Flying from Chiang Mai to the UK --- the alternatives.

[CNXBKKMAN]

Sunday and any other days the flight departs CM late afternoon will give a 2 hour connection in Singapore.

[mat999]

Fly via Kuala Lumpur which I think is a nice airport. Then a direct flight on British Airways. Cheap and less walking and waiting around that comes with Swampy.

[sharktooth]

Fly via Kuala Lumpur which I think is a nice airport. Then a direct flight on British Airways. Cheap and less walking and waiting around that comes with Swampy.

Unless you fly Airasia to kl, then you have to change airports to get to BA.

[Konini]

Thanks for that. I myself don't understand why you want to avoid "Swampy" but I purposely did not ask that, instead I offered an alternative that may be better, even if the total travel time is longer.

Simply that over the years I have already spent too much time there: The going is not so much a problem, but coming back the immigration queue at CM is way shorter due to much lower volumes and at the end of 24+hrs of travelling I would simply like to feel that when I reach Thailand I am home, not needing to await a holdover that doesn't allow time to do much else other than read a book; did all that on the 11/12 hours from LHR. One day there might be a single stop out of CM into London with decent airlines --- maybe. Happy to pay a bit extra for the priviledge

Not sure if you realise that if you come back into Swampy and are going onward to CNX with Bangkok Air and check your bags all the way through, you get to go through the special international - domestic immigration where I've never seen any queues worth talking about. It can take a bit of arranging if you do your bookings online yourself - you need to have the eticket number from the Bangkok Air flight and give this to the international airline telling them that you want to check through to CNX on the return journey. Assume that they won't do anything about this no matter what they tell you, and have that number in your hand when you check in at Heathrow. Tell the check in chick that you want your bags checked through to CNX and here is the eticket number. If you don't do this, you'll have to go through ordinary immigration at Swampy and pick up your bags there and recheck them in domestic. Your eticket number is not your booking number, it is a 13 digit number and you may have to ask where to find it once you have made the booking with Bangkok Air.

If you really must avoid Swampy, Singapore would probably offer the most choice of direct and one stop flights to England followed by Hong Kong or KL. India would probably be cheapest. Singapore seems to have more competitive travel agents with an internet presence than the others, I were determined to do this I would choose it over anywhere else, although I have to say I've never looked at how many flights there are between CNX and SIN, and the cheapest flights or the ones with best connections may leave Singapore early morning which could mean overnighting there. Coming back, there always seems to be better choices of getting to Chaing Mai.

Please take note of what Ricardo said about airport taxes; the reason it is so expensive travelling from UK is the long haul tax they brought in a few years ago where your departure tax depended on how far you were travelling - it took the cost of flying UK to Australia to ridiculous levels, it was enough to put a lot of people living in Aus and NZ off visiting family back in UK as being the furthest point it was the highest cost - it literally added a couple of hundred pounds. Going through any other EU (shortest trip/least tax) airport would likely be cheaper, but then you have to make the arrangements, get off the plane and recheck yourself and your bags, and importantly, as Ricardo pointed out, it would have to be two separate bookings for it to work. Even with the extra baggage and credit card and convenience fees charged by Ryan Air and the like, it could be cheaper, but is it really worth it? And because there are a lot more flights out of Heathrow than pretty much anywhere in the world, the competition is greatest and prices lowest, so that saving may not be as big as it initially seems. The government has, fortunately, seen the folly of it's ways and the distance based higher charges are to be either scrapped or greatly reduced, I think the same way it was introduced so in stages rather than all at once, and this may have already started as I haven't checked lately, because to me it just isn't worth it.

[Caspersfriend]

Thanks for that. I myself don't understand why you want to avoid "Swampy" but I purposely did not ask that, instead I offered an alternative that may be better, even if the total travel time is longer.

Simply that over the years I have already spent too much time there: The going is not so much a problem, but coming back the immigration queue at CM is way shorter due to much lower volumes and at the end of 24+hrs of travelling I would simply like to feel that when I reach Thailand I am home, not needing to await a holdover that doesn't allow time to do much else other than read a book; did all that on the 11/12 hours from LHR. One day there might be a single stop out of CM into London with decent airlines --- maybe. Happy to pay a bit extra for the priviledge

Not sure if you realise that if you come back into Swampy and are going onward to CNX with Bangkok Air and check your bags all the way through, you get to go through the special international - domestic immigration where I've never seen any queues worth talking about. It can take a bit of arranging if you do your bookings online yourself - you need to have the eticket number from the Bangkok Air flight and give this to the international airline telling them that you want to check through to CNX on the return journey. Assume that they won't do anything about this no matter what they tell you, and have that number in your hand when you check in at Heathrow. Tell the check in chick that you want your bags checked through to CNX and here is the eticket number. If you don't do this, you'll have to go through ordinary immigration at Swampy and pick up your bags there and recheck them in domestic. Your eticket number is not your booking number, it is a 13 digit number and you may have to ask where to find it once you have made the booking with Bangkok Air.

If you really must avoid Swampy, Singapore would probably offer the most choice of direct and one stop flights to England followed by Hong Kong or KL. India would probably be cheapest. Singapore seems to have more competitive travel agents with an internet presence than the others, I were determined to do this I would choose it over anywhere else, although I have to say I've never looked at how many flights there are between CNX and SIN, and the cheapest flights or the ones with best connections may leave Singapore early morning which could mean overnighting there. Coming back, there always seems to be better choices of getting to Chaing Mai.

Please take note of what Ricardo said about airport taxes; the reason it is so expensive travelling from UK is the long haul tax they brought in a few years ago where your departure tax depended on how far you were travelling - it took the cost of flying UK to Australia to ridiculous levels, it was enough to put a lot of people living in Aus and NZ off visiting family back in UK as being the furthest point it was the highest cost - it literally added a couple of hundred pounds. Going through any other EU (shortest trip/least tax) airport would likely be cheaper, but then you have to make the arrangements, get off the plane and recheck yourself and your bags, and importantly, as Ricardo pointed out, it would have to be two separate bookings for it to work. Even with the extra baggage and credit card and convenience fees charged by Ryan Air and the like, it could be cheaper, but is it really worth it? And because there are a lot more flights out of Heathrow than pretty much anywhere in the world, the competition is greatest and prices lowest, so that saving may not be as big as it initially seems. The government has, fortunately, seen the folly of it's ways and the distance based higher charges are to be either scrapped or greatly reduced, I think the same way it was introduced so in stages rather than all at once, and this may have already started as I haven't checked lately, because to me it just isn't worth it.

Thanks for that comprehensive and informative post Konini:

Last time I did check my bag through to CNX but was unaware of "the special international - domestic immigration".

I take note of your other comments. Next time it may still be CNX-BKK-LHR again but it has been very helpful gaining direct input from yourself, Riccardo and others.

My Thai friends [especially] find it hard to believe that the cost of BKK-LHR round trip is dearer than LHR-BKK round trip. Considering [simplistic example] that the minimum hourly wage in the UK is higher than the minimum daily wage in Thailand. Just a quick check on Skyscanner - economy/direct/out Feb in March = EVA is 13% up and everyone's favourite [!] Thai is 47% up. Just sayin'.

[arunsakda]

Thanks for that. I myself don't understand why you want to avoid "Swampy" but I purposely did not ask that, instead I offered an alternative that may be better, even if the total travel time is longer.

Simply that over the years I have already spent too much time there: The going is not so much a problem, but coming back the immigration queue at CM is way shorter due to much lower volumes and at the end of 24+hrs of travelling I would simply like to feel that when I reach Thailand I am home, not needing to await a holdover that doesn't allow time to do much else other than read a book; did all that on the 11/12 hours from LHR. One day there might be a single stop out of CM into London with decent airlines --- maybe. Happy to pay a bit extra for the priviledge

One day there may be a single stop out of CM into London with decent airlines...........

Well Singapore Airlines (voted best airline in the world more than once) has a single flight to Singapore( acknowledged as best airport in the world multiple times) and then a single non stop flight to Heathrow or Manchester(voted best airport in the world only once beating Singapore which came second that year). This flight out of CM has been around for at least 20 years? Now you have Cathey Pacific via Hong Kong as a good option also.

I have not flown Singapore but one hears many good things about them. Korean did not have the best safety record in the 1990's

but I can confirm that as far as Cabin service amenities and presentation go they are at the Highest International Standard.

If SQ and KE are not "decent" airlines I would be interested to know which are?

Edited January 22, 2016 by arunsakda

[Konini]

My Thai friends [especially] find it hard to believe that the cost of BKK-LHR round trip is dearer than LHR-BKK round trip. Considering [simplistic example] that the minimum hourly wage in the UK is higher than the minimum daily wage in Thailand. Just a quick check on Skyscanner - economy/direct/out Feb in March = EVA is 13% up and everyone's favourite [!] Thai is 47% up. Just sayin'.

That one's a bit easier - supply and demand. A lot of people living in UK want to go to Thailand for a holiday. Lots of competition = cheaper prices. A tiny percentage of Thai's have the funds for an overseas holiday, particularly somewhere as expensive as Europe. Virtually no competition = no reason to offer cheap prices. Same with the cost of fares UK to Australia - a lot more Australians want to go to Europe for a holiday than Europeans want to go to Aus for a holiday, so it's relatively cheaper. A lot depends on which season you're flying into, and whether it's school holidays in your home country when you fly out, but mostly it's about how many people are flying outbound A to B against how many flying outbound B to A.

Thai is very expensive, but they often have cheap flights for people coming here for holidays. It could always beat Qantas, BA and the other EU airlines on pricing back in the days when other airlines used BKK as a hub, yet as we know it's crazy expensive if we want to book them to pretty much anywhere. I believe it's still cheaper, although we probably can't compare the Australian routes any more as they seem to have priced themselves out of the market a long time ago and EU based airlines mostly use Singapore or the middle east airports as their Aus-Eu hub now . Many government owned airlines are the same, the costs are somewhat subsidised, paid for by the benefits to the overall economy provided by the tourist dollar. Years ago we used points to get to London then got a one year changeable date return ticket to BKK as we go every year. We changed it because we also go to Australia every year and I figured we could get cheaper tickets from Melbourne with a stop-over in each direction at Bangkok, so used points to get back here, then we discovered Sri Lankan had business class fares @ 55,000 baht return, which we paid the first 2 years and managed even better for the last 2, paying only 49,000 last year - and we always go mid May until early July, so not low season. Still waiting for their special offer to come out for this year, I'm sure we had them booked by this time last year, but we've got enough points so might just use them up instead. Even in economy, those points soon add up if you go often enough.

[jobin]

From CNX it's possible to fly direct to Incheon Korea, then change planes direct to Heathrow. That's about 20 hrs total, unless o'nite in Korea (which might be fun).

[Caspersfriend]

That one's a bit easier - supply and demand. A lot of people living in UK want to go to Thailand for a holiday. Lots of competition = cheaper prices. A tiny percentage of Thai's have the funds for an overseas holiday, particularly somewhere as expensive as Europe. Virtually no competition = no reason to offer cheap prices. Same with the cost of fares UK to Australia - a lot more Australians want to go to Europe for a holiday than Europeans want to go to Aus for a holiday, so it's relatively cheaper. A lot depends on which season you're flying into, and whether it's school holidays in your home country when you fly out, but mostly it's about how many people are flying outbound A to B against how many flying outbound B to A.

Thai is very expensive, but they often have cheap flights for people coming here for holidays. It could always beat Qantas, BA and the other EU airlines on pricing back in the days when other airlines used BKK as a hub, yet as we know it's crazy expensive if we want to book them to pretty much anywhere.

The games they play: The reality of course is that a very high proportion of those increased number looking for a competitive flight to Thailand are, as you say, holiday makers and so will be returning on those same flights that those leaving from BKK in the other direction; who are also probably on holiday and so will be .................>>>>> On my last trip there were maybe 25-30% empty seats in both directions. I never travel on any 'holidays' unless there is an urgent need.

And, of course the airlines also claw more profit from those travelling one way; in some cases charging circa the price of a return ticket. Except for Thai Airways who don't appear to comprehend that opportunity.

[briley]

I know you said not to go East but I looked at London Beijing CNX for my brother in law (and yes I like him) and found the flight time very similar to via BKK. The only problem was the trip to London has a long layover in Beijing - enough time to get into town and back.

I use Manchester and wonder if anyone knows the routing that Cameron negotiated with the Chinese Premier the other month? Supposed to be a Manchester China direct route and hopefully connection to CNX.

[CNXBKKMAN]

I know you said not to go East but I looked at London Beijing CNX for my brother in law (and yes I like him) and found the flight time very similar to via BKK. The only problem was the trip to London has a long layover in Beijing - enough time to get into town and back.

I use Manchester and wonder if anyone knows the routing that Cameron negotiated with the Chinese Premier the other month? Supposed to be a Manchester China direct route and hopefully connection to CNX.

Hainan Airlines Manchester Beijing , starts in June. At the moment Hainan don't fly to CM. Will they offer connections with Air China? The big Chinese airlines seem to operate separately even though they are all owned by the government. If you can get a good airfare on Cathay Pacific I wouldn't even consider flying via China.

[briley]

Cathay pacific do not fly from Manchester - as far as I know. And doing a leg to Amsterdam is never worth the hassle

[Konini]

I just noted yesterday that I was sure I'd booked our trip to UK by this time last year and was waiting for this promo. Very odd timing.

srilankan.com, up to 40% off worldwide. They aren't lying, again. A smidge higher than last year, but I'm not complaining at these prices.

I've just put dummy dates in leaving 29 May returning 29 June, economy 26,775 baht, business 51,840 baht - we usually pick the overnight option on the return leg and they give us a very, very nice hotel with meals and return transport, get you back into BKK in nice time for lunch so onward flights are good. Early morning flight from BKK so if you're not already there you have to overnight. Highly recommend the business class, it really is great AND Oneworld points. And limo up to 75 miles in London (we've never used it as we pick up a hire car at the airport).

Travel is Feb 1 to 30 June, book now to 29 Jan so get your skates on.

[steve187]

Cathay pacific do not fly from Manchester - as far as I know. And doing a leg to Amsterdam is never worth the hassle

yes they do 4 times week from 8th dec 14

[briley]

Thanks steve - I just can not keep up!

[Caspersfriend]

I just noted yesterday that I was sure I'd booked our trip to UK by this time last year and was waiting for this promo. Very odd timing.

srilankan.com, up to 40% off worldwide. They aren't lying, again. A smidge higher than last year, but I'm not complaining at these prices.

I've just put dummy dates in leaving 29 May returning 29 June, economy 26,775 baht, business 51,840 baht - we usually pick the overnight option on the return leg and they give us a very, very nice hotel with meals and return transport, get you back into BKK in nice time for lunch so onward flights are good. Early morning flight from BKK so if you're not already there you have to overnight. Highly recommend the business class, it really is great AND Oneworld points. And limo up to 75 miles in London (we've never used it as we pick up a hire car at the airport).

Travel is Feb 1 to 30 June, book now to 29 Jan so get your skates on.

I can see the immediate price attraction but [June 1 - 22] going would mean an overnight in BKK to catch the 09:10 flight or a 28 hour duration flight with the evening option. Coming back the options are a 26 or 32 hour duration; if I am reading it right.

For the same price as Srilankan Business [one stop] I could go Eva Elite [direct] which I have been well-satisfied with to date and means about 12 hour duration. Leaving BKK at 12:50 out [meaning I could get an early flight from CNX ] arriving LHR 19:15 and so getting to destination in UK before midnight. Returning 21:35 from LHR [make the most of the last day] arriving BKK 15:05, with plenty of time to get back to CNX same day.

What suits me doesn't necessarily suit you but am I missing something?