its West Coast lead-in prices by £40 to £349 for a week.
America product manager Debbie Goffin said: “Most clients going to California start with a flydrive product, so we have continued to expand our go-as-you-please selection of hotels. There is also greater demand for a wide range of standards from three to five-star so we have introduced three levels of accommodation for our Great West and Best of the West pre-planned itineraries.”
CALIFORNIA is competing more closely on price with Florida in next year’s flydrive market, according to USspecialists.
Funway Holidays managing director Stephen Hughes said: “We are seeing a big recovery in West Coast flydrive business. A combination of more competitive tour-based fares for packages and net rates for tailor-made holidays are enabling us to deliver California as a better-value product.”
He said this has been helped by growing rivalry on routes to Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as the use of more efficient aircraft such as the Boeing 777 which produce better yields in the premium cabins.
The general low-season lead-in net return fares for the November 1-December 15 period this winter have dropped 10% from £260 to £220.
Hughes said he expected more tactical fare discounting next year, while hoteliers were helping to improve the market by maintaining rates at current levels.
Premier Holidays claims California is performing very strongly for next year and offers a much broader range of attractions than Florida.
The increased availability of open-jaw flights in the west is also fuelling the popularity of flydrives.
Premier North America general manager Rob Haynes said: “Clients can request whatever combination they like by flying into one airport and out of another. We have an arrangement with Alamo Rent A Car which allows one-way rentals without customers incurring drop-off charges.”
The operator’s most popular areas include Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, although Haynes added: “Places like Palm Springs, Yosemite, Monterey and Death Valley are becoming much better known.”
Funway is also extending the number of free drop-offs in California next year, to include places such as Nevada, Palm Springs and Arizona.
More favourable scheduled airline terms have also encouraged Unijet to re-enter the California flydrive market with its first programme for three years.
General manager long-haul Brian Booker said: “We last tried to operate there on a charter basis from Gatwick and Manchester. We knew there was a good market and it worked well in July and August but we struggled to fill it in the shoulder months.”
Booker said the new brochure, twinned with Las Vegas, is now based on the scheduled services of Continental Airlines which allows a more flexible programme.
“We can now open-jaw into Los Angeles and out of San Francisco without clients having to backtrack to their original point. We are also offering Continental flights from Birmingham and Glasgow at the same price as from Gatwick and Manchester,” he added.
“Fares are all common rated with no regional supplements, and this has already had a big impact on our business out of Glasgow, where the previous charters were sold at quite a premium.”
Flydrives from Los Angeles and San Francisco were the two best-selling products for British Airways Holidays this summer, after Boston, with sales of self-drive up by 24% over 1998. For 2000, the operator has cut its West Coast lead-in prices by £40 to £349 for a week.
America product manager Debbie Goffin said: “Most clients going to California start with a flydrive product, so we have continued to expand our go-as-you-please selection of hotels. There is also greater demand for a wide range of standards from three to five-star so we have introduced three levels of accommodation for our Great West and Best of the West pre-planned itineraries.”
New California flydrives
British Airways Holidays: new 20-day Great Pacific Coast Adventure pre-planned self-drive tour from £1,119 including flights, accommodation and car. Starts in Seattle and includes Oregon, San Francisco, Monterey, Carmel, Long Beach, Las Vegas andfinishes in San Diego.
Funway Holidays: is introducing a range of private homes and apartments in California for next summer as an accommodation option for self-drives. Lead-in price will be around £500 for seven nights in a one-bedroom apartment sleeping up to four; apartments start at £72 per night. Also new is a five-day San Francisco/Napa Valley/Yosemite self-drive and a 10-day ex-LA itinerary including Las Vegas and California’s national parks. Prices not yet confirmed.
Unijet: new flydrives include a 14-night Western Classic, two-week California Flydrive and 21-night Grand Tour of the West. All itineraries include Continental Airlines flights, accommodation and car rental. The California Flydrive package costs from £855 in May based on two sharing.