Why Is Thai Airways More Expensive Than Other Carriers?

[pistolpete]

I personally like Thai Airways. But for my own curiosity how do they justified charging more for their tickets price than other in the same league. Thai products are not that consistent. One minute I am flying in the New Airbus A340-500 the next I will be in this antique A300-600 with no IFE and cramp leg rooms? The onboards service is excellent and very attentive but please enlight me about their pricing structure.

BTW is it true that they treated Farangs much better than Thai???

[taxout]

In Asia, air carriers tend to charge more in their home markets. Same with Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong.

[MikeRay]

And they have no competition from Frankfurt to Bangkok without stopover. Brunei was always some hundred Euros cheaper for us. One beer on a flight was never worth the higher price. And Service isn´t that good , and I always catched old planes when travelling with them.

[wileycoyote]

My gripe is that they never have the spring timetable/reservations on internet open till December !

Sorry

Wiley Coyote

[londonthai]

yes, they fly directly, they have good service and food, do allow over 20kg and they are on time. Within the last few years their prices went up, but the lower class seats they do sell discounted to the travel agents specialising in thailand

[Mid]

just a few months ago they announced price increases due to falling ticket sales ............................

[wileycoyote]

My wife agrees with londonthai.

Also they are friendly and helpful with the kids

Wiley Coyote

[Naam]

And they have no competition from Frankfurt to Bangkok without stopover. Brunei was always some hundred Euros cheaper for us. One beer on a flight was never worth the higher price. And Service isn´t that good , and I always catched old planes when travelling with them.

Lufthansa flies non-stop FRA-BKK-FRA.

[pistolpete]

Thai Airways Marketing team should learn from EVA air. They are very aggressive especially from the States to Asia. 2 yrs ago I paid $599 roundtrip from lax to bkk with them. Thai wanted at least 1075 for their direct flight. So the choice was clear last time, forget about the mileage not worth it. But you get what you paid for. I ended up getting a flight from hel_l. First my gf and I didn't get to sit together. Then the plane need to refuel in seattle because of a strong headwinds ( took about 1:30 on ground) The flight was delay by about 3 hrs. But overall we saved $475 each which i happily spent it on the Pimalai Resort in Koh Lanta.

Edited October 26, 2007 by pistolpete

[MikeRay]

Lufthansa/Thai is the same carrier as far as I know. I booked Thai and flew Lufthansa twice.

[pistolpete]

MikeRay

That is one of the Thai great benefits STAR ALLIANCE..member

[onethailand]

Lufthansa/Thai is the same carrier as far as I know. I booked Thai and flew Lufthansa twice.

It's not the same carrier - it's something known as codeshare - in this case both are members of Star Alliance so they share a flight instead of running two half-empty flights.

[lamlukka]

On the Thai Airways site you can see when you book a flight which airline operates it.

When you see OP it means that Star Alliance partner operates and not Thai.

You can also see which partner.

When you want a Thai plane you must look for the flight without the OP after the flightnumber.

llk

[think_too_mut]

I personally like Thai Airways. But for my own curiosity how do they justified charging more for their tickets price than other in the same league.

BTW is it true that they treated Farangs much better than Thai???

Personally, I dislike Thai Airways (TG).

TG are not naive at all. Their tickets are more expensive than Japan Airlines, but when you look closer, if you need it as I did, they are cheaper.

For example, a ticket from Japan to BKK on TG would be 800 units, on JAL 650 units.

Try to change anything and then it starts. A changable return date. TG was 1440 units, the same thing on JAL was 3000 units.

(Unit = abstracting local money, to make it simple).

About the treatment Thais onboard get on TG flights, I still have to hear a Thai person saying it is what they expect.

[Cobalt60]

Interesting business concept, cant sell something ...bang the price up. I think the air miles earned for silver/gold card have or are being reduced also to help pay for newer or updated aircraft. Keep squeezing you will hear our pips squeak as we walk over to Eva or Etihad

Edited October 26, 2007 by Cobalt60

[britmaveric]

Dunno TG was cheaper than UAL this go around, so infact their price has gotten lower than previous years.

[speedways]

FRA/BKK/FRA WITH LUFTHANSA QUOTED 727 EURO

TG CODESHARE SAME FLIGHT OPERATED BY LH QUOTED 822 EURO

SAME FLIGHT DIFFERENT QUOTES

[speedways]

AND QATAR VIA DOHA 646 EURO

[cclub75]

For Paris/BKK TG has 1 direct flight per day (2 years ago, they had 2).

Only Air France (not... a cheap company) has another direct flight.

So ? Why bother ? TG has already increased its prices. A lot.

And furthermore, they are fully booked (1 flight per day, is obviously not enough).

So again ? Why bother ?

[lomatopo]

I personally like Thai Airways. But for my own curiosity how do they justified charging more for their tickets price than other in the same league. Thai products are not that consistent. One minute I am flying in the New Airbus A340-500 the next I will be in this antique A300-600 with no IFE and cramp leg rooms? The onboards service is excellent and very attentive but please enlight me about their pricing structure.

BTW is it true that they treated Farangs much better than Thai???

It might help if you provided a few examples of airfares that have led you to your conclusion.

Airline ticket pricing is extremely complex and inventories of fare buckets change by the second. It is nearly impossible to compare available prices for a city-pair as there is no single search engine nor reservation system (Amadeus, Galileo, etc.) that can see all inventory, like that held by consolidators. One can easily compare published fares. Most airlines have at least twelve (12) fare buckets in Economy class alone.

Most airlines have mixed fleets as a result of a number of criteria. TG is not alone in this regard. The A340-500's, which they'd probably wish they had never purchased, are really only meant for long, thin routes like BKK-LAX/BKK-JFK. And TG are actively trying to replace the A300's. They did announce a deal with Airbus to add eight (8) A330's to the fleet, but I am not sure where this deal stands as it was being re-reviewed with the government change.

Re: BKK-FRA, there are currently two daily non-stops operated by TG and one operated by LH. TG and LH co-market each other's flights. Typically a four-digit flight number will indicate you are on a code-share while a three digit flight number, in this case, would indicate you are flying the issuing carriers' "metal". On some days the LH flight continues on, a "tag" flight, to either SGN or CGK (I think). It is not unusual to get different quotes for the same flight from different retail outlets as one still has "V" fare inventory while another may have sold those out and now only has a more expensive "Q" fare available.

[pistolpete]

WOW Lamotopo!!! You are an expert in this field. May I called you Mr KNOWLEDGE.

FARE SAMPLE: lax to bkk $ 1075 for Thai

$ 820 for Eva

$ 945 for UA

$ 900 for ANA

My point is don't they want to promote Thailand. They are the flag carrier of the kingdom eh. I heard not to many Thai ppls fly with them because of the price structure. There are a tons of Thais that live in LA!!

that is all!

[lomatopo]

But for my own curiosity how do they justified charging more for their tickets price than other in the same league.

TG operates daily, direct, non-stop service between BKK and LAX. UA/NH/BR operate one-stop, with equipment change, service via NRT or TPE. In theory one should be able to charge a premium for more efficient service, i.e. time savings. Unfortunately for TG, and even for SQ on their LAX/EWR non-stops, perhaps not enough people across 3 cabins (business, premium economy and economy) are willing to pay a premium to save ~ 3 hours? Loads are reportedly quite high (mid/high 80%) for TG on these routes but there are some rumors that loads need to be ~ 105% to break even. And given the weight issues on these flights cargo is rarely viable alternative revenue enhancer.

A lot of regular TG travelers, as evidenced by their contributions on the TG subforum on Flyertalk, seem to think TG offers quite competitive fares, especially on business and first class. I think that when TG did offer one-stop service to LAX, and should they revert back to one-stop service in the future, you would have found the prices for this city-pair competitive.

[pistolpete]

you are the man lomatopo...Mr knowledge

I thought I knew everything about airlines... WOW!!!!

Guess what aircraft is display on my profile?

[think_too_mut]

Airline ticket pricing is extremely complex and inventories of fare buckets change by the second. It is nearly impossible to compare available prices for a city-pair as there is no single search engine nor reservation system (Amadeus, Galileo, etc.) that can see all inventory, like that held by consolidators. One can easily compare published fares. Most airlines have at least twelve (12) fare buckets in Economy class alone.

Even on the very same flight, same dates, same plane, not only TG have several prices. When you look closer, with prices going up the restrictions go down.

Use or lose, no changes allowed, no cancellation, no refund, tix are the cheapest.

If TG tix is more expensive, it probably has less restrictions.

A dramatic example would be - one way tix for deportees. No airline other than TG would accept such a passenger.

[kenk3z]

Some of the pricing differential has to do with your chances of surviving the flight. Or the perception thereof.

kenk3z

[Prakanong]

In Asia, air carriers tend to charge more in their home markets. Same with Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong.

Would agree with that - TG prices seem to be better out of Singapore than out of Thailand.

Cheaper than SIA but I have to fly SIA on company business.

[lomatopo]

Even on the very same flight, same dates, same plane, not only TG have several prices. When you look closer, with prices going up the restrictions go down.

Use or lose, no changes allowed, no cancellation, no refund, tix are the cheapest.

If TG tix is more expensive, it probably has less restrictions.

A dramatic example would be - one way tix for deportees. No airline other than TG would accept such a passenger.

Correct.

Note sure if these URL's will work, the engine is at www.farecompare.com. Note that these are published fares, and are not necessarily available for a specific travel date.

Fare comparisons

TG Fare Basis Codes: LAX-BKK

TG's fare basis codes by CoS are:

FC : FAPZ O

BC : CDRJL I

E+ : U

EC : YBMHQNVWSTGK X

Typically Y/B fares are fully refundable, changeable without fee. M/H fares start to introduce restrictions: advance purchase (APEX), minimum stay, fees to change/refund. From Q on down your looking at excursion fares with ever increasing restrictions, and fees to change or refund until refundability is no longer an option. Some airlines allow you to buy up to a higher fare basis, and make changes, without a fee.

Re: SQ, I think you'll find that SQ charges a similar premium for their direct, non-stop service (SIN-LAX/SIN-EWR)

when compared to one-stop carriers like UA and NH.

[speedways]

this sttill doesnt answer my question

why is tg so much more expensive from

fra/bkk/fra than lh when travelling on same flight

both are star alliance companies and fares should be

the same for the same codeshare flight but the are not

[lomatopo]

this sttill doesnt answer my question

why is tg so much more expensive from

fra/bkk/fra than lh when travelling on same flight

both are star alliance companies and fares should be

the same for the same codeshare flight but the are not

To paraphrase Forest Gump, airline ticket pricing is like a box of chocolates. Once you eat the three chocolate covered cherries (the really cheap W fares) they are all gone so now you have to choose a slightly less desirable caramel, maybe there are four of those (slightly more expensive Q and V fares). After you scarf those you move on to the nougats, say there are five of those (more expensive M and H fares) which someone finds palatable and those get eaten. Finally all that's left are the dodgey coconut clusters (most expensive economy fares, Y and B ) which because someone just has to have a taste of candy eventually get eaten, or get thrown away shortly after the flight takes off.

With codeshares the operating airline gives a small sampler pack to their partner. The sampler pack has fewer pieces of each type of candy. The partner might eat all their chocolate covered cherries before the operating airline has finished theirs, and the reverse can occur as well. You will likely always see an inventory difference. There are several other factors influencing differences in native/codeshare prices (revenue sharing, different yield management systems, awards) but more often than not all you are seeing is different fare buckets. You are attempting to compare a chocolate covered cherry to a caramel.

Edited October 27, 2007 by lomatopo

[Captain Chaos]

In Asia, air carriers tend to charge more in their home markets. Same with Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong.

Would agree with that - TG prices seem to be better out of Singapore than out of Thailand.

Cheaper than SIA but I have to fly SIA on company business.

Could you PM me the name of your travel agent coz I always get quoted silly money for TG SIN-BKK-SIN, and as SQ are pricey too, I end up on Swiss, who are great but have only one flight per day which is sometimes inconvenient ...

CC