Why are flights out of Thailand dearer ?

[superal]

Can anyone explain to me why the cost of a flight from Thailand to the UK is not the same cost as the UK to Thailand . I have just been looking at flights and B.A. was 657 pounds return Thai to the UK middle of May and return in June . Flights the other way round from UK to Thailand were 399 pounds and there were similar fares from Eva . Is it a tax thing ?

[Vacuum]

They can't fill all the seats (for obvious reasons), so they double the price of tickets.

[superal]

14 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

They can't fill all the seats (for obvious reasons), so they double the price of tickets.

OK , it would make sense accept that the flight returning to the UK will be the 2nd leg of the UK to Thai flight and will have the passengers on board at the cheaper flight , if you follow ?

[Chivas]

Always been the same OP for as long as I can remember

[Odin Norway]

On some dates it can even be cheaper to buy 2 tickets and only use the flight you need.Make sure to ask the airline.Not really what the airline like but no charge for missing your flight. 

Edited April 5, 2019 by Odin Norway

[owl sees all]

It's all to do with the curvature of the earth. Going from east to west is faster than going from west to east. The Finlanders fly over the north pole so it's roughly the same both ways.

[nrasmussen]

On some dates it can even be cheaper to buy 2 tickets and only use the flight you need.Make sure to ask the airline.Not really what the airline like but no charge for missing your flight. 

Definitely check with the airline, as some of them automatically void the second ticket if the first one isn't used.

[Odin Norway]

1 minute ago, nrasmussen said:

25 minutes ago, Odin Norway said:

On some dates it can even be cheaper to buy 2 tickets and only use the flight you need.Make sure to ask the airline.Not really what the airline like but no charge for missing your flight. 

Definitely check with the airline, as some of them automatically void the second ticket if the first one isn't used.

Exactly why I said it.And for some its okey to do it.

[Pilotman]

11 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

It's all to do with the curvature of the earth. Going from east to west is faster than going from west to east. The Finlanders fly over the north pole so it's roughly the same both ways.

what???  It's got absolutely nothing to do with the navigation of flights, routing, winds, or Coriolis effect.  It's a result of the yeald management algorithms that all airlines use to maximise seat sales at the right price, against demand.     

[nrasmussen]

It's all to do with the curvature of the earth. Going from east to west is faster than going from west to east. The Finlanders fly over the north pole so it's roughly the same both ways.

Actually, it's the jet stream that makes going in one direction faster than going in the other direction.

[wgdanson]

On 4/4/2019 at 3:45 PM, Vacuum said:

They can't fill all the seats (for obvious reasons), so they double the price of tickets.

So you mean there are more coming from UK to BKK than the other way round. I thought the number of folk staying in Thailand was going down. And tourists have to get back home.

[Odin Norway]

5 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

So you mean there are more coming from UK to BKK than the other way round. I thought the number of folk staying in Thailand was going down. And tourists have to get back home.

What makes you think that tourism is going down?.Its only UK retired on minimum pension they want out.Bad for business.Of course all tourists go home.If not they would not be just that.

[CLS]

It‘s the the economy, stupid.
Someone that flies to Europe and starts his journey in TH must usually be well-off as they already have met the requirements for Schengen/UK visa. The airlines know that and so can ask for higher airfares.


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[CharlieH]

Troll comment removed.

[owl sees all]

49 minutes ago, nrasmussen said:

1 hour ago, owl sees all said:

It's all to do with the curvature of the earth. Going from east to west is faster than going from west to east. The Finlanders fly over the north pole so it's roughly the same both ways.

Actually, it's the jet stream that makes going in one direction faster than going in the other direction.

The rotational velocity of the earth compared with the speed of the aircraft. Sometimes, it is quicker to go due north when going from east to west* and then do a sharp left turn. Stay on that parallel until destination.

 

Everything is worked out now-a-days by computers. Unlike years ago when a navigator (mathematician) would work it out with a slide rule (calculating speed and direction), as they went along.

 

Of course the weather has to be taken into consideration also.

 

* but not from west to east.

Edited April 5, 2019 by owl sees all

[isaanjohnno]

Demand- more people leaving than arriving

[richard_smith237]

12 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

The rotational velocity of the earth compared with the speed of the aircraft. Sometimes, it is quicker to go due north when going from east to west* and then do a sharp left turn. Stay on that parallel until destination.

 

Everything is worked out now-a-days by computers. Unlike years ago when a navigator (mathematician) would work it out with a slide rule (calculating speed and direction), as they went along.

 

Of course the weather has to be taken into consideration also.

 

* but not from west to east.

 

Come-on... we all know flying to Europe its uphill... 

 

Regarding prices.... Its supply and demand. It used to be cheaper buying return tickets from Thailand to the UK... now its cheaper to buy a return ticket from UK to Thailand... and as one way fares are now common, its often half the price to fly from UK to Bangkok one way, than from Bangkok to the UK one way.

 

I'm told this is just supply and demand, but still don't quite get it as people still have to return to origin... 

 

Edited April 5, 2019 by richard_smith237

[roo860]

What makes you think that tourism is going down?.Its only UK retired on minimum pension they want out.Bad for business.Of course all tourists go home.If not they would not be just that.

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

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[SheungWan]

1 hour ago, Odin Norway said:

On some dates it can even be cheaper to buy 2 tickets and only use the flight you need.Make sure to ask the airline.Not really what the airline like but no charge for missing your flight. 

I would be exceedingly careful assuming that the default is no charge for missing a flight, particularly the originating flight. I suggest that anybody considering doing this assume the opposite. The same applies where an onwards flight is cheaper and the passenger fails to take that flight. Check the small print and class of ticket prior to booking if you want to play those games. I would certainly be interested to know which airlines do not penalise.

Edited April 5, 2019 by SheungWan

[SheungWan]

On 4/4/2019 at 4:03 PM, superal said:

OK , it would make sense accept that the flight returning to the UK will be the 2nd leg of the UK to Thai flight and will have the passengers on board at the cheaper flight , if you follow ?

Tickets are generally priced on the originating flight.

Edited April 5, 2019 by SheungWan

[Bredbury Blue]

1 hour ago, Pilotman said:

what???  It's got absolutely nothing to do with the navigation of flights, routing, winds, or Coriolis effect.  It's a result of the yeald management algorithms that all airlines use to maximise seat sales at the right price, against demand.     

Could you explain more about the algorithms?

[KhunBENQ]

21 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

Check the small print and class of ticket prior to booking if you want to play those games.

Absolutely not recommenced to try this game.

Even skipping the last leg of a return flight is now followed up by airlines with civil action!

 

Typical example from my observations:

you can book a cheap return flight to a German airport via Zurich with SWISS (LH group).

The return flight to Zurich (only) is MORE expensive.

But don't expect that they would allow you to use the return from Zurich if you skipped the leg to Germany. No way.

Edited April 5, 2019 by KhunBENQ

[Pilotman]

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

So you mean there are more coming from UK to BKK than the other way round. I thought the number of folk staying in Thailand was going down. And tourists have to get back home.

No it's the ability to sell a seat at a certain price set against the availability of that seat on any particular flight. Its often referred to as 'Revenue Passenger Kilometres'. and its the metric used by airlines to determine seat price in any direction  for a particular route.  It has nothing much, per see, to do with tourist numbers.  That's why some of the least popular destinations in the world have the highest seat ticket price.    

[Pilotman]

4 minutes ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Could you explain more about the algorithms?

The algorithms themselves are beyond my mathematical ability, but in essence, their job is to maximise the return from any seat on any flight on a particular route, based upon the maximum revenue that can be gained.  Economists will tell you that a flight seat is the most perishable good you can think of, that is to say that once the doors have closed, that seat is no longer a revenue earner. It's vital that airlines fill up each flight at the maximum revenue possible beyond an amount that returns a profit.  They have to beware of diminishing the value of that good by offering spare seats at ridiculously low prices just to fill them, as they did in the 1970s for example. hence the longer you leave booking,  often, the more expensive the seat, which is to some extent counter intuitive.  In effect, economy long haul flights are often cross subsidised to some extent by business class fares.  That amount of subsidy is different for different airlines and routes.  When to book to get the best price is different for airlines, routes, time of year etc, but as a general rule, promotions excepted, between 60 and 90 days before flight may get you the best overall price, but there are so many variables involved for any one flight,  And so man y promotions around, that the rule doesn't always stand up.  They would rather fly that seat empty than at below what they believe to be cost price.  This is all for long haul.  Low cost operators on short haul routes have a different but similar set of algorithms.  

[Chivas]

17 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Absolutely not recommenced to try this game.

Even skipping the last leg of a return flight is now followed up by airlines with civil action!

 

 

Seeing its routine for airlines to overbook 10% to allow for no shows there must be non stop court action

[Pilotman]

1 hour ago, owl sees all said:

The rotational velocity of the earth compared with the speed of the aircraft. Sometimes, it is quicker to go due north when going from east to west* and then do a sharp left turn. Stay on that parallel until destination.

 

Everything is worked out now-a-days by computers. Unlike years ago when a navigator (mathematician) would work it out with a slide rule (calculating speed and direction), as they went along.

 

Of course the weather has to be taken into consideration also.

 

* but not from west to east.

Oh dear, just not true. The earth rotates at 1,000 miles per hour at the equator, so how come aircraft can fly around the equator one way at 600 mph and not come at 1,600 mph? Rotation of the earth has no effect on aircraft speeds, barring the effect of the Coriolis effect on wind direction and speeds. The shortest route between any two points on the earth's surface is still a great circle route between those two points, not a straight line. 

Edited April 5, 2019 by Pilotman

[KittenKong]

58 minutes ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Could you explain more about the algorithms?

I wish people would leave the poor guy alone.

 

No matter what anyone says, Al Gore wasn't a bad vice-president.

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, Pilotman said:

Oh dear, just not true. The earth rotates at 1,000 miles per hour at the equator, so how come aircraft can fly around the equator one way at 600 mph and not come at 1,600 mph? Rotation of the earth has no effect on aircraft speeds, barring the effect of the Coriolis effect on wind direction and speeds. The shortest route between any two points on the earth's surface is still a great circle route between those two points, not a straight line. 

Mostly aircraft fly in an ark, and if they travel far enough; in a circle, The speed of an aircraft flying around the Equator will be very similar to an aircraft flying around the Capricorns. But a person, by simply walking, can walk around the earth much quicker*. The velocity makes all the difference.

 

* A person walking around the earth from east to west (clockwise**) does so quicker than walking from west to east (anti-clockwise).

 

** Looking down from space onto the north pole.

 

Atomic clocks are proof. I rest my case on this one.

Edited April 5, 2019 by owl sees all

[Pilotman]

12 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Mostly aircraft fly in an ark, and if they travel far enough; in a circle, The speed of an aircraft flying around the Equator will be very similar to an aircraft flying around the Capricorns. But a person, by simply walking, can walk around the earth much quicker*. The velocity makes all the difference.

 

* A person walking around the earth from east to west (clockwise**) does so quicker than walking from west to east (anti-clockwise).

 

** Looking down from space onto the north pole.

 

Atomic clocks are proof. I rest my case on this one.

Get some sleep old son, you need it. 

[wgdanson]

9 hours ago, owl sees all said:

A person walking around the earth from east to west (clockwise**)

That depends on whether you are looking down from the North, or up from the South.