Tickets To Europe -- Sticker Shock

[Tomhill]

guys

i fly roundtrip every year between Thailand and Europe usually for under 40,000 THB or just a little over

this year i am buying the ticket back to Europe and i can't believe the prices: 50,000-60,000 THB!

(yes, i know the Euro is down but not 30%!)

has something happened why prices are so much higher?

or is this just a bad time to buy? would prices get better after middle January?

if you have an agent that can help me do better than that, would you please give me your recommendation?

thanks!

Tom

[craigt3365]

I've noticed almost the same increase for flights to the US. Do the same trip several times a year for many years. For sure more expensive this year.

[steve187]

Look here - http://www.thaifly.com/index.php?

showing returns to uk for 35,000 baht 19,000 + taxes 15,000 baht (ish)

[pgthompson]

I go back to the UK once or twice a year and always buy my return ticket from UK, paid £472 a couple of weeks ago for a return flight with Emirates from Man to Bkk - Bkk to Man for same dates were 43,600 Baht.

Still can't fathom out why the difference, would have thought it would be cheaper from Asia rather from Europe.

[Felt 35]

Try online with Finnair and SAS even Thai Airways have some tickets under 40K. Depends on when you want to go.

[Willeyeam]

If you can stomach the flight times, the food, the disgraceful transit via Mumbai - give Kingfisher Airlines a check - I would make sure you are of low blood pressure, strong stomach and don't carry a lighter, people complain about Bangkok Airport - go try Mumbai......it is another planet!

[Forethat]

Considering that last year it was possible to find return flights from Europe for as little as ~25.000, I'm flabbergasted when I read today's quote of 45.000...

Someone is tightening the belt.

[steve187]

srilakan air are showing at 33,365baht return bkk/lhr out 08/4 return end of may, with a 6 and 5 hour stop over

Edited January 12, 2012 by steve187

[nong38]

I think UK passenger tax is due to increase soon as well, not mention those jolly japes in Euroland want to bank a carbon tax on as well and we have no opt out!

[ignis]

I like Royal Jordanian Airways [Very good service, food, planes]

Just done a search random dates in Feb + March + April.... BKK to LHR return... 21,900 baht + 15,000 taxes

Also like Royal Brunei Air, but there prices have shot up in the past year or so, now for 2012 are 42,000 baht. [up 10k since 2010]

[lovelaos]

London Olympics 2012

[LAKRA]

If you can stomach the flight times, the food, the disgraceful transit via Mumbai - give Kingfisher Airlines a check - I would make sure you are of low blood pressure, strong stomach and don't carry a lighter, people complain about Bangkok Airport - go try Mumbai......it is another planet!

Are you not aware of the current financial problems with Kingfisher? With this in mind and bearing in mind the numerous cancellations they have made my recommendation would be Jetairways via Delhi and totally agree with you that Mumbai is a s...hole!

[steve187]

Jet are showing 22,000 return all in, i think a sale yesterday and today.

[exeter]

The stop oper in India is abit of security nightmare but with that saving maybe worth it, if you are ok with Indian food! The fleet is good and new.

[draftvader]

Anybody actually able to purchase these tickets though? My card (Mastercard with plenty of credit...kept at £0) and my wife's card (Visa with over £1,000 available in her account) are both causing a problem. I get to the Securesuite section and it bounces back to the Jet site with an error. I have spoken to my CC company to let them know that I am purchasing from an Indian company from Thailand and still the same error. I have been trying since yesterday 4pm, but no luck.

Anybody?

-- EDIT --

I might have answered my own question with my credit card company thinking that it might have been them.....will know in 10 minutes!

Edited January 14, 2012 by draftvader

[rixalex]

Jet are showing 22,000 return all in, i think a sale yesterday and today.

I just checked on this and it's there. Tremendous value and a choice of times some with short layovers. All taxes included.

Can you give a link? Just been looking on their website and see no sign of this deal. What is the travel period?

[maprao]

All those considering travelling Jet please do so then post here. I will follow the feedback.

As for me I would never chose this option.

[rixalex]

All those considering travelling Jet please do so then post here. I will follow the feedback.

As for me I would never chose this option.

Flown with them three times. No problems whatsoever. Stop over in Mumbai is a bit of a pain, but if you chose the right time of departure, the stop over is in Delhi, which is much better.

What is your problem with them?

[fin5prtw]

you should check out a website called skyscanner.net i always use it for my flights and you can just write thailand to the uk and it'll check all airports to ensure the best price! =)

[Ricardo]

Jet are showing 22,000 return all in, i think a sale yesterday and today.

I just checked on this and it's there. Tremendous value and a choice of times some with short layovers. All taxes included.

I too had MasterCard problems, took a half-hour phone-call to the UK to sort it, but was then able to book 3 different sets of dates (before the end of September) for B22,890 per-trip, fully-inclusive. Sale ends today !

All those considering travelling Jet please do so then post here. I will follow the feedback.

As for me I would never chose this option.

I too travelled with them via Mumbai last autumn, and would agree that the food is uninspiring & BOM-airport unpleasant & rundown/smelly, but on the other hand, I just saved several thousand Baht per-trip, on each of three tickets! That covers my CNX-BKK connections and still leaves me significantly better-off.

The OP was looking for prices under B40k, well here's one which is only slightly-more than half that price, it does therefore answer his post.

Jet Airways' planes were fine IMO, the seatback-entertainment on the B737-800s to Mumbai had more-limited content, but what other airlines offer this on short-haul ? And LHR-Terminal-4 was fine to fly in/out of. It's a good option if you're travelling on-a-budget, I'd say.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Ricardo

[rixalex]

Jet are showing 22,000 return all in, i think a sale yesterday and today.

I just checked on this and it's there. Tremendous value and a choice of times some with short layovers. All taxes included.

I too had MasterCard problems, took a half-hour phone-call to the UK to sort it, but was then able to book 3 different sets of dates (before the end of September) for B22,890 per-trip, fully-inclusive. Sale ends today !

All those considering travelling Jet please do so then post here. I will follow the feedback.

As for me I would never chose this option.

I too travelled with them via Mumbai last autumn, and would agree that the food is uninspiring & BOM-airport unpleasant & rundown/smelly, but on the other hand, I just saved several thousand Baht per-trip, on each of three tickets! That covers my CNX-BKK connections and still leaves me significantly better-off.

The OP was looking for prices under B40k, well here's one which is only slightly-more than half that price, it does therefore answer his post.

Jet Airways' planes were fine IMO, the seatback-entertainment on the B737-800s to Mumbai had more-limited content, but what other airlines offer this on short-haul ? And LHR-Terminal-4 was fine to fly in/out of. It's a good option if you're travelling on-a-budget, I'd say.

Ricardo, i still can't see any sign of this deal on there website, and when i do a search for flights, i'm getting nothing available for the return leg, having searched 3 or 4 different months. Any pointers?

[NanLaew]

Without stating the travel dates, the OP doesn't leave the 'experts' here much to go on. There's certain days of the week to avoid and certain holiday periods to avoid.

As far as I can recall, it has pretty much ALWAYS been cheaper to purchase a r/t ticket in Europe or US than to buy the r/t in Thailand. The really cheap fares that will be quoted by others were either advance purchases or well-timed special offers. I was playing with the @ita app on my android last night and Oman Airlines came up with a price in the low-30k baht range and only one stopover that wasn't too long.

My only advice is to use one of the Indian or Oman Air on a one-way ticket to your European destination and purchase your Bangkok r/t ticket at home. You can do BOTH purchases online as most airlines now operate country/region specific websites. I do this now that I have a family traveling to the UK with me and makes a huge difference in prices. The big advantage is I can now purchase a ticket issued in the UK that has date change flexibility which is still cheaper than the one purchased in Thailand that has heavy penalties for making changes if indeed changes are permitted.

Edited January 14, 2012 by NanLaew

[bunnaag]

Without stating the travel dates, the OP doesn't leave the 'experts' here much to go on. There's certain days of the week to avoid and certain holiday periods to avoid.

As far as I can recall, it has pretty much ALWAYS been cheaper to purchase a r/t ticket in Europe or US than to buy the r/t in Thailand. The really cheap fares that will be quoted by others were either advance purchases or well-timed special offers. I was playing with the @ita app on my android last night and Oman Airlines came up with a price in the low-30k baht range and only one stopover that wasn't too long.

My only advice is to use one of the Indian or Oman Air on a one-way ticket to your European destination and purchase your Bangkok r/t ticket at home. You can do BOTH purchases online as most airlines now operate country/region specific websites. I do this now that I have a family traveling to the UK with me and makes a huge difference in prices. The big advantage is I can now purchase a ticket issued in the UK that has date change flexibility which is still cheaper than the one purchased in Thailand that has heavy penalties for making changes if indeed changes are permitted.

my thai wife only gets a visa with a return ticket from Bangkok to Europe.

[draftvader]

Whilst we're here can we get some clarity on the Indian transit visa situation. There is some debate as to whether it is a transit visa waiver for outbound flights within 24 hours, 12 hours or not at all. My understanding is that (assuming European/North American passport) it will be outbound within 24 hours not leaving the transit area.

Anybody with any real experience of this on here?

[Ricardo]

Ricardo, i still can't see any sign of this deal on there website, and when i do a search for flights, i'm getting nothing available for the return leg, having searched 3 or 4 different months. Any pointers?

I just looked this morning, on www.jetairways.com as usual, and the special low web-fares were still there, although the sale was supposed to have ended last night. Where there is no more availability, they show 'Sold Out' for the specific route/time, and the other more-expensive fares still available.

The deal seemed to be available for journeys completed by the end of September, if that helps ?

[NanLaew]

Without stating the travel dates, the OP doesn't leave the 'experts' here much to go on. There's certain days of the week to avoid and certain holiday periods to avoid.

As far as I can recall, it has pretty much ALWAYS been cheaper to purchase a r/t ticket in Europe or US than to buy the r/t in Thailand. The really cheap fares that will be quoted by others were either advance purchases or well-timed special offers. I was playing with the @ita app on my android last night and Oman Airlines came up with a price in the low-30k baht range and only one stopover that wasn't too long.

My only advice is to use one of the Indian or Oman Air on a one-way ticket to your European destination and purchase your Bangkok r/t ticket at home. You can do BOTH purchases online as most airlines now operate country/region specific websites. I do this now that I have a family traveling to the UK with me and makes a huge difference in prices. The big advantage is I can now purchase a ticket issued in the UK that has date change flexibility which is still cheaper than the one purchased in Thailand that has heavy penalties for making changes if indeed changes are permitted.

my thai wife only gets a visa with a return ticket from Bangkok to Europe.

My Thai wife traveled on a one-way to the UK but was in possession of another r/t ticket. Admittedly she already has her UK visa but I am pretty sure that a visa can be issued while holding two tickets, ie. a separate ticket for each leg of the round trip.

What country stipulates that a round-trip ticket needs to be acquired BEFORE applying for the visa anyway? I thought most countries instructed applicants to NOT purchase any ticketing until the visa has been approved. THEN you need to make sure she has either a return ticket or a o/w to get there and a r/t for coming back (and going again). Inevitably it's the airline that does the first check that return travel is enabled through ticketing. The second check is at immigration at your destination but to be honest, my wife has never been asked to show the return ticketing on her 3 trips to the UK.

Edited January 15, 2012 by NanLaew

[rak sa_ngop]

The stop oper in India is abit of security nightmare but with that saving maybe worth it, if you are ok with Indian food! The fleet is good and new.

I have been through Delhi twice, and although security is strict I would hardly call it a nightmare. New terminal, good duty free and restaurants. Just add about 20 mins to get issued boarding passes (not issued in BKK or London) and the added security checks. Maybe you comments are valid for Mumbai?

[garrfeild]

Qatar Airways ex BKK Monday 16th. Jan. to MAN, return 7th. Feb. 32,855 baht. taxes included. Other dates available on Qatar's own website. Extremely good transfer times at Doha.

Thats about the same price as acouple years ago maybe a couple thousand baht less. Qatar Airways is a good service as well.

[bunnaag]

Without stating the travel dates, the OP doesn't leave the 'experts' here much to go on. There's certain days of the week to avoid and certain holiday periods to avoid.

As far as I can recall, it has pretty much ALWAYS been cheaper to purchase a r/t ticket in Europe or US than to buy the r/t in Thailand. The really cheap fares that will be quoted by others were either advance purchases or well-timed special offers. I was playing with the @ita app on my android last night and Oman Airlines came up with a price in the low-30k baht range and only one stopover that wasn't too long.

My only advice is to use one of the Indian or Oman Air on a one-way ticket to your European destination and purchase your Bangkok r/t ticket at home. You can do BOTH purchases online as most airlines now operate country/region specific websites. I do this now that I have a family traveling to the UK with me and makes a huge difference in prices. The big advantage is I can now purchase a ticket issued in the UK that has date change flexibility which is still cheaper than the one purchased in Thailand that has heavy penalties for making changes if indeed changes are permitted.

my thai wife only gets a visa with a return ticket from Bangkok to Europe.

My Thai wife traveled on a one-way to the UK but was in possession of another r/t ticket. Admittedly she already has her UK visa but I am pretty sure that a visa can be issued while holding two tickets, ie. a separate ticket for each leg of the round trip.

What country stipulates that a round-trip ticket needs to be acquired BEFORE applying for the visa anyway? I thought most countries instructed applicants to NOT purchase any ticketing until the visa has been approved. THEN you need to make sure she has either a return ticket or a o/w to get there and a r/t for coming back (and going again). Inevitably it's the airline that does the first check that return travel is enabled through ticketing. The second check is at immigration at your destination but to be honest, my wife has never been asked to show the return ticketing on her 3 trips to the UK.

during the last 10 years my wife had to produce a return ticket every time at the Munich immigration when entering the country.

[pattayadingo]

Mumbai airport using Air India. BKK - UK

The flight was late arriving. Herded through stringent security. Many passengers in Security were getting exasperated. No chance of any refreshment or toilet stop. Late arrival in UK also. Baggage at UK (London) was delayed. I made my train connection at Kings Cross with 5 minutes to spare when I should have had a good hour and a half.

I did this as a one off flight to be able to fly UK- BKK return in the future at cheaper prices. I would never ever do it again with Air India.

It happened that Air India were the cheapest at that time so I used them.