Advice Re Flying To Englamd

[robsamui]

Hi fellas - decided that I need to go and see if England is still there.

But WAAAAAY out of touch with flights, fares, tips or tricks. I'll be going the first week of July so any advice is very much needed!

Cost is the main consideration, so I'm happy with stop-overs etc.

Cheers

Rob

[itishothere]

England is still there. Sadly. Are you sure about the trip? It depressed the hell out of me last time I was there!

Flights. Direct non stop are the quickest and simplest, but are the most expensive. Thai Air and Eva are your choices. Don't even think about BA!!

Middle range are people like Emirates and Etihad. 2 jumps, connecting in the middle east. Usually good connections, times and services.

The cheapest options would usually be people like Jet Airways and Kingfisher via India.

Of course your biggest expense will be getting off the island in the first place if you use Bangkok Air. Remember using the cheaper alternatives from Surat take you into the old airport in Bangkok.

Good luck!

[Boater]

google south hall travel , and request kingfisher, top notch airline and only 450 quid return with them ... if you aint been back to uk for a while , the shock of the floods will seem like a brezze when you are back ! ....

[careless]

I am the queen of getting flight deals... First I go to the major travel search engines Mobissimo, Kayak etc......run my dates through clicking dates flexible whenever possible, check with surrounding airports as well. Then the cheapest dates and options they come up with I then go directly to the airlines website and save a bit more. This isn't just a one time thing. Go back different times of day and different days of the week as the prices fluctuate. When you find a good price you are happy with, bite the bullet and purchase.

( Sept 2010 found $19 flights out of Bellingham to Las Vegas ) $129 all in for four of us November 2010 $802 roundtrip Vancouver to Bangkok

good luck if you need some help give me some more specifics and I'l have a go at it for you...

[careless]

England is still there. Sadly. Are you sure about the trip? It depressed the hell out of me last time I was there!

Flights. Direct non stop are the quickest and simplest, but are the most expensive. Thai Air and Eva are your choices. Don't even think about BA!!

Middle range are people like Emirates and Etihad. 2 jumps, connecting in the middle east. Usually good connections, times and services.

The cheapest options would usually be people like Jet Airways and Kingfisher via India.

Of course your biggest expense will be getting off the island in the first place if you use Bangkok Air. Remember using the cheaper alternatives from Surat take you into the old airport in Bangkok.

Good luck!

We flew Thai Air out of Surat Thani and landed in Suvarnabhumi Airport BKK.. The Air Asia flight shows the same arrival airport as well.

[Lite Beer]

Yep. Thai Air and Air Asia fly Surat - Suvarnabhumi Airport.

[itishothere]

Apologies and thanks for the correction. I guess I was thinking of Nok Air?:jap:

Another thing to bear in mind is that July is likely to be a peak travelling time. My gut reaction would be to wait a little before booking in the hope of some discounts, I find it difficult to imagine people are rushing off their feet to come to Samui after all this bad weather. Of course, people might be rushing off their feet to get OFF this island right now!

[perkie173]

I have done the flight back to England twice in the last year. First time went with BA... absolute nightmare and even changed my return flight to Emirates with extra cost because I couldn't bear to fly with them. Second flight Emirates again... I was flying on my own - 24 year old female and they gave me a four seater to myself the whole way. Change in Dubai is easy too and they have wi-fi internet in the waiting areas - its around 2-3 hours if I remember rightly.

Sri Lanka airlines is one of the cheapest at the moment as is Air Berlin but they fly from Phuket with a change in either Munich or Dusseldorf I think. China Airlines is a nightmare as is Turkish - don't recommend either. The flights may also be cheaper from KL so look around - this may be with Air Asia though so it depends how much comfort you require and how much you are willing to pay for onboard.

I always use skyscanner to check for prices then visit the travel agents in Lamai to see if they can beat the price - the one near the weekender resort is great and they don't charge any extra should you need to change the flight. If they cannot beat the price or meet it, check out the site's official websites. Hope this helps a bit.

What airport are you planning to fly into... I much prefer Manchester to any of the London ones and the train station is literally joined to the airport. Oh and book sooner rather than later - I have found the prices tend to drastically increase rather than decrease as you may expect. If you have been in Samui 13 years I doubt you are under 24 but for anyone reading this that is check out STA travel - they have a Thai one as well as English and people can find flights for half the price considering they are under 24. My two cents, hope it helps!

[BusyBee123]

I am the queen of getting flight deals... First I go to the major travel search engines Mobissimo, Kayak etc......run my dates through clicking dates flexible whenever possible, check with surrounding airports as well. Then the cheapest dates and options they come up with I then go directly to the airlines website and save a bit more. This isn't just a one time thing. Go back different times of day and different days of the week as the prices fluctuate. When you find a good price you are happy with, bite the bullet and purchase.

( Sept 2010 found $19 flights out of Bellingham to Las Vegas ) $129 all in for four of us November 2010 $802 roundtrip Vancouver to Bangkok

good luck if you need some help give me some more specifics and I'l have a go at it for you...

that's how it was in 1991 times have changed where have you been living!, aggregators take commission from the airline at cost price these days there is no mark up to the customer just a mark down for the airline

[smokie36]

I have done the flight back to England twice in the last year. First time went with BA... absolute nightmare and even changed my return flight to Emirates with extra cost because I couldn't bear to fly with them. Second flight Emirates again... I was flying on my own - 24 year old female and they gave me a four seater to myself the whole way. Change in Dubai is easy too and they have wi-fi internet in the waiting areas - its around 2-3 hours if I remember rightly.

Sri Lanka airlines is one of the cheapest at the moment as is Air Berlin but they fly from Phuket with a change in either Munich or Dusseldorf I think. China Airlines is a nightmare as is Turkish - don't recommend either. The flights may also be cheaper from KL so look around - this may be with Air Asia though so it depends how much comfort you require and how much you are willing to pay for onboard.

I always use skyscanner to check for prices then visit the travel agents in Lamai to see if they can beat the price - the one near the weekender resort is great and they don't charge any extra should you need to change the flight. If they cannot beat the price or meet it, check out the site's official websites. Hope this helps a bit.

What airport are you planning to fly into... I much prefer Manchester to any of the London ones and the train station is literally joined to the airport. Oh and book sooner rather than later - I have found the prices tend to drastically increase rather than decrease as you may expect. If you have been in Samui 13 years I doubt you are under 24 but for anyone reading this that is check out STA travel - they have a Thai one as well as English and people can find flights for half the price considering they are under 24. My two cents, hope it helps!

Good post. For direct flights Eva are the best also worth checking out Etihad.

Some informative threads on this in the travel forum as well worth checking out Rob.

[Leckyman]

Try moxtravel.com

Easy to use site, 1st week in july, Air India to LHR 29,000 Baht return

[robsamui]

I am the queen of getting flight deals... First I go to the major travel search engines Mobissimo, Kayak etc......run my dates through clicking dates flexible whenever possible, check with surrounding airports as well. Then the cheapest dates and options they come up with I then go directly to the airlines website and save a bit more. This isn't just a one time thing. Go back different times of day and different days of the week as the prices fluctuate. When you find a good price you are happy with, bite the bullet and purchase.

( Sept 2010 found $19 flights out of Bellingham to Las Vegas ) $129 all in for four of us November 2010 $802 roundtrip Vancouver to Bangkok

good luck if you need some help give me some more specifics and I'l have a go at it for you...

Thanks a lot for the info. Cheapest quick-search my daughter came up with was 30,000 baht (600 pounds) and with 10 minutes on Mobissimo I found a flight for 25,000 baht.

Bottom line is that my times are flexible - in as far as I can go any time from the beginning of June to the beginning of July. (My visa runs out on 7th July so that's the target date.) Work commitments mean that I can't go before June 1st.

Any tips as to the best way of juggling these dates for optimised results? Different UK airports, for example? (seems to only be choice of Heathrow - or is that the cheapest anyway?)

Thanks for the names/links and help!

R

[robsamui]

England is still there. Sadly. Are you sure about the trip? It depressed the hell out of me last time I was there!

Flights. Direct non stop are the quickest and simplest, but are the most expensive. Thai Air and Eva are your choices. Don't even think about BA!!

Middle range are people like Emirates and Etihad. 2 jumps, connecting in the middle east. Usually good connections, times and services.

The cheapest options would usually be people like Jet Airways and Kingfisher via India.

Of course your biggest expense will be getting off the island in the first place if you use Bangkok Air. Remember using the cheaper alternatives from Surat take you into the old airport in Bangkok.

Good luck!

I am already practicing depressed in readiness for the excursion - I have to work at it as, over the years here, I've lost the knack.

And thanks for the info re flying from Surat. I didn't realise they went to Don Muang but it makes sense. I'll be probably going on the high-speed Lomprayah package to Surat airport. Adds 3+ hours to the time (compared with spit-spit BA) but is only what? ... a bit over 2,000 baht? Time I have a ton of: money not so!

Thanks again!

[robsamui]

google south hall travel , and request kingfisher, top notch airline and only 450 quid return with them ... if you aint been back to uk for a while , the shock of the floods will seem like a brezze when you are back ! ....

Ta for the tip. They are offering this for 460 (around 23,000B) but only with the UK as a starting point - not BKK to London and return.

I've emailed them for a quote this way round.

Ta!

R

[PoorSucker]

Firefly to KL and then AirAsia to London.

[robsamui]

google south hall travel , and request kingfisher, top notch airline and only 450 quid return with them ... if you aint been back to uk for a while , the shock of the floods will seem like a brezze when you are back ! ....

Ta Boats, they only list UK to BKK but I'm on it!

R

[robsamui]

Apologies and thanks for the correction. I guess I was thinking of Nok Air?:jap:

Another thing to bear in mind is that July is likely to be a peak travelling time. My gut reaction would be to wait a little before booking in the hope of some discounts, I find it difficult to imagine people are rushing off their feet to come to Samui after all this bad weather. Of course, people might be rushing off their feet to get OFF this island right now!

Hiya.

A scan reveals that flight prices take a hike after the 14th July. I can leave any time after the middle of June so it's looking like out in the last week June and back again on the 12th/13th July.

Looking good so far and only spent an hour on it!

Thanks for the help,

Rob

[robsamui]

Firefly to KL and then AirAsia to London.

Thanks for the suggestion - but surely the flight to KL is going to cost more than to BKK? And then I have to double back again and add the extra distance to the flight from KL to London? Logic indicates this can't be cheaper than flying directly north from BKK in the first place?

R

Edited April 4, 2011 by robsamui

[PoorSucker]

Firefly to KL and then AirAsia to London.

Thanks for the suggestion - but surely the flight to KL is going to cost more than to BKK? And then I have to double back again and add the extra distance to the flight from KL to London? Logic indicates this can't be cheaper than flying directly north from BKK in the first place?

R

Firfly to Subang: 2790 baht one way.

KUL-STN: 13 410 baht one way.

Leave time to switch airport from Subang to KLIA.

[robsamui]

Firefly to KL and then AirAsia to London.

Thanks for the suggestion - but surely the flight to KL is going to cost more than to BKK? And then I have to double back again and add the extra distance to the flight from KL to London? Logic indicates this can't be cheaper than flying directly north from BKK in the first place?

R

Firfly to Subang: 2790 baht one way.

KUL-STN: 13 410 baht one way.

Leave time to switch airport from Subang to KLIA.

OOOH! Looks good. What's the airline from KLIA to London? I'll check on the return prices.

Can you send a link?

Thanks!

R

[MSingh]

google south hall travel , and request kingfisher, top notch airline and only 450 quid return with them ... if you aint been back to uk for a while , the shock of the floods will seem like a brezze when you are back ! ....

It's actually Southall Travel, as in Southall, South London..

http://www.southalltravel.co.uk/

I'd recommend using a Middle Eastern Airline as it would be middle of the Road cost wise, gives you a chance to stretch your Legs & no matter what anyone says, they're genrally the bets Airlines in teh World with Qatar being number 1 choice if you can find a Price that suits you..

[PoorSucker]

OOOH! Looks good. What's the airline from KLIA to London? I'll check on the return prices.

Can you send a link?

Thanks!

R

The firefly price is a promotion that must be bought at Samui office.

KLIA to London is with Airasia X

http://www.airasia.com/gb/en/home.html

Edited April 4, 2011 by PoorSucker

[robsamui]

Firefly to KL and then AirAsia to London.

Thanks for the suggestion - but surely the flight to KL is going to cost more than to BKK? And then I have to double back again and add the extra distance to the flight from KL to London? Logic indicates this can't be cheaper than flying directly north from BKK in the first place?

R

Firfly to Subang: 2790 baht one way.

KUL-STN: 13 410 baht one way.

Leave time to switch airport from Subang to KLIA.

Hmmm - just done a search - no set return so two singles - comes to about 40,000 baht including the flights to KL. I think it's cheaper to go from BKK . . .

thanks anyway,

Rob

[robsamui]

google south hall travel , and request kingfisher, top notch airline and only 450 quid return with them ... if you aint been back to uk for a while , the shock of the floods will seem like a brezze when you are back ! ....

It's actually Southall Travel, as in Southall, South London..

http://www.southalltravel.co.uk/

I'd recommend using a Middle Eastern Airline as it would be middle of the Road cost wise, gives you a chance to stretch your Legs & no matter what anyone says, they're genrally the bets Airlines in teh World with Qatar being number 1 choice if you can find a Price that suits you..

Thanks - already found that on Google

They are advertising a London-Bkk return at 460 pounds (22,000 baht) but no quotes for the other way around.

I've emailed them for a quote . . .

Thanks for the info!

R

[smokie36]

It's actually Southall Travel, as in Southall, South London..

Its in West London....Ealing in fact.

What are you Rodney??

Time to take your seat Singher.....

[carmine]

It's actually Southall Travel, as in Southall, South London..

Its in West London....Ealing in fact.

What are you Rodney??

Time to take your seat Singher.....

And may i say one of the biggest dumps in London. Avoid it like the plague.

[SantiSuk]

I am the queen of getting flight deals... First I go to the major travel search engines Mobissimo, Kayak etc......run my dates through clicking dates flexible whenever possible, check with surrounding airports as well. Then the cheapest dates and options they come up with I then go directly to the airlines website and save a bit more. This isn't just a one time thing. Go back different times of day and different days of the week as the prices fluctuate. When you find a good price you are happy with, bite the bullet and purchase.

( Sept 2010 found $19 flights out of Bellingham to Las Vegas ) $129 all in for four of us November 2010 $802 roundtrip Vancouver to Bangkok

good luck if you need some help give me some more specifics and I'l have a go at it for you...

Thanks a lot for the info. Cheapest quick-search my daughter came up with was 30,000 baht (600 pounds) and with 10 minutes on Mobissimo I found a flight for 25,000 baht.

Bottom line is that my times are flexible - in as far as I can go any time from the beginning of June to the beginning of July. (My visa runs out on 7th July so that's the target date.) Work commitments mean that I can't go before June 1st.

Any tips as to the best way of juggling these dates for optimised results? Different UK airports, for example? (seems to only be choice of Heathrow - or is that the cheapest anyway?)

Thanks for the names/links and help!

R

Yes LHR is invariably the cheapest but if I am trying to get to Leeds (say) then it's an additional £15 say to get to a London rail terminal and another £70 ish for a return ticket - plus the time plus the rip-off cost of food when you are travelling in England (70 baht min for a bottle of drinking water). Flying to Manchester can therefore be as cheap and quicker.

Just an illustration to remind you to price everything in and that all travel arrangements are personal-specific. The other factor to consider is what time you are arriving and how knackered you are likely to be. I'll pay a premium of £150 for a direct flight on EVA or Thai because their flights are overnight and I sleep well on planes with a well-practiced regimen. So - if I can arrive during the day in Bangkok that gives me another easy night out in Bangkok or if I'm travelling home I have all day to get to my destination - gives you more options and a better range of prices.

Many on Thai Visa prefer EVA to Thai Airways. It depends on whether you want in-flight-entertainment. For me EVA's food is occasionally disgusting and usually suspect so I am pretty equivocal between the two and simply buy the cheapest each time, pricing in an extra £15 for a decent Yo Suchi meal in LHR T3 before I fly if it's gonna be EVA. BA has never got close on pricing in my last 50 return flights, but for one time. You are going to get more alcohol offered on Thai as well if that is important to you; it doesn't matter if you don't give a nat's bottom about being viewed as a soak by your continual button presssing on EVA! (Personally I would give a nat's bottom, but I can live with one trolley round as I want to sleep anyway).

Emirates (the best airline on all the routes in my mind) and Etihad are great, but I just cannot stand breaking a flight and all that boring queuing when I should be sleeping - but I will do if it saves me £150 or if a flight to Manchester suits my particular circumstances.

Different strokes for different folks. As you can see I tend to have my prices for everything bad about an airline so it's purely a financial decision at the end of the day.

[robsamui]

I am the queen of getting flight deals... First I go to the major travel search engines Mobissimo, Kayak etc......run my dates through clicking dates flexible whenever possible, check with surrounding airports as well. Then the cheapest dates and options they come up with I then go directly to the airlines website and save a bit more. This isn't just a one time thing. Go back different times of day and different days of the week as the prices fluctuate. When you find a good price you are happy with, bite the bullet and purchase.

( Sept 2010 found $19 flights out of Bellingham to Las Vegas ) $129 all in for four of us November 2010 $802 roundtrip Vancouver to Bangkok

good luck if you need some help give me some more specifics and I'l have a go at it for you...

Thanks a lot for the info. Cheapest quick-search my daughter came up with was 30,000 baht (600 pounds) and with 10 minutes on Mobissimo I found a flight for 25,000 baht.

Bottom line is that my times are flexible - in as far as I can go any time from the beginning of June to the beginning of July. (My visa runs out on 7th July so that's the target date.) Work commitments mean that I can't go before June 1st.

Any tips as to the best way of juggling these dates for optimised results? Different UK airports, for example? (seems to only be choice of Heathrow - or is that the cheapest anyway?)

Thanks for the names/links and help!

R

Yes LHR is invariably the cheapest but if I am trying to get to Leeds (say) then it's an additional £15 say to get to a London rail terminal and another £70 ish for a return ticket - plus the time plus the rip-off cost of food when you are travelling in England (70 baht min for a bottle of drinking water). Flying to Manchester can therefore be as cheap and quicker.

Just an illustration to remind you to price everything in and that all travel arrangements are personal-specific. The other factor to consider is what time you are arriving and how knackered you are likely to be. I'll pay a premium of £150 for a direct flight on EVA or Thai because their flights are overnight and I sleep well on planes with a well-practiced regimen. So - if I can arrive during the day in Bangkok that gives me another easy night out in Bangkok or if I'm travelling home I have all day to get to my destination - gives you more options and a better range of prices.

Many on Thai Visa prefer EVA to Thai Airways. It depends on whether you want in-flight-entertainment. For me EVA's food is occasionally disgusting and usually suspect so I am pretty equivocal between the two and simply buy the cheapest each time, pricing in an extra £15 for a decent Yo Suchi meal in LHR T3 before I fly if it's gonna be EVA. BA has never got close on pricing in my last 50 return flights, but for one time. You are going to get more alcohol offered on Thai as well if that is important to you; it doesn't matter if you don't give a nat's bottom about being viewed as a soak by your continual button presssing on EVA! (Personally I would give a nat's bottom, but I can live with one trolley round as I want to sleep anyway).

Emirates (the best airline on all the routes in my mind) and Etihad are great, but I just cannot stand breaking a flight and all that boring queuing when I should be sleeping - but I will do if it saves me £150 or if a flight to Manchester suits my particular circumstances.

Different strokes for different folks. As you can see I tend to have my prices for everything bad about an airline so it's purely a financial decision at the end of the day.

Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful reply - yet more things to ponder on - decisions decisions . . .

[MSingh]

It's actually Southall Travel, as in Southall, South London..

Its in West London....Ealing in fact.

What are you Rodney??

Time to take your seat Singher.....

And may i say one of the biggest dumps in London. Avoid it like the plague.

Apologies, West London it is & i knew that as i worked there once..

& i'm with Carmine, awful place..

Edited April 4, 2011 by MSingh

[careless]

.

I am the queen of getting flight deals... First I go to the major travel search engines Mobissimo, Kayak etc......run my dates through clicking dates flexible whenever possible, check with surrounding airports as well. Then the cheapest dates and options they come up with I then go directly to the airlines website and save a bit more. This isn't just a one time thing. Go back different times of day and different days of the week as the prices fluctuate. When you find a good price you are happy with, bite the bullet and purchase.

( Sept 2010 found $19 flights out of Bellingham to Las Vegas ) $129 all in for four of us November 2010 $802 roundtrip Vancouver to Bangkok

good luck if you need some help give me some more specifics and I'l have a go at it for you...

that's how it was in 1991 times have changed where have you been living!, aggregators take commission from the airline at cost price these days there is no mark up to the customer just a mark down for the airline

In 1991 we weren't booking our own flights online ... maybe your remark would have had some grain of intelligence if you had used the year 2001.:jap: