Hi!

We are planning to fly my thai girlfriend to London in September.

Whats a good website to find/book a flight?

Also, we are planning to try to first get her over on a tourist visa for a month and then, while in London, look for a language school and bring her over on a student visa later this autumn. Is this a wise move or are her chances better if she go for the sudent visa directly?

Do I need to show the embassy a flight ticket when she applies for visa or can we just state some approximative dates?

How long time does it take for them to process a UK Tourist visa?

Thanks in advance, any hints appreciated. I am new at this so I am really glad I found this forum. Have a continued good day!

best regards

Jeff

Hi!

We are planning to fly my thai girlfriend to London in September.

Whats a good website to find/book a flight?

Also, we are planning to try to first get her over on a tourist visa for a month and then, while in London, look for a language school and bring her over on a student visa later this autumn. Is this a wise move or are her chances better if she go for the sudent visa directly?

Do I need to show the embassy a flight ticket when she applies for visa or can we just state some approximative dates?

How long time does it take for them to process a UK Tourist visa?

Thanks in advance, any hints appreciated. I am new at this so I am really glad I found this forum. Have a continued good day!

best regards

Jeff

Woah there Jeff!

First thing do not buy any tickets until you have got the UK visa - this is the advice given by the UK Visa section also. In terms of dates you need to tell them a date she would intend travelling and they'll normally make the visa valid a week before that date. Not wanting to p*ss on your chips so to speak but to give you a cold reality check but the UK tourist visas are a notoriously large pain the backside to get - I would suggest you search in the Visa to other countries section on this website first about peoples experiences. A UK Holiday Visa decision takes 3 - 5 days.

In terms of booking flights - Etihad and Qatar Airlines in general offer the best prices online at their sites - check out airline websites then speak with an agent and see they can beat them.

My advice as you say you are new to the whole visa application thing is to read thoroughly everything you can find - as would be said forewarned is forearmed.

Sri Lanka are currently cheapest, I believe, although availability might be an issue.

What's going on - oil prices are high, ticket prices are high, yet seats are sold and planes are full?

What's going on - oil prices are high, ticket prices are high, yet seats are sold and planes are full?

Because fuel is expensive, many airlines are cutting back on the number of flights, meaning the remaining ones tend to be fuller, and more expensive. Some have to travel, and the extra cost is the price of doing business. Others are taking "once in a blue moon" trips, and a couple hundred extra for a flight you may only take once every couple of years isn't that much.

It hurts frequent flyers that have to pay out of their own pockets of course. Even frequent flyer points/miles aren't worth much anymore as there is less and less chance of upgrades or free flights, due to those reduced schedules and fuller flights.

As for the cheap Bkkl-Lon flights. Do your homework. Search some travel sights to find the flights/airline/schedule that meets you needs. Check the prices, then go to an agent and see if they can get you a better deal. That is their job after all.

I use saveflights.com (they should have a couple of banners here somewhere). They have always been able to get me better prices than I could find myself.

Word of Warning ! Watch out for places like Expedia.com and others like them. I use them to see what flights are available, then go elsewhere to do the actual bookings. I've seen Expedia quote prices that were over $1,000 US more than what was available from the airline's website. I've done that a couple of times, and found that they (Expedia and others) constantly were more expensive than booking the tickets directly from the airline.

Woah there Jeff!

Agreed. Get the visa first, then worry about flights.

Maybe try the forum sponsor.

www.saveflights.com

Good luck

RAZZ

Sri Lanka are currently cheapest, I believe, although availability might be an issue.

What's going on - oil prices are high, ticket prices are high, yet seats are sold and planes are full?

I recently bought Oman Aviation for 35K. Sri Lanka is cheaper (about 32K) but not sure if my body can survive another long layover at Colombo after my last experience. Also Oman flies to Gatwick. Don't bother with Emirates as their UK flights are 53K now (unless they announce special deals just before).

Sri Lanka are currently cheapest, I believe, although availability might be an issue.

What's going on - oil prices are high, ticket prices are high, yet seats are sold and planes are full?

I recently bought Oman Aviation for 35K. Sri Lanka is cheaper (about 32K) but not sure if my body can survive another long layover at Colombo after my last experience. Also Oman flies to Gatwick. Don't bother with Emirates as their UK flights are 53K now (unless they announce special deals just before).

Did you do the overnighter in Colombo? I'm doing that soon and am not sure what to expect.