Flip-flops on aircraft? If foreigners can why can't we, moans Thai passenger

[webfact]

Flip-flops on aircraft? If foreigners can why can't we, moans Thai passenger

 

Image: video screenshot

 

BANGKOK: -- A Thai passenger went online to complain that they had to change their footwear after being denied boarding on Thai Airways.

 

They pointed at other foreign tourists and said if they can wear flip-flops why can't we?

 

But it was all a misunderstanding and the netizens of Pantip were put right after Thai Airways explained their policy, said the presenters on Bectero TV.

 

Thai said that they do not have such a policy for general passengers. But the passenger concerned was a staff member who was using a credit card deal for a special ticket.

 

Stricter dress regulations apply to them such as in the wearing of shorts or certain footwear.

 

Source: Bectero TV

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-09-19

 

[sirineou]

2 minutes ago, webfact said:

Stricter dress regulations apply to them such as in the wearing of shorts or certain footwear.

Only while on duty, 

[Thian]

Because the farang also paid the airfare for the Thai since Thai Airways has double prices compared to the other airlines.

[kotsak]

It's not unusual for airlines to have strict dress codes for their staff and even their families when travelling using company benefit. Example the two girls who were kicked out from an United Airlines flight because they were wearing leggings.

 

[electric]

10 minutes ago, Thian said:

Because the farang also paid the airfare for the Thai since Thai Airways has double prices compared to the other airlines.

 

I fly Thai Airways often, and my experience has been that their fares are very competitive with other full service airlines flying the same route.

 

Sure, the budget airlines are much cheaper, until you start adding all the extras.

 

Not sure what you're getting at with "farang paying the airfare for Thai" comment ?

 

 

[Seismic]

24 minutes ago, electric said:

 

I fly Thai Airways often, and my experience has been that their fares are very competitive with other full service airlines flying the same route.

 

Sure, the budget airlines are much cheaper, until you start adding all the extras.

 

Not sure what you're getting at with "farang paying the airfare for Thai" comment ?

 

 

I would have to disagree, and a simple search on websites like Kayak or skyscanner would show quite quickly that Thai do not appear to be able to match the fares of many other major airlines.

[MadMuhammad]

54 minutes ago, Thian said:

Because the farang also paid the airfare for the Thai since Thai Airways has double prices compared to the other airlines.

I don't think I've ever paid double with Thai and I fly them exclusively. 

[Thian]

32 minutes ago, electric said:

 

I fly Thai Airways often, and my experience has been that their fares are very competitive with other full service airlines flying the same route.

 

Sure, the budget airlines are much cheaper, until you start adding all the extras.

 

Not sure what you're getting at with "farang paying the airfare for Thai" comment ?

 

 

Well i just compared Thai air BKK-CDG (paris) ....Thai air 34.000 and KLM 28.000

 

[baboon]

11 minutes ago, Seismic said:

I would have to disagree, and a simple search on websites like Kayak or skyscanner would show quite quickly that Thai do not appear to be able to match the fares of many other major airlines.

+1. I would happily fly Thai to the UK but I have not seen in years an even halfway sensible price. It has always been Emirates  £550, BA £690 and Thai £800 plus. Maybe I just fly at the wrong times.

[Thian]

15 minutes ago, MadMuhammad said:

I don't think I've ever paid double with Thai and I fly them exclusively. 

I just compared prices between thai and klm....thai costs 6000 more. In the past thai costed almost double so they improved it seems but are still more expensive.

[Thian]

46 minutes ago, electric said:

 

I fly Thai Airways often, and my experience has been that their fares are very competitive with other full service airlines flying the same route.

 

Sure, the budget airlines are much cheaper, until you start adding all the extras.

 

Not sure what you're getting at with "farang paying the airfare for Thai" comment ?

 

 

Well do you understand what we mean now??

 

It's because familymembers from Thai air fly with great discount...also other Thai officials get those benefits...

[canuckamuck]

Thai staff need to wear strong footwear in case they have to assist with landing.

[SABloke]

Sounds like a racist scumbag. I see plenty of Thai people wearing flipflops on flights and I'm sure (as a staff member of THAI no less) the scumbag has seen it too. What a dick.

[thedemon]

53 minutes ago, Thian said:

Well do you understand what we mean now??

 

It's because familymembers from Thai air fly with great discount...also other Thai officials get those benefits...

 

No, no other Thai officials get those benefits. That is just an urban legend on this forum.

 

Permanent employees of Thai Airways do qualify for staff travel benefits but the entire system works within the framework of the ZED (Zonal Employee Discount) system exactly the same way as almost every other legacy carrier.

 

And the dress code is quite strict with specific rules about what is and isn't allowed depending on the class traveled. It sounds strange to me that a staff member would dare to go public with a stupid complaint like this. 

[Kerryd]

Thai Air is more expensive than some airlines. Emirates is also more expensive than some other airlines. So is Cathay. So what ? They price what they think they can get away with and if you don't like it you are free to look at other airlines.
I've flown on numerous carriers over the last 14 years. Gulf Air, Emirates, Thai, Air India, Philippines Air, Korean Air, China Air as well as a few on the "lower end" of the scale (Egypt Air, Ariana Air and some dubious charter airlines).
Some airlines have newer, nicer planes. Maybe better seats, facilities amenities. Some airlines are subsidized by their host country. Some aren't. Some have higher overhead. Some want higher profit margins.
No "farang" is also paying "the airfare for the Thai". That's just straight out BS and pathetic to even think that.  

When I book flights I usually do it myself over the internet. I've used other websites like Kayak, Cheap Flights, Expedia and so on, until I noticed that on some of those sites you can end up paying 50% (or more) for a flight than if you booked it through the airline's website directly. (It has a lot to do with whether or not the ticket site/agency has any deals in place with the airline you want to fly on). I recall trying to book a flight to Canada once and Expedia and Kayak were quoting me a price that was $1,200 US over what the exact same flight was priced at on the airline's website (and yes, I checked, double-checked and triple checked to make sure I had the same flights to the same locations on the same dates and even checked that it was the same plane/configuration).

 

I've also used one of those little travel agencies like the ones you see all over the place in the cities in Thailand. I remember having a problem booking a flight online (when I was in Afghanistan) so I contacted the "boss" at SaveFlights and gave (him ?) my details and (he ?) was able to make the booking for me. (And no, I didn't get charged double what a local would have paid for the same flight. I know because I already knew what price the airline was charging for that flight before I contacted the  travel agency).

On a couple other occasions the boss offered cheaper alternatives and explained that because they didn't have any arrangements with my preferred airline(s) they couldn't get me a cheaper ticket. (Though there was the one time when he did get me a cheaper flight, but I ended up with a 22 hour layover in Manila because the flight from Thailand landed 2 hours after the flight to Vancouver had departed. Sometimes "cheaper flight" doesn't mean "cheaper trip !)

Ticket prices can also vary depending on the origin/destination of the flight as well. For example, in 2008 I booked a Business Class, round trip ticket on Philippines Air from Bangkok to Vancouver (via Manila of course). I then booked another Business Class ticket on the same airline, but from Vancouver to Bangkok (via Manila). One ticket was for me to fly to Canada (and back), the other ticket was for my father to fly to Thailand (and then back to Canada).
Guess whose ticket was $300 more expensive ?

The one that originated in Canada. Same route. Same seats (we even sat together on the flights back to Bangkok). Try as I might, I could not get rid of that $300 difference. Apparently, landing fees in Canada are higher (no surprise) as well as assorted taxes (no surprise) and cost of fuel (etc, etc) so tickets that originate from there are more expensive (at least they were back in 2008).

Another thing to keep in mind if you are shopping for flights online using sites like Expedia or Kayak (or any other similar site). 
Clear your browser history/cache before searching !!

Many websites leave "cookies" on your computer and those "cookies" contain information the website can use when you visit it again. If the site(s) see you've been shopping for flights (say from Bangkok to Berlin) it is possible that any prices you see will be higher than normal.

(This info came from a well known travel website that apparently discovered and tested this a few years ago. Clearing the cache and deleting the cookies resulted in being shown cheaper prices for the same flights they'd just looked at minutes earlier.)

 

That is another reason why I often buy my tickets directly from the airline site instead of through a ticketing agency. I'll use the ticket sites to see which airlines have flights on the routes/dates I want, then go to those airline's websites and look at their prices to see which is the better deal.
(Doing that is also how I ended up flying (a lot) of Business Class flights on Gulf Air from Dubai to Bangkok (via Bahrain) for $200(+/-) more than flying Economy Class on Emirates or Thai. The extra $200 was so worth it and I still arrived at the same time as I would have if I'd taken Emirates/Thai as that flight left hours later than the Gulf flight.)

(Note - at the time Emirates and Thai had a code share agreement. I had flown Emirates Business Class once and it was awesome so on another trip I booked Emirates Business Class again. However, it was a Thai "code share" flight operated by Thai Air. Emirates wouldn't let me use the Emirates Business Class Check in or the Emirates Business Class lounge because the flight was "operated" by Thai Air. (Was a little p/o'd by that as their Business Class check-in and Lounge was one of the reasons I went with Emirates. That was also the last time I flew with them actually.) Still, it was Thai Royal Silk Class and was also an awesome flight (though if I recall, had I booked through Thai Air it would have been more expensive).

Another thing to watch for. In most cases when you are entering dates for your flights, those dates are "flexible". However, many sites have the option of selecting (or deselecting) something like "Fixed Dates" or "I must fly on these dates" and so on. Telling them that you have to fly on a specific date(s) can result in a huge increase in ticket price. In some cases, double the cost (or more) !

I flew another Philippine Air flight to Canada in 2010 for a (very) short trip. I was going to arrive on a Sunday afternoon, take care of some personal business on Monday morning and fly out again that night. 
I could not get their system to accept those dates unless I selected "Must fly on these dates" (or whatever it is on their site, can't remember off hand). I even played with the dates (a lot) and found there was no problem with seat availability on the dates I wanted, unless I selected "Flexible dates". However, when I selected "Must Fly", the price of the ticket almost doubled !! No explanation why ! The seats were available on every flight I looked at, and if I selected fixed dates, the price doubled !
(I ended up flying in on the Sunday, doing my business on the Monday morning, flying to Calgary that afternoon, back to Vancouver on Wednesday morning and then out on Wednesday evening. Still ended up cheaper than paying double the ticket price !)
It seems some airlines, for some reason, don't like the idea of people flying in and back out within 24 hours. Not sure why but they seem to expect at least 3 days between arrival and departure (Maybe it's just Philippine Air or maybe it's just on long haul flights or just into/out of certain destinations. I couldn't tell because I couldn't find anything anywhere that said there had to be at
least 3 days between the flights.)

 

Oh and most airlines also have dress codes not just for employees, but for regular passengers (and more so for those in Business/First class and the associated lounges as well). Employees (and their families) are probably flying on discounted (or upgraded) tickets and are expected to dress appropriately as they are considered (in a way) to be representing the airline, especially if they are travelling in (for example) the Business or First Class cabins.  

 

 

[DipStick]

1 hour ago, Thian said:

Well i just compared Thai air BKK-CDG (paris) ....Thai air 34.000 and KLM 28.000

 

That's probably because the Thai Airflight is direct whilst the KLM flight is via Amsterdam. 

[MaxYakov]

I remember when flip-flops used to be called "shower shoes". AFAIC, the only place they should be worn is ... wait for it ... in the shower.

 

Certainly not on the street and while traveling on aircraft, no matter who one is or what kind of ticket one has. 

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

3 hours ago, Thian said:

Because the farang also paid the airfare for the Thai since Thai Airways has double prices compared to the other airlines.

The exact opposite is a actually more true. The Thai's pay for farang.

 

You will find that nearly all THAI flights outbound (originating from Bangkok) are more expensive that inbound flights, so Thai nationals on average actually pay more.

[rkidlad]

Ah, I remember in my old job the foreign girls were told not to wear flip-flops - it isn't polite. Fair enough. Only problem was that most of the staff didn't wear any shoes and socks at all. It was either Crocs or barefoot. 

 

P.s - everyone should be forced to wear shoes and socks when getting on a plane. Can take your shoes off when on the plane, but leave your socks on. Strictly so socks and sandals...nor Crocs. They're an abomination. 

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, sirineou said:

Only while on duty, 

 

In reality just another example of presentation with no substance, from recent comments it seems customer service is just as bad as ever. 

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, SABloke said:

Sounds like a racist scumbag. I see plenty of Thai people wearing flipflops on flights and I'm sure (as a staff member of THAI no less) the scumbag has seen it too. What a dick.

No doubt he will be out of a job in due course for having a dig at his employer on line, not smart, oh well, flip flop 555

Edited September 19, 2017 by 4MyEgo

[Borzandy]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

A Thai passenger went online to complain that they had to change their footwear after being denied boarding on Thai Airways.

Thai airways is a first class company, isn't it?

[Borzandy]

1 hour ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

The exact opposite is a actually more true. The Thai's pay for farang.

 

You will find that nearly all THAI flights outbound (originating from Bangkok) are more expensive that inbound flights, so Thai nationals on average actually pay more.

It's not true, there are more farangs passengers than Thais.

[hansnl]

4 hours ago, sirineou said:

Only while on duty, 

In fact, travelling on a staff ticket might mean you can be called on duty during the flight.

Hence the different dress regulations.

[hansnl]

1 hour ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

The exact opposite is a actually more true. The Thai's pay for farang.

 

You will find that nearly all THAI flights outbound (originating from Bangkok) are more expensive that inbound flights, so Thai nationals on average actually pay more.

Nearly, if not all, flights originating from BKK are more expensive as the other way around.

[ExpatOilWorker]

8 minutes ago, Borzandy said:

It's not true, there are more farangs passengers than Thais.

True it is, but lets not get fact in the way of a good story.

Edited September 19, 2017 by ExpatOilWorker

[farcanell]

2 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Thai Air is more expensive than some airlines. Emirates is also more expensive than some other airlines. So is Cathay. So what ? They price what they think they can get away with and if you don't like it you are free to look at other airlines.
I've flown on numerous carriers over the last 14 years. Gulf Air, Emirates, Thai, Air India, Philippines Air, Korean Air, China Air as well as a few on the "lower end" of the scale (Egypt Air, Ariana Air and some dubious charter airlines).
Some airlines have newer, nicer planes. Maybe better seats, facilities amenities. Some airlines are subsidized by their host country. Some aren't. Some have higher overhead. Some want higher profit margins.
No "farang" is also paying "the airfare for the Thai". That's just straight out BS and pathetic to even think that.  

When I book flights I usually do it myself over the internet. I've used other websites like Kayak, Cheap Flights, Expedia and so on, until I noticed that on some of those sites you can end up paying 50% (or more) for a flight than if you booked it through the airline's website directly. (It has a lot to do with whether or not the ticket site/agency has any deals in place with the airline you want to fly on). I recall trying to book a flight to Canada once and Expedia and Kayak were quoting me a price that was $1,200 US over what the exact same flight was priced at on the airline's website (and yes, I checked, double-checked and triple checked to make sure I had the same flights to the same locations on the same dates and even checked that it was the same plane/configuration).

 

I've also used one of those little travel agencies like the ones you see all over the place in the cities in Thailand. I remember having a problem booking a flight online (when I was in Afghanistan) so I contacted the "boss" at SaveFlights and gave (him ?) my details and (he ?) was able to make the booking for me. (And no, I didn't get charged double what a local would have paid for the same flight. I know because I already knew what price the airline was charging for that flight before I contacted the  travel agency).

On a couple other occasions the boss offered cheaper alternatives and explained that because they didn't have any arrangements with my preferred airline(s) they couldn't get me a cheaper ticket. (Though there was the one time when he did get me a cheaper flight, but I ended up with a 22 hour layover in Manila because the flight from Thailand landed 2 hours after the flight to Vancouver had departed. Sometimes "cheaper flight" doesn't mean "cheaper trip !)

Ticket prices can also vary depending on the origin/destination of the flight as well. For example, in 2008 I booked a Business Class, round trip ticket on Philippines Air from Bangkok to Vancouver (via Manila of course). I then booked another Business Class ticket on the same airline, but from Vancouver to Bangkok (via Manila). One ticket was for me to fly to Canada (and back), the other ticket was for my father to fly to Thailand (and then back to Canada).
Guess whose ticket was $300 more expensive ?

The one that originated in Canada. Same route. Same seats (we even sat together on the flights back to Bangkok). Try as I might, I could not get rid of that $300 difference. Apparently, landing fees in Canada are higher (no surprise) as well as assorted taxes (no surprise) and cost of fuel (etc, etc) so tickets that originate from there are more expensive (at least they were back in 2008).

Another thing to keep in mind if you are shopping for flights online using sites like Expedia or Kayak (or any other similar site). 
Clear your browser history/cache before searching !!

Many websites leave "cookies" on your computer and those "cookies" contain information the website can use when you visit it again. If the site(s) see you've been shopping for flights (say from Bangkok to Berlin) it is possible that any prices you see will be higher than normal.

(This info came from a well known travel website that apparently discovered and tested this a few years ago. Clearing the cache and deleting the cookies resulted in being shown cheaper prices for the same flights they'd just looked at minutes earlier.)

 

That is another reason why I often buy my tickets directly from the airline site instead of through a ticketing agency. I'll use the ticket sites to see which airlines have flights on the routes/dates I want, then go to those airline's websites and look at their prices to see which is the better deal.
(Doing that is also how I ended up flying (a lot) of Business Class flights on Gulf Air from Dubai to Bangkok (via Bahrain) for $200(+/-) more than flying Economy Class on Emirates or Thai. The extra $200 was so worth it and I still arrived at the same time as I would have if I'd taken Emirates/Thai as that flight left hours later than the Gulf flight.)

(Note - at the time Emirates and Thai had a code share agreement. I had flown Emirates Business Class once and it was awesome so on another trip I booked Emirates Business Class again. However, it was a Thai "code share" flight operated by Thai Air. Emirates wouldn't let me use the Emirates Business Class Check in or the Emirates Business Class lounge because the flight was "operated" by Thai Air. (Was a little p/o'd by that as their Business Class check-in and Lounge was one of the reasons I went with Emirates. That was also the last time I flew with them actually.) Still, it was Thai Royal Silk Class and was also an awesome flight (though if I recall, had I booked through Thai Air it would have been more expensive).

Another thing to watch for. In most cases when you are entering dates for your flights, those dates are "flexible". However, many sites have the option of selecting (or deselecting) something like "Fixed Dates" or "I must fly on these dates" and so on. Telling them that you have to fly on a specific date(s) can result in a huge increase in ticket price. In some cases, double the cost (or more) !

I flew another Philippine Air flight to Canada in 2010 for a (very) short trip. I was going to arrive on a Sunday afternoon, take care of some personal business on Monday morning and fly out again that night. 
I could not get their system to accept those dates unless I selected "Must fly on these dates" (or whatever it is on their site, can't remember off hand). I even played with the dates (a lot) and found there was no problem with seat availability on the dates I wanted, unless I selected "Flexible dates". However, when I selected "Must Fly", the price of the ticket almost doubled !! No explanation why ! The seats were available on every flight I looked at, and if I selected fixed dates, the price doubled !
(I ended up flying in on the Sunday, doing my business on the Monday morning, flying to Calgary that afternoon, back to Vancouver on Wednesday morning and then out on Wednesday evening. Still ended up cheaper than paying double the ticket price !)
It seems some airlines, for some reason, don't like the idea of people flying in and back out within 24 hours. Not sure why but they seem to expect at least 3 days between arrival and departure (Maybe it's just Philippine Air or maybe it's just on long haul flights or just into/out of certain destinations. I couldn't tell because I couldn't find anything anywhere that said there had to be at
least 3 days between the flights.)

 

Oh and most airlines also have dress codes not just for employees, but for regular passengers (and more so for those in Business/First class and the associated lounges as well). Employees (and their families) are probably flying on discounted (or upgraded) tickets and are expected to dress appropriately as they are considered (in a way) to be representing the airline, especially if they are travelling in (for example) the Business or First Class cabins.  

 

 

Lol... loved it... wow that was long... but pretty spot on 

 

im now traveling air Asia a lot... surf cheap flights... book via air Asia on the phone... get a reference number... zip across to 7/11 and pay within two hours.

 

doing this because the last time I used a travel agent, I needed to change my return date ( yes... I knew I had to pay a fee), and the carrier would not do it for me, but insisted I use the agent to make changes. I was in outback west Australia by now!

 

back to the article ?.... airlines usually include suitable footwear in a dress code as a safety initiative. Fleeing a incident, its safer to run in enclosed footwear. 

 

But what I find funny, is that it's an employee making a complaint that could only end up getting herself in the do do.

[BEVUP]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

They pointed at other foreign tourists and said if they can wear flip-flops why can't we?

 

Well in his case it was deemed company policy, & on another note if a foreigner has to pay more for Parks & ect why don't Thais

[ExpatOilWorker]

4 minutes ago, hansnl said:

Nearly, if not all, flights originating from BKK are more expensive as the other way around.

That is correct and since more Thais start their flight from Bangkok, they end up paying more than joe-tourist.

Of course, the lucky few of us who have made Thailand our home, also gets this Thai rough deal, but lets face it we are just a drop in the big bucket.

Edited September 19, 2017 by ExpatOilWorker

[Tchooptip]

Never did I flew, with flip-flop. Even on domestic flight in Thailand, maybe I'm wrong but it seems to me it is a matter of education and politeness towards other passengers,

but I reckon I am a little old school