Does Thai Airways Raise Fares Near Songkran?

[up-country_sinclair]

I was just checking the Thai Air site for flights to the US in April, and they're quoting 47,000 baht for a RT flight to LAX.

Seems a bit high to me, and I am wondering if it is because many people are going to try and get out of Thailand for Songkran.

I'm probably being naive, but is there any chance that the date is a bit too far off, and they will reduce the price in a month or so?

[Nio]

Thai Airways is bleeding money suffering substantial losses this year

I have noticed the routes they have no competition now, such as Bangkok to Khon Kaen have doubled since the competition pulled out

I would assume this to be the case with the LAX

However, Thai Airways did not even make the top ten of best airlines of 2009

You would be better off trying Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, China Airlines, EVA, or others etc for cheaper prices to LAX

[Ayutthaya69]

Hello i just check whit Eva departure Bangkok to L'A for the 11 of april return 11 of may 36.000 thai baht

[xen]

I have been trying to book an online ticket on Emerites (Emerites cos i just got to 2nd level on their frequent flyer scheme) in April (Syd to Bkk ) and there doesn't seem to be one ticket available from about mid March to the end of April which takes in both Easter and Songran.

[SantiSuk]

Simple answer - yes. Songkran is always higher demand/ higher price and TA is always good at exploiting demand surges whenever they fall. Use the flight comparison websites to get the best deal. I don't know what are the favoured comparison sites for Americans/American travel, as I'm a Brit and use Opodo.com. Try a few comparison sites if you don't know either - though their prices are often within 1% of each other.

There can be a 'sweet spot' when prices get lower nearer to the date. In my experience though this does not apply to the last month pre-flight. Airlines are now cute enough to realise that offering bucket shop prices for the seats they have left closer to flight time is counter-productive and would rather not sell the lot but sell a few at higher prices still. I think that's probably why standby disappeared as a concept two decades ago - too many people gaming over late availability, causing operational/financial instability for the airlines?

Edited January 6, 2010 by SantiSuk

[up-country_sinclair]

Thanks for the replies. I suppose I will have to start looking at other airlines.