A reader in Cancun asked why their parents could book return flights from the UK for £270 each with Tui, while they themselves cannot find a similar deal from Mexico. The cheapest return ticket they could find to the UK was £700 on British Airways.
Tui, a UK-based tour operator, primarily sells seats as part of package holidays to the Riviera Maya. A spokesperson explained that while Tui does sell some tickets for travel starting in Mexico, availability is very limited because the company focuses on the UK market. The low fare the parents secured was likely a last-minute deal to fill seats on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with £88 of the £270 going to air passenger duty.
The airline aims to fill both legs of the journey, but managing sales from Mexico is more complex. However, the reader might find late bargains one-way to the UK. A check for flights 24 hours ahead showed two seats from Cancun to London Gatwick for £200 each, a reasonable option.
In another query, a reader asked about stopping off on train journeys in Britain, such as from London to Edinburgh via York and Durham. The key is to avoid advance tickets and instead use off-peak or super off-peak tickets, which allow breaks in the journey. For the London to Edinburgh route, an anytime ticket costs £205, but LNER has removed super off-peak fares. A workaround, suggested by rail expert Mark Smith, is to buy a super off-peak ticket between Finsbury Park and Edinburgh for £95 one way, which can be used from London without visiting Finsbury Park.
Finally, a reader inquired about body scanners that might eliminate the need to remove coats, belts, and empty pockets, similar to new bag scanners. The response noted that while such technology exists, it is not yet widely deployed at airports.
