When Should I Buy My Flight?

[bennyben]

Hi

I'm heading to Thailand in mid Jan, seen some good deals from the UK to Bangkok for about £400 or so, should I buy now or wait till Jan 2010 for the sales?

[britmaveric]

Buy now - dont think you will find much better than that in high season.

[chriswatson]

Hi, when is considered high season? I'm thinking of coming next month with family with a view to settle. Alternatively I was going to wait to after Christmas. Should I presume November would be cheaper?

[Blackandwhite]

Hi Chris

I always use westeasttravel.com, they are for me the cheapest, my wife went out with my daughter in the middle of school hols for £300.00 each inc tax with Gulf Air, she said they were good even though there is a short stop in Bahrain.

October is cheap, November a bit more because of the Festival time, Christmas the moment is crazy price, normally come down towards Christmas but in my experience not guaranteed

One search I done on west east travel is below, might be worth having a play about with it for a few days with dates ect. Hope this helps

Price Per Adult: GBP 379.00 Including GBP 209.00 Tax and Fees

Flight from London (LHR) to Bangkok (BKK) View Fare Rules

Outbound

Jet Airways From: London - Heathrow Airport (LHR) Departure:

18 January 2010 10:05

Economy To: Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) Arrival:

Flight No: 9W 119 19 January 2010 07:40

1 Stop

Jet Airways From: London - Heathrow Airport (LHR) Departure:

18 January 2010 19:25

Economy To: Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) Arrival:

Flight No: 9W 117 19 January 2010 17:00

1 Stop

Inbound

Jet Airways From: Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) Departure:

03 February 2010 09:20

Economy To: London - Heathrow Airport (LHR) Arrival:

Flight No: 9W 61 03 February 2010 17:40

1 Stop

Jet Airways From: Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) Departure:

03 February 2010 21:10

Economy To: London - Heathrow Airport (LHR) Arrival:

Flight No: 9W 67 04 February 2010 07:00

1 Stop

Good luck, I am still holding out for a cheap one for Christmas, not sure we will get one but I am still trying and searching each day for a deal, did not think we would get out there in the school hols for the price we did so who knows.

Westeast Travel normally add new fares at the end of the month so keep you eye’s peeled for the deals they go fast

Let me know how you get on

Simon

[chriswatson]

Thanks for the info and will do.

[chriswatson]

Spoke to westeasttravel just now.

My situation is different from OP as we are emigrating. The prices asked for by OP for one month travel in January should be doable from what I understand from westeast. Also suggest OP talks to them. They are very helpful.

For us, 1 year flexible ticket between now and 9th Dec and 1st Jan onwards is 657 pounds/per adult, 532 per child. Rest of December is 200 quid more each.

This would be direct LHR-BKK via Eva Air (who I've found to be good in the past).

Luggage is either 3 x 20kg bags OR 2 x 30kg bags, plus hand luggage and push chairs. One cannot take 1 x 60kg bag due to LHR Health & Safety.

Cheers

[jamieson]

Hi Chris

I always use westeasttravel.com, they are for me the cheapest, my wife went out with my daughter in the middle of school hols for £300.00 each inc tax with Gulf Air, she said they were good even though there is a short stop in Bahrain.

October is cheap, November a bit more because of the Festival time, Christmas the moment is crazy price, normally come down towards Christmas but in my experience not guaranteed

One search I done on west east travel is below, might be worth having a play about with it for a few days with dates ect. Hope this helps

Price Per Adult: GBP 379.00 Including GBP 209.00 Tax and Fees

Flight from London (LHR) to Bangkok (BKK) View Fare Rules

Outbound

Jet Airways From: London - Heathrow Airport (LHR) Departure:

18 January 2010 10:05

Economy To: Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) Arrival:

Flight No: 9W 119 19 January 2010 07:40

1 Stop

Jet Airways From: London - Heathrow Airport (LHR) Departure:

18 January 2010 19:25

Economy To: Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) Arrival:

Flight No: 9W 117 19 January 2010 17:00

1 Stop

Inbound

Jet Airways From: Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) Departure:

03 February 2010 09:20

Economy To: London - Heathrow Airport (LHR) Arrival:

Flight No: 9W 61 03 February 2010 17:40

1 Stop

Jet Airways From: Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) Departure:

03 February 2010 21:10

Economy To: London - Heathrow Airport (LHR) Arrival:

Flight No: 9W 67 04 February 2010 07:00

1 Stop

Good luck, I am still holding out for a cheap one for Christmas, not sure we will get one but I am still trying and searching each day for a deal, did not think we would get out there in the school hols for the price we did so who knows.

Westeast Travel normally add new fares at the end of the month so keep you eye's peeled for the deals they go fast

Let me know how you get on

Simon

best suggestion.

any other suggestions may not be that great during the x'mas/new year holidays, budget airlines included, except for jetstar.

bahrain stop-over is pleasant and manageable and good for stretching before the long haul out here from london.

[Blackandwhite]

Been looking Christmas flights Uk - Bangkok, they seam to be slowly comming down in price, not sure why because every travel agent I speak to tells me they are only gooing to get more expensive , anyone getting the same thing ??

[MB1]

I normally use Qatar's own website and fly from Manchester UK with a stopover via Doha, I've found that the earlier I book the flight the cheaper it is, the longer I wait to find a cheaper price the flight has gone up in price.

So I now try and book the flight/s as early as possible, I think the days of last minute deals for long haul flights are long gone IMO.

Saying that, it's always worth looking at lastminute.com and travel supermarket to give you a good idea of what flight costs are going to be if you know the dates you want to travel outwards and return dates.

I've just looked at Qatar's website for a bit of fun and looked at prices from Manchester to BK, cheapest promotion price flying out 1st of December, returning 23rd or the 29th of December was £426, not a bad price over the peak period, prices are not as crazy as one poster said over xmas.

[smokie36]

I normally use Qatar's own website and fly from Manchester UK with a stopover via Doha, I've found that the earlier I book the flight the cheaper it is, the longer I wait to find a cheaper price the flight has gone up in price.

So I now try and book the flight/s as early as possible, I think the days of last minute deals for long haul flights are long gone IMO.

Saying that, it's always worth looking at lastminute.com and travel supermarket to give you a good idea of what flight costs are going to be if you know the dates you want to travel outwards and return dates.

I've just looked at Qatar's website for a bit of fun and looked at prices from Manchester to BK, cheapest promotion price flying out 1st of December, returning 23rd or the 29th of December was £426, not a bad price over the peak period, prices are not as crazy as one poster said over xmas.

The departure date seems to make the difference. If you look at departures from 18-23 December I reckon the price will be around £800 or more.