Thai AirAsia opposes airfare reductions due to operational costs

[Dolf]

14 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Proof? Really? I've said so many times but it seems you think I'm making it up that the fight I take was in 2019 around the Bt750+ mark and is now around the Bt1050+ for the cheapests fares for the flight time I take. You'll find this is a 40% increase. Can you tell us all, if you wish to, how long have you been in Thailand and how many flights have you taken?

Forgotten how many flights. Used Krabi, Phuket, Chumphon, Hat Yai, Surat Thani, Samui Bangkokx2, Khon Kaen, Udon, Ubon, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai airports. I've seen a 40% in prices increase since 2005. That is 19 years ago.

 

I'm amazed they still have flights under 900 baht.

[Tropicalevo]

3 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

I Sued Thai Air Asia last year, through priceline (whose office, Booking Holdings,  is right near my house in the US) because they refused to refund my $165 ticket after they rescheduled my flight. Cost priceline $1000 US to settle with me. I also posted it all over facebook. So for messing with me over petty cash they lost 8 x what they could have gotten off with, plus after my review was posted very likely lost a few hundred paying customers at least. I can tell you first hand that the airline is run by and staffed with idiots. And so is priceline and their entire group of agoda, expedia, and booking dot com. And with every story like this the airline loses a hundred or more customers. So what will they do, raise prices to cover THOSE losses? And so it goes. 

So you are the reason that prices are going up?

Legal fees, fines, compensation etc etc.

They all add up to increased prices.

[Thaindrew]

6 hours ago, Dolf said:

1200 baht CM to Don Muang in April. That's not expensive.

 

 

then they charge you 2000 too add a bag though

[theblether]

1 hour ago, dinsdale said:

I wouldn't say no one. How about goverments? I remember very, very substantial bailouts.

 

I lay short odds not a single individual sent a cheque to help out their favourite airline.

 

Anyway, the real problem.now is the drop in quality employee candidates for all airlines. Many airlines lost a high percentage of experienced people due to the pandemic, mainly to them changing careers. 

[Srikcir]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) regulates these airfares, setting ceiling prices for each route.

 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Sarun Benjanirat, deputy director-general of CAAT, mentioned that the agency is considering a new ceiling price that will accommodate all airlines. The price will be set for each route and adjusted based on each airline’s services. Factors such as fluctuating fuel price are to be considered in setting an appropriate rate. The implementation of these new rules is expected in the second or third quarter of this year.

CAAT is responding in a responsible manner. A resolution seems in the works and without government subsidies. Ultimately, if an airlines can't reach an agreement with CAAT on pricing, then lose its gates to one that can. 

[geisha]

Nearly all flights everywhere have increased immensely since Covid. Billions of $ were lost. Many would not exist now if the governments hadn’t stepped in. The billions they lost they had/ have to pay back . There is a huge problem with staff ( not only with on flight staff but on the ground too, industrial actions etc ) fuel, and taxes , also the world over. 
Easy enough to calculate what a flight costs from A to B. Google.  I often wondered before how on earth some flights could be so cheap . Times have changed and all costs have risen.

My last two flights , first Nice Bristol , 1hr 30 flight time return with easyjet low cost , 0ver 300 €. Not at holiday times.

My second, Nice to Venice , 1 hr flight easyjet low cost, 300 € .

Thats what we have to live with now.Many people I know in EU / Uk travel by car / train and even coach these days. Otherwise they would never be able to go on holiday. Imagine a family with 2 kids doing a long haul , there will be much less families traveling to Asia etc.

[Dolf]

4 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

I Sued Thai Air Asia last year, through priceline (whose office, Booking Holdings,  is right near my house in the US) because they refused to refund my $165 ticket after they rescheduled my flight. Cost priceline $1000 US to settle with me. I also posted it all over facebook. So for messing with me over petty cash they lost 8 x what they could have gotten off with, plus after my review was posted very likely lost a few hundred paying customers at least. I can tell you first hand that the airline is run by and staffed with idiots. And so is priceline and their entire group of agoda, expedia, and booking dot com. And with every story like this the airline loses a hundred or more customers. So what will they do, raise prices to cover THOSE losses? And so it goes. 

Did you use a lawyer?

[Graham8888]

5 hours ago, dinsdale said:

40%?

Yes fuel has since before covid - oil companies price gouging more than airlines 

staff costs have gone up - look at the (real) annual inflation rates since 2020 

[Ajarnbrian]

‘Free market principles’ are fine when there is genuine competition, equal access to markets and airports. Oligopoly markets (often just Duopoly) are not competitive enough and don’t lead to the reasonable fares Thai customers are seeking at holiday times. AirAsia has a responsibility to look after customers better rather than overcharging.

[Straight8]

8 hours ago, Dolf said:

Some of these vip buses charge 700 or 800 baht and take 10 to 12 hours versus 1200 baht for a plane ticket.

That all depends. I took a trip on one of these VIP buses to enjoy a bit of the scenery vs getting there in 1 hour & seeing nothing but a seat in front of me.

 

I would travel by VIP bus again vs taking a plane.

 

Just saying.....

[Dolf]

1 minute ago, Straight8 said:

That all depends. I took a trip on one of these VIP buses to enjoy a bit of the scenery vs getting there in 1 hour & seeing nothing but a seat in front of me.

 

I would travel by VIP bus again vs taking a plane.

 

Just saying.....

Window seats in planes have nice views, just saying.

[Straight8]

1 minute ago, Dolf said:

Window seats in planes have nice views, just saying.

Yeah sure, lovely view, for a whole 3 minutes before you see clouds....you do you in that case.

[Robert Paulson]

4 hours ago, JCauto said:

 

Sure, take away the agency responsible for security at airports and that will fix everything! The Guv'ment shouldn't be involved at all! They shouldn't build the airports, hire and regulate the Air Traffic Controllers, set safety standards for airplanes and airplane components, make sure the pilots are well-trained and up on their certifications, enable the international transfer of passengers and luggage, undertake immigration and customs duties...

Because it's the marvelous private sector that can do all these things much more effectively and efficiently, amirite? Such as has been done successfully numerous times, including in....oh, problem. It's never been done successfully. But we can point to some things where for example we can compare the Public Sector approach to the Private, such as Health Care. There's one country that seems fixated on private sector health care, that is the USA. As it is also the world's main proponent of a capitalism-beats-all approach, then they would surely be able to show the rest of the "commie" world how good ol' fashioned American know-how and get-it-doneness can overcome the sluggish creep of socialism. And the results prove it conclusively! The costs for health care per capita are ranked:

 

https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm

 

Guess who's number one? But of course, you'll point out, this is because they get the best health outcomes with their far more high-tech and efficient approach:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/05/us-healthcare-system-ranks-last-11-wealthiest-countries

 

Hmmmmm. So the private sector approach is the MOST expensive of the different ones taken by the most developed countries in the world and also doesn't even appear within the lists of the best health outcome countries in the world.

 

In my opinion, the private sector approach works well for much of the economy but absolutely and utterly fails when it comes to provision of necessary services. These include health care, environmental and safety regulation, law enforcement, education and the military. Those are clearly best left to government to manage as demonstrated by numerous studies and the US' valiant efforts to prove the social democracies pre-eminence in the modern age.

I meant the tsa. We were fine without the tsa for decades. It serves zero purpose. It costs money and is a major annoyance and even borderline unconstitutional. Plus numerous people have shown the tsa is completely ineffective.
 

I dont understand why people think the tsa can do anything. Let’s just say for the sake of argument the tsa barriers were an impenetrable force. You could have a guy working at Taco Bell in the terminal hand off stuff in a potential plane hijacking. There so many ways to get stuff past those barriers it’s laughable. Think about it! What was used to hijack planes? Box cutters. We don’t think there are knives and other items right within the terminals in restaurants etc? Ask any person who’s been in prison and let me know what they think of tsa “security” it is a nothing burger

[Robert Paulson]

1 hour ago, geisha said:

Nearly all flights everywhere have increased immensely since Covid. Billions of $ were lost. Many would not exist now if the governments hadn’t stepped in. The billions they lost they had/ have to pay back . There is a huge problem with staff ( not only with on flight staff but on the ground too, industrial actions etc ) fuel, and taxes , also the world over. 
Easy enough to calculate what a flight costs from A to B. Google.  I often wondered before how on earth some flights could be so cheap . Times have changed and all costs have risen.

My last two flights , first Nice Bristol , 1hr 30 flight time return with easyjet low cost , 0ver 300 €. Not at holiday times.

My second, Nice to Venice , 1 hr flight easyjet low cost, 300 € .

Thats what we have to live with now.Many people I know in EU / Uk travel by car / train and even coach these days. Otherwise they would never be able to go on holiday. Imagine a family with 2 kids doing a long haul , there will be much less families traveling to Asia etc.

Yes. Government screwed everything up, like they always do, for nothing. When government gets involved it’s always us who pay for their often planned and ridiculous “mistakes”. 

[paulikens]

I wonder how long greedy companies will use covid every time they just wanna rip off the public.  10 years time they'll still be using covid as the reason they're greedy ba**ards 

[crazykopite]

The prices seem reasonable Bangkok airways from Samui to BKK is mega expensive so much so I now fly from Suratthani 

[IamNoone88]

Price gouging pure and simple. Simply don't use them. Thai Lion Air is better value.

[ibjoe]

2 hours ago, Robert Paulson said:

I meant the tsa. We were fine without the tsa for decades. It serves zero purpose. It costs money and is a major annoyance and even borderline unconstitutional. Plus numerous people have shown the tsa is completely ineffective.
 

I dont understand why people think the tsa can do anything. Let’s just say for the sake of argument the tsa barriers were an impenetrable force. You could have a guy working at Taco Bell in the terminal hand off stuff in a potential plane hijacking. There so many ways to get stuff past those barriers it’s laughable. Think about it! What was used to hijack planes? Box cutters. We don’t think there are knives and other items right within the terminals in restaurants etc? Ask any person who’s been in prison and let me know what they think of tsa “security” it is a nothing burger

 

TSA found 6737 guns at the checkpoints in 2023. So, at least somewhat effective. USA was not fine without TSA, consider 9-11. That is why USA has TSA now, to avoid that kind of thing happening again.

 

[puck2]

10 hours ago, dinsdale said:

No. Not the case. Prices are well up even with very early booking.

 

That's not true, concerning my own experience. Example:

A few days after Nerw Year I booked a direct flight (online) from Chiang Mai (CNX) to Hua Hin. Price by Air Asia: 1.241 THB including all usual  fees + a fee for a 15 kg (checked) luggage for 438THB. Flight date: last week of March.

"Prices are well up even with very early booking?" I cannot confirm this.

[alien365]

I've been on a few local flights recently, but I think I'll go back to driving. It would have been cheaper for me on each occasion to just drive and considering the time it takes to get to the airports, leaving room for delays etc then getting to where I want to at the other side is only an extra hour or two. Apparently it's also better for the environment. 

[puck2]

7 hours ago, Dolf said:

Not being ripped off. Flights are cheap in Thailand. Catch a bus if you want cheaper. Your choice.

 

.....  and buses are xx-times more dangerous, just in Thailand!

[PumpkinEater]

And there you have it, .”Due to losses during the pandemic prices are higher”…

The so called “inflation” is nothing more than corporate greed and a recoup plan to make up for the losses during the pandemic, on all sectors.

Record profits now being realized by the mass corporate price increases, and these prices will never go down (or only slightly to appease the public).

 

 

[jacko45k]

19 hours ago, WHansen said:

t is an attempt to halt price gouging across the board. If every airline price gouges, the travellers have no choice on wether an airline is too expensive to use.

Why, will they be forced onto the plane at gunpoint?

They will shop around, use alternative transport, or decide not to travel.

I suspect airlines will increase flights if they are busy, and then supply and demand takes over. 

[stargrazer9889]

Cheap airlines usually go broke pretty fast. Reality is the world that Air Asia lives in.

  Other airlines are still chaging more because of higher fees as well.

Quit complaining or quit flying, your choice. IMO

[Jonathan Swift]

21 hours ago, Spamhead said:

Sorry but that's plainly not true. If they put the original price up 12% and then discounted the resultant price by 12% you still received a discount on the original price. That's just basic maths.

You assume that everyone passed basic math in school. Clearly SOMEONE  didn't. Perhaps you should recommend a good Thai elementary school that he could attend. I hear they are a lot of fun. 

[Robert Paulson]

14 hours ago, ibjoe said:

 

TSA found 6737 guns at the checkpoints in 2023. So, at least somewhat effective. USA was not fine without TSA, consider 9-11. That is why USA has TSA now, to avoid that kind of thing happening again.

 

You’re delusional. If terrorists want a plane they will have it in a heartbeat. As I said, 9/11 was boxcutter. Dude think about it. You can buy a steak in the terminal. What do you think you’ll cut it with? Idk maybe they do not give knives in terminals for this reason but you for sure could get your hands on any number of things. The tsa is just useless government bloatware. 
 

you’re kidding about the guns right? Terrorists dont carry guns onto planes if you haven’t noticed. If somebody wants to hijack a plane, they’re going to, that simple. We all just need to deal with that fact. In fact, if someone wants to hijack a bar or a nightclub, they can do all that too. I don’t see why airplanes get special treatment. Being in a restaurant would be just as “unsafe”. The only reason they do all this government bloatware is to control and stifle us, and people like you fall for it hook line and sinker. 

Edited March 10 by Robert Paulson

[alex8912]

22 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Not the point really is it. The whole point of this thread is is price gouging going on. That 1 pizza could well be 2 if I'm getting ripped off.

You are not getting ripped off!  It's in your head. A percentage doesn't really matter when you are texting about 300 baht!!  Or $8.45! An air fare going up that small amount is NOT ripping you off.

[condo62]

Used to fly with them regularly pre ConVid-19 but since the world has reopened their prices have gone up while their service is almost non existent....They sacked their Australian staff and it is almost impossible to talk to a human. To use their ridiculous vouchers is a farce as they didn't refund and have restrictions on their use making them nearly worthless.....🤬

[bristolgeoff]

Thai airways can charge more,but cheaper airlines  will be booked first.that is the way of travel.

[Dolf]

20 hours ago, Straight8 said:

Yeah sure, lovely view, for a whole 3 minutes before you see clouds....you do you in that case.

Buses are fairly dangerous too. Lots of juiced up drivers and dealing with other vehicles. I wouldnt recommend buses much over 3 hours.