Is it true: Qantas cheaper than Virgin Australia for flights to Perth?

Qantas chief Alan Joyce, a former Ryanair executive, took a swipe at Virgin Australia's roster of add-on prices in his announcement of Qantas' 747s launching on the East Coast to Perth route a couple of days ago.

"Qantas is a cut above the competition when it comes to offering value for money for leisure travellers with the price of their all-inclusive ticket which includes baggage, seat selection, Neil Perry influenced menu across both Business and Economy cabins, and inflight entertainment during their flight," he said.

Given Virgin Australia's very keen pricing, we were surprised by this claim, and decided to put it to the test.

Of course, Joyce must have been referring to discount economy tickets, because flexible and business class tickets are already all inclusive (baggage and meal) with Virgin Australia -- and Virgin's pricing on those is definitely cheaper than Qantas.

We looked up a fare on the same day -- 30 days from now -- and added 23KG of baggage for $12 and a "Qantas equivalent meal" to the Virgin Australia ticket. We defined this meal as the following Virgin menu items:

• Milk chocolate M&Ms: $3.00
• Luke Mangan Braised Beef: $10.00
• Cheese & Crackers: $4.00
• Jasper Coffee: $3.00
• Pepsi: $3.00
• Australian white wine: $8.00
• Total price: $31

How the Qantas pricing stacked up

OUTBOUND

• SYD-PER 0810 QF575 Base fare $199
• 23KG Baggage included (but limited to one bag)
• Meal included. 
• Credit card booking fee $7.70

RETURN

• PER-SYD 1220 QF580 Base fare $199
• 23KG Baggage included (but limited to one bag)
• Meal included. 
• Credit card booking fee $0 ($7.70 per-booking fee covers return leg)

TOTAL: $405.70

How Virgin Australia's pricing stacked up

OUTBOUND

• SYD-PER 0800 DJ553 base fare $158
• Baggage $12 (23KG, no limit on number of bags)
• Credit card booking fee $4.50
• Qantas-equivalent meal: $31

RETURN

• PER-SYD 1300 DJ560 base fare $158
• Baggage $12 (23KG, no limit on number of bags)
• Credit card booking fee $4.50
• Qantas-equivalent meal: $31

TOTAL: $411.00

So, Alan Joyce is correct -- the all-inclusive discount economy fare on Qantas is $5.30 cheaper than Virgin Australia.

Whether Qantas keeps prices low on the Perth run remains to be seen -- a few months ago, its fares were $50 more return, and in the last few years, it's been easy to spend $650 on a return economy flight to Perth with Qantas. (The wonders of effective competition...) 

The intangible factors...

Meal: If you ordered a less comprehensive meal on Virgin, the trip would be cheaper. Quality of food between the two airlines is another factor for debate -- but Virgin does say that its food is all fresh, not frozen, whereas Qantas has conceded that economy class meals are stored frozen and thawed en-masse. 

Entertainment: Qantas currently has much better on-demand inflight entertainment for economy customers on the Perth route than Virgin does, which only offers a selection of movies on a loop -- meaning you'll almost certainly miss the beginning of something you want to watch during the flight.

Virgin is on the cusp of introducing a new inflight entertainment system on its planes, though, so that will soon change -- and it's a problem easily fixed by loading up your iPad with some choice selections to watch on the plane.

Laptop power: Qantas also offers power points for economy seats on some of its planes on the way to and from Perth (only the Airbus A330s, though, not the 747s). Virgin does not offer power points for economy class passengers (or even business class).

Baggage: Virgin has the distinct advantage of allowing any number of bags up to a maximum combined weight of 23KG -- very handy if you need to transport some small items along with your suitcase. From today, Qantas limits customers to just one bag in economy.

What do you think?

Is Qantas really better value at $5.30 cheaper than Virgin Australia? Would you pay the extra $5 to fly Virgin?  Let us know in the comments below.

danwarne