommon in European countries, including France.
This from Wikipedia on Regional Handwriting Variation, (including the illustration):
The ...
- 35.6k
49
votes
Why is air travel between South American countries so expensive?
As so often with 'why' questions about prices, it is what the people are preparing to pay and what the companies can offer their services for.
Part of the equation will be the taxes.
Part lack of ...
- 62.6k
49
votes
Accepted
How close can I get to space for a reasonable price?
While not under your $10k limit, I'd nominate the Edge of Space Jet Flight in Russia which advertises that for €17500 you get:
Probably the mightiest experience in the world: The Edge of Space
flight ...
- 15.8k
47
votes
Accepted
Massive price difference between broker and rental car company
It is of course impossible to say what happened exactly in your case, but in other situations where I have come across similar savings from brokers, not only restricted to car rentals, but also hotel ...
- 58.6k
42
votes
Is it legal for an airline to show, at the same exact time, two different prices for the same exact flight?
Of course it is legal. I can set whatever rules I like for the products I sell, including charging different prices for the same things sometimes. As long as I am not discriminating on illegal grounds ...
- 81.6k
38
votes
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Ethiopian Airlines tickets seem to always have the same price regardless of the proximity of the date?
Ethiopia was formerly a fully state-controlled, Marxist economy and despite slow liberalization, many sectors remain government controlled. This includes aviation, where Ethiopian Airlines has a de ...
- 99.2k
35
votes
Why is air travel to China currently (May 2021) 4x the usual price?
There are fewer flights/itineraries.
Chinese authorities have imposed a strict policy regarding international flights with quotas and circuit-breakers ("Five Ones Policy", article on this ...
- 23.9k
33
votes
Why are international flights so much more expensive this year (2022)?
In addition to other answers...
There are also fewer airplanes today, so fewer seats.
And airlines are a very "supply and demand" business, so normal demand with fewer seats to sell will ...
31
votes
Why does the price keep changing after I click on a flight deal in Expedia?
I run a flight search website (Beat That Flight) in Australia that aggregates sites like this. It's one of the biggest problems.
Say you're flying from Chicago to Los Angeles. There are literally ...
- 160k
30
votes
Scoot airlines charged me $1,625 for one extra luggage at the airport. Is it legit?
Scoot's fare chart is here: https://www.flyscoot.com/en/plan/scoot-fees-chart For one extra bag from Krabi to Jakarta this should have been around 6000 Thai Baht or $165.00 US, which seems off by a ...
- 112k
28
votes
What are the hidden fees for using booking.com
It really depends and even Booking.com does not know which is why they use the word may. Generally speaking there are additional fees that they either cannot collect or cannot calculate due to complex ...
- 46.3k
27
votes
How can I find cheap first class flights?
This question is very broad, but it boils down to four possibilities:
stumble across an "error fare" or the like - there are newsletters, twitter feeds, and old-style forums dedicated to ...
- 81.6k
26
votes
Accepted
What does i.i stand for in a menu in Costa Rica
Most likely it stands for impuestos incluidos, or "taxes included". The increase from the base amount to the "i.i." amount is 23%, which includes both the IVA (a value-added tax) ...
- 19.1k
25
votes
Accepted
What is the purpose of a round-trip ticket?
There are a couple of very different cases here:
Cost
Especially on longer (non-regional) international flights, a round-trip ticket usually still costs substantially less than two one-way tickets (...
- 13.4k
25
votes
Massive price difference between broker and rental car company
In addition to Tor's explanation, this kind of differential can arise from market differentiation. Travelers who shop through one of these brokers are likely to be particularly value-minded, and ...
25
votes
How can I find cheap first class flights?
There are many different levels of "premium" classes.
The most basic is that you get a glass of sparkling wine and a meal while the people in coach don't, but the seating is exactly the ...
- 89.8k
25
votes
Are inexpensive last minute tickets a thing?
Generally not, but this can be very different between airlines and routes. Typically airlines set a price for a seat on a given flight; if the seats sell fast, they may even increase prices; if the ...
- 6,701
24
votes
"5 = 1€" for souvenirs in Paris, why do they write the price this way?
There are many ways you can write prices with the euro sign, all traditions out of all euro countries are acceptable.
The one in the picture seems to indicate a writer who is not familiar with the € ...
- 62.6k
23
votes
Accepted
Buying hotel breakfast without having a room?
This is common but it really depends on the hotel, so asking so generically is rather broad.
In many hotels, breakfast is served in a restaurant on the property. Some rooms include breakfast in the ...
- 46.3k
23
votes
If my passport allows me to enter a country visa-free, does that guarantee me that the entrance is free of charge or is there any exception?
No. An example of charging for visa-free entry is the Tourist Card that visitors to Mexico are required to get under certain conditions. The fee is the equivalent of around $25 USD, so fairly ...
- 17.5k
20
votes
Accepted
Why did Oyster card charge me £43 but only gave me a credit for £5?
The terminology does get confusing. Basically, you have an Oyster card with:
A "7-day Zone 1 & 2 Travelcard" on it. This gives you free travel within Zones 1 & 2 for 7 days. It is worth £33 ...
- 12.7k
20
votes
What is the purpose of a round-trip ticket?
It used to be advantageous to buy round-trip tickets, and of course it's less work to do so since you only have to pay for the ticket once. For some travel, such as overseas travel, on some airlines ...
- 15.4k
20
votes
What’s this symbol in Europe that looks a bit like an upside-down V, or ⩘?
It's just the number "one". It's not a French specificity, in continental Europe (and in most countries with (Continental) European influence) we (almost) never handwrite the number "1" as "I" like ...
- 209
20
votes
How close can I get to space for a reasonable price?
Virgin Galactic received approval to carry passengers from the FAA recently, although they are probably some way away from selling tickets.
For a long time the highest-altitude relatively mainstream ...
- 43.1k
19
votes
What are the hidden fees for using booking.com
As booking.com states, requirements made directly to the hotel, like extra beds, cots for babies or pets allowed at extra pay, will be charged by the hotel.
Those are charges you should know about as ...
- 62.6k
18
votes
Accepted
Why is air travel between South American countries so expensive?
I would like to add to @Willeke's answer by questioning your initial premise:
This makes the whole trip to these otherwise cheap countries no longer attractive cost-wise, and I feel it is even more ...
- 81.7k
18
votes
Accepted
How can I calculate the cost of Skyss bus tickets
Skyss must have one of the most complicated tariff systems for public transport, at least in Norway, if not world wide. After reading through the Norwegian information pages on their website, I still ...
- 58.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible