British travellers left stranded in Thailand accuse airlines of cashing in on COVID-19 crisis

 

FILE PHOTO: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

British travellers in Thailand struggling to return home due to the COVID-19 pandemic have accused airlines of cashing in by charging extortionate prices for flights.

 

Travellers also said that some airlines were charging hefty fees to amend existing bookings, while others said that airlines were refusing to issue refunds for cancelled flights.

 

Earlier this week, a British woman revealed she had to pay almost  £5,000 to fly back to the UK from Bangkok after her original flight, which cost just £1,300, was cancelled.

 

Another British couple told a local news site in the UK that they are currently stranded in Phuket after their £5,000 flight was cancelled, not once but twice.

 

While embassy staff work round the clock to help Brits left stranded in Thailand, over on the UK in Thailand Facebook page, there are numerous messages from travellers criticising airlines and accusing them of price gouging.

 

One poster said that Emirates refused to issue a refund, saying they could only give her travel vouchers once the airline began running again. 

 

Another poster explained that while he could not get a flight, he also had the issue of his passport being almost full. 

 

I cant get a commercial flight from Thailand because Emirates have my money and my passport is nearly full.What can I do? I have 2 young kids with me I cant make an extension with a nearly full passport and cant make a new passport since the agency is closed.

 

Another poster complained of the amount Qatar was offering for an economy ticket:

 

I looked at Qatar Airways the other day for LHR. 175,000 baht one way. Taking 35 hours. Terrible. We will get you home is Qatar Airways strap line. Yes, at a price only movie stars can afford. 175,000 baht- economy!

 

KLM was also accused of hiking up prices:

 

Klm have no flights available until 13th April and then its £10000 for 2 adults, and 2 babies.

 

Meanwhile, another poster who had recently returned to the UK claimed there were still plenty of seats available on her flight, suggesting that many tickets had gone unsold.

 

We arrived back at Heathrow this morning on Qatar airways flights from Phukett then Doha. Neither flight was full- I counted at least 25 empty seats in economy and most business class were empty.

 

But one poster offered a glimmer of hope for people still wanting to return to the UK:

 

I got one yesterday (Manchester) for 16000 baht, 17 hrs, with Qatar.flying on April 9th .. So the cheaper ones in Economy are there.

 

And a search by Thaivisa this morning revealed that some airlines - including Eva Air still appeared to have reasonably priced flights back to the UK available. 

 

 

For anyone still wanting to return to the UK from Thailand, the official advice from the British Embassy in Bangkok is go as soon as possible.

 

British nationals who are still in Thailand but who want to fly back to the UK are urged to register with the embassy as per the instructions below:

 

[email protected]

International travel is becoming more difficult with the closure of land borders and further restrictions are being introduced daily. We are working to find solutions to this.

 

If you need to return to the UK but can’t, you can help by sending us the info below:

 

Full name

Date of birth

Passport number

Contact email and telephone number

Location and nearest airport

Date of entry into Thailand

Specific needs e.g. if you are taking medication or have young children.

 

Each day, the Embassy also releases details of airlines that are still offering flights from Thailand to the UK.

 

Here is the latest flight information for 1 April 2020.

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-04-02

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£1950 Qatar one way economy BKK-HRW selling blackmarket fares cashing in on the coronavirus and stranded passengers. 

 

“I cant get a commercial flight from Thailand because Emirates have my money and my passport is nearly full.“

 

Passport nearly full? What has that got to do with anything?

 

 

A few weeks ago I paid 4,900 Baht to change my airline ticket, almost exactly the same amount that I'd paid a year previously. nowt to do with CV. (Cos it was a cheap ticket to start with).

Another thing being, Thailand is now pretty much closed to foreigners, foreign airlines are gonna have to fly almost empty airliners into Thailand in order to fly people out.

1 minute ago, Jajazazajaja said:

 

“I cant get a commercial flight from Thailand because Emirates have my money and my passport is nearly full.“

 

Passport nearly full? What has that got to do with anything?

 

 

True, if one's transiting Dubai Airport there's no stamp, probably not in many EU countries on arrival either.

they have to confront that the price they would pay under normal conditions is valid under normal conditions. 

Now they expect the airlines to fly when the ticket prices are far from covering the costs for their travel. Try gofundme. 

2 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

True, if one's transiting Dubai Airport there's no stamp, probably not in many EU countries on arrival either.

 Reminds me of the Icelandic volcano incident. 
I was in Milan at the time and my flight back to the UK was cancelled. So after a while I just went to Hertz to get a car to drive home 

I thought I’d ask some other people who were on my flight if they wanted to join me/chip in, but no.

all they wanted to do was stand around moaning and complaining to Alitalia staff like they had a magic plane that would take them home.

 

 

"cant make an extension with a nearly full passport" -- you can. Immi just stamps over old stamps..

1 minute ago, Jajazazajaja said:

 Reminds me of the Icelandic volcano incident. 
I was in Milan at the time and my flight back to the UK was cancelled. So after a while I just went to Hertz to get a car to drive home 

I thought I’d ask some other people who were on my flight if they wanted to join me/chip in, but no.

all they wanted to do was stand around moaning and complaining to Alitalia staff like they had a magic plane that would take them home.

 

 

I did similar when the Yellow Shirts occupied/shutdown the airports. I'd been seeing an old mate in the Nong Khai area and was stuck at Udon airport. A fellow Brit agreed to go halves with me for a taxi, 3,000 Baht each to BKK.

13 minutes ago, Jajazazajaja said:

Passport nearly full? What has that got to do with anything?

I think she was referring to possible problems getting an extension, though see Aachen above.

Well chap my hide and tickle me with a cobra fang. No sympathy for them as they should have gotten out a long time ago. All airline fares have doubled or they have stopped flying for the time been. What do they think, the airline should not hike fares and work at a total great loss for their benefit? Passports should always have a little room for a stamp and if they don't then they should not have been flying on a full one. I just helped my friend get back to the USA a week and a half ago as he could not rebook on his existing airlines as it kept canceling flights. So we were watching airfares and flights and got him on another carrier he had to pay for a one way trip on. Then a week later the fares doubled and now they are three times higher. Again - No Sympathy What -So -Ever. 

The Germans have been sending daily direct repatriation flights from both Phuket and Bangkok to Frankfurt at €99 one way fixed price for all seats for the last 2 weeks. This includes, hand luggage, one suitcase, meals and basic entertainment. Check the Condor Airways site to book as flights open up regularly as the day goes on. 

 

Flights from Frankfurt to the UK are about €140 one way and run about 5-6 times a day but you have to sort those yourself.

 

They are open to Brits and EU citizens and most of the planes have been going back half empty. I saw that the Phuket flight left today at 10am with over 6 seats still bookable for €99.

 

Its a pity the UK embassy never told anyone about them. I've been writing on these forums for weeks about them. As always with the UK its too little too late.

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 20206 yr by Muzzique

1 hour ago, webfact said:

I looked at Qatar Airways the other day for LHR. 175,000 baht one way. Taking 35 hours. Terrible. We will get you home is Qatar Airways strap line. Yes, at a price only movie stars can afford. 175,000 baht- economy!

B.S. Look better. 175k is for business!!

Of course the prices of Qatar are over the top.

But economy for the next few days is in the range of 32k to 50k.

 

E.g.: 5 April, 2:10 AM, 45k Baht, travel time 18 hours.

Last time I checked there was EVA for 22k!

Edited April 2, 20206 yr by KhunBENQ

Checked again. EVA nonstop. 29.245k tomorrow, 22.655k on April 5 and 7.

Quit whining!

 

Edited April 2, 20206 yr by KhunBENQ

28 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Checked again. EVA nonstop. 29.245k tomorrow, 22.655k on April 5 and 7.

Quit whining!

 

eva 3 weekly direct around 22,000thb for a flight in April, dropping to 13,000 in may

33 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Checked again. EVA nonstop. 29.245k tomorrow, 22.655k on April 5 and 7.

Quit whining!

 

I came back with them last week, 28th, and there people in the check in queue bleating on about paying over £5,000 for their seats last minute. There will still empty seats on the plane. 
It’s hard to know if they were telling the truth as there are so many drama queens around. 

1 hour ago, Aachen said:

"cant make an extension with a nearly full passport" -- you can. Immi just stamps over old stamps..

Since when?

I will never fly Emirates again if they don't give refunds straight away.

Opportunists...cashing in on human misery.  Not just Thailand!

Should have seen this coming to be honest. many would have been better flying back before things got to this stage. 

1 hour ago, Muzzique said:

The Germans have been sending daily direct repatriation flights from both Phuket and Bangkok to Frankfurt at €99 one way fixed price for all seats for the last 2 weeks. This includes, hand luggage, one suitcase, meals and basic entertainment. Check the Condor Airways site to book as flights open up regularly as the day goes on. 

I don't know if it is even possible to board such a flight if you are not German.

But the 99 Euro are not the final price. Upon boarding you have to sign this document: https://bangkok.diplo.de/blob/2329476/2cc62343b432e0da5eda96eae343246c/kg-erklaerung-data.pdf

With this document you agree that when they have determined the costs for these flights, you will pay your share, which will most likely be quite a bit higher than 99 Euro.

Edited April 2, 20206 yr by jackdd

19 minutes ago, Youlike said:

I will never fly Emirates again if they don't give refunds straight away.

If your original ticket was a "Saver" either Economy or Business then it's non-refundable but they will offer a long-term rebooking or a voucher - they did for me.

13 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

Opportunists...cashing in on human misery.  Not just Thailand!

who is really the opportunist? should they fly an empty plane at their cost to Thailand for your benefit, or do you think that if you whinge enough on social media platforms they will give you something for nothing ?

The more this pandemonium goes on and the more vultures or rats that want to take advantage of the situation appear, I hope someone will literally kick them in the teeth ...

2 hours ago, Muzzique said:

The Germans have been sending daily direct repatriation flights from both Phuket and Bangkok to Frankfurt at €99 one way fixed price for all seats for the last 2 weeks. This includes, hand luggage, one suitcase, meals and basic entertainment. Check the Condor Airways site to book as flights open up regularly as the day goes on. 

 

Flights from Frankfurt to the UK are about €140 one way and run about 5-6 times a day but you have to sort those yourself.

 

They are open to Brits and EU citizens and most of the planes have been going back half empty. I saw that the Phuket flight left today at 10am with over 6 seats still bookable for €99.

 

Its a pity the UK embassy never told anyone about them. I've been writing on these forums for weeks about them. As always with the UK its too little too late.

 

 

 

Sorry for full quote but the price is higher than 99 Euro. You pay 99 Euro now and will be billed after return for the rest of the currently unknown costs. If I understand correctly the machines are chartered by German Government and that gives them full control on ticket price.

A troll post removed

In the swampy sub forum I have posted a number of threads regarding the flight status of several airlines using BKK. This is just about scheduled flights being operated and will be updated when the airlines post changes.

With regards european flights in general taking EVA, as an example, they fly empty to TPE-BKK no passengers. BKK-LHR passengers. LHR-TPE direct so probably empty. I suspect they will stop this flight soon. 

The real problem came when Emirates and to a lesser extent Thai and Etihad stop flying. Large numbers of people would have been booked on these flights and this is the problem. I'm surprised that BA was not mandated to or at least had their flights subsidised by the government for flying for another week or 2. They could have put a B747 on the route and the backlog would have gone down much quicker. It would have been easy for people to have gotten back to BKK to link up to the flight.

There are some flights back to Frankfurt on Condor. Some of the flights go on to Bali. I have seen TUI flights this week for places like Manchester and Helsinki, these may have been existing flights. 

Got to cover the cost of flying the plane, salaries to staff and fuel etc. If you are carrying so few passangers the price has to go up, Its simple business economics. Cant expect the airline to pay to get you home, just because you didnt have the sense to stay put in the first place..

2 hours ago, sweatalot said:

they have to confront that the price they would pay under normal conditions is valid under normal conditions. 

Now they expect the airlines to fly when the ticket prices are far from covering the costs for their travel. Try gofundme. 

Gosh, how incredibly understanding of you, do you work for an airline? I don't care about the poor airlines profitability , I think they have a responsibility to get people home. ABTA is supposed to protect people from things like this but there is probably some clause that gets them off the hook. 

2 hours ago, Jajazazajaja said:

 Reminds me of the Icelandic volcano incident. 
I was in Milan at the time and my flight back to the UK was cancelled. So after a while I just went to Hertz to get a car to drive home 

I thought I’d ask some other people who were on my flight if they wanted to join me/chip in, but no.

all they wanted to do was stand around moaning and complaining to Alitalia staff like they had a magic plane that would take them home.

 

 

I know someone who was stranded in Ohio after 9-11.  He went to rent a car, and ended up with a moving truck for a 450 mile one way.  Was the only thing available.