Hi, ex Chiang Mai expat here looking to take my family back to Thailand this summer as we haven't been back in over 3 years due to the pandemic. However looking at the price of flights to get back they seem a little over the top.

 

What's going on? Is it getting busy over there now? Are the planes running at full capacity? Do you think, if for example you want to fly from the end of June the prices may come down to fill the plane?

Anyone that had some recent experience flying from Europe lately with any tricks or hacks to get a cheaper flight would be welcomed.

 

Thanks  

Probably  not enough planes running -

Europe is more expensive  to fly from

Try Turkish Airlines

Unfortunately flight prices are a lot higher at the moment (my usual BKK-MAN flight has gone up by 50%) and (IMHO) have little chance to go down for the foreseeable future.     

 

One trick I can share is to use https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search to do your flight searching, this will allow you to search multiple departure airports & dates to find the best deal.

 

Once you've found a flight , use skyscanner.com to search the different travel sites but always check the airlines own site & unless there's a big difference book direct as it usually makes any changes/issues easier to resolve. 

 

FWIW I consoled myself about the extra cost by telling myself that I'd saved the cost of 4-6 return flights because I haven't been able to visit for the past 2.5 years.

5 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Probably  not enough planes running -

Europe is more expensive  to fly from

Try Turkish Airlines

Just had a look at Turkish airlines there for 2 adults and a child 4900 euro. <deleted>!

5 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Unfortunately flight prices are a lot higher at the moment (my usual BKK-MAN flight has gone up by 50%) and (IMHO) have little chance to go down for the foreseeable future.     

 

One trick I can share is to use https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search to do your flight searching, this will allow you to search multiple departure airports & dates to find the best deal.

 

Once you've found a flight , use skyscanner.com to search the different travel sites but always check the airlines own site & unless there's a big difference book direct as it usually makes any changes/issues easier to resolve. 

 

FWIW I consoled myself about the extra cost by telling myself that I'd saved the cost of 4-6 return flights because I haven't been able to visit for the past 2.5 years.

Thanks for that matrix site, it's a nice little tool that.

6 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Probably  not enough planes running -

Europe is more expensive  to fly from

Try Turkish Airlines

What about Aeroflot?

4 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

What about Aeroflot?

They stopped being cheap in about 1986

1 minute ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

They stopped being cheap in about 1986

I guess you didn't get my drift

Just now, Meat Pie 47 said:

I guess you didn't get my drift

What was your drift ?

Where is Aeroflot still flying?

 

 

As far as I can witness, Aeroflot is still flying and has schedule flights to friendly countries such as Turkey, Maldives, UAE, and the ex-soviet republics.

 

Here is your answer

5 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

What was your drift ?

Aeroflot = Russia

3 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Where is Aeroflot still flying?

 

 

As far as I can witness, Aeroflot is still flying and has schedule flights to friendly countries such as Turkey, Maldives, UAE, and the ex-soviet republics.

 

Here is your answer

Ohhh I'm sure Thailand would refuel their birds lol......

18 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

What about Aeroflot?

They don't exist do they?  But Turkish Airlines  do great deal  at business  class with excellent food and service The are some  geographically and confused  ignorant people who don't know Turkey is European in many ways

28 minutes ago, MickeyMaow said:

Just had a look at Turkish airlines there for 2 adults and a child 4900 euro. <deleted>!

I only know single person prices BKK - London about 600 to 700 hundred quid return.

22 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

I only know single person prices BKK - London about 600 to 700 hundred quid return.

I've been repeatedly checking LHR - BKK return and prices seem to have almost doubled since Dec 2019. Eva restart on 1 July and premium economy is being quoted at £1800 (formerly around £900). Almost all business class returns seem now to be hovering around £3000. There do seem to be some more reasonable prices in basic economy; ie only up about 50% on pre Covid. Expertflyer.com which has a facility to view cabin seating occupancy is showing very high take up in business and first class but less so in economy. Whether this indicates a fear of infection in the more confined space of economy or that the passengers are returnees rather than real  tourists is anyone's guess.

europe now with qatar e805 (can be lowered by over e100 with long layover in doha - that option will show only on qatar website).

On their website brussels and some other destinations around 22k baht.

Till April europe with top airlines was 21k baht.

 You can get saudi airlines for 22k baht, but it's one of the worst airlines in the world.

Check scoot from berlin, athens by singapore. They fly to CM.

 

Buy now, prices will only go up. War and armament madness.

As with airplane occupancy - pot of luck. A380 tend to be empty.

Be sure to get directly from the airline and covid flexible policy (you can chose this option on skyscaner). 

19 minutes ago, internationalism said:

europe now with qatar e805 (can be lowered by over e100 with long layover in doha - that option will show only on qatar website).

On their website brussels and some other destinations around 22k baht.

Till April europe with top airlines was 21k baht.

 You can get saudi airlines for 22k baht, but it's one of the worst airlines in the world.

Check scoot from berlin, athens by singapore. They fly to CM.

 

Buy now, prices will only go up. War and armament madness.

As with airplane occupancy - pot of luck. A380 tend to be empty.

Be sure to get directly from the airline and covid flexible policy (you can chose this option on skyscaner). 

Good skills  good info good luck