Flying To The U.s. And Sitting Next To Someone Who

[Siki]

Flying to the U.S. and sitting next to someone who paid half the fare that I paid

I want to avoid it this time.

Need to fly to the West Coast in late August and then on to several other US cities.

The American carriers prices are quite high but they are able to provide reasonably priced connections to various American cities with a complicated coupon system.

Would it be better to fly a cheaper Asian carrier to the West Coast and then look for deals on flights to my other distinations?

Has anyone made this trip recently for a reasonable price? What about a travel agent or an Internet site that might have reasonable prices?

Aloha

Edited June 10, 2005 by Siki

[lopburi3]

Obtain a low cost flight to the west coast from a travel agent here in Thailand (you will not find lowest price on web) and then use Internet to obtain US e-tickets either from a place like Expedia or direct from the airlines. That is what I have done the last few years. Remember that the earlier you book US flights the lower the price normally will be. Also if getting a rental car keep looking as they will have a day or week of very low price often times and if you catch it right the price can really be good.

[ProThaiExpat]

A friend told me today that a New York to BKK flight was quoted to him as $595. The number of stops etc. are unknown.

Lopburi3 is right on, New York to L.A. is quoted by Expedia as $200.

There usually is one Asean airline who gives a very good rate to improve lagging bookings, but as you know, flag carriers require a stop in their capital city before going on to the U.S.

[Siki]

Obtain a low cost flight to the west coast from a travel agent here in Thailand (you will not find lowest price on web) and then use Internet to obtain US e-tickets either from a place like Expedia or direct from the airlines.  That is what I have done the last few years.  Remember that the earlier you book US flights the lower the price normally will be.  Also if getting a rental car keep looking as they will have a day or week of very low price often times and if you catch it right the price can really be good.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am finding exactly the opposite to be true. The price on-line is substantially less than the price from travel agents.

My thought is that I am going to the wrong travel agencies. Do you have any suggestions?

Aloha

[Thaiquila]

I don't know exactly where you are going in the US, but when my usual airline Northwest is being greedy, I go with Eva which connects in Taiwan, they usually have some of the best fares. It always helps to be very flexible on exact travel dates, because the price varies for so many reasons, including day of the week travelled.

[lopburi3]

Have you tried those that advertise daily in the Bangkok Post. I have used Majestic for years and price has always been lower than airline direct for international travels.

[Spee]

Need to fly to the West Coast in late August and then on to several other US cities.

Has anyone made this trip recently for a reasonable price?  What about a travel agent or an Internet site that might have reasonable prices?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You might want to look at a package deal with United. They have non-stop service to BKK from Tokyo Narita (NRT) and there are many stateside UAL gateways to NRT. When I head in that direction from the states, I've often been able to price round trip in the neighborhood of $1250 USD. That's not an unreasonable price with today's fuel costs. If you can get anything under $1000 USD, then you've probably done pretty well for yourself.

HTH ....

[lopburi3]

Need to fly to the West Coast in late August and then on to several other US cities.

Has anyone made this trip recently for a reasonable price?  What about a travel agent or an Internet site that might have reasonable prices?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You might want to look at a package deal with United. They have non-stop service to BKK from Tokyo Narita (NRT) and there are many stateside UAL gateways to NRT. When I head in that direction from the states, I've often been able to price round trip in the neighborhood of $1250 USD. That's not an unreasonable price with today's fuel costs. If you can get anything under $1000 USD, then you've probably done pretty well for yourself.

HTH ....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

EVA deluxe is less than that even on the web site. Economy would be much less.

[thohts]

Check on different days of the week, too. Airlines change their prices many times a day. (The systems are computerized.)

[griser]

The last two times I've gotten tickets for the US has been thru a local agent called Thaifly, great prices and no bullshit. Look them up on Thaifly.com

greg

[Siki]

The last two times I've gotten tickets for the US has been thru a local agent called Thaifly, great prices and no bullshit. Look them up on Thaifly.com

greg

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Greg:

Thanks for the tip on ThaiFly travel agency. Went down there yesterday and if they weren’t full of BS before, they sure were yesterday.

I was presented with a list of carriers and prices which looked quite good. However, a statement on the bottom stated that these prices were subject to a 6-7,000 baht “airport tax”, the exact amount to be determined upon booking.

When questioned about the "airport tax" and the lack of a firm price when other agencies don't have such things, the ThaiFly salesgirl just gave me some razzle dazzle nonsense.

It is better not to patronize places that employ cheap bull shit marketing ploys. If they lie to you about one aspect of the transaction it is likely that they will lie about other things as well.

[bkkharry]

The last two times I've gotten tickets for the US has been thru a local agent called Thaifly, great prices and no bullshit. Look them up on Thaifly.com

greg

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Greg:

Thanks for the tip on ThaiFly travel agency. Went down there yesterday and if they weren’t full of BS before, they sure were yesterday.

I was presented with a list of carriers and prices which looked quite good. However, a statement on the bottom stated that these prices were subject to a 6-7,000 baht “airport tax”, the exact amount to be determined upon booking.

When questioned about the "airport tax" and the lack of a firm price when other agencies don't have such things, the ThaiFly salesgirl just gave me some razzle dazzle nonsense.

It is better not to patronize places that employ cheap bull shit marketing ploys. If they lie to you about one aspect of the transaction it is likely that they will lie about other things as well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Taxes seem about right. Currently there are fuel surcharges on each segment, plus individual airport charges for at each airport, plus security charges added to tickets when flying into the US.

I just got a free adward ticket from Bangkok to the US and had to pay 6000 baht in taxes for my free ticktet.

Look in the paper you always see airfares posted but when you read the small print says the ticket price quoted does not include taxes and other charges.

[jrincon17]

A friend told me today that a New York to BKK flight was quoted to him as $595.  The number of stops etc. are unknown.

Lopburi3 is right on, New York to L.A. is quoted by Expedia as $200.

There usually is one Asean airline who gives a very good rate to improve lagging bookings, but as you know, flag carriers require a stop in their capital city before going on to the U.S.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I usually use China airlines , have been pretty cheap

[Siki]

The last two times I've gotten tickets for the US has been thru a local agent called Thaifly, great prices and no bullshit. Look them up on Thaifly.com

greg

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Greg:

Thanks for the tip on ThaiFly travel agency. Went down there yesterday and if they weren’t full of BS before, they sure were yesterday.

I was presented with a list of carriers and prices which looked quite good. However, a statement on the bottom stated that these prices were subject to a 6-7,000 baht “airport tax”, the exact amount to be determined upon booking.

When questioned about the "airport tax" and the lack of a firm price when other agencies don't have such things, the ThaiFly salesgirl just gave me some razzle dazzle nonsense.

It is better not to patronize places that employ cheap bull shit marketing ploys. If they lie to you about one aspect of the transaction it is likely that they will lie about other things as well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Taxes seem about right. Currently there are fuel surcharges on each segment, plus individual airport charges for at each airport, plus security charges added to tickets when flying into the US.

I just got a free adward ticket from Bangkok to the US and had to pay 6000 baht in taxes for my free ticktet.

Look in the paper you always see airfares posted but when you read the small print says the ticket price quoted does not include taxes and other charges.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It is dishonest to call a 6,000 baht ticket “free” or to quote the price of a 32,000 baht ticket as “24,000”. However, it is a common marketing gimmick. It is a red flag for me to watch out as there may be other marketing gimmicks in play.

[bkkharry]

The ticket was free, the 6000 baht is for taxes and surcharges.

It is really deceiving when you see adds for airfare, but 99% of the time the price quoted does not include taxes and surcharges.