Airline Information And Flight Deals For Expats

[Konini]

It's gone a bit quiet on here...

 

Anyway, I've got a price alert in Skyscanner for flights to LHR and STN in November.  Just got an email with a BIG drop in price.  It's China Southern, so maybe not the best airline, but it's only 15,622 baht BKK - LHR. 19 hours there, 16 hours back, but it really is cheap, and Emirates is 16 hours each way.

 

Picking up a hire car and getting onto the northbound A1/M1 is so much easier from Stanstead, difference is about an hour and a half if traffic is good, two or more if it's not.  Not sure why I put the alert in for it really, but it may be of interest to someone.

[KittenKong]

7 hours ago, Konini said:

It's gone a bit quiet on here...

Discounted fares from Thailand seem to have dried up over the last year or two. I don't know why. No shortage of cheap flights into Thailand, but hardly any originating here.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Sadly Emirates have also reduced their checked baggage weight limitations, but only by 5 kg.

 

https://www.emirates.com/uk/english/before-you-fly/baggage/checked-baggage.aspx

[ExpatOilWorker]

Baggage allowance for Thai Airways was reduced from 30 to 20 kg as of April 1st, 2019.

But, will it go back up to 30 kg after August 10, 2019 or how to understand the below?

Economy Class	30 kg (66 pounds) ** Except ** - RBD L : 20 kg (44 pounds) - RBD V/W : 20 kg (44 pounds)               Effective for ticket issued               on 01APR19- 09AUG19               : 30 kg (66 pounds)               Effective for ticket issued               on/after 10AUG19

https://www.thaiairways.com/en_TH/plan/travel_information/baggage.page

[KhunBENQ]

2 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

But, will it go back up to 30 kg after August 10, 2019 or how to understand the below?

Seems like.

Did a search for some flight in September.

30 kg in all economy classes.

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

14 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Seems like.

Did a search for some flight in September.

30 kg in all economy classes.

 

What a PR clusterfock. What was the point of reducing the baggage allowance for 4 month and a few days?

I had all but eliminated Thai Airways from my travel plans, since 20 kg was a total shopping killer. It was only because Emirates also adjusted their allowance I double checked.

That said, Thai Airways have some rock bottom prices for European destinations throughout the summer 2020.

I just secured my tickets. Happy shopping.

[steelepulse]

On 8/11/2019 at 6:04 AM, KittenKong said:

Discounted fares from Thailand seem to have dried up over the last year or two. I don't know why. No shortage of cheap flights into Thailand, but hardly any originating here.

 

Yes, I have to agree.  Checking FT there are a lot flights into SE Asia that are competitively priced, but not so many starting from SE Asia.  CGK is the exception, but you have to position to Jakarta to get any decent Biz class fares.

[angy]

Very bad experiences with most of airlines during the Covid-19. Most of them cancelled all flights without giving possibility to their passengers of going back home. Also most of them are not giving back the reimboursement of cancelled flights or the procedure is not applicable. Air Asia and Qatar Airways, two on that list that I'll remember for the future.

[Banana7]

On 4/4/2020 at 9:02 AM, angy said:

Very bad experiences with most of airlines during the Covid-19. Most of them cancelled all flights without giving possibility to their passengers of going back home. Also most of them are not giving back the reimboursement of cancelled flights or the procedure is not applicable. Air Asia and Qatar Airways, two on that list that I'll remember for the future.

Qatar has charged CAD$3,000 for a one way flight, economy class, from Delhi (DEL) to Toronto (YYZ) in April 2020. Flight was packed full, no spare seats or social distancing.

 

A normal return flight, not by Qatar, is CAD$1,000.

[torturedsole]

3 minutes ago, Banana7 said:

Qatar has charged CAD$3,000 for a one way flight, economy class, from Delhi (DEL) to Toronto (YYZ) in April 2020. Flight was packed full, no spare seats or social distancing.

 

A normal return flight, not by Qatar, is CAD$1,000.

The simple rule of supply and demand.  Gotta love it. 

[madmen]

Head's up Ozzie's cheap flight this Sunday  14th with Cathay pacific , Sydney then Brisbane 13990  inc Taxes and seats still available

[Vinva]

You need to check all popular websites for cheap flight tickets, I usually check these websites 1 month before my trip
1. Expedia.com
2. AviaEasy.com
3. Priceline.com
4. Cheapoair.com

[Danderman123]

I tried booking tickets from BKK-HKT today. My first attempt was on Thai Airways web site, but the site hung up when I tried to input my personal information, it wouldn't accept telephone numbers from the US, it just gave an unspecified error message. I tried again on Thai Smile, and it got hung up on dates, it wouldn't accept numbers. I suspect that it wanted me to pick from a menu, but the menu never appeared.

 

I looked at Expedia, but it didn't offer any Thai Smile flights.

 

Finally, I booked on Air Asia. It worked, but they nickle and dime you so your final payment is much higher than Thai Smile.

 

[Felix Hoch]

you are right thinking

[Felix Hoch]

 

If you want to come to Frankfurt, you will get good service

[Mike Teavee]

Did a quick check for J Class BKK-MAN in May and the prices seem to be 20-25% lower on Qatar than I've seen recently (Which were 50% higher than I'm used to paying but a move in the right direction). 

 

I normally use ITASoftware / Google Flights but Momondo

 https://www.momondo.com/ seem to have the best prices for the dates I'm looking for... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[proton]

Cant find anything to the UK rtn Aug/Sept for under 1k pounds ????

[treetops]

Deleted.

[doctormann]

Sorry if this has been covered before but I am trying to navigate the ASEANOW menu and I'm failing!

 

Question:  has anyone here tried to book a flight with Qatar Airlines, using a Thai VISA debit card - NOT a credit card?  I'm not sure if this is possible as their website does not make it clear.  Several payment options are offered - including PayPal, which we can no longer use in Thailand - but debit cards are not on the list.

 

I know that booking through a consolidator - skyscanner etc - is a possibility but I much prefer to book directly with the airline if I can.

 

Thanks

[Mike Teavee]

5 hours ago, doctormann said:

Sorry if this has been covered before but I am trying to navigate the ASEANOW menu and I'm failing!

 

Question:  has anyone here tried to book a flight with Qatar Airlines, using a Thai VISA debit card - NOT a credit card?  I'm not sure if this is possible as their website does not make it clear.  Several payment options are offered - including PayPal, which we can no longer use in Thailand - but debit cards are not on the list.

 

I know that booking through a consolidator - skyscanner etc - is a possibility but I much prefer to book directly with the airline if I can.

 

Thanks

I tried using my Bangkok Bank (Debit) MasterCard & it kept getting rejected, I had more than enough money in the account & had upped my limit to 300K to cover an approx 230K cost. 

 

The Qatar site seems to say the problem was with my bank rejecting the transaction but the price had already gone up by 5K each whilst I was messing around trying to book it so I ended up putting it on my UK Visa Credit Card.  
 

If you don’t have an alternative credit card that you can use, you could ask your Bank whether there’s anything you can do to stop the transaction from being rejected, maybe they can pre-authorise it or something. 
 

 

[doctormann]

12 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

I tried using my Bangkok Bank (Debit) MasterCard & it kept getting rejected, I had more than enough money in the account & had upped my limit to 300K to cover an approx 230K cost. 

 

The Qatar site seems to say the problem was with my bank rejecting the transaction but the price had already gone up by 5K each whilst I was messing around trying to book it so I ended up putting it on my UK Visa Credit Card.  
 

If you don’t have an alternative credit card that you can use, you could ask your Bank whether there’s anything you can do to stop the transaction from being rejected, maybe they can pre-authorise it or something. 
 

 

I might just end up flying with Emirates, who do accept debit cards.

Pity as I really wanted to try the Qatar Q-suites.

 

My UK bank (Barclays) withdrew my Barclaycard credit cards, some years back, as I no longer maintain a UK address - and now are closing my UK on-shore accounts, for the same reason.  60 years of banking history with them apparently means zilch!!

 

Getting a 'real' CC from a Thai bank seems to require that you have a work permit.  Not an option for me so I now have no credit cards at all.  I do have debit cards from two Thai banks - TTB and Kasikorn - and one from my off-shore Barclays account, which they haven't closed and hopefully won't!

 

I've read something about 'one-time-use' virtual credit cards which, as the name suggests, are created for a specific transaction and only work once.  I don't know how well these work - what about having to show your CC at check-in, for instance?  Some banks apparently offer these but I haven't looked into this yet.

 

[Mike Teavee]

On 6/16/2023 at 7:41 AM, doctormann said:

I've read something about 'one-time-use' virtual credit cards which, as the name suggests, are created for a specific transaction and only work once.  I don't know how well these work - what about having to show your CC at check-in, for instance?  Some banks apparently offer these but I haven't looked into this yet.

Had a random YT video pop up around personal security / privacy and the guy was recommending getting virtual credit cards from https://privacy.com/ 

 

Their lowest plan is free & allows you to create up to 12 new virtual cards each month, great if you want a Single Use card but the guy also suggests setting one up for regular payments from your card (e.g. he has a Netflix card that has a credit limit of $15 so can pay his bill each month, if this was compromised the most they could steal would be $15 and they wouldn't have any of his personal details.

 

NB You have to have an US Bank Account so this wouldn't work for me but am sure there will be somebody offering a similar service for UK account holders... 

 

 

Overview of Virtual Cards

Virtual cards allow you to minimize the amount of personally identifiable information (PII) you share with places you buy at. Historically, virtual cards provided by banks have been difficult and clunky to transact with; however, new providers have made virtual cards simple and easy to use. We believe virtual credit cards and virtual debit cards are now valuable tools in protecting your privacy and security without compromising convenience.

What is a virtual card?

A virtual card, sometimes called a temporary card number or anonymous card number, is a credit or debit card number that can be created through a website or mobile app, and does not come with a physical card. Virtual cards can be utilized for most online purchases to mask your personal and financial information. Oftentimes, you can set a maximum spend or charge limit on the virtual card to prevent yourself from being overcharged. Some virtual cards will also lock to a merchant to prevent the card from being used elsewhere if the merchant is breached.

How do virtual cards work?

A virtual card is a unique, 16-digit payment card number with a CVV and expiration date that is created instantly through a website or mobile app. Virtual cards function just like a credit or debit card but without the physical card, and can be used for online shopping, over the phone purchases, or any transaction that requires entering a card number.

Many users may think of virtual cards as burner cards that can be used for quick, one-time purchases. However, Privacy's virtual cards offer more enhanced security features and unlock more use cases than a simple burner card.

With Privacy Cards, you can set maximum spend limits on virtual cards to prevent being overcharged. Privacy Cards will also lock to a merchant to prevent the card from being used elsewhere if the merchant is breached. Lastly, Privacy's virtual cards can be paused or closed at any time, with just a few clicks.

How can you get virtual cards online?

You may wonder how to get virtual cards from a company like Privacy.com. The entire process is handled online. This means you don't have to fill out lengthy paper documents or go to a physical location in person. In addition, no credit check is required to open or use a Privacy account. Signing up for a virtual card service requires some personal information so that the virtual card issuer can complete a mandatory verification procedure called Know Your Customer (KYC) in accordance with anti-money laundering laws. You can learn more about how to get started using Privacy Cards on our website and blog.

What kind of safety measures does a virtual card provider take?

Safety and security are very important to virtual card providers (after all, greater security is one of the main reasons users sign up for the service in the first place). For Privacy specifically, we undergo rigorous internal and third-party audits and hold ourselves to the same rigorous PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) requirements as your bank or credit union.

How much do virtual cards cost and how do virtual card companies make money?

Some virtual card providers charge fees for every card you create or a monthly fee to use their service. Other virtual card providers may also charge fees for each purchase made with the cards. In contrast, Privacy.com's core plan is completely free to use on all domestic purchases. We make money off of interchange - the fee that the merchant pays for accepting a debit or credit card - and we will never sell your personal data.

Who can use Privacy.com and how can I get started generating virtual cards with Privacy.com?

Privacy is currently available to US citizens or legal residents with a checking account at a US bank or credit union, and who are 18+ years of age. Unfortunately, we don't support international bank accounts or non-US users at this time. To get started, you can sign up for an account through our website or mobile app in as little as 3 minutes by providing some basic personal information (name, date of birth, valid phone number, valid email address, etc.) and securely linking a checking account for funding transactions.

  

 

[spidermike007]

On 4/10/2017 at 3:32 AM, golfer1111 said:

Pretty good deal on BKK - LAX, China Airlines premium economy, RT just under 40000 baht

 

The BKK-TPE-BKK sections are in business, the TPE-LAX sections are on the 777's which are quite nice & the layovers are short. 

 

Looks available from now until 11/30 except July & August

Anyone like China Airlines? I hear very mixed reports about them. 

[golfer1111]

I've been using them for several years now, business class only, and they are ok - planes are getting dated, lounges are much more crowded, food has improved, drink options aren't special

 

I'm considering switching to EVA

[john donson]

are you an admin now?

[jchfriis]

I like this booking site. They specialise in business class, but is good for economy as well.

 

businessclass.com