Lowest priced round trip from US to Thailand?

[zierf1]

I usually pay about $1,200 for a round trip ticket to BKK from the midwest.  I am trying to keep it around $1,000 this time.  Anything under $1,000 sounds like a steal.  I have seen some fares for ~$900 from NYC round trip on skyscanner.com and kayak.  What is your record for flight deals from the US?

[Thanyaburi Mac]

My record R/T flight?  How about FREE, courtesy of the USAF on a C-135, Feb '64 & Feb '65.

 

FYI, the C-135 was known as The Flying Submarine because it only three (3) windows in the passenger compartment, all swine class.

 

Mac

[squarethecircle]

My record R/T flight?  How about FREE, courtesy of the USAF on a C-135, Feb '64 & Feb '65.

 

FYI, the C-135 was known as The Flying Submarine because it only three (3) windows in the passenger compartment, all swine class.

 

Mac

How was the food and service?

[phuketrichard]

TO USA

 

check China eastern.

last nov i paid ONLY $875  Phuket-SFO  return.

 

Bring ur own food ( for the Thailand-Shanghai leg) but other than that fine,

had 3 + seats on all legs

 

 

[dinger]

Lots of pretty reasonable flights out there but carefully look at the lay overs. Usually the cheaper the flight the longer the layover. I don't much care to be stuck in some airport lounge for 9hrs.

[dddave]

My sister and her husband flew Boston-NRT-BKK return on JAL several months ago for just over US$900 each.  It was a promotional fare for the newly opened BOS-NRT route.  Don't know if it is still in effect.

I understand China-Eastern is now using 380's to the US.

 

Fares and promotions change day to day.  Don't just check airfare websites, go to the various airline websites as well.  Some people have been finding that old fashioned travel agents can still get the best fare.   You have to play three tables at the same time in the airfare game.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I lately bought a BKK-Guangzhou-LAX RT flight on China Southern for the upcoming Christmas season at $883.

 

A lot of their flights have longer layovers, but the one I choose just had two hours each way. A380s on the China-LAX segments.

 

 

[Thanyaburi Mac]

SquareCircle

 

Service & food?  Pretty awful!  Baloney sandwiches and an apple, as I remember, passed around by a USAF E4 who might not have liked Army guys....  Long walk back to the crapper, too, if you could get out of your seat and past the other guys.

 

Mac

[nasa123]

Check out Eva Air   http://www.evaair.com

[novanova]

Try:

kayak.com

momondo.com

skyscanner.com

 

for a range of flights.

 

Use "more options" in kayak to get +/- 3 days for arrival and departure, if you can be flexible.

[Mrjlh]

Sneak into a wheel well...its free! Great view too. Bring warm clothing and very large O2 bottle.  

[el jefe]

United had flights JFK-BKK back in May with acceptable connections for $980. Delta was even cheaper. In the future I'll book early and pay a little extra to fly Cathay Pacific.

The best fares I see now on the JFK-BKK route are $1050 on Aeroflot. Emirates for $1100 is a better deal.

[IsaanUSA]

OP, Im in the midwest.  It's $1300-$1400 this year.  Kayak and Google Flights are usually the best for me. 

People quoting New York, Boston, etc, we would require a $300-$400 flight to New York before going TPAC or TATL.

 

I do Star Alliance, so I always go through Denver or Chicago on United.

[IsaanUSA]

Plugging random data into Kayak, it looks like Kansas City is turning up the best deals.  The flights there seem to be about $60 cheaper than elsewhere.  I tried Kansas City, St Louis, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Des Moines and Indianapolis for Nov-Dec, 3 week stay.

 

Of course if you can get to Chicago for free, there are flights under $1100.  From Denver there are flights under $1200.  From KC there are flights under $1300.

Houston is not midwest, but they have fares under $1100 also.

 

You didn't tell us which airport you would be departing from or any dates, so that's about all I'm willing to do for you.  Hope it helps.

[IsaanUSA]

I also just tried CNX, HKT, KUL and SGN all from ORD.  It seems like flying direct to BKK is the best option.  Now I'm done :)

[noendtoit]

A friend of mine in Arizona recently saw a three day special, round trip LA/BKK on Thai Air.  A real steal thee days!

 

Sometimes these specials will pop up for a few hours, then they are gone.  If you want a real deal, you have to constantly peruse all the sites and jump on a deal when you find it.

 

I second the idea of paying a little more to fly Cathay Pacific on that long flight.  Cathay is an absolute delight; service, food, drinks, movies impeccable.  Cabin is better that business class on a US carrier, where they treat everybody like goddamned cattle.

Edited August 11, 2014 by noendtoit

[alansiporin]

Avoid Air China. Their fares are reasonable, but they either cancel or revise the purchased itinerary, sometimes at the last minute. Including myself, I know two others who experienced similar situations. I guess I was too impressed with their lower cost.

On my last trip from Phuket to JFK, Air China emailed me on the morning of my scheduled departure from Phuket that they had cancelled the flight. They suggested a revised itinerary that had me leave Phuket three day later. On the flight back, the itinerary included a two day layover in Bejing.

I booked the flight with CheapOair and they were very helpful. Got me my refund in three days and found another flight with about the same itinerary. More expensive, but for the first time, I had purchased insurance which will refund the price difference.
Again, Avoid Air China.

[isawasnake]

They have in the 875 range now to the west coast for sept and oct, showing up on my kayak alerts. That is round trip from bangkok. 

[traviss]

$870.00 -  September 2009 - San Francisco

 

Check out China Air as they have a decent schedule, short layovers and budget friendly. Not the nicest but decent cabin and service.

Edited August 12, 2014 by traviss

[traviss]

Lots of pretty reasonable flights out there but carefully look at the lay overs. Usually the cheaper the flight the longer the layover. I don't much care to be stuck in some airport lounge for 9hrs.

True and True... Seems there are an increasing number of flights servicing the west coast that have very lengthy layovers in Korea and Hong Kong. I may start flying with Japan Air/United as their layovers are typically of short duration.

[dinger]

 

Lots of pretty reasonable flights out there but carefully look at the lay overs. Usually the cheaper the flight the longer the layover. I don't much care to be stuck in some airport lounge for 9hrs.

True and True... Seems there are an increasing number of flights servicing the west coast that have very lengthy layovers in Korea and Hong Kong. I may start flying with Japan Air/United as their layovers are typically of short duration.

 

I flew the JL route last Dec. code share with AA. Perfect for me as it goes direct from Narita to San Diego with 1 hr in Narita

[IsaanUSA]

OP lives in the Midwest. It's very far from San Francisco. You need to add at least $250+ for the ticket to fly to SFO.

[Thaimaishoe]

I lately bought a BKK-Guangzhou-LAX RT flight on China Southern for the upcoming Christmas season at $883.

 

A lot of their flights have longer layovers, but the one I choose just had two hours each way. A380s on the China-LAX segments.

 

 

 

China Southern is notorious for long layovers at the ORIGINATING airport too!!

 

My wife was on the plane, at the gate, for more than 2 hours.  And if I recall correctly, that wasn't even in the top 3 longest departure delays... that week! That was Vancouver to Guangzhou to BKK last Aug.  I just checked again and they have improved in the last year... I used http://flightaware.com as before and it shows only one flight delayed more than an hour, and most only delayed 15 or so minutes - that's flights back to 2 Aug.  Just as I was going to pat them on the back for improving, I checked older flights, and the July 29 flight left 9:01 late... and I don't mean 9min one second!!!! 

 

I sincerely hope your flight is one of the on time flights, but I will not book CSouthern again.  Indeed, I will check that site to evaluate any flight I book on an unknown airline.

 

I'm still getting dirty looks from the wife when talk turns to flights to North America!! :-)

[IsaanUSA]

I once connected in Beijing and it was not so great.  I've never flown a Chinese airline, but from what I read online and from my Beijing experience, I would gladly pay an extra $100-$150 to not fly through there.

[isawasnake]

Concerning the above comment, I look at this stuff in a very specific way. I want to make about 200 or so dollars in a day of work, so that is kionda my base rate. So each person starts there. 

 

When I am figuring out flights, I think to myself, is a days's pay (if the difference between 2 airlines happens to be 200 bucks) worth it to fly on this airline? The answer is usually a resounding YES. It is definitely worth an entire day of working and commuting etc to be a little more uncomfortable on a flight. To each their own though. 

[IsaanUSA]

Concerning the above comment, I look at this stuff in a very specific way. I want to make about 200 or so dollars in a day of work, so that is kionda my base rate. So each person starts there. 

 

When I am figuring out flights, I think to myself, is a days's pay (if the difference between 2 airlines happens to be 200 bucks) worth it to fly on this airline? The answer is usually a resounding YES. It is definitely worth an entire day of working and commuting etc to be a little more uncomfortable on a flight. To each their own though. 

 

 

I agree with you totally.  That's why I say it is worth $100-$150 for me.  Yes, I would rather sit in my office chair for 4-6 hours longer than have to deal with sitting on the tarmac for 5 hours before a 10 hour flight.  But $200 more?  I would rather be uncomfortable than sit at my desk for 8 hours.

 

 

EDIT : Added quote

Edited August 13, 2014 by IsaanUSA

[Thaimaishoe]

A friend of mine in Arizona recently saw a three day special, round trip LA/BKK on Thai Air.  A real steal thee days!

 

Sometimes these specials will pop up for a few hours, then they are gone.  If you want a real deal, you have to constantly peruse all the sites and jump on a deal when you find it.

 

I second the idea of paying a little more to fly Cathay Pacific on that long flight.  Cathay is an absolute delight; service, food, drinks, movies impeccable.  Cabin is better that business class on a US carrier, where they treat everybody like goddamned cattle.

 

I'm done with Cathay Pacific.  I flew them in 2012, I was very much looking forward to the experience because of all I had heard of their service.  Then I got on the flight.  I don't remember, nor do I care what the cabin service, food, drinks or movies were, because CP failed in a very much more basic way,  The Seat.  I know cattle class is not known for comfort, but there are some lines that should not be crossed.  The CP seats do not recline*.  When you push the button to "recline" your seat, what happens is the cushion insert under your butt slides forward, and the back cushion slides down, so you slouch!  The frame of the seat does not move, rediculous.

 

For a puddle jumping flight of 1-3 hours, like the one from BKK to HK,  I found it merely annoying (and I assured myself they would not put such seats on their long haul planes), but on 11+ hour marathon flights, like HK to LAX it is inexcusable, especially for a carrier with CP's reputation.

 

 

 

*obviously I can only comment on the two aircraft I was actually on, but unless I'm just the beneficiary of very  bad luck, I would say these seats must be common to them.   I realize there are some people out there who think reclining seats are rude and intrusive, and probably applaud this seat design.  You should fly CP, I will not be on your flight.

[KhunBENQ]

Try:

skyscanner.com

Prices in September/October (deep low season)

 

Midwest: Chicago ORD to Bangkok 999 USD, Emirates, one stop in Dubai. Total travelling times 23:25h, 24:45h.

 

Westcoast LAX is cheaper of course with United via Tokio. 911 USD.  Total times 21:35h, 18:10h.

 

Eastcoast, JFK, 1046 USD, Emirates via Dubai. Total times 20:55h, 22:35h.

 

Guess you will have a hard time to find these prices for high season Dec to Feb.

 

Edited August 14, 2014 by KhunBENQ

[burgdawg]

Be sure to read up on various websites that link a credit card with an particular airline. I have not paid for RT flight for the past 6 years between Midwest USA and BKK. You sign up---say United Explorer Card. You get 30-50k airmiles provided you spend $1-2k USD within the first 1-3 months.

 

Read the fine print to make sure the offer is suitable for your lifestyle. You accumulate miles and book about 6 weeks in advance.

After the first year, your credit card fee of $95 comes due---call up the credit card, pay off the balance, close this card down and open another. You get another 50 k miles, all legit. Get it? Stay on top of your monthly payments. My business expenses get routed through this card, so my biz earns a free tix.

 

American has the Admiral Club, which many of my friends swear by...you pay $450 USD up front, but in return you get enough free air miles for a RT flight to SE Asia. Google up your research. The United/Chase version of this is called the Premier Club. It might or might not be suitable for your flights and lifestyle.

 

The best deal besides a free flight is access to the  UNITED CLUBS at the airports! Wow! Free food, booze, showers, WiFi--all the amenities. Just don't miss your flight drinking free Asahi beer as I did! LOL!

[IAMSOBAD]

My record R/T flight?  How about FREE, courtesy of the USAF on a C-135, Feb '64 & Feb '65.
 
FYI, the C-135 was known as The Flying Submarine because it only three (3) windows in the passenger compartment, all swine class.
 
Mac

How was the food and service?

Been there done that.
No bathroom just a toilet and round shower curtain.
Box lunch with sandwich.. hard boiled egg...cheese and crackers.
No seat...just a strap and bench like an old lawn chair.
And all men! That sucked.