Thai Airways - how far in advance do the usually release flights?

[stament]

I've been looking at the above for dates at the beginning of July Dubai Bkk and the price is coming out over THB 12 for a standard one way flight which seems crazy as two weeks earlier its 25% of the price. I know it's school holidays but four times the price.

Does anyone know how far in advance TA release flights?

Secondly how far in advance is it best to buy on average with TA taking into account that supply and demand rules obviously apply.

thanks.

[slightlychilled]

You can buy tickets for the upcoming next 11 months. Thai Airways International is a full servive scheduled airline, the tickets will become more expensive the nearer your departure date.

[innerspace]

Personally I would be cautious about Thai Air right now.... few news stories surfaced recently with the word bancruptcy in. Might amount to nothing, might get you a bargain but certainly an above average chance of paying for a flight and getting nothing.

[madScientist]

I personally don't see bankruptcy in Thai's future. The junta has stated, and seems intent on, a turnaround without bankruptcy. Given that they seem to want to ensure economic stability, that seems consistent. That said, if there's no progress then all bets are off. It's FAR from certain that they WON'T go into bankruptcy.

The first reply is not correct. Published schedules are frequently changed / tweaked up to 3 months prior to departure, even then changes occur but at a lower rate. Further, some flights are NOT released at even 6 months, particularly if the airline is undergoing an overhaul. Few tickets are sold that far out, so why lock in a flight when you won't have many purchasers?

Also, Asian carriers don't follow the US strategy of tickets becoming more expensive because it's closer to flying time. Although fare classes sell out, these carriers are very sensitive to prices changes and will open more seats and/or adjust fares (both up and down) in response to competition. I've bought a biz class ticket home 1 week before departure that was less than the one I bought my wife a month earlier. That's not always the case and is subject to overall demand, but time is not the end-all that it is in the US.

I'd go to Kayak.com (or another aggregator) and set up a fare watch for your city pair (BKK --> DXB). You can see the price swings over a period of time. I"d also look into Qatar. Yes, there's the Doha stop, but I've gotten great prices (and service) on them. It's going to be hard to estimate what TG will do with fares and capacity because they ARE undergoing an overhaul and are going to be picking what markets to focus on...

And as a bit of history: I work in airline IT including with Planning and Scheduling, so I've seen what goes on pretty closely

[natway09]

The full service airlines are always going to be more expensive when you book only one way

Try return ticket pricing & you will see what I mean

[sential]

Flew back to England Thursday with Thai air and the plane must have been about 20% full at the very most, I had 3 seats empty in front and behind me and my 3 to myself, no profit in that flight for sure

[stament]

Sential can I ask how much you paid and the flight details?

[sential]

Flew out on 8th Jan from LHR, returned 5th Feb, 1.20pm departure from BKK booked through Netflights £618. Booked it 5 days before flight

Edited February 9, 2015 by sential

[Brown1950]

Flew back to England Thursday with Thai air and the plane must have been about 20% full at the very most, I had 3 seats empty in front and behind me and my 3 to myself, no profit in that flight for sure

Airline revenues are not just from passengers - What about the freight under your feet ?

[luis888]

Does anyone know if I book a return flight, eg. LHR to BKK and only use BKK to LHR, if that is allowed?

[Chivas]

Does anyone know if I book a return flight, eg. LHR to BKK and only use BKK to LHR, if that is allowed?

No Airline will cancel return sector when you dont show for the outbound flight..........

Although personally have always thought that somewhat unfair

[slightlychilled]

Does anyone know if I book a return flight, eg. LHR to BKK and only use BKK to LHR, if that is allowed?

Segments have to be flown in sequence, if you miss one then subsequent ones will be cancelled. In your example you would need to book in reverse BKK - LHR - BKK.

[slightlychilled]

Flew back to England Thursday with Thai air and the plane must have been about 20% full at the very most, I had 3 seats empty in front and behind me and my 3 to myself, no profit in that flight for sure

Schedules are published twice per year, Summer and Winter. Contrary to what #4 believes, schedules on such international routes are rarely changed mid-season and any changes are generally one-offs due to technical / weather / traffic issues. Airlines continually strive for brownie points in reliability and punctuality, as indeed the 20% full flight clearly demonstrates.

From memory I believe Thai operates the DXB to BKK route twice daily so lack of demand is unlikely to be an issue in cancelling operation all together.

[luis888]

Does anyone know if I book a return flight, eg. LHR to BKK and only use BKK to LHR, if that is allowed?

Segments have to be flown in sequence, if you miss one then subsequent ones will be cancelled. In your example you would need to book in reverse BKK - LHR - BKK.

That's what I'd like to avoid as a one way flight from BKK is more expenssive then a return from the UK or from anywhere else for that matter, and a return flight from BKK is even moreexpenssive than a one way.

[Jdiddy]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The full service airlines are always going to be more expensive when you book only one way

Try return ticket pricing & you will see what I mean

Yeah saw that also saw this

syd-bkk return $1067

syd-bkk-cnx return $1070

$3 for a bangkok-chiang mai return is allright

[steve187]

Does anyone know if I book a return flight, eg. LHR to BKK and only use BKK to LHR, if that is allowed?

Malaysia are doing one way bkk/lhr for 14,000 baht

[slightlychilled]

Does anyone know if I book a return flight, eg. LHR to BKK and only use BKK to LHR, if that is allowed?

Malaysia are doing one way bkk/lhr for 14,000 baht

That means getting to KUL and that price can easily be beaten from BKK if one stopover is acceptable eg Air India, but I think OP wants a direct flight.

[roamer]

THAI Airways has announced the launch date for Airbus A380 services between London and Bangkok.

The A380 service was announced back in 2012 but only now has confirmed it will be available from 1 July 2015.

http://www.traveldailymedia.com/217878/thai-sets-london-a380-date/

And somewhat confusingly, " A promotional return fare from £543.66 including taxes is available from 1 February-30 September." I presume they are booking dates.

[Chivas]

Does anyone know if I book a return flight, eg. LHR to BKK and only use BKK to LHR, if that is allowed?

Malaysia are doing one way bkk/lhr for 14,000 baht

That means getting to KUL and that price can easily be beaten from BKK if one stopover is acceptable eg Air India, but I think OP wants a direct flight.

Nope Air India are 19,900 Baht one way............Malaysian are 5000 + Cheaper than anyone else..........I got it for 13,750

[slightlychilled]

How do you know which date luis888 wishes to travel ? I don't think s/he specified a travel date or did I miss it ?

As with everything, the devil is in the detail and certainly on the random dates I picked, Air India was cheaper than Malaysian.

[Chivas]

How do you know which date luis888 wishes to travel ? I don't think s/he specified a travel date or did I miss it ?

As with everything, the devil is in the detail and certainly on the random dates I picked, Air India was cheaper than Malaysian.

Which live booking system are you in now......??

[slightlychilled]

Randomly looking at 20th Mar, Air India is THB 12746 whereas Malaysian is THB 14468 - prices can vary hugely just from one day to another.

[rocketboybkk]

School holidays? Never going to get a cheap flight in school hols, unless it's a last minute & loads of seats unsold which would be unusual.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rocketboybkk]

Personally I would be cautious about Thai Air right now.... few news stories surfaced recently with the word bancruptcy in. Might amount to nothing, might get you a bargain but certainly an above average chance of paying for a flight and getting nothing.

No chance. Thailand would let their pride of the skies go bust, they'd save face & bail out.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MAZ3]

I like Thai(TG)and I have used them since 1986,on the LHR-BKK-LHR route.

But now their stopping the B744/A340 service from July. The A380 only has 31/32 inch legroom in Economy(EY)compared to the Jumbo at 34 inches. Their main problem in that route was pricing, approx £100/£250 more than EVA or BA. Not always but usually a higher fare,than EVA or BA. Sometimes they had great deals,including CNX etc for £20 extra taxes.

I flew out on them last month,good service,nice food and a flight that was less than a 1/3 full in EY.

I wonder who will buy the TG916/TG917 slots at LHR,their worth Millions of Pounds.

[Chivas]

I like Thai(TG)and I have used them since 1986,on the LHR-BKK-LHR route.

But now their stopping the B744/A340 service from July. The A380 only has 31/32 inch legroom in Economy(EY)compared to the Jumbo at 34 inches. Their main problem in that route was pricing, approx £100/£250 more than EVA or BA. Not always but usually a higher fare,than EVA or BA. Sometimes they had great deals,including CNX etc for £20 extra taxes.

I flew out on them last month,good service,nice food and a flight that was less than a 1/3 full in EY.

I wonder who will buy the TG916/TG917 slots at LHR,their worth Millions of Pounds.

Yep nightmare seat pitch on the 380 same as Malaysians Pitch on their 380's

Seating so tight I stood at back for over 7 hours........Thai are going to lose a lot of more customers make no mistake