Best airline deal for Bangkok to Chiang Mai flight?

[sfokevin]

With Air Asia you can select premium seats at the time of purchase... Also If you book thru their App you can go in at any time after purchase and request upgrades such as seat assignments... Also the App allows you to have boarding passes on your phone for domestic flights... 

 

The App is great - We usually just do weekend trips to the beach in the south (Krabi) with small backpack (no checked baggage)... With the App and premium seats it's a very pleasant trip... No need to arrive early to wait in counter lines - the boarding pass is on the phone... with premium seat you get boarding priority so no waiting is gate line - and with front row seat you get gobs of legroom and exit the plane first... The hardest thing becomes trying to find a coffee shop in the CM Airport! ?

 

Tip: An excellent weekend beach getaway is AirAsia CM to Koh Lipe!... Air Asia includes and takes care of the van and boat arrangements!.... I recommend staying at 10 Moons! and make sure you tuk tuk over to Sunset beach for the sunset!...

 

 

[EricTh]

30 minutes ago, NancyL said:

We did the upgrade at a special AA counter at the Macau airport just before our return.  There is probably some way to do it online.

Did they charge for this upgrade? What's the advantage of upgrading later rather than during booking time?

[sfokevin]

3 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Did they charge for this upgrade? What's the advantage of upgrading later rather than during booking time?

With AirAsia all assigned seating is at a cost... Premium seats cost more than regular seats... The best seat in my opinion is the front row bulkhead seat.... I would recommend booking the seats in advance... If you try to upgrade later the good seats may be taken...

 

We do monthly weekend getaways... And my travel habit is to do have flights booked 3-4 months out so the plane is usually empty when I book

[JimmyJ]

On 6/18/2018 at 6:15 PM, chingmai331 said:

Plz do not think that AirAsia is the only carrier to spray insecticide in the cabin.  Many do, according to rules of destination country.  Some places don't want ZIKA virus mosquitoes sneaking in. 

I find AirAsia among the least expensive, and offering the fewest headaches, to fly and when i have a choice, usually chose AA.  Except on long flights when i need non-stop, etc.  And i do appreciate paying cash at 7/11 for my AA ticket.  Other carriers also offer cash payment at 7/11.

 

 

What airlines and what destinations spray insecticide in the cabins?

 

Once I read of passengers landing in Australia and staff came into the cabin wearing protective clothing and masks and sprayed before anyone could exit - sounded awful and dangerous.

 

 

Edited July 5, 2018 by JimmyJ

[JimmyJ]

Thanks for all the helpful information.

 

I booked VietJet and will see how it goes, but after going through their online booking process I can see why some posters opt to pay a bit more.

 

VietJet's listed prices (on the website) do not include tax and fees, and then there was about a 6% fee for booking it with my credit card (how else to book online?), all in all adding on about 36% to the price one initially sees.

 

I also see from their rules that there are no refunds for any class fare, the checkin closes 50 minutes before departure - no refund if late, also strict with boarding times.

 

The nickel and diming is annoying and ends up only about $5 - $7 USD cheaper than Bangkok Airways and Thai Smile - assuming that their listed prices are not hiding the extra costs.

 

I probably will avoid them in the future if there is an option available that is more upfront about the actual price and/or allows refunds of some sort and/or does not exclude from check in passengers who get there just under 50 minutes before departure.

Not real happy with any of those rules.

If the cost difference was a lot more I'd have to weigh it, and perhaps the cost difference is a lot more if the 2 airlines I mentioned are also hiding costs, but just got through booking a few things and too burned out to check at the minute.

Edited July 5, 2018 by JimmyJ

[ChakaKhan]

On 6/17/2018 at 4:04 AM, hyku1147 said:

Vietjet:

https://booking.vietjetair.com//TravelOptions.aspx?lang=en&st=pb&sesid=

Yep did VJ last year booked it within 24 hrs to get out of BKK and was less than 2000.....pre-booked it this year

from BKK to CNX and was LESS than 1000---maybe 900 all incld.....very friendly and planes seems just like Air Asia

 

Love the fact too the VJ leaves from Swampy as im trying to avoid the Bkk hot mess with passport control, and

as soon as I land in BKK I just want to get out and up north...without switching airports..

 

Also see EVA is flying directs to CNX from TPE

[JimmyJ]

3 hours ago, ChakaKhan said:

Yep did VJ last year booked it within 24 hrs to get out of BKK and was less than 2000.....pre-booked it this year

from BKK to CNX and was LESS than 1000---maybe 900 all incld.....very friendly and planes seems just like Air Asia

 

Love the fact too the VJ leaves from Swampy as im trying to avoid the Bkk hot mess with passport control, and

as soon as I land in BKK I just want to get out and up north...without switching airports..

 

Also see EVA is flying directs to CNX from TPE

900 all in is a very good price.

 

I booked for about 2 weeks out  and it came all in to $36.64 USD = ~1217 baht.

[Peasandmash]

the best way to go is to charter a plane. no lines, no waiting, no hassles and you can arrange pickup/dropoff from home/hotel so no worries about time/distance/etc. www.paramountbusinessjets.com

Edited July 6, 2018 by Peasandmash