Reverse High Season Airfare Bargains

[Tiger7Moth]

I am thinking that there are many passengers looking for flights to BKK during high season but not so many looking for flights out of BKK. So, there should be a lot of empty seats on flights leaving BKK and bargains to be found. My destination is US, Los Angeles preferable but could do San Fran or Seattle if advantageous.

Could be as often happens, my logic is faulty somehow.

But, if there are very cheap airfares to be found, I don't know how to find them. I am very flexible in terms of timing. I am even willing to fly on Christmas day.

I expect to be in the US for a couple of months (at least) having medical treatment.

Please let me know if you are aware of how I can get cheap fares taking advantage of reverse high season travel (my assumption).

Thanks

[lomatopo]

Typically, air fares ex-BKK are less expensive than say, ex-USA. Many people purchase a one-way ticket, or one-year roundtrip ticket, USA-BKK, and then purchase roundtrip tickets ex-BKK.

A reliable and reputable travel agent will be able to quickly and easily find you the lowest possible fare options. They also have access to special inventory and are aware of on-going promotions. There are obviously many, many variables. In your case, the duration of your stay may, rather than the city-pairs or even day/date of travel, force you into a particluar fare class?

Note that typically, mid week travel (Mon-Thu) is less expensive than weekend travel (Fri-Sun). (every airline fare has an associated fare code, a string of alpha-numeric characters, something like VLXTH. The "X" indicates mid-week travel and a "W" indicates weekend travel. (The "L" is for low-season, "H" for high season, and some othr letter is for shoulder season, where used. and the other letters or numbers also have a meaning.) Note that Christmas this year falls on a Sunday, so expect a higher fare than say on the 26th, a Monday.

I did a quick search on Travelocity for 27 Dec - 27 Feb BKK-LAX-BKK and China Airlines had the lowest fare at 944 USD all in.

What is your threshold? How firm are you on your return date, given a potentially variable recuperation period? Some fares do not allow change without the application of change fees.

Edited November 22, 2005 by lomatopo

[stevehaigh]

I am thinking that there are many passengers looking for flights to BKK during high season but not so many looking for flights out of BKK. So, there should be a lot of empty seats on flights leaving BKK and bargains to be found. My destination is US, Los Angeles preferable but could do San Fran or Seattle if advantageous.

Could be as often happens, my logic is faulty somehow.

But, if there are very cheap airfares to be found, I don't know how to find them. I am very flexible in terms of timing. I am even willing to fly on Christmas day.

I expect to be in the US for a couple of months (at least) having medical treatment.

Please let me know if you are aware of how I can get cheap fares taking advantage of reverse high season travel (my assumption).

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i had the same idea and got the same prices, about $1000. it seems the $650 SFO/BKK fairs have gone the way of the dodo. probably the oil price thing.

[Slingblade333]

Try China airlines, I've been checking their flight prices, about $550 up.

I'm not sure how they are to fly on but am thinking of using them for an upcoming trip.

[cdnvic]

Try China airlines, I've been checking their flight prices, about $550 up.

I'm not sure how they are to fly on but am thinking of using them for an upcoming trip.

[Krub]

Try China airlines, I've been checking their flight prices, about $550 up.

I'm not sure how they are to fly on but am thinking of using them for an upcoming trip.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

China Airlines have a very bad safety record although it is getting better.....

[chownah]

I think your logic is flawed. The vast majority of people visiting Thaland during the high season will also leave during the high season. The surplus seats you are hoping to get will be very few....I don't really know but my guess would be only a couple of seats per flight returning. It wouldn't make sense to an airline to reduce their ticket price for ALL the seats just because there are a couple of empty ones. It would, however, slightly increase your chances of finding an empty seat and getting a last minute booking at a reduced rate if they have such a thing in

Thailand....this is my opinion and is not backed up with any facts.

[Tiger7Moth]

Try China airlines, I've been checking their flight prices, about $550 up.

I'm not sure how they are to fly on but am thinking of using them for an upcoming trip.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know anything about China Airlines and safety records but I have flown RT BKK - Los Angeles 2 times on China and I was quite satisfied.

[asanee]

back to the original;

YES this point holds, clever thinking, but NOT to/fro the USA: thats when you get the 99 euro flights/single BKK-Europe (mainly Germany)

and why not to the USA:

1.in general tourism to Thaild ex USA is FAR less as what so many here seem to think, Germany alone sends out more tourists to LOS as the whole of USA on a yearly base.

2.those 2 weeks around Xmas is also not the major part of the business, and as airls on these routes tend to have the same flightschedule anyway, it means to them simply 100% full planes in stead of normally 75-80%.

3.the real cheap airfares to/fro USA are mostly on Asian airls, with a change at their homebase: JAL via TYO, KAL via SEL, CI via TPE, etc, the leg BK-base may be fairly empty, but not the other 1 to/fro USA, making out the main portion

4.most important; airfares ex-Thaild are fairly low, the same all year; BUT the AVAILABILITY= the chance you actually can BOOK for that price varies dratsic with time of year. they give priority to those paying more, thats just sound bisnis and exactly the same how airls also work for domestic in the USA

[Jeff1]

What ! Could you repeat that in english please ?

[think_too_mut]

1.in general tourism to Thaild ex USA is FAR less as what so many here seem to think, Germany alone sends out more tourists to LOS as the whole of USA on a yearly base.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Check your numbers again. You may find the US sends twice as many tourists to Thailand than Germany.

[britmaveric]

1.in general tourism to Thaild ex USA is FAR less as what so many here seem to think, Germany alone sends out more tourists to LOS as the whole of USA on a yearly base.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Check your numbers again. You may find the US sends twice as many tourists to Thailand than Germany.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd agree flights are booked months in advance and every bloody seat is taken.

[sbk]

Never use travelocity to find airfares from Bkk to the US, they are never what you will pay here. A quick check of the Bkk post classifieds finds China Airlines flights posted for 24,000 b to LAX (not incl tax.). Find a good local travel agent and they will find a cheap flight for you--but it may be full. Lots of people travel in, but as Chownah has so astutely pointed, most of them do go home again.

[lomatopo]

Never use travelocity to find airfares from Bkk to the US, they are never what you will pay here. A quick check of the Bkk post classifieds finds China Airlines flights posted for 24,000 b to LAX (not incl tax.). Find a good local travel agent and they will find a cheap flight for you--but it may be full. Lots of people travel in, but as Chownah has so astutely pointed, most of them do go home again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, the ‘problem’, if one can call it that, with using Travelocity to check airfares ex-anywhere is that they will only offer currently available inventory for specific travel dates, that you can purchase. The ads in the Bangkok Post are obviously not representative of fares even remotely available.

That said, and as I mentioned in my first post here, a local travel agent is definitely the way to go as they will have access to special inventory (promotions) and they may act as a consolidator for a specific airline(s), and thus will likely have the broadest selection of inventory and reasonable prices. Note that the same single economy seat on any airline may have upwards of twenty different prices, based on advance purchase, day or week/date of travel, change/cancellation fees, ‘refundability’ and even award space, etc. Obviously the airlines employ massive computing power to adjust inventory in order to maximize revenue.

"What is the record of China Airlines?

Since 1970, there have been nine fatal events involving China Airlines. The three most recent China Airlines events involved the A300-600 and the MD11 and there were a total of more than 460 fatalities in the two events. The estimated fatal event rate for China Airlines is about 11.4 fatal events per million flights. This is more than triple the rate of most major airlines in North America and western Europe." (from a Google search)

That said, I wouldn’t hesitate to fly them now as I think they are currently very conscious of their image and are doing everything to overcome it including a very heavy emphasis on safety, training and maintenance.

You can check airfares at China Airlines website.

There are more recent figures, in fact there was a recent detailed report from Diethelm Travel in an insert in the Bangkok Post, but here is one from a few years ago.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tourism2003/markets.html

In 2002 visitors from the U.S.A. numbered 509, 841 with an average daily spend of $96. For the same year, visitors from Germany numbered 403,240 with an average daily spend of $66. It should be noted that it is much easier and quicker to travel from Germany to Thailand than it is from the U.S.A. The bulk of the flights from the U.S.A. require at least one stop and most travelers actually make two, with average flight times of 24+ hours (first wheels up, last wheels down). There are many direct, non-stop flights between FRA/MUC and BKK and flight time is what, ~ 11 hours?

[michaelD]

Try China airlines, I've been checking their flight prices, about $550 up.

I'm not sure how they are to fly on but am thinking of using them for an upcoming trip.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My wife and I used China Airlines (national Taiwanese airline ) from Australia to Bangkok - via Taipei - earlier this year.

There were plenty of empty seats which allowed us to sit/sleep very comfortably in economy class.

The staff were very helpful/polite . The food was great. The entertainment great. The flights punctual. The prices cheapest.

Will certainly put them on top of our next priority list for our upcoming trip back to Thailand.

Bit disturbed to hear about previous safety record but will still have no hesitation in re-using them.

Have a great holiday.

Cheers :

[britmaveric]

My mate swears by China Air - might give them a go next paid ticket I buy.