Thai Airlines (special Deals And Bad News)

[jimmym40]

I just did some checking on Thaiair website. I fly to LAX twice a year and I'm really bummed at their current pricing and treatment of GOLD members. But some good news and more bad news.

On their SuperDeals list, they have a R/T ticket from BKK to London and return. Dates are 13 - 21

Sep. Price listed is 12,900 baht plust taxes, etc. Check it out if interested. Sounds to me like an unbelievable price.

NOW the BAD news for anyone that flies to LAX. Beginning in NOV, no more direct flights to LAX. No more A340 acft. They will be using Boeing 777s and going thru Osaka. The really bad news is that there will be a 7-8 hour stopover. The departure and arrivals times have all changed, now getting in at Bkk late p.m. which means staying over in Bkk if you have an onward destination, like me, Chiang Mai.

It took me some navigating to find this all out. If they would lower their fares to compensate, I would consider, BUT NOT ANY LONGER...

[JBStuart]

I just did some checking on Thaiair website. I fly to LAX twice a year and I'm really bummed at their current pricing and treatment of GOLD members. But some good news and more bad news.

On their SuperDeals list, they have a R/T ticket from BKK to London and return. Dates are 13 - 21

Sep. Price listed is 12,900 baht plust taxes, etc. Check it out if interested. Sounds to me like an unbelievable price.

NOW the BAD news for anyone that flies to LAX. Beginning in NOV, no more direct flights to LAX. No more A340 acft. They will be using Boeing 777s and going thru Osaka. The really bad news is that there will be a 7-8 hour stopover. The departure and arrivals times have all changed, now getting in at Bkk late p.m. which means staying over in Bkk if you have an onward destination, like me, Chiang Mai.

It took me some navigating to find this all out. If they would lower their fares to compensate, I would consider, BUT NOT ANY LONGER...

7-8 hour stopover in Osaka? You might want to check that again. The LAX-BKK flight will be a 777 and leaving LA at 12:10pm and getting into BKK at 11:40pm, with a (technical) stopover in Osaka of less than an hour. I have the flight booked in late December.

[NotNew2You]

Yes, with price of fuel, these extra long-haul non-stop flights they started to NYC and LAX with so much fanfare a couple years ago are all being eliminated.

[geriatrickid]

Considering the state of TG labour relations (likelihood of wildcat strikes) and the airport shutdowns, TG is not a wise decision. OK, you can say, if the airports are shut down, using another carrier won't matter. Except, that there were some service issues at the BKK TG ticket agent positions during part of the airport closures. TG agents had to deal with thousands of PAX seeking to reticket, whereas the crowds were not as severe at the airlines that did not take their ticket agent services from TG. If there are any further labour disruptions at TG, PAX will regret selecting TG. The past shutdowns did an number on the TG balance sheet and the airline like all the others that have experienced similar problems, will have to stopgap those losses somehow and that will mean redundancies and more labour unhappiness.

Something to ponder. Perhaps a prudent traveler may wish to take a pass on TG for at least the next 4 months. IMHO. Sorry .

[Governor]

On their SuperDeals list, they have a R/T ticket from BKK to London and return. Dates are 13 - 21

Sep. Price listed is 12,900 baht plust taxes, etc. Check it out if interested. Sounds to me like an unbelievable price.

Certainly seemed like a good deal so I thought I take advantage and have a quick trip back to the UK for a few days.

There is certainly availability but when I continued with the booking the taxes and surcharges were 20,645 making a total in excess of 33,000. I suppose still reasonable in todays market, but only if the restricted itineary was convienient.

[Ricardo]

That's roughly double the taxes & surcharges which people like Emirates/Etihad/Qatar charge, even though they have an extra landing & take-off half-way, what a rip-off !

When will Thai Airways realise that this sort of behaviour puts off travellers, who would otherwise wish to fly with them, and that once gone they are harder to win back again ?

[Governor]

When will Thai Airways realise that this sort of behaviour puts off travellers, who would otherwise wish to fly with them, and that once gone they are harder to win back again ?

I doubt it, less people travelling lets put up the prices.

Even Singapore Airlines only charges 15,400 in taxes and surcharges on this route, again with a two leg longer journey.

[dudemeister]

My company normally fly me home on breaks from work in Middle East,

everytime they used Thai Airlines, Dubai to BKK,

(which i can then claim the air-miles points on my Royal Orchid Membership)

- but now my company are saying its too expensive - they are using Emirates now.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

On their SuperDeals list, they have a R/T ticket from BKK to London and return. Dates are 13 - 21

Sep. Price listed is 12,900 baht plust taxes, etc. Check it out if interested. Sounds to me like an unbelievable price.

I can't find it on their site; where is it?

(Even if this is ex surcharges, I have to fly to Europe soon and need some TG points)

[Governor]

There is a link on the home page, Super Deals, but you have to book the exact outward and return flights, on specific dates to get the deal.

http://202.122.131.41:8080/NASApp/IP_SPECIAL/DisplaySpecial

[lomatopo]

Much confusion and misunderstanding on this thread.

1.) The Base Fare for BKK-LHR-BKK does show as 12,900 but I strongly suspect this is a 'mistake fare'; a data-entry mistake in the GDS and/or website. Maybe 32,900? 42,900? 52,900? Some airlines, and hotels (think Holiday Inn Phuket for 1 penny per night last year), honor mistake fares if only to avoid bad publicity. I suspect TG would not honor a mistake fare even if you could ticket it.

2.) Re: long stop-over, I suspect the OP is referring to less than ideal connections at BKK to/from USA on TG with the new timing of the LAX flight. The long/overnight stopover is required at BKK in order to connect to/from a domestic TG flight.

Wildcat labor strikes at TG? This is beyond presposterous. One TG labor union leader suggested that members take their two-day sick leave (no Doctor's note required) to support the PAD. Even if everyone did take this, it would hardly affect operations. Not sure how people come up withese crazy ideas?

Edited September 11, 2008 by lomatopo