Qantas flights L.A.-Sydney at $200 return

Press, 5 August 1980, Page 18

Qantas flights L.A.-Sydney at $200 return

By

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor

Air New Zealand has no intention of following Qantas’s lead in offering a limited number of super-low fares to highlight entry into new routes. Qantas this month began flying to Los Angeles and marked the occasion by advertising the cheapest return fare ever to be offered on flights between Los Angeles and Sydney—sUSl99 (about SNZ2OS).

But only 400 tickets are being offered at the bargain rate which is about 80 per cent below the normal cheapest fare. Qantas admits the campaign is a promotional gimmick, but it was so successful that hundreds of people were camping on the airline’s doorstep in Lbs Angeles waiting for the tickets to go on sale. They are being sold on a first-come, first-served basis, and are restricted to about 30 seats on each of the airline’s 14 flights from Los Angeles this month.

Passengers travelling on the ultra-cheap, round-trip tickets will be entitled to the airline’s full economy service and will not be bound by the restrictions usually associated with cut-rate fares. A Qantas spokesman in Los Angeles said the fare would enable people to “experience the marvels of Australia and get to know the country better.”

The gimmick will not allow Australians to buy a round-trip ticket from Sydney to Los Angeles for sAustl69—it is a treat for Los Angeles originating passengers only. The spokesman said the fare (which, sells for $199 in America), was “more compatible” with the United States policy on fares than that which applies in Australia.

Air New Zealand began its new service to Tokyo on Friday, but it has no plans for offering a similar promotional stunt to the Japanese.