COE, question about admissible flights

[JackGats]

Planning to travel from Frankfurt (actually from Brussels but the flight to Thailand is from Frankfurt). I've read somewhere that only "special repatriation flights" are accepted. The Thai embassy websites says nothing about this, they only mention "semi-commercial flights" operated by certain companies. Am I ok if I book any Thai Airways flight from Frankfurt?

 

I also assume a one-way flight will not do. This means I'd better book a return flight for the shortest possible period so as to pay insurance for the shortest possible period. I have Cigna world coverage but a fat chance of that getting accepted by the Thai embassy from what I've heard. So it's a matter of paying 6 months of insurance I don't need, or losing the return part of my flight ticket (I don't expect Thai Airways offices to be open and/or rebooking to be allowed, who knows).

 

The more I dig into this my intended return to Thailand, the more it feels like opening a can of worms.

[ubonjoe]

It can be any semi commercial airline that had been given permission to board passengers to here.

List is here.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ijBJOTgFJPAuWUfkPIA60iniXB9j9Ba2XHafXzA6JCw/edit#gid=864599835

Whether you need a return/onward ticket or not depends upon the visa you apply for or are using to enter the country. It is not one of the requirements for the COE.

 

[issan101]

6 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

It can be any semi commercial airline that had been given permission to board passengers to here.

List is here.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ijBJOTgFJPAuWUfkPIA60iniXB9j9Ba2XHafXzA6JCw/edit#gid=864599835

 

 

Thanks for the list.  are the dates 2021 ?

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, issan101 said:

Thanks for the list.  are the dates 2021 ?

If you to the right on the page it will shows the dates they are operating.

[JackGats]

10 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

It can be any semi commercial airline that had been given permission to board passengers to here.

List is here.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ijBJOTgFJPAuWUfkPIA60iniXB9j9Ba2XHafXzA6JCw/edit#gid=864599835

Whether you need a return/onward ticket or not depends upon the visa you apply for or are using to enter the country. It is not one of the requirements for the COE.

 

Thanks Unbonjoe. That's good news! I'll book Lufthansa as they have 3 flights a week from Frankfurt compared to Thai Airways only 1.

 

I have a Non-O retirement visa that comes up for renewal on May 2nd. So I guess I must show a return flight by that date as visa extensions cannot be taken for granted. This should present no problem because Lufthansa, if I'm not mistaken, have extended their free of charge rebooking policy until further notice. I'm not sure about the latter though, but Lufthansa were true to their word regarding my recent flight to Brazil. I rebooked the return flight twice in December. The only snag is you can't rebook online. The thing is to buy some Skype credit and use Skype to call their service line.

[ubonjoe]

19 minutes ago, JackGats said:

I have a Non-O retirement visa that comes up for renewal on May 2nd. So I guess I must show a return flight by that date as visa extensions cannot be taken for granted.

If you have a valid visa or a re-entry permit for a extension of stay a return or onward ticket is not required for entry to the country,

[JackGats]

10 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

If you have a valid visa or a re-entry permit for a extension of stay a return or onward ticket is not required for entry to the country,

Ok. Something worries me though, this from https://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand-visa/coe-thailand: "The (insurance) policy must cover the whole duration of your stay or the duration of your visa."

 

So rather than take out an insurance for a whole year or more, I'm better off booking a 2-month return flight coupled with 2 months' insurance.

 

 

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, JackGats said:

Ok. Something worries me though, this from https://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand-visa/coe-thailand: "The (insurance) policy must cover the whole duration of your stay or the duration of your visa."

That is not a official website. From the bottom of that page "This is NOT the official website of the Thai Embassy".

15 minutes ago, JackGats said:

So rather than take out an insurance for a whole year or more, I'm better off booking a 2-month return flight coupled with 2 months' insurance.

Your duration of stay is how long your permit it stay is that is stamped in your passport on arrival.

[Peter Denis]

14 minutes ago, JackGats said:

Ok. Something worries me though, this from https://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand-visa/coe-thailand: "The (insurance) policy must cover the whole duration of your stay or the duration of your visa."

 

So rather than take out an insurance for a whole year or more, I'm better off booking a 2-month return flight coupled with 2 months' insurance.

The covid-19 treatment insurance should cover the full period period of the permission to stay you will receive when entering Thailand.  So the Visa on which you will enter (or how long your still valid Re-Entry Permit provides you) will determine the period for which you will need the insurance,

[JackGats]

1 minute ago, Peter Denis said:

The covid-19 treatment insurance should cover the full period period of the permission to stay you will receive when entering Thailand.  So the Visa on which you will enter (or how long your still valid Re-Entry Permit provides you) will determine the period for which you will need the insurance,

Makes sense, I'd forgotten the rectangular "permitted until" stamp we get at the airport upon arrival! Visa due for renewal on May 2nd so two months' insurance will do. Thanks guys.

[Chalong circle]

That means you come back to Thailand witha re entry ? Is it correct ?

[JackGats]

1 minute ago, Chalong circle said:

That means you come back to Thailand witha re entry ? Is it correct ?

Yes. Re-entry permit "multiple".

[Chalong circle]

OK. So two months will do for insurance. If your visa was still valid, they would probably ask you one year to cover the permitted until...

[scorecard]

14 hours ago, JackGats said:

Planning to travel from Frankfurt (actually from Brussels but the flight to Thailand is from Frankfurt). I've read somewhere that only "special repatriation flights" are accepted. The Thai embassy websites says nothing about this, they only mention "semi-commercial flights" operated by certain companies. Am I ok if I book any Thai Airways flight from Frankfurt?

 

I also assume a one-way flight will not do. This means I'd better book a return flight for the shortest possible period so as to pay insurance for the shortest possible period. I have Cigna world coverage but a fat chance of that getting accepted by the Thai embassy from what I've heard. So it's a matter of paying 6 months of insurance I don't need, or losing the return part of my flight ticket (I don't expect Thai Airways offices to be open and/or rebooking to be allowed, who knows).

 

The more I dig into this my intended return to Thailand, the more it feels like opening a can of worms.

Many questions.

 

Normal scheduled flights cannot land in Thailand at the moment.

 

Allowed:

 

1. - Repatriation flights (operated by Thai Inter in conjunction with the local Thai embassy or consulate )can land in Bkk.

 

2. - Semi-commercial flights can currently land in Bkk.

 

Passengers using both of the above flights must have  a COE (Certificate of Entry) issued by the local Thai embassy or consulate to be able to board the aircraft along with copies of all the supporting document including recent negative Covid 19 test and Fit ti Fly medical certificate.

 

Passengers must present the COE and supporting documents again on arrival to a team from several Thai Gov't. Agencies.

 

After passing the check on arrival every passenger must go directly/immediately into pre-arranged 14 quarantine days (for foreigners this is labelled ASQ hotel quarantine) and must be booked and paid for before the passenger can board the aircraft at departure airport.

 

Back to 2.- above - 'Semi-commercial' flights, please open the attachment:

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ijBJOTgFJPAuWUfkPIA60iniXB9j9Ba2XHafXzA6JCw/edit#gid=864599835)

 

This listing is prepared and regularly updated by the Thai Consular affairs Dept., in Bkk. I think 26 Jan 2021 is the latest issue.

 

Yes they are one-way flights. Further bookings for your return up to you. 

 

The allowed to land in Bkk Semi-commercial TG flights are shown on this spreadsheet.

 

 

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, Chalong circle said:

OK. So two months will do for insurance. If your visa was still valid, they would probably ask you one year to cover the permitted until...

He apparently has a extension of stay (it is not a visa) with a valid re-entry permit that expires May 2nd.

That is the last day he can stay in the country when enters the country until he applies for a new extension of stay.

He only needs insurance valid until May 2nd.

[JackGats]

Regarding the flights, I booked a Lufthansa flight (Frankfurt-BKK) on the 3rd of March and that is a Wednesday. It is the LH772. Same as on the spreadsheet but on the spreadsheet no Lufthansa flight is scheduled on Wednesdays. Did I book a (non authorized) "commercial flight" as opposed to an authorized "semi-commercial" flight? 

[JackGats]

To add to what I see on the Lufthansa booking site, if I wanted to book on March 4th (a Thursday when a Lufthansa flight is scheduled according to the spreadsheet), it would be a flight through Vienna or Zurich (ie with Swiss or Austrian, and those 2 airlines have no flight scheduled on the spreadsheet). I am referring to the flight to Bangkok, not to the flight between Frankfurt and Vienna/Zurich of course.

 

To summarize, the spreadsheet does not coincide with the flights you can book on the airline's website.

[JHicks]

It's just that you are working from the date of departure when the spreadsheet shows the date of arrival. There's a Lufthansa flight shown arriving on Thursday, and both Austrian and Swiss have flights arriving on Friday.

[FalangTingTong]

FWIW: I just got my COE approved today for a Qatar Airways flight from Berlin, transiting Doha.  I have a return flight plus an outbound to Singapore that cost $50 and is within my visa-exempt period, as I heard this was an unofficial requirement for boarding.  I have a post-ASQ hotel booked but only the ASQ partner hospital asked about it so far.

 

Some things in the process were non-obvious and made me nervous, but each time I calmed down and assumed everyone was acting in good faith and proceeded to fill everything out to the best of my understanding.

 

Worth noting on the COE application: the question in Thai is "Expected travel date (if have)" and if you're doing BRU FRA BKK they only want the first leg in the "transit" section.

 

Of course I now have some money riding on my PCR test coming back negative, but that's true for most transnational travel now.

 

Also: I was going to start a topic for this, but it's probably not that important -- the Royal Thai Embassy in Berlin processed my COE (registration and finalizing) in four working hours each time, even though they said "three working days."  Haha I could have flown earlier!  At least in Germany I think they're on the ball and want us to come.  The ASQ booking took longer than the COE.

 

Now to find a <deleted>' German doctor who will give me a F2F...

 

Best of luck!

 

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, JackGats said:

To add to what I see on the Lufthansa booking site, if I wanted to book on March 4th (a Thursday when a Lufthansa flight is scheduled according to the spreadsheet), it would be a flight through Vienna or Zurich (ie with Swiss or Austrian, and those 2 airlines have no flight scheduled on the spreadsheet). I am referring to the flight to Bangkok, not to the flight between Frankfurt and Vienna/Zurich of course.

 

To summarize, the spreadsheet does not coincide with the flights you can book on the airline's website.

QUOTE from above:

"To summarize, the spreadsheet does not coincide with the flights you can book on the airline's website."

 

That can be correct, another example is Singapore Airlines, their 'semi-commercial' flight S'pore to Bkk shown on the spreadsheet is not showing on their website.

 

The only way to book this flight is by calling Singapore Airlines and smoothly  booking/paying over the phone.  

 

You must arrive into Bkk on a flight number showing on the official 'Semi-commercial' spreadsheet.

 

[JackGats]

1 hour ago, JHicks said:

It's just that you are working from the date of departure when the spreadsheet shows the date of arrival. There's a Lufthansa flight shown arriving on Thursday, and both Austrian and Swiss have flights arriving on Friday.

Absolutely right! A flight schedule based on arrival times rather than on departure times was so counterintuitive I didn't think twice.

[Salerno]

22 minutes ago, scorecard said:

That can be correct, another example is Singapore Airlines, their 'semi-commercial' flight S'pore to Bkk shown on the spreadsheet is not showing on their website.

 

The only way to book this flight is by calling Singapore Airlines and smoothly  booking/paying over the phone.  

 

Not necessarily, just so happens I'm just looking at flights and could book online (via Skyscanner) right now:

 

 

If the flight numbers aren't matching change the day/departure time.

 

 

[scorecard]

1 minute ago, Salerno said:

 

Not necessarily, just so happens I'm just looking at flights and could book online (via Skyscanner) right now:

 

 

If the flight numbers aren't matching change the day/departure time.

 

 

Thanks, SQ staff in phone call told me only way is by phone, learn something every day.

[JackGats]

54 minutes ago, FalangTingTong said:

 

 

Worth noting on the COE application: the question in Thai is "Expected travel date (if have)" and if you're doing BRU FRA BKK they only want the first leg in the "transit" section.

 

Best of luck!

 

I'm doing BRU-FRA on a separately booked 7am flight because if I want to book BRU-BKK as a package the Lufthansa put me on a late-morning flight to FRA and I prefer to play it safe.

 

I assume the Thais are not interested in how I get to Frankfurt.

[Salerno]

10 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Thanks, SQ staff in phone call told me only way is by phone, learn something every day.

 

I noticed it a while back when they first published the list; why they have planes landing that aren't on the list I have no idea. Was just looking to see if any decent flights, the long transit time is a bitch but alas, still damn long in April as you can see on the screenshot (up for another $400 if decide to go with transit hotel). On the plus side, they've unilaterally dropped transit restrictions for us so we could wander the whole airport instead of getting corralled.

 

Edit: $400 was Ambassador, can get 12 hours in Aerotel for around $340 including a meal.

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, Salerno said:

 

Not necessarily, just so happens I'm just looking at flights and could book online (via Skyscanner) right now:

 

 

If the flight numbers aren't matching change the day/departure time.

 

 

Been trying to get the same screen you shared above but no luck. Any hints appreciated.

Reason is partly to see the fare. 

Thanks.

[Salerno]

2 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Been trying to get the same screen you shared above but no luck. Any hints appreciated.

 

No worries, it's the screen to pay. Will do a walk through, you're Melbourne aren't you?

 

1. Head to https://www.skyscanner.com.au/
2. Search for flights (e.g. one way on 15 April) - comes up with 41 flights
3. Cut the options down to fastest/authorised airlines - basically I just select "Star Alliance" in the left hand column - down to 3 options
4. Pick best suited - one uses Scoot so <deleted> that, another ANA, so best option is the Singapore only for $617 (even if it is an extra 6 hrs!)
5. Select that flight and on resulting screen check the options to buy - given the current situation I'd stick with the actual airline; so an extra $21 and can book through Singapore Airlines on Skyscanner
6. Hit the "Book" button
7. On next page click the blue "down arrow" next to the flights to expand and double check the flight numbers et voila
8. Flights good - although the transit time sucks
9. Continue through to book

 

 

 

[scorecard]

21 minutes ago, Salerno said:

 

No worries, it's the screen to pay. Will do a walk through, you're Melbourne aren't you?

 

1. Head to https://www.skyscanner.com.au/
2. Search for flights (e.g. one way on 15 April) - comes up with 41 flights
3. Cut the options down to fastest/authorised airlines - basically I just select "Star Alliance" in the left hand column - down to 3 options
4. Pick best suited - one uses Scoot so <deleted> that, another ANA, so best option is the Singapore only for $617 (even if it is an extra 6 hrs!)
5. Select that flight and on resulting screen check the options to buy - given the current situation I'd stick with the actual airline; so an extra $21 and can book through Singapore Airlines on Skyscanner
6. Hit the "Book" button
7. On next page click the blue "down arrow" next to the flights to expand and double check the flight numbers et voila
8. Flights good - although the transit time sucks
9. Continue through to book

 

 

 

Thanks, much appreciated, can you pleas share the fare?

 

My phone discussion with SQ was:

 

10 May 2021

- SQ212 Sydney to S'pore 

- SQ712 S'pore to Bkk

 

Includes: 30 Kg, luggage, meals. No extra charges to buy a seat nor for walker.

Will provide wheelchair for transit.

Transit time  about 2.5 hrs.

Total cost UAD650-

 

 

Total fare 8

[Salerno]

5 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Thanks, much appreciated, can you pleas share the fare?

 

My apologies, for some reason I thought you where a Mexican 555

 

So, from Sydney on 10 may comes up with $640.80 for "Economy Lite". Rest should be the same deal, e.g. it's 30 Kg and decent airlines always supply wheelchairs when requested beforehand, shouldn't charge for a walker either, says the transit is 1 hr 45 mins. Haven't flown Singapore for a few years, been sticking with Thai mainly so not sure if they charge for seat selection normally? I know they didn't last time I flew with them.

[Salerno]

@scorecard Actually, re seats, looks like you could get charged if you're not a member (taken a dummy booking as far as I can go):

 

 

That said, a few flights when I booked with online shops (now bust due to covid!) tried that with me a few times. I just skipped that and as soon as I got the eticket I jumped onto my Thai account and selected the seats for free. Not sure how it would pan out with Singapore (can't even remember my account details with them now).