So Why Is It Cheaper To Fly London Bangkok?

[kevkev1888]

Looking to book a trip home in June.

Best prices I can find at the moment around £600.

Same dates in reverse £450.

Anyone know the reasons for this?

Seems strange to me.

[cdnvic]

Demand. June is low season in Thailand and high season in UK.

[Bagwan]

Cargo holds packed with perishable exports on the outward leg, empty on the return? Got to make up the money somehow.

[phaethon]

Duuurh!? Look at a map! London is uphill from Bangkok

[Ricardo]

They charge more, because they can, supply & demand drives down prices out of London, been that way for decades. Good news if you're UK-based & bad once you move to live here.

I recently managed to book BKK-LHR-BKK on Egyptair, for under B26,000 going in mid-June & returning late-July, but that was for two specific dates via their web-site & has anyway now gone-up to B27.5k. Aeroflot as-usual seem fairly cheap, too.

[kropotkin]

Demand. June is low season in Thailand and high season in UK.

euhhh - therefore it should be the other way around ?

[kropotkin]

My opinion: The western world has more or less a free market system for "international" goods and services, with competition and well informed consumers.

Thailand has a monopoly /oligopoly type of capitalism, and uninformed consumers.

That is why it is more expensive to buy the same "international" service / goods in thailand.

While for domestic services, thailand is cheap - because of a free market for those.

[kropotkin]

They charge more, because they can, supply & demand drives down prices out of London, been that way for decades. Good news if you're UK-based & bad once you move to live here.

I recently managed to book BKK-LHR-BKK on Egyptair, for under B26,000 going in mid-June & returning late-July, but that was for two specific dates via their web-site & has anyway now gone-up to B27.5k. Aeroflot as-usual seem fairly cheap, too.

When a "Ricardo" comments on supply and demand, i can not help but smile.....

You have a famous ancestor.....

Sorry for the inside joke of an ex economics proffessor.

[IMA_FARANG]

The long and short of it:

The U.K. is a well-known air travel hub and it has an active discount airfare market. The discounters pre-purchase tickets (seat space) from the major airlines at a discount and then sell them to their customers at prices slightly below the regular airline fares. The discounters assume the risk of selling their tickets...the airlines get the money in advance (which is why they can offer a block of seats to discounters at a bargain price)...and the discounters make a profit on the tickets they eventually sell.

It's just Economics 101.

Why doesn't it work that way in Thailand also? Now that's another (long) story.

[nong38]

I also have noticed this and this high season is a convenient jargon, it school holidays times I asked one airline "so how many school children go to Thailand for their holidays then?" No answer. They will give you an excuse to keep the price up. There is more competition at the London end so it keeps prices more competitive. You cannot book from the London end BKK-LON-BKK either another strange little stitch up, Try booking direct with the airlines, although the cheap flight operators mentioned earlier in this thread do not have good safety records so its up to the individual. EVA will take bookings up to 7 hours before departure so if you can that be worth having a look at and its non stop.

[kropotkin]

The long and short of it:

The U.K. is a well-known air travel hub and it has an active discount airfare market. The discounters pre-purchase tickets (seat space) from the major airlines at a discount and then sell them to their customers at prices slightly below the regular airline fares. The discounters assume the risk of selling their tickets...the airlines get the money in advance (which is why they can offer a block of seats to discounters at a bargain price)...and the discounters make a profit on the tickets they eventually sell.

It's just Economics 101.

Why doesn't it work that way in Thailand also? Now that's another (long) story.

In my back packing days (OK, that was when animals could still talk) the same was true for BKK.

The BKK - Aussie - New Caledonia - AKL - RAR - LAX ticket was a clasic in those days.

[beechguy]

My opinion: The western world has more or less a free market system for "international" goods and services, with competition and well informed consumers.

Thailand has a monopoly /oligopoly type of capitalism, and uninformed consumers.

That is why it is more expensive to buy the same "international" service / goods in thailand.

While for domestic services, thailand is cheap - because of a free market for those.

It's not just Thailand, you find the same thing in other markets.

[kropotkin]

My opinion: The western world has more or less a free market system for "international" goods and services, with competition and well informed consumers.

Thailand has a monopoly /oligopoly type of capitalism, and uninformed consumers.

That is why it is more expensive to buy the same "international" service / goods in thailand.

While for domestic services, thailand is cheap - because of a free market for those.

It's not just Thailand, you find the same thing in other markets.

I am all ears, please elaborate.

[beechguy]

My opinion: The western world has more or less a free market system for "international" goods and services, with competition and well informed consumers.

Thailand has a monopoly /oligopoly type of capitalism, and uninformed consumers.

That is why it is more expensive to buy the same "international" service / goods in thailand.

While for domestic services, thailand is cheap - because of a free market for those.

It's not just Thailand, you find the same thing in other markets.

I am all ears, please elaborate.

I used to work in the mideast, and would price tickets both directions. It was almost always more expensive to fly from the mideast to the U.S. than the other way around. It was also generally more expensive to fly from BKK to Bahrain or Kuwait, than the other way. IMA_FARANG's explanation probably explains most of it, I also wonder if how the tickets are taxed from the departure country makes a difference.

[wazzi]

Same story on Bangkok to Sydney, $200 dearer to fly BKK - Syd -BKK than other way on same dates for a early Feb flight

However in Sept 2010 Phuket to Sydney return with Jetstar was cheaper than Sydney too Phuket

Different seasons or routes? who knows.

[Ricardo]

In my back packing days (OK, that was when animals could still talk) the same was true for BKK.

The BKK - Aussie - New Caledonia - AKL - RAR - LAX ticket was a clasic in those days.

Yes, you took British Caledonian Airways (aka 'Pandemonium Scareways' ) from Gatwick to Singapore, then a slow boat-ride down to Perth, always a cheap way to get to the 'Land-of-Oz', unless you went by bus (remember 'Magic Bus' ?) to India ! Happy days !

Edited January 12, 2011 by Ricardo

[zink]

It's not about low/high season or the competition. The amount of seats offered is the same in both direction.

It's about price elasticity of demand.

Large amount of people traveling from UK to Thailand are tourists, and most of tourists are not so picky about their destination. If airline would raise prices to Thailand by £150, many tourists would choose alternative destinations (other SEA countries, India, middle east, Caribbean, South America, Florida, Africa, there are plenty of places to choose from) and planes to Bangkok would be partially empty.

Now, who buys Thailand-UK tickets? The list is something like:

1. Business travelers and Thais going to study abroad

2. UK expats wanting to visit their home

3. Rich Thais going for a holiday to England

What happens when airlines charges £150 extra for Thailand-UK flights? Mostly nothing, those in first two categories must travel anyway, so they will pay the extra price. And the amount is insignificant for third category, one day in London would cost much more for them.

Edited January 12, 2011 by zink

[transam]

You eat less.

[kropotkin]

It's not about low/high season or the competition. The amount of seats offered is the same in both direction.

It's about price elasticity of demand.

Large amount of people traveling from UK to Thailand are tourists, and most of tourists are not so picky about their destination. If airline would raise prices to Thailand by £150, many tourists would choose alternative destinations (other SEA countries, India, middle east, Caribbean, South America, Florida, Africa, there are plenty of places to choose from) and planes to Bangkok would be partially empty.

Now, who buys Thailand-UK tickets? The list is something like:

1. Business travelers and Thais going to study abroad

2. UK expats wanting to visit their home

3. Rich Thais going for a holiday to England

What happens when airlines charges £150 extra for Thailand-UK flights? Mostly nothing, those in first two categories must travel anyway, so they will pay the extra price. And the amount is insignificant for third category, one day in London would cost much more for them.

Now that is an answer that a retired economics professor can live with.

And replying to Ricardo: it was a froggy airline, not Air France, name escapes me.

[nong38]

It's not about low/high season or the competition. The amount of seats offered is the same in both direction.

It's about price elasticity of demand.

Large amount of people traveling from UK to Thailand are tourists, and most of tourists are not so picky about their destination. If airline would raise prices to Thailand by £150, many tourists would choose alternative destinations (other SEA countries, India, middle east, Caribbean, South America, Florida, Africa, there are plenty of places to choose from) and planes to Bangkok would be partially empty.

Now, who buys Thailand-UK tickets? The list is something like:

1. Business travelers and Thais going to study abroad

2. UK expats wanting to visit their home

3. Rich Thais going for a holiday to England

What happens when airlines charges £150 extra for Thailand-UK flights? Mostly nothing, those in first two categories must travel anyway, so they will pay the extra price. And the amount is insignificant for third category, one day in London would cost much more for them.

Yes that makes a lot sense. they will always get as much as they can from the customer and do not forget that Thai Govt emplyees travel free so the price has no effect on them, suddenly it all seems to fall into place.

[pipo1000]

They charge more, because they can, supply & demand drives down prices out of London, been that way for decades. Good news if you're UK-based & bad once you move to live here.

I recently managed to book BKK-LHR-BKK on Egyptair, for under B26,000 going in mid-June & returning late-July, but that was for two specific dates via their web-site & has anyway now gone-up to B27.5k. Aeroflot as-usual seem fairly cheap, too.

You are right about your demand and supply theory,only thing you missed that is that isn't that way for decades.Untill a few years ago it was cheaper to fly to Europe from Bangkok than the other way around.

[Ulysses G.]

One source that I Googled said that the flight is longer on the return trip because of headwinds. Could the extra cost be because of that?

[Ricardo]

Now that is an answer that a retired economics professor can live with.

And replying to Ricardo: it was a froggy airline, not Air France, name escapes me.

UTA, perhaps, who used to serve France's far-flung dominions, such as Nouvelle Caledonie ?

One source that I Googled said that the flight is longer on the return trip because of headwinds. Could the extra cost be because of that?

Good one, UG, the slight-snag being that since we're talking return-flights, they all have the jetstream in their face from east-to-west, and a beneficial tail-wind when west-to-east, regardless of where the airline is based, or where their passengers purchased their tickets.

Now if we were talking round-the-world, with flights from west-to-east only, that might be a different matter.

Edited January 13, 2011 by Ricardo

[backfromouterspace]

One source that I Googled said that the flight is longer on the return trip because of headwinds. Could the extra cost be because of that?

So a LHR-BKK-LHR round trip is a shorter distance than a BKK-LHR-BKK round trip. Sure you arent turning Thai with theories like this?

[Ulysses G.]

Who said anything about distance? I was talking about the flight taking more time because of headwinds.

As far as the information about the headwinds being incorrect, that is why I mentioned that I read it somewhere on the Internet and asked a question about it. It seemed to make sense, but I was not sure if it were true.

Edited January 13, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[LindsayBKK]

I think you will find from most Asian countries fares are cheaper

as Asians don't earn as much as western people (so to speak) so they charge accordingly.

But then again, fuel in asia is cheaper.

I have never been able to find a cheaper fare from Aus>BKK.

(normal airlines anyway)

Edited January 13, 2011 by LindsayBKK

[Scully]

Just been looking at flights myself and have flown with Etihad before and are far superior than many.

Put you travel details in for june with 3 day flexability and I was getting flight results to london one way for 16-17k baht.

I can book one (sick father) at 3rd of jan from BKK to MAN for about £350.

Good luck

Sorry misread your post you are right but can still get London to Thailand in june for about £520, every little helps.

Edited January 14, 2011 by Scully

[Nuff Said]

If you live in Thailand, visit the UK a more than once a year, and are able to plan your trips well in advance, consider either buying a cheap single from Bangkok to the UK, or, if you have enough frequent flyer points take a one way freebie, then buy your return tickets from the UK. Airlines such as Qatar, Emirates and Etihad all offer low priced long stay 6-12 month validity returns from the UK to Thailand, some are little more than £500 all inclusive, and that's well below the cost of Thai originating tickets when using current exchange rates.

I have researched this matter thoroughly, and that's what I will be doing in future.

Edited January 15, 2011 by Nuff Said

[Nuff Said]

Another point to consider is that if you are buying a ticket from the UK that is priced in £'s, and pay with a Sterling denominated credit card, you avoid the card issuers currency conversion fee, which is typically 2.75%.

[iainiain101]

For a Thai looking at a return fare to London the best prices of around 35,000 Baht have been similar for years so to them they notice no difference.

To a British expat, 4 years ago this would have been GBP 500 at 70 Baht to the pound, it is now nearer GBP 750 at 46 odd Baht to the pound.

I am also looking to take the family back to the UK for a holiday this year and keep getting email offers of prices around GBP 450 return LHR - BKK for March, but when I try BKK - LHR it comes out around GBP 800. It is afterall the same plane!

What surprises me is that with the amount of carriers and the high number of British expats here, that none of the carriers is trying to be more competitive. I am not suggesting that there is price fixing here, not sure of the legalities on it here, but there is a noticeable lack of competition.

Iain