Thailand Flight Costs

[benjamat]

We all have seen how the price of tickets has risen recently.

If you get a return with say BA and stay longer than the ticket period you will have to pay significant extra cash to change return date.

I have seen posts suggesting buying only 1 way tickets but when I check prices the costs of the tickets added together is prohibitive.

Anyone any ideas or experience they can share, obviously if you have a relaxed travel itinery it would be better not to be tied into a return date.

btw I like only direct flights to uk.

many thanks.

[lordsux]

Remember that you must have a visa in your passport if you turn up with a one-way ticket. Otherwise it is highly unlikely that the airline will allow you to board the plane.

[MKAsok]

Eva do a good ticket from London - 6 months validity - return changes free of charge as many times as you like (I guess within reason). Used to run about £650, but I used my last return with Eva ages ago and flew back one-way on air miles to HK, then took a cheap Emirates flight, so might well be more now...

[benjamat]

6 months with no charge for change dates, that is good.

What about travel after 6 months ?

[bravingbangkok]

I go back to the UK no less than 3 times a year and I have been doing this for 5 years, My airline is Etihad. only 30 000-35000baht return, brand new aircraft B777-300 and A340-600/500 (which are the two safest aircraft in the air today), clean and comfortable, always empty apart from the return flight from Abu Dahbi - Bangkok. Once you have got a Gold card every flight you take to London you receive 19500 airmiles, Silver 16250 and normal 13000, you get usage of Etihad lounges, extra baggage allowance, priority boarding with first and busienss class and a lot more. With Silver you also have lounge access and baggage discount.

For a free flight to London return(not incl tax) is only 75 000 airmiles, you can also add family members to the club and all airmiles made are pooled together with any member of the family being able to use the airmiles. So if you have a family of 3 and travel 3 times a year and have family members coming to Thailand every year you can make close to 300 000 airmiles a year, that would be 4 free flights for the next year ! name me one other airline with an airmile program like that ?

Fly BA ? hahaha you must be crazy, horrible staff, horrible seats, horrible entertainment system and do not get me started on the silly prices they charge.

http://www.etihadairways.com/etihadairways...isitor/Join.htm

[MKAsok]

6 months with no charge for change dates, that is good.

What about travel after 6 months ?

bravingbangkok - I think the OP is looking for direct flights.

To the OP - I'm pretty sure this is the standard maximum validity for tickets these days. I did ask my London travel agent (she's excellent btw, PM me if you want her number) if EVA did 1 year validity tickets, but she said definitely not. It certainly used to be the case where 1 year validity tickets were very common. The first time I came out here, in 1992, I flew on a 1 year completely open ticket from Aeroflot, no less. That was some trip, London - Moscow - Dubai - Delhi - Bangkok. About £200 cheaper than anyone else (actually fares haven't changed that much since then - I think we paid around £250) and there were about 11 people on the plane, a huge Russian flying house of an aircraft. Anyway, the standard now definitely seems to be one month validity with no changes allowed without financial penalties if you want a 'normal' priced economy ticket. E.G. If you fly return with Eva you can expect to pay an average of around £450 for a 'standard lowest price available' kind of economy ticket. The next level is the fare class I described, with much more flexibility (but still in economy), then you're into business and first class prices with the greatest flexibility. I agree entirely that one way tickets are a waste of money. As I said, the last time I went back to London, I wanted a one-way ticket back here and the best my agent could get (and she always finds the lowest fare, better even than Opodo, lastminute etc) was £399 which was only about £70 cheaper than the return fare at that time, thus my decision to use air miles.

[benjamat]

Thanks for posts, good info.

Yes I prefer direct flights and you are correct, most cheaper tickets seem to be limited to 1 month validity these days.

I like the idea of the air miles but even a direct flight I find almost unbearable these days and I dont have the cash to pay business class fayres (fares) prices.

Sadly I have also lost a few pieces of luggage in transfer so am even more reticent.

Seems the answer is pay up or take the pain.

[Mali1964]

Thanks for posts, good info.

Yes I prefer direct flights and you are correct, most cheaper tickets seem to be limited to 1 month validity these days.

I like the idea of the air miles but even a direct flight I find almost unbearable these days and I dont have the cash to pay business class fayres (fares) prices.

Sadly I have also lost a few pieces of luggage in transfer so am even more reticent.

Seems the answer is pay up or take the pain.

Flew Emerate's in April with 12 month validity 630 pounds return date i choose was march 09 if i change 75 quid

[IMA_FARANG]

We all have seen how the price of tickets has risen recently.

If you get a return with say BA and stay longer than the ticket period you will have to pay significant extra cash to change return date.

I have seen posts suggesting buying only 1 way tickets but when I check prices the costs of the tickets added together is prohibitive.

Anyone any ideas or experience they can share, obviously if you have a relaxed travel itinery it would be better not to be tied into a return date.

btw I like only direct flights to uk.

many thanks.

Unless the airlines have changed their rules, most full-fare tickets can be bought with an OPEN return date. The unused return leg is good for one year (sometimes more). Some discount fare tickets may have time of use limitations on them, but you can check on that before you buy.

So if you buy a full or normal fare (not a heavily discounted) ticket, and you want to travel in Southeast Asia. When it's time to leave LOS then you go to the airline's Bangkok office with the unused return ticket. You book your flight with that airline. Use your unused return coupon as CREDIT for your flight. If the cost of the flight exceeds the credit you have left, you pay the difference.

If you do this correctly, you can book a return flight from Europe (including the U.K., which despite what many Brits seem to think is still part of Europe) fly from the U.K. to BKK, stay here until your visa time runs out, and then travel throughout Southeast Asia doing the "tourist" thing. Of course, you need to be able to pay for the final return home ticket when it is time to go. Nothing comes free, does it?

Also most airlines have a "round the world" fare option. Yes, it's expensive. The Star allience (Thai International is one member). You can start from Europe, travel around the world (you must keep heading in the same direction, no backtracking, but north-south flights are usually allowed). Sometimes there is a limitation that says travel must be completed within 90 or 180 days of start of travel. You can do the tourist travel thing as long as the ticket lasts.

[Maizefarmer]

A good option, if not the best option - if travelling to Thailand on a regular basis:

On arrival buy 2nd return ticket.

Keep the return sector of the first ticket (the back to the UK parto fthe ticket).

Now use the 2nd return ticket purchased in Thailand to leave TH and return home.

Use the this same ticket to come back to Thailand.

.......and what if you get stopped because you only have a one way ticket???

The answer: keep the original UK/TH return ticket with you when travelling back to Thailand - the original ticket still has the unused "return" sectors valid.

Whats the sense in all this??

Like for like - class for class - airline for airline - Return tickets from TH to Europe are roughly half the price as Return tickets from Europe to TH. And yes, of course this only makes sense if you are travelling to Thailand on a regular basis.

[MKAsok]

Unless the airlines have changed their rules, most full-fare tickets can be bought with an OPEN return date. The unused return leg is good for one year (sometimes more).

You're quite right. I was talking about discounted tickets in the sense they are the 'norm' now, since I assumed no sane person would ever pay full-fare anymore. It's very unusual to be offered any kind of fare that isn't discounted in some way. I believe the full fare with absolutely no discounts (in economy) can run to around £3,500 if the searches I just did on Opodo and lastminute.com are anything to go by...

[benjamat]

Yes, open normal tickets are very very expensive, no one in their right mind would buy them, you can buy discounted business class much cheaper.

[yabaaaa]

I go back to the UK no less than 3 times a year and I have been doing this for 5 years, My airline is Etihad. only 30 000-35000baht return, brand new aircraft B777-300 and A340-600/500 (which are the two safest aircraft in the air today), clean and comfortable, always empty apart from the return flight from Abu Dahbi - Bangkok. Once you have got a Gold card every flight you take to London you receive 19500 airmiles, Silver 16250 and normal 13000, you get usage of Etihad lounges, extra baggage allowance, priority boarding with first and busienss class and a lot more. With Silver you also have lounge access and baggage discount.

For a free flight to London return(not incl tax) is only 75 000 airmiles, you can also add family members to the club and all airmiles made are pooled together with any member of the family being able to use the airmiles. So if you have a family of 3 and travel 3 times a year and have family members coming to Thailand every year you can make close to 300 000 airmiles a year, that would be 4 free flights for the next year ! name me one other airline with an airmile program like that ?

Fly BA ? hahaha you must be crazy, horrible staff, horrible seats, horrible entertainment system and do not get me started on the silly prices they charge.

http://www.etihadairways.com/etihadairways...isitor/Join.htm

Emirates do identical program 67500 miles gets me a free flight to BKK from Birmimngham and I frequently get upgraded to business as a gold member.

[Mali1964]

to me one other airline with an airmile program like that ?

Qatar Airways same same

Emirates do identical program 67500 miles gets me a free flight to BKK from Birmimngham and I frequently get upgraded to business as a gold member.

[RobinHolmes]

For UK Direct flights from BKK to LHR Eva Air is mostly cheapest. But be aware that Thai Airways is sometimes cheaper depending on dates or if you want to add in internal flights from Phuket or Chiang Mai.

[rockyysdt]

My route is different (MEL-BNK) but I suspect all airlines are using similar tactics to gouge the most money out of us.

I tried shopping around.

Whilst exploring "return airfares" I noticed that either the return leg, or the initial flight was much cheaper than the other, depending on the date and carrier.

With this knowledge I attempted to book the cheapest "one way" fare from each carrier to take advantage.

Surprise, surprise. Unless you book a "return airfare", the fares offered for the same flights are much higher, up to the same as a return airfare in some cases.

You should either find out who the cheapest carrier is and go with them, or plan your dates well in advance and keep an eye out for "birthday" specials.

If you're able to land cheap fares, be prepared to lose your money on the return portion if your dates change. The penalty fee for altering the date on top of the the difference for the new fare often means it's cheaper to buy a new ticket from someone else.

Perhaps the slow down in the global economy will result in increased empty seats and lots of promotional seats to encourage travel.

On a side note, isn't it worth paying more to fly British Airways just to hear the Air Hostesses speak with that sexy BBC accent.

[benjamat]

My route is different (MEL-BNK) but I suspect all airlines are using similar tactics to gouge the most money out of us.

I tried shopping around.

Whilst exploring "return airfares" I noticed that either the return leg, or the initial flight was much cheaper than the other, depending on the date and carrier.

With this knowledge I attempted to book the cheapest "one way" fare from each carrier to take advantage.

Surprise, surprise. Unless you book a "return airfare", the fares offered for the same flights are much higher, up to the same as a return airfare in some cases.

You should either find out who the cheapest carrier is and go with them, or plan your dates well in advance and keep an eye out for "birthday" specials.

If you're able to land cheap fares, be prepared to lose your money on the return portion if your dates change. The penalty fee for altering the date on top of the the difference for the new fare often means it's cheaper to buy a new ticket from someone else.

Perhaps the slow down in the global economy will result in increased empty seats and lots of promotional seats to encourage travel.

On a side note, isn't it worth paying more to fly British Airways just to hear the Air Hostesses speak with that sexy BBC accent.

Uh, dont think so, probably scots or brummy, or even god forbid welsh like meee.

But general posts seem to be correct, very difficult to get any form of open ended ticketing without paying through the nose.

Thanks Everyone, guess Ill just use eva which has a direct return for around 540 pounds and worry about extending afterwards.

Mike