Why is it more expensive to fly from Bangkok to the UK ?

[Wiggy]

8 minutes ago, Beachdude said:

Somewhat off topic but I searched LHR to JFK one way and cheapest non stop was BA at 1,240 sterling. 

 

So im doing a three hour layover in Reykjavik for under $500 US on Icelander. 

Interesting. I wonder if there's heavier demand US to UK, hence the high price UK to US.

[NoshowJones]

14 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Emirates is outstandingly bad.

I still haven't found better answers to the OP question than found in post #2.

Or otherwise: why do they charge so much? Because they can.

Non working competition on low volume?

The capitalists at work, will screw the ordinary people all the time if they can get away with it.

[robertson468]

I think the three issues regarding pricing might be:

 

1.   Seasonality.  During busy periods the prices go up because the carriers know they will get lots of customers, almost regardless of price.

 

2.   When you book.  Apparently it is recommended that you book your flights about 6 months before you fly to get the optimum price.

 

3.  The day of flight.  I understand that Friday flight costs are more than other days.

[Prbkk]

The comparison is made very easily using the matrix site...a very useful tool for searching out the best fares, from/to anywhere.

[craigt3365]

We went through this several years ago. A member here was working with an airline and he said it's all about demand. There's more demand for flights originating from overseas than there is from Bangkok. So they price accordingly.

 

At least that's what he told us! Makes sense.

[janclaes47]

2 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

We went through this several years ago. A member here was working with an airline and he said it's all about demand. There's more demand for flights originating from overseas than there is from Bangkok. So they price accordingly.

 

At least that's what he told us! Makes sense.

I always thought that when demand is high for an item it will fetch a higher price, not a lower one

[Xobtsiwt]

You may as well ask why flavoured water, heavily sugared - also known as Coca Cola - costs so much in one country and pennies in another. The principal reason is that it depends what the market will bear, and it is not static. We live in a world where airlines use algorithms to balance the various factors - supply and demand, cost differentials (landing fees, fuel, local taxes, crew layovers, ground services and so on) and revenue - to maximise their profits. In my opinion retailers, big and small, will in the end charge what they think they can get away with. 

There is no reason on Earth why the cost of everything has to be standardised globally. If it ever did happen, one major reason for living in Thailand would disappear.

 

[KhunBENQ]

3 hours ago, KittenKong said:

I suspect that one contributing reason is that tickets originating in Thailand are billed in THB which is a fairly useless currency for airlines to hold in excess of their actual expenses in Thailand. I also wonder what sales taxes are applied by Thailand to tickets originating in Thailand.

This is a post to think about!

Again I have tried every trick in the book to get a flight from BKK to Europe billed in EUR.

No way.

I can not really understand that because very little of the cost for the airline will actually be based on THB.

 

The jet-stream discussion was amusing.

Sure the flight westward takes longer.

But did the OP mention one-way flights?

And believe me the price difference applies to return flights (too).

 

AirIndia BTW has an "around the world" trip Delhi - San Francisco - Delhi going eastbound on both legs saving time and money with the tailwinds

Not useful for Europe to Bangkok.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Air-India-flies-Delhi-San-Francisco-nonstop-over-Pacific-and-into-record-books/articleshow/55005821.cms

 

[Mad mick]

20 hours ago, Upnotover said:

Because people flying Bangkok to Newcastle HAVE to whereas flying the other way is more likely a case of WANT to. 

No its thailand they do the same to fly to Australia cost at least $200 + , more from here welcome to amazing thailand u r a farang u pay more .

[simoh1490]

1 hour ago, Wiggy said:

Interesting. I wonder if there's heavier demand US to UK, hence the high price UK to US.

The population figures of the two countries tell that story, 330 mill. vs 70 mill, there's almost certainly going to be greater demand from the US than the UK for that journey.

[JJJIIIMMM]

british airways fly bkk - newcastle and the fares are a lot cheaper than emirates

[richard_smith237]

18 minutes ago, Mad mick said:

No its thailand they do the same to fly to Australia cost at least $200 + , more from here welcome to amazing thailand u r a farang u pay more .

 

Thats a rather flawed attempt at a Thai bash: Thai's also have to pay more for their flights originating in Thailand, and the companies with asymmetrical pricing are not Thai... 

 

With a reasonable amount of planning (at least 6 months for a biannual visit and a flexible ticket), it may actually be worth buying a one way and the return from my home country to bring these prices down. 

 

Because of this huge cost discrepancy, for my family and I, I recently used Airmiles with Etihad to fly to the UK and return from the UK with Emirates one way... (Perhaps I should have returned with Emirates on a return UK based ticket - which would have worked out cheaper in the long run).

[natway09]

Not quite right Simon. Take a flight from Perth to Auckland where they will use a lot less fuel than the return flight.

But back to the subject    politics

[Mister Fixit]

2 hours ago, ResandePohm said:

Just as illogical is that you are allowed twice the weight in baggage on the outward journey only to have it halved on the return journey. This is regardless of which direction is first. Surely tourists are more likely to have more weight on the return trip with all the souvenirs and presents bought while away.

 

I'd love to find an airline who dd that.  They'd have no customers.   When you buy your ticket, either way, your baggage allowance is always the same, unless you purchase extra on one leg.

 

Sounds like you flew one way on one airline and the other way on a different airline with different allowances to the first.  

[eddysmit]

4 hours ago, KittenKong said:

I suspect that one contributing reason is that tickets originating in Thailand are billed in THB which is a fairly useless currency for airlines to hold in excess of their actual expenses in Thailand. I also wonder what sales taxes are applied by Thailand to tickets originating in Thailand.

 

If you do a return trip from BKK to London on BA they will charge you in  thb, I have attempted all different ways to pay in sterling, but, if I try making out I'm booking from the UK the page reverts to the Thailand one, their main office is the UK, the reason being I take it is because the trip begins this end, even tried splitting the trip, the cost of the tickets doubled.

[Salerno]

1 hour ago, Mad mick said:

No its thailand they do the same to fly to Australia cost at least $200 + , more from here welcome to amazing thailand u r a farang u pay more .

16 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

Just to hijack this one why do Australians pay 2200 dollars return to London on the non stop flight

but from London to Australia (Perth) only cost 1750  

 "Welcome to amazing Oz u r a local u pay more."   

[Medicine Man]

If you are taking your wife / GF on a UK visitor visa you have no choice but a return ticket or UK immigration will probably block entry. I've just booked flights back to the UK and have been screwed by KLM for converting the price into GBP (£58 'conversion charge) as their card system wasn't working last night. Lesson - pay in THB next time via PayPal! I chose KLM as the price was reasonable flying to my local airport (Route is Chiang Mai > Bangkok > Amsterdam > Bristol). I'm currently challenging the 'Conversion charge'.

[steve73]

There's a number of reasons...

 

1.  Most UK-TL-UK bookings tend to normally be 1 or 2 month durations (often non refundable, or at a cost). Flexible bookings are usually more.

TL-UK-TL are usually longer.  3-6 months for Thais on visa,  with no limited duration tickets available.   Usually only fully flexible 12 tickets are available.   

 

2.  UK-UK are mostly economy tourists - lots of competition, and competitive pricing accordingly.

TL-TL  are either hi-so tourists (as most Thais cant afford to travel), or expats (who are considered wealthy), and either group are gouged accordingly.  Airlines charge what the market will stand.

 

3.  TL-TL are usually booked in advance, especially for Thais travelling as they need often need sufficient time to arrange visa's etc.,  Best rates can usually be made in the last 2 weeks before flying (providing it is generally quiet), but don't try this at busy times (Xmas or UK summer school holidays) or it can be extra expensive if leaving late (in which case its better to book around 6 months beforehand).  Be prepared to be flexible on flight times and layovers.  If your dates are flexible it's worth checking the UK-UK prices leaving on or around the date of your proposed return flight, to find the cheapest day in your window.

 

4.  If you book via the airlines own website you're charged in local currency of departure, with pretty excessive currency exchange rates.  Doubley worse if you want to pay for a TL-TL flight in GBP.

 

BUT, there are a few comparison websites  that will bill you in GBP for either origin although the TL-TL will still be at least 20-30% more than a similar date UK-UK.... but much better than the typical 2x. 

I once got a TL-TL return over 2 weeks,  4 days before flying (for a funeral),  almost 200GBP cheaper than the airline website quoted me.  I used momondo.com, and was flying with Qatar. 

 

5.  Finally, if you want regional airports in the UK, you're normally better flying to LHR, and then a separate local fight.  Disadvantage is you can't check your luggage right through, and you need to leave a longer safety margin between flights because if the first flight is late and you miss the connection you wont be allowed to simply get the next one.. You'll need a new booking which will be expensive at short notice.  Less chance of flights being late nowadays, but best if you can arrange a 1 or 2 stay with friends or family in London.

 

edit..  momondo current deal TL-UK-TL departing 21 May for 2 weeks is 427GBP on Vietnam Airways.. Not particularly good layovers in HCMC though.... but gives an example of how competitive the prices CAN be... 611 GBP direct on BA.

Edited May 5, 2017 by steve73
additional info

[simoh1490]

43 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Not quite right Simon. Take a flight from Perth to Auckland where they will use a lot less fuel than the return flight.

But back to the subject    politics

Is that because it's shorter!

[Andrew Dwyer]

The comparison is made very easily using the matrix site...a very useful tool for searching out the best fares, from/to anywhere.

Care to share please !

[Karlo]

Try matrixflights.com

[Baerboxer]

17 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

Just to hijack this one why do Australians pay 2200 dollars return to London on the non stop flight

but from London to Australia (Perth) only cost 1750  

 

Same reason as in the case reported by the OP mate. All airlines charge based on market prices in any particular market, the class of ticket you are buying and the segments you will be flying, simplistically. That gives different figures over the same route but in different directions.

 

That's why they won't let you buy the ticket in a different country i.e. buy in UK whilst you're physically in BKK.

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, eddysmit said:

If you do a return trip from BKK to London on BA they will charge you in  thb, I have attempted all different ways to pay in sterling, but, if I try making out I'm booking from the UK the page reverts to the Thailand one, their main office is the UK, the reason being I take it is because the trip begins this end, even tried splitting the trip, the cost of the tickets doubled.

Exact my experience.

And it depends on the departure airport.

I just played with a German low cost carrier (Eurowings).

I tried oneway BKK - Germany -> THB

I tried oneway Germany - BKK -> EUR (without any tricks on the PC)

 

Also interesting for this LCC:

it allows one-way without the ridiculous penalty as is usual with normal airlines.

 

The two one-ways combined and using today's exchange rate comes very close to the return flight charged in THB.

Also here both legs are almost equal in price.

(as precise you can get with the currency rate)

 

And a return flight from Germany to BKK is also very close to the other direction.

(it's a return flight in June for approx. 23500 Baht)

 

To me this proofs quite a lot.

No additional cost, tax, strange currency, fuel price, headwind ... reasons.

Just purely grabbing as much as they can.

Time for more LCCs to get prices moving south.

 

[Prbkk]

1 hour ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Care to share please !

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

[Prbkk]

1 minute ago, Prbkk said:

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

But this is more for the mainstream carriers as the LCCs sometimes don't show up here. Nevertheless, it's a good tool once you learn how to use it effectively, IMHO

[Prbkk]

BTW, the Loyalty Lobby blog site had a very good business class fare as the 'fare of the day' a couple of days back: $1560 USD Amsterdam-London- Bangkok rtn with many dates open until early Dececember, many routings/airlines possible ( BA, CX, RJ, others). Looks like a good fare to me even if one had to get a cheap ticket to AMS to start the journey.

[Chongalulu]

35 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Exact my experience.

And it depends on the departure airport.

I just played with a German low cost carrier (Eurowings).

I tried oneway BKK - Germany -> THB

I tried oneway Germany - BKK -> EUR (without any tricks on the PC)

 

Also interesting for this LCC:

it allows one-way without the ridiculous penalty as is usual with normal airlines.

 

The two one-ways combined and using today's exchange rate comes very close to the return flight charged in THB.

Also here both legs are almost equal in price.

(as precise you can get with the currency rate)

 

And a return flight from Germany to BKK is also very close to the other direction.

(it's a return flight in June for approx. 23500 Baht)

 

To me this proofs quite a lot.

No additional cost, tax, strange currency, fuel price, headwind ... reasons.

Just purely grabbing as much as they can.

Time for more LCCs to get prices moving south.

 

To add another dimension to this ,my friend works for BA and I can book hotline tickets through him (or he just gives me his staff log in details and do it myself). Have just booked a return trip to uk for July and it bills me in baht because it starts in Bangkok even though I'm on his uk staff website. 26,000 so a saving on the £645 via skyskanner 

[KhunBENQ]

Just for entertainment:

one-way flight on BA from BKK to LHR in June(Tue, 13), cheapest:

 

24120 THB

 

So much on one-way with traditional carriers.

As written, LCC to Germany is below 12000.

[Andrew Dwyer]

But this is more for the mainstream carriers as the LCCs sometimes don't show up here. Nevertheless, it's a good tool once you learn how to use it effectively, IMHO

Thank you sir, I just did a quick test run and it works well, as you say the LCC's don't show up .

[Prbkk]

11 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Just for entertainment:

one-way flight on BA from BKK to LHR in June(Tue, 13), cheapest:

 

24120 THB

 

So much on one-way with traditional carriers.

As written, LCC to Germany is below 12000.

Thurs 11th  May,o/w Malaysia is 11250B, although the 0500 departure from BKK would count me out.

 

June gets higher.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Prbkk