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Thai Airways On Line Payment


Familyonthemove

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If Thai Airways made a little more effort they could making booking a ticket totally impossible rather than just extremely difficult.

You can't pay for a Thai Airways flight using a Thai Airways Amex card.:ermm:

And I can't use another credit card - because the credit card holder needs to be on the flight and the ticket is for my wife to fly from London to Bangkok (I have two Thai Airways credit cards - one for my wife and one for me - so this should have been the ideal solution). But my other credit card is in my name only.

And they don't accept cheques or cash either.

Has anyone found a simple way to book and pay for a ticket from London to Bangkok if you happen to live in Bangkok?

The simplest way I've found is to fly EvaAir (who do accept the Thai Airways credit card and they also use aircraft that are younger than me, unlike Thai) .... but I wanted to use my Thai airmiles to get my wife an upgrade.

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The Thai Airways Amex has not been accepted by Thai Airways for about 3-4 months. Since they launched the Thai Airways Visa card!

I wasn't aware of that, thanks, seems a little crazy.

Thankfully I can still use my Thai Amex Card on Air Asia :-) :huh:

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When you hit purchase there is an option to put the ticket on hold for 72 hours, and you contact the local TG office. Perhaps they would take your credit card over the phone with the CCV.

There are so many factors that go into the Payment page that also must work with their Amadeus booking engine, please let us know the outcome.

Good luck

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I had the same problem booking a flight for my two kids from the US to Bangkok. I wouldn't be flying with them. So, I booked the flight online, then went to the Thai office in Bangkok and paid by credit card. They wouldn't take my Siam Commercial credit card because it was a Thailand credit card and the flight originated from the US, so I had to pay with a US credit card. Is that crazy or what?

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That's a new one. Did you kids have to show anything?

No, it was only a pain until I paid, then all was smooth. I checked them in online from here in BKK, they printed the boarding tickets at the airport in Detroit, and that was it.

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Thanks all! Good suggestions. The Thai Airways office said I could not call in to their office and pay as I had booked at the internet rate, so need to pay on-line, which is not possible as the card holder needs to board the plane. So I would need to rebook at the (higher) office rate and then call in and pay.

So now I'm checking local agents and Expedia to get the best rate for a flight that I can pay locally or using my card. Then if seats are still available I'll upgrade their seats using my points. Don't we all live in a complicated world??

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OK .... so I asked a local agent for a price of London-Bangkok economy return on Thai for my wife and daughter £6,500 for economy!! (Twice the cost of Business Class flights for an Economy ticket). This is apparently because I'm booking in Bangkok but the flight is from London.

Checked Expedia ... £1,300 for adult and child ... which is the same as the cost of the original booking on the Thai Airways site.

Made the booking. Should need around 50,000 miles to upgrade to business per person ... so I phone Thai Airways to upgrade.

But there's a catch ..... if I want to upgrade the 'Special Fare' it will take 280,000 Airmiles. I 'only' have 240,000 miles.

So I cancel the booking - and this cost me £200.:o

So it seems my airmiles are worthless and I'm 200 quid down and still don't have a flight.

Never, ever, ever going to fly Thai again.

I do over 15 long haul and 10 shorter flights a year - so Eva Air, Emirates and Cathay will get my business in future - I'm surprised that an airline that makes it so hard to book, pay and upgrade is still around.

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OK .... so I asked a local agent for a price of London-Bangkok economy return...

But you didn't try any UK agencies?

I tried expedia and checked some UK flight sites - all similar price to the Thai on-line proce or higher ..... but the problem (as far as I understand it) is that any special price tickets cost much more in Airmiles to upgrade. After two evening on the 'net and phone and a £200 hit I've given up with Thai Airways forever.

Eva Air, Qatar and some others are not that much more for Business Class than the Thai economy price (and much less than the local agent economy price) ... especially when I consider all the hassle and abortive bookings.

It was the huge queues at Swampy immigration and check in that made me want to upgrade to business for my wife and daughter ... at least it may give them a fighting chance of making the flight. Eva, Qatar and Emirates also have a much newer fleet .... which may mean better safety. I'm a bit of a worryer when it comes to my wife and daughter .... I'll fly on anything with wings myself.

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When you say Expedia, did you go to expedia.com or expedia.co.uk ? the other option I have used is vayama they offer biz rates. The problem you will have with online agents is they use fares from the GDS for TG not as good as TG direct. But I have noticed expedia UK has a net rate from a consolidator they are selling.

What if you went to the TG office and tried to book and pay with your amex card ?

Airmiles are really useless, I gave up trying to use them for two people they only ever have one seat available in the premium classes, the only things I like with Gold status is special check in, luggage and lounge access.

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When you say Expedia, did you go to expedia.com or expedia.co.uk ? the other option I have used is vayama they offer biz rates. The problem you will have with online agents is they use fares from the GDS for TG not as good as TG direct. But I have noticed expedia UK has a net rate from a consolidator they are selling.

What if you went to the TG office and tried to book and pay with your amex card ?

Airmiles are really useless, I gave up trying to use them for two people they only ever have one seat available in the premium classes, the only things I like with Gold status is special check in, luggage and lounge access.

Thanks very much .... I'll look again at Expedia and Vayama. You are right about airmiles from Thai .... there's so many hurdles it's just not worth the hassle. I guess this is the idea .... make it difficult to redeem the points to keep the scheme costs down .... and have terminally unhelpful people on the phone to make sure you can't find your way through the system.

I'm switching to Eva for all my personal, business and family UK flights and any airline except Thai for all other flights.

Edited by Familyonthemove
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When you say Expedia, did you go to expedia.com or expedia.co.uk ? the other option I have used is vayama they offer biz rates. The problem you will have with online agents is they use fares from the GDS for TG not as good as TG direct. But I have noticed expedia UK has a net rate from a consolidator they are selling.

What if you went to the TG office and tried to book and pay with your amex card ?

Airmiles are really useless, I gave up trying to use them for two people they only ever have one seat available in the premium classes, the only things I like with Gold status is special check in, luggage and lounge access.

Thanks very much .... I'll look again at Expedia and Vayama. You are right about airmiles from Thai .... there's so many hurdles it's just not worth the hassle. I guess this is the idea .... make it difficult to redeem the points to keep the scheme costs down .... and have terminally unhelpful people on the phone to make sure you can't find your way through the system.

I'm switching to Eva for all my personal, business and family UK flights and any airline except Thai for all other flights.

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Been watching this thread for a couple of days and now am able to contribute.

Have had the same problems with trying to fly my wife to BKK, even when I have faxed all the docs to Thai Airways.

I had to go to main office on Thursday in BKK and present all docs and copies. Wife flew today and actually made it. I told her to have enough money with her to buy ticket at the airport as I fully expected them to come up with some sort of excuse. But she actually made it on time.

But still a bit of a pain in the butt to have to travel all the way to the otherside of BKK to fulfill their demands.

VIP Bus looking better

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The Thai Airways Amex has not been accepted by Thai Airways for about 3-4 months. Since they launched the Thai Airways Visa card!

I wasn't aware of that, thanks, seems a little crazy.

Thankfully I can still use my Thai Amex Card on Air Asia :-) :huh:

Bizzare to say the least. Probably cause they were paying out big time on the FF points. The Thai Airways AMEX was a great way to fly cheap if you had it set up right.

Lucky though, I got a refund from them the other day for an unused portion of a bus class ticket. Refunded to my Thai airways AMEX....

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Whilst not doubting the OP, for my own peace of mind I called Amex and they confirmed that you can indeed use the Thai Amex Card to purchase TG tickets directly, the guy guy added that you get double points if you book directly with Thai.

Seem that the OP may have been given some duff information.

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I've flown 3 times Los Angeles to to Bangkok, and over a dozen domestic flights on THAI using my wife's credit card. They ask for the card, I hand it to them, they swipe it and hand it right back. Despite the warning name must match appearing clearly in red or bold print during the booking and on printed itineraries, it's never been a problem for me on THAI.

I've had enough cash on me each time though to just pay for the ticket if need be, again never had to though.

If the card can't be in her possession then using a booking site. FareCompare is a good site that links up with the other booking sites and will show which has the best rate (sometimes all are the same, other times not).

Regarding miles on Thai. If you fly other places change and use United Airlines mileage plus program for you Thai flights. There is a field to enter when booking on Thai which I've always got credit when using. However, when you don't get credit (even when not supplying them the #) you can enter info from bordering pass and get credit. Then when it comes to redeeming those miles you can find great deals. I've flown Bangkok to Hartford round trip for 30,000 miles + $500, on a date the cheapest I could find shopping all airlines was $1650. I've also flown Bangkok to Tokyo for 10,000 miles + $100 when the cheapest round trip ticket on those dates was over $500. United Mileage Plus is really flexible can use Asiana airlines, THAI, Continental, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Air China, ANA and dozens of others part of Star Alliance, save up miles then with advanced dates find all sorts of cheap or free trips.

Anyways, good luck.

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I've flown 3 times Los Angeles to to Bangkok, and over a dozen domestic flights on THAI using my wife's credit card. They ask for the card, I hand it to them, they swipe it and hand it right back. Despite the warning name must match appearing clearly in red or bold print during the booking and on printed itineraries, it's never been a problem for me on THAI.

I've had enough cash on me each time though to just pay for the ticket if need be, again never had to though.

If the card can't be in her possession then using a booking site. FareCompare is a good site that links up with the other booking sites and will show which has the best rate (sometimes all are the same, other times not).

Regarding miles on Thai. If you fly other places change and use United Airlines mileage plus program for you Thai flights. There is a field to enter when booking on Thai which I've always got credit when using. However, when you don't get credit (even when not supplying them the #) you can enter info from bordering pass and get credit. Then when it comes to redeeming those miles you can find great deals. I've flown Bangkok to Hartford round trip for 30,000 miles + $500, on a date the cheapest I could find shopping all airlines was $1650. I've also flown Bangkok to Tokyo for 10,000 miles + $100 when the cheapest round trip ticket on those dates was over $500. United Mileage Plus is really flexible can use Asiana airlines, THAI, Continental, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Air China, ANA and dozens of others part of Star Alliance, save up miles then with advanced dates find all sorts of cheap or free trips.

Anyways, good luck.

Agreed, the best value trips to make are ones where there isn't too much competition.

Nice to know that the Thai Airways AMEX is still accepted (not doubting the OP of his troubles though). I guess otherwise I would have received a letter in the mail a while back telling me so from AMEX.

The Thai airways Citibank Visa is apparently another great card to have in your arsenal. I think you get a couple of lounge visits per year from it as well.

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Thanks all! Good suggestions. The Thai Airways office said I could not call in to their office and pay as I had booked at the internet rate, so need to pay on-line, which is not possible as the card holder needs to board the plane. So I would need to rebook at the (higher) office rate and then call in and pay.

So now I'm checking local agents and Expedia to get the best rate for a flight that I can pay locally or using my card. Then if seats are still available I'll upgrade their seats using my points. Don't we all live in a complicated world??

I've had a similar problem with Cathay. I booked online, then found out a couple weeks later that one of the legs was never really booked. The system assumed seats available. So I called, they fixed it by re-booking the entire multi-leg flight. Then, when I called again a couple weeks later about another (more minor) snafu, they told me they couldn't help because it was an internet booking. Even though the human I talked did it all manually. There was no mention of fare difference, just a 'booking' fee.

One would think this kind of stuff would be easier as time and technology march on. But everyone's trying to squeeze that last fraction of a penny out each transaction.

Mega corps: 1, Sheeple: 0.

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Whilst not doubting the OP, for my own peace of mind I called Amex and they confirmed that you can indeed use the Thai Amex Card to purchase TG tickets directly, the guy guy added that you get double points if you book directly with Thai.

Seem that the OP may have been given some duff information.

Interesting - Amex claim you can use their card - but Thai refuse to accept the Thai Airways Amex - or any other Amex. Looks like Amex are giving out the duff gen.

I've tried to use my TG Amex three times and Thai refused every time.

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We flew SIN-BKK-SIN on TG over the CNY hols, and the Thai Airways Singapore website would not accept Amex (not sure if the payment engine on these sites is 'localised'). Paid with my Visa card in the end. Good fare, way lower than SQ, but bummer about the payment method as I prefer to use my KrisFlyer Amex to collect the airmiles...

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^^^^

Certainly someone is giving you or I duff information, I don't know which though you clearly have first hand experience of Thai not accepting any Amex card.

However on the Thai website in the section for their late deals, which can only be booked on line, it does say:

Payment can be made online only and by credit card or Visa/MasterCard debit card. <LI>Air fares, applicable taxes and surcharges will be automatically charged through your credit card (VISA, MASTER, JCB, and American Express only ) or Visa/MasterCard debit card.

I have noted that there is still the facility for paying by Amex on their general booking page, maybe they haven't updated their website, all very strange.

As I say you have first hand experience of Thai not accepting any brand of Amex, I'm sure we would all welcome any other members recent experience.

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Singapore website would not accept Amex (not sure if the payment engine on these sites is 'localised'). Paid with my Visa card in the end. Good fare

Looks like you have got to the root of the problem, I just checked the UK site and they only accept Visa & Mastercard, where as I was checking the Thai site which take Amex.

I think this makes it even more strange, I recently used my Thai Amex Card to book a Virgin flight from London to Hong Kong.

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Singapore website would not accept Amex (not sure if the payment engine on these sites is 'localised'). Paid with my Visa card in the end. Good fare

Looks like you have got to the root of the problem, I just checked the UK site and they only accept Visa & Mastercard, where as I was checking the Thai site which take Amex.

I think this makes it even more strange, I recently used my Thai Amex Card to book a Virgin flight from London to Hong Kong.

Very strange. I just phone Thai Airways in Bangkok and they said that they do not take Amex ... and when I asked again about the Thai Airways Amex she said 'yes, I know, but we don't accept the Thai Amex any more'. This is just for on-line bookings or for trying to pay for an on-line reserved flight over the phone. You may be able to use Amex if you pay for (the higher priced) counter sales?

Anyway .... enough is enough .... just booked Emirates and Eva Air flights using my Thai Airways Amex without any problems and got a better price than Thai (and a newer plane).

No more Thai Airways for me.

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