Here is Lufthansa new offering:

1.    On short-haul/continental (Intra-European/German-domestic/Israel, Jordan, Lebanon & Northern Africa) sectors:
No change to current YQ level
2.    On long-haul/intercontinental sectors:
* long-haul destinations in the Middle East, East Africa + 5 EUR/USD to 82 EUR/USD
* long-haul destinations in North America and India + 5 EUR/USD to 87 EUR/USD
* long-haul destinations in South America, Central-, West- and Southern Africa, Southeast Asia and the Far East +5 EUR/USD to 97 EUR/USD

Crazy times, it is no wonder that agents have to quote: “Valid on day of quote”

Here is another example. Lets say Johannesburg to New York with a night stop over in London: You fly Johannesburg to London and London to New York you stay there a while and fly back to London and spend a night and return the next day to Johannesburg. You may be able to pick up a ticket for a fare of ZAR6900 the taxes on this exact routing will come to ZAR7767, the fuel surcharge on this ticket is ZAR5744. This is before a service fee / booking fee from the agent is added.

What is even worse is the taxes seem to be changing constantly. Here are 2 examples that I have noticed over the past 3 weeks.

• A ticket to Venice return had the taxes increase over ZAR1000 in 2 weeks
• A ticket to NYC return “direct” went up ZAR434 in 2 weeks.

It seems all the airlines are jumping on the train that says increase fuel surcharges as and when needed. Taxes change constantly as do fares and it will become common practice in our industry to see that the quote you receive will be valid for day of quote only. When agents get quotes from airlines no matter what time you receive the reply the quote is generally only valid for that day (Depending on the airline). Hence the agents are not able to give you a guaranteed fare for your travels and hold that price for a week. It used to happen a few years back when changes only happened at the end of the month however this has changed to *With immediate effect*

So what does this boil down to? When you are planning a trip as soon as you have the dates confirmed and your money ready book and pay cause as it is at the moment once you have paid you have a *contract* with the airline to carry you for that price. However be warned that if you decide to change that ticket before you fly you will be liable for the new fares and any taxes that have changed since you purchased the ticket.