If you want to get to the Queen’s final send-off on Monday it will cost you a right royal sum – round trips flying economy to the UK’s capital leaving Sydney on Saturday, September 17, are going for as much as $22,000 while the cheapest Qantas one-way ticket on Saturday will cost nearly $12,000.
Qantas is currently quoting $11,884 for its one-way economy flight to London on Saturday while the national carrier’s cheapest return ticket leaving the same day and flying back next Wednesday, September 21, will cost $18,519.
The most expensive return trip from Sydney to London on the same dates on Emirates costs $22,264.
To put that into perspective, a round trip on Qantas on the same dates a month later costs just $3306, while a Qantas one-way ticket to London on October 17 costs just $1383.
It’s a similar story for accommodation in London: since the announcement of her death, the average rate for the city’s hotels increased to $A570 per night from $A360 per night, according to Hayley Berg, lead economist at travel startup Hopper.
High-end hotels — Claridge’s, the Connaught, The Dorchester and the Berkeley in the upmarket Mayfair district — were sold out for Sunday night, their websites showed.
Rates had topped 1200 pounds ($A2000) for a five-star hotel Monday and were expected to double in the next five days as the city’s hotel system reaches 95 per cent occupancy levels, HotelPlanner said.
More than 60 per cent of travelers were foreign visitors, it added.
– With CNN
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