Flight Costs to BKK vary depend on where you depart from

[stament]

I've noticed that it's always cheaper to book UK to BKK rather than BKK to UK. The reason I was given is that from the UK tickets are discounted because of competition as there are lots of options for travellers heading east (i.e. some might select to stop off at HK or Singapore rather than BKK) if choosing to fly onwards.

The reasons didn't really make a lot of sense to me because surely the same would apply going the other way, with other European destinations for travellers to stop off at or go to.

Does anyone know the reason for this as the tickets do seem to be cheaper this way round.

Secondly, I'll be flying between Dubai & BKK and wondered if people knew what would be cheaper as it seems to me that Dubai to BKK is more expensive in this instance.

[craigt3365]

I have a friend in the US who flies pretty much the same route as I do, only in reverse, obviously. His prices are 15-20% cheaper than mine. Same day, same schedule, and we've been online trying all sorts of different alternatives. Doesn't make any sense to me.

[yermanee]

Basically the airlines will charge as much as they can get away it. Dozens of factors influence the pricing system of which paramount is the demand and competition on certain routes.

Yermanee

[Upnotover]

I have a friend in the US who flies pretty much the same route as I do, only in reverse, obviously. His prices are 15-20% cheaper than mine. Same day, same schedule, and we've been online trying all sorts of different alternatives. Doesn't make any sense to me.

He comes here because he wants to, you go there because you have to.

[alant]

my understanding, tickets originating in and flights starting from outside the country coming to Thailand may attract a subsidy to promote tourism.

[CliffH]

Try booking a flight BKK - LHR one way. The cost can be almost the same a a return flight, and in some cases more expensive. Totally illogical.

[marioc]

Have already noticed and have tried all sorts of moves.... once I flew with a ticket from BKK to Singapore and then bought another ticket to Europe, in the end it was a bit cheaper then going to Europe with only one ticket but it wasn't worthy because of the long connecting time ( can't afford to be late with 2 different tickets....luggage etc.)

Imo, there is nothing you can do....just try and try again online and hoping for a bit of luck.

[Estrada]

What you have to understand is that the UK Travel Companies reserve seats many months in advance to secure them against their holiday packages offered in their brochures. These seats are at a lower price than an individual would pay because they are making a group tour booking. If they can't sell all their holidays then those seats are sold cheaper to clear them and avoid them paying penalties. Not many Thai Companies offer holidays going the other way so less chance of a bargain. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy a low cost holiday package at a flea pit hotel and just use the air tickets and do not bother with the hotel.

Edited January 26, 2014 by Estrada

[HUAHIN62]

Thai air run specials on a regular basis and these specials makes it possible to book flight from another country to Thailand cheaper than from Thailand to that country. You can visit their web site and look at their promotions. We are using one of these promotions to fly to Japan in March. With these specials, seats, flights and sometimes destinations within a country are limited. One way flights are normally very expensive and multi-stops can also be expensive depending on the airline and time of year. An example of multi-stop madness, we tried to fly from Japan (Tokyo) to Sydney, Sydney to Auckland, Auckland to Sydney and then Sydney to BKK with Qantas and was quoted (online) B 240 000 per person. We are now doing it as two trips and its B 130 000 for two people compared to B 540 000 (B 240 000 x 2 plus B 60 000 for the one way to Japan). For the Aussies and Kiwi's out there Malaysian air had a good ticket prices, we paid B 56 000 for return tickets to BKK to Auckland in April.

[notmyself]

Try booking a flight BKK - LHR one way. The cost can be almost the same a a return flight, and in some cases more expensive. Totally illogical.

BKK - LHR Single Wed 29th: 246 quid (airIndia)

LHR - BKK Single Wed 29th: 336 quid (Jet Airways)

[HerbalEd]

I find the exact opposite. It's much cheaper for me to buy my BKK/USA/BKK flights in Thailand.

[HerbalEd]

Basically the airlines will charge as much as they can get away it. Dozens of factors influence the pricing system of which paramount is the demand and competition on certain routes.

Yermanee

Your first statement isn't always true. Airlines often offer discounts to attract more fliers and to compete with their competitors.

[khrab]

Basically the airlines will charge as much as they can get away it. Dozens of factors influence the pricing system of which paramount is the demand and competition on certain routes.

Yermanee

It's called yield management or simple "they take what they get".

This applies to almost any route. Look at the prices Europe -Thailand on Gulf carriers. Europe to Dubai/Dohe etc. are much more expensive than Europe-Thaialnd on the same carrier.

Or, ticktes ex Switzerland compared to ex Germany. Any destination.

Airline fares are calculated on a so called O&D (origin and destination) basis. 1st rule: Non-stops are cheaper than transfer connection, When an ME airline is pricing LHR-BKK they just can't add LHR-DUB and DUB-BKK to create a fare, no, they have to compare the competion like British Airways, THAI, EVA and so on.

2st rule: See yield management. CH and ME passengers are considered "richer".

[dunque]

Basically the airlines will charge as much as they can get away it. Dozens of factors influence the pricing system of which paramount is the demand and competition on certain routes.

Yermanee

It's called yield management or simple "they take what they get".

This applies to almost any route. Look at the prices Europe -Thailand on Gulf carriers. Europe to Dubai/Dohe etc. are much more expensive than Europe-Thaialnd on the same carrier.

Or, ticktes ex Switzerland compared to ex Germany. Any destination.

Airline fares are calculated on a so called O&D (origin and destination) basis. 1st rule: Non-stops are cheaper than transfer connection, When an ME airline is pricing LHR-BKK they just can't add LHR-DUB and DUB-BKK to create a fare, no, they have to compare the competion like British Airways, THAI, EVA and so on.

2st rule: See yield management. CH and ME passengers are considered "richer".

To be pedantic you surely mean LHR-DXB DXB-BKK - unless you are talking about Aer Lingus

[KOZMO]

It is always cheaper to buy from the U.S. then to buy in thai. on any airline. I have boughten my gf tickets on Delta, American airlines and even Thai airlines cheaper going thru Expedia or Orbitz and Travelocity. all with the same result. She tried to go thru expedia/thai and was shocked by the difference in price.

[khrab]

Basically the airlines will charge as much as they can get away it. Dozens of factors influence the pricing system of which paramount is the demand and competition on certain routes.

Yermanee

It's called yield management or simple "they take what they get".

This applies to almost any route. Look at the prices Europe -Thailand on Gulf carriers. Europe to Dubai/Dohe etc. are much more expensive than Europe-Thaialnd on the same carrier.

Or, ticktes ex Switzerland compared to ex Germany. Any destination.

Airline fares are calculated on a so called O&D (origin and destination) basis. 1st rule: Non-stops are cheaper than transfer connection, When an ME airline is pricing LHR-BKK they just can't add LHR-DUB and DUB-BKK to create a fare, no, they have to compare the competion like British Airways, THAI, EVA and so on.

2st rule: See yield management. CH and ME passengers are considered "richer".

To be pedantic you surely mean LHR-DXB DXB-BKK - unless you are talking about Aer Lingus

You ar not pedantic. You are just right. My bad. Of course DXB.

[balford]

I went to book Bangkok to Darwin return via a large Australian travel agency with an emphasis on flying Silk Air/SIA. The quote was AUD 1485.00 each. I then went to the Silk Air web site and the price was AUD 815.00 each. When I asked the Australian end why the difference I was told that if we'd booked from there we pay Australian taxes. A difference of AUD 670.00 each!

If that isn't a rip-off I don't know what is. The moral of the story? Don't take anyone's word - check for youself. And the flight was great with full service.

Bob A. Relaxed in Lampang

[HannahD]

In the late '90s after the crash of the Thai Baht it was just the opposite. Significantly cheaper to buy tickets from Thailand to North America than NA to Thailand. Now that the prai by the sweat of their brows have brought about a full recovery, the parasitical ammart are once again flush and the country is awash in money.

All these oft quoted airline fare rules are applied when the target market has lots of money and waived when the market is thin. Any other explanation is specious at best. If you doubt it, peruse some airline sites. Check availability of a First Class seat out of Bangkok to any highly desirable destination.

[laobali]

Thinking (correctly AFAIK) that future return flights booked from the UK would be cheaper than the other way around, last year I paid a bit extra for a one-way to London. I have had great deals since then by spending quite a bit of time online with the most popular booking/comparison sites Expedia etc as far as possible in advance (a few months) to get the cheapest return flights to BKK, either direct or 1-2 hour stopovers from either LHR, LGW or MAN near where I am based currently. I've saved hundreds of pounds and got just the right set of criteria (dep, arr, onward connection times) by doing this. I also looked at flying first to one of the European hubs and getting a BKK flight from there. Departing from UK appears to be much cheaper. It's all about supply and demand and block bookings.

Edited January 26, 2014 by laobali

[PeterA63]

40 odd years ago I worked in the traveltrade, amongst others as chief of a ticketcalculating department ( this is now all done by computer) and even in those days, the reasons behind the privedifferentiating were unclear.

It was even so that we made longhaul constructions, originating outside the starting country, of which the first stretch, from outside the country to the airport where the customer ( mainly bussines, ofcourse) would start.

So, as and example, Brussels-Amsterdam-New York-LA-Tokyo-Amsterdam-Brussels.The customer would start in Amsterdam, as we already tore out the first stretch. The whole could make an import difference on the whole price.

Indeed nowadays it is just filling up the plane to the maximum, and even now one encounters overbooked flights now and then. Just shop for the best bargin, in principle well in advance.

[Bender]

i was told there are two main reasons:

1. the others foreign airlines, does always index their price on the national carrier, here its thai airways and even in economy class its quite expensive.

So there is no need of real competition.

2. the road LHX-BKK-LHX if you think twice is completely different from BKK-LHX-BKK.... i think you didnt get it

So let thinks together : the road XXX-BKK-XXX do carry around 26 millions foreign tourists

while the road BKK-XXX-BKK do carry a real tiny amount of passenger... thai passenger..... i think you still didnt get it.

So lets take the UK for example, there is over dozens of millions of british who travel abroad each years. There is a huge market for the airline company.

In thailand there is no so much people who can afford to travel.

The airline company can make money when they bring 1 millions british to thailand, but they dont make so much profit when they bring dozens of thousands thais to London... this one parameter how the price are calculated...

[tingtongteesood]

In my opinion, in the west the laws of supply and demand mean competition between businesses help keep prices down. In Thailand there is a lot less demand but the same supply so the greedy corporates need to make more money per person leaving from here...

[ableguy]

the reason is more people can afford UK to Thailand Than Thais can Thailand to UK leading to a higher demand, high demand price goes up.

[stament]

the reason is more people can afford UK to Thailand Than Thais can Thailand to UK leading to a higher demand, high demand price goes up.

Surely from what you've said if more people can afford it, it's logical that demand would be higher in which case why is it cheaper from UK to BKK? You've contradicted yourself there my friend.

Anyhow just because more people can afford it doesn't necessarily mean people want a particular service. For example wealthy people might choose to holiday in the Seychelles or other exotic locations as they have more choice.

I think some of the other posts made more sense tbh

[Konini]

the reason is more people can afford UK to Thailand Than Thais can Thailand to UK leading to a higher demand, high demand price goes up.

Surely from what you've said if more people can afford it, it's logical that demand would be higher in which case why is it cheaper from UK to BKK? You've contradicted yourself there my friend.

Anyhow just because more people can afford it doesn't necessarily mean people want a particular service. For example wealthy people might choose to holiday in the Seychelles or other exotic locations as they have more choice.

I think some of the other posts made more sense tbh

I think ableguy might have just mistyped rather than mixed them up. The higher the demand, the more competition, therefore lower fares. This only happens in economy class, business class is pretty much the same either way - don't know about first class because I've never had so much money I'd choose to waste it when business class is very good nowadays with the flat beds.

[Konini]

I went to book Bangkok to Darwin return via a large Australian travel agency with an emphasis on flying Silk Air/SIA. The quote was AUD 1485.00 each. I then went to the Silk Air web site and the price was AUD 815.00 each. When I asked the Australian end why the difference I was told that if we'd booked from there we pay Australian taxes. A difference of AUD 670.00 each!

If that isn't a rip-off I don't know what is. The moral of the story? Don't take anyone's word - check for youself. And the flight was great with full service.

Bob A. Relaxed in Lampang

I think she gave you an easy answer rather than tell you she was going to make so much commission. The only difference in taxes (airport tax and fuel surcharges are the same) is GST, which is 10%. That would be $81 difference if there was GST on international flights, which of course there isn't. The only GST payable as far as my knowledge of it is the agent commission, and I'm not sure about that service attracting GST as the goods (flights) are international.

When internet bookings first became available, I found I was able to cut fares quite literally in half sometimes by booking direct with the airlines, and often I had agents telling me the same story (until I pointed out that I did some teaching on GST when it was introduced and know Aussie tax law pretty much inside out). I prefer using agents as they are often privy to specials that are not widely advertised, so I persisted with them. Many of them would bring the price down significantly, and I found one who would match the price I could get; 5% of whatever the fare was better than nothing. After that, I would use that agent over and over to avoid having to go through the BS every flight (5 or 6 per year), but she ended up leaving and I was back to getting the runaround for a couple of years until I found another who would match the price I'd found. It was a total non-brainer for them, I did the leg work and found the fares, just wanted them to book it (or more particularly ) keep their eye out for any specials given the amount of flights we took to Europe and SEA.

The tax thing is what employees were told to say in the early days, thought they would have moved on a bit since then. Unfortunately, the majority of them seem to be no better than used car salesmen in the honesty ratings.

[steelepulse]

Surely it's not supply and demand is it . There isn't near as much demand from people leaving BKK to other countries as there is people wanting to come to BKK.