Thai girlfriend to u.k

[ray richards]

Hi can anybody advise please ???

last April (2016) i took my Thai girlfriend home to the u.k .We had no problems getting a 1st time visa for her as she owns her own house & land in Korat + we gave proof that we were a genuine couple of 4 yrs etc etc. We were advised by friends to get the 6 month visa for her before booking a flight, this we did & as i had pre-booked my return from Thailand in the u.k 6 months previously i found when we tried to book my g/f onto my return flight is was full & most flights from Bangkok to Manchester were also full for at least 2 weeks this caused us both great stress as my g/f had not taken any flights before so she had to come to Manchester on her own,i was really worried for her regarding the time changes in Abu-Dhabi & connecting gates etc etc, she eventually arrived in Manchester intact ha ha & i met her in the arrivals hall.

I need some advice please as i intend to take my g/f again after my 6 month stay here in Thailand which will again be in April, will it be better to book her of now onto my return flight for which i have the return ticket in my Condo for 27/Apr/2017 ??? i know it could be a big gamble to assume we dont have any problems getting her another u.k visa but with the enormous cost last time as we had left the booking late was 49,000 baht (returning to Thailand) i know i could get a much better deal as now for April 2017 + i would stand a far better chance of also getting her on the same flight to Manchester

with me oppose to last years fiasco.

Any advice please

Thanks

[jadee]

I've faced the same dilemma about whether to book flights before getting the visa, I think many people face the same dilemma.

It's so frustrating that there's no phone or even email service at VFS Global to direct these types of questions to.
The official advice is not to confirm any travel arrangements before receiving the visa, however, when you read the 'guide to supporting documents', third on the list is 'Information about your visit' Documents showing any plans you have made, such as: tour details/flight details' etc. Confusing, isn't it? You can't book flights without paying for them. 
What I've always done is book flights in advance and submit the printout of the flight details in anticipation of getting the visa. My thoughts are that if your girlfriend was successful last time, there's no reason she won't be next time, so you may as well book the flights in advance and get the best deal. 

[ray richards]

thanks jadee thats good advise for me.

[ray richards]

Hi jadee.

I went on internet & priced economy for G/F to come home with me to Manchester end of April on the same Etihad flight same as me ?? prices are showing 76,500 baht return to Bangkok with all budget flight Co i paid only £420 from Man return , any idea why this is too expensive???

Thanks

[stubuzz]

Market forces dictate the prices. More people are booking UK to BKK.

[Rc2702]

Sounds well expensive. when I plan to travel I always book a flight 24 hours before I'm due to leave. never paid more than 400 for last few years. I arrived bkk on Sunday via gulf air with the stopoff of 1.5 hours in Bahrain.  I do select all london airports though so maybe it's more expensive in Manchester. it was flight Centre where I booked. if you find a cheaper price than FC they normally beat it by £1. 

[topt]

On ‎08‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 7:55 PM, jadee said:

I've faced the same dilemma about whether to book flights before getting the visa, I think many people face the same dilemma.

It's so frustrating that there's no phone or even email service at VFS Global to direct these types of questions to.
The official advice is not to confirm any travel arrangements before receiving the visa, however, when you read the 'guide to supporting documents', third on the list is 'Information about your visit' Documents showing any plans you have made, such as: tour details/flight details' etc. Confusing, isn't it? You can't book flights without paying for them. 
What I've always done is book flights in advance and submit the printout of the flight details in anticipation of getting the visa. My thoughts are that if your girlfriend was successful last time, there's no reason she won't be next time, so you may as well book the flights in advance and get the best deal. 

 

On ‎09‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 9:08 PM, ray richards said:

thanks jadee thats good advise for me.

You can book flights with a printed itinerary from a "travel agent" but may have to pay a small fee - GM travel in Soi LK Metro in Pattaya do this for example. Used this recently for a Schengen visa.

[topt]

On ‎15‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 6:39 PM, ray richards said:

Hi jadee.

I went on internet & priced economy for G/F to come home with me to Manchester end of April on the same Etihad flight same as me ?? prices are showing 76,500 baht return to Bangkok with all budget flight Co i paid only £420 from Man return , any idea why this is too expensive???

Thanks

No idea of your exact dates but a quick sky scanner check shows Etihad both ways 28th April come back 6 months later at 43k? Lots of other cheaper options. As a previous poster said maybe your flight is already nearly full so if so maybe look at changing it?

Prices out of UK to BKK nearly always significantly cheaper than the other way. A friend of mine always books his flights from UK for his twice annual visits back home - obviously one of his original flights must have been one way.

[ray richards]

Many thanks guys for the info!!!!

Rc2702 member may have misunderstood my quiery ?? i dont have any problems with prices from Manchester to Bangkok i also usually pay £420 -£480 etc return

The problem is booking Bangkok to Manchester return the leading airlines e.g Emirates,Qatar,Etihad are usually almost treble the cost e.g £1,200 to £1,400, so this must be some kind of a rip-off between the airline co' as usual. The cheapest prices start at £850 return but most are 28-36 hr flights with 2 stops making it a massive journey.

Anymore Advise please???