Why are airtickets so expensive???

With the recent slowing down of US and UK's economy, the oil prices shot up recently but are slowing going down. This has off course led to an increase in fuel charges for all airlines.

I was really happy when I came across cheap fares advertised by Rexair or Lee's Travel websites. For flights to Kuala Lumpur, there were offers going for less than 400 pounds on return tickets, so I thought. After reading the small prints at the end of all the attractive prices, the prices were just for the air ticket excluding airport taxes and fuel charges.

Copyright of Rexair. 300+ for return ticket to Kuala Lumpur from London before 15th of June 08.

Copyright of Lee's Travel. From Manchester to KL, it's 400+. Not bad at all.

Scroll down happily.......Wah, airport tax 60+, airport tax 100+. Never mind, I think I'll still giving them a call tomorrow to enquire because the fuel charges fluctuate everyday. (That was what I thought on Sunday)

Today, Rexair gave me a quotation of 700 pounds for Singapore airlines from Manchester to Kuala Lumpur. Airport tax and fuel charges was fixed at 180 pounds!

Lee's Travels was no better. They gave me similar quotations and it was still 180 pounds for tax and fuel. My goodness! Isn't fuel supposed to be included in the ticket?

You must be wondering why I wanted Singapore Airlines and why was it so expensive. I requested for that airline cause it flies from Manchester. Secondly, I'm boycotting Malaysian Airlines due to it's lousy service which I got at Heathrow in first year. I was already running from one terminal to the next due to the delay in the connecting flight, yet, when I arrived at the gate, I was scolded by one of the MAS stewardess for taking my time! The worse part was, they treat non-Asians so nicely. Why is there a discrimination??? Plus, they cancelled the direct flight from Manchester, which I think is their biggest mistake ever as so many people fly from Manchester. Now, their business is mostly taken over by Singapore airlines or Cathay Pacific.

Why was the price so expensive even for Singapore Airlines? I wanted a flexible dated ticket because 3rd year is really difficult and there is a possibility that I may need to go back early for a resit. How I wish I can definitely know that I don't have to resit.

In the end, booking from Singapore airlines website directly was cheapest as compared to the 2 travel agents. Got my ticket for 685 pounds. Expensive, but it will be all worth it once I step foot in Malaysia. Not to mention, the airport tax and fuel charges came up to 174.10 pounds. Slightly cheaper than the travel agents. Most probably the rest goes to their commission for selling the tickets.