Thailand Land of Smiles» Flights to and from Thailand

Counting the Days

Talen — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:13:12 +0000

I’ll be heading back to Thailand in a little over a month…Very happy about this. Normally I would have taken the non stop Thai air flight out of JFK in New York but seeing as they have put an end to that route I’ve had to look elsewhere.

There were a lot of flights to choose from but the deciding factors came down to price, layovers and length of flight. With some flights taking anywhere from 36-52 hours with two and three layovers I was getting a little disheartened, then I found the ANA Air flight out of Dulles airport in Virginia. The flight only has one layover, in Tokyo, and the price was damn good at $1244.00. Never happy about a layover but my hardship will be quelled by beautiful Japanese women so I can deal with it.

Then, of course, there are all the question…” You’re going back to Thailand again?”…”Why do you go to Thailand so much?” And this is my answer:

My brother will be going back with me again and I like spending time with him. And it’s less embarrassing hanging out with him in Thailand because the Thai’s seem to ignore his quirks.

I’ve gotten used to sharing my food with people that smile a lot.

Even when it’s food that scares me at first…Ant eggs anyone?

There are thousands more temples to see.

I even have my own little tour guide to show me around.

I’ve been told there are Thai activities that I must try when we go to farmer…this scares me.

And of course my little Thai friend said someone wants to see me, and her water buffalo aren’t even sick.

Counting the days…

Thai Air to Consolidate Hub

Talen — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:47:05 +0000

Since the new airport, Suvarnabhumi, was opened in Bangkok in 2006 Thai Air has used both Suvarnabhumi and, the older, smaller, Don Muang airport for it’s international and domestic flights. The majority of Thai Air’s domestic flights were using Don Muang which inevitably led to confusion for international travellers that had connecting flights to domestic locations.

Thai Air announced Wednesday that they would be consolidating all of their flights to Suvarnabhumi, the main international airport, by April. Thai Air president Narongsak Sangapong said this move will reduce operating and management costs. Thai Air has been hit hard by last years fuel surcharge increases, the slow down of the global economy, and recent political turmoil that saw both airports shut down for a week by protesters. It’s estimated that these combined problems have cost Thai Air 5- 6 billion baht ( 144-173 million dollars ).

Thai Air is also seeking 34 billion baht ( 974 million dollars ) in aid from financial institutions for working capitol and debt restructuring.

Thai Air is hoping that financial aid, hub consolidation and greatly reduced domestic fares will put them back in good shape by the end of 2009. A lot of this will hinge on tourism that is way down from this time last year.

If nothing else this move will help out the international passengers with connecting flights that were previously routed to Don Maung. Other carriers such as Nok Air and One Two Gp continue to use Don Muang as their domestic hub.

Thai Air Amazing Award Seat Sale

Talen — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:33:14 +0000

In my earlier post Thailand Tourism Bargains I wrote about the sad state of affairs concerning Thailand tourism and steps that the Thailand tourism authority and Thailand travel agents were going to start taking to get the tourists back.

It didn’t take Thai Air long to roll out it’s first incentive to get tourists back. Thai Air’s Amazing Award Seat Sale starts January 1st 2009 and ends March 31st 2009. For anyone that has been to Thailand a few times on Thai Air, like me, the award points you have amassed could save you a cool 20% on standard award mileage requirements.

You have to book round trip tickets and take your trip between January 1st and March 31st 2009. Bookings can be made online at www.thaiairways.com/rop or at any local Thai office. If you are in Thailand you can call the Thailand Contact Center at 0 2356 1111. This offer is good for every Thai air destination except Copenhagen and Stockholm.

This represents some decent savings if you have Thai Air awards points saved up, and for me it looks like a free trip to thailand is on my horizon.

Free Flights to Thailand

Talen — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:41:57 +0000

Air Asia, South East Asia’s biggest budget carrier, began it’s campaign to revive tourism in Thailand Tuesday by offering 100,000 free tickets to and within Thailand.

Working with the tourism Authority of Thailand they hope to regain the confidence of tourists staying away due to global economic problems and political unrest in Thailand.

Tuesday Air Asia announced their campaign named ” Get your baht to Thailand” which would offer free tickets from surrounding countries such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myammar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and China, as well as flights within Thailand itself. The tickets must be purchased from the Air Asia website and this purchase must take place within 3 days of Wednesday December 17th for travel between Jan. 6 and March 31.

The only charges passengers will have to pay are the airport tax and administration fees. Air Asia did away with fuel surcharge fees on all of it’s flights last month.

This works out to be a great deal for anyone living in South East Asia but it’s also a great deal for anyone planning a trip between January 6th and March 31st 2009. Air Asia offers over 400 weekly flights to and from destinations in South East Asia and within Thailand.

I’m looking into several flights now within Thailand for an upcoming trip because free flights beat taking the bus or a private taxi any day and will add more quality time to the trip. If you have the time and you are planning a trip between the dates offered you might also want to check out other great sights in the area such as Angkor Wat.

Remember this offer ends on Friday December 19th.

Thai Air Expected to Drop New York-Bangkok Route

Talen — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 03:51:13 +0000

Updated June 9th.

If you go to the Thai Air Website and try to book a flight from the end of June the first thing you’ll notice is that round trip Economy class seats are over $5000 and the second is that all the flights from the end of June through the summer are sold out.

Rumors have been circling for the past two years that Thai Air would drop the non stop New York to Bangkok route due to money loss and now with the huge fuel increases it seems the rumors will come true. Thai Air executives are to meet sometime in the coming week to determine if the non stop New York to Bangkok flights will be scaled back from six weekly flights to three or if the route will be dropped completely.

Since May of 2005 Thai Air has operated six non stop flights weekly from New York to Bangkok…and since May 2005 Thai Air has lost money on this route. Although the planes were always at 70%-80% capacity, the higher priced business and first class seats were never close to capacity.

Economy seats in the last two years have averaged $1000.00 round trip and from my experience there was never an empty seat in economy class. Premium Economy was generally around $1400.00 while Business class and Royal Silk (first class) went from $3000.00 to $7000.

With a flight time of 17 hours the non stop flight was the fastest way to get to Thailand from the East coast of America. Using Airbus A340-500s made for a very comfortable flight, even in Economy class…although it wasn’t even close to being fuel efficient. With long flights like this using large planes you have to burn more fuel just to carry the needed fuel.

Sinagapore Airlines is facing a similar problem with it’s non stop flights to America but has chosen to opt for an all Business class seating arangement to offset rising fuel costs and empty seats. Thai Air has no such plans in the works and all signs point to a full shut down of the New York to Bangkok route as of July 1st.

Thai Air is continuing to book fares for this flight from early June at their website but all flights after the middle of June are showing as sold out. It’s believed that these flights and previously booked flights for the summer months will be rerouted to LAX via Star Alliance member United Airlines. This added flight will add three hours to flight time and seems will be the norm if leaving from the Eastern United States to Thailand.

Thai Air isn’t expected to drop it’s non stop flight from LAX and indeed flights are showing through the summer months…at much higher rates.

Update: The Bangkok Post has reported that Thai
Airways Officials have indeed suspended flights from NYC as of July
1st. They maintain that the direct flight from LAX will continue but
with a reduced flight schedule. The LAX-Bangkok route will now only be
in service five days a week instead of the previous seven day a week
schedule.

Suvarnabhumi Airport Phase Two to Begin Soon

Talen — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:12:47 +0000

Yes, you read that right. Although Thailand’s flagship airport was just opened 18 months ago there are already plans for phase two to begin as early as this year.

Since the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport in September of 2006 it has been plagued with problems from not enough bathrooms to cracks in the runways. There were also delays and passenger over crowding between international and domestic flights. To ease crowds Don Muang , the old international airport , was recommissioned to accept all domestic flights.

The expansion will begin this year with construction work starting on a new 3.7 billion baht runway which will give Suvarnabhumi a third, much needed, runway. 114 million baht is slated to be spent this year on studies for future projects which includes a new passenger terminal which is set to begin construction sometime in 2010.

Word has it that newly elected government officials are not happy with the situation of Don Muang handling domestic flights and they want to see Suvarnabhumi take them back over as soon as possible. Don Muang should only be available for charter flights and air shows they stated. No timetable has been given for the move of domestic flights back to Suvarnabhumi but some estimates say it will be at least five to eight years before they could be transitioned back to Suvarnabhumi ,if then.

The new airport can handle up to 45 million passengers and figures show that they are getting close to that number now so a new terminal will definitely help ease crowding and help to bring domestic flights back to the airport.

Cheap Flights to Thailand

Talen — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:36:12 +0000

If planning a trip to Thailand you’ll see the phrase “cheap flights to Thailand” everywhere you look. They aren’t cheap as they are laden with hidden costs and extensive flight time.

The best bet if flying from America, Canada or Britain is to book the flight yourself with the intended airlines you’ll be using.

Sites such as Travelocity, Orbitz and Kayak will show you a good fare but then they add in the other costs such as service fee’s. You will pay a surcharge for using their site which will add $20 to $40 a ticket. Then they will tell you you can’t use an E ticket which means you must purchase a paper ticket. There will be a processing fee for the paper ticket as well as a $20 fee to have it mailed to you.

My brother and I purchased our tickets for our up coming trip in January yesterday. Since we live in Baltimore there are no direct flights so we have to get a flight to New York and from there a flight to Thailand. I normally use Delta airlines and Thai air respectively. So yesterday we decided to check all the different offers from Travelocity, Orbitz, Kayak, Cheap Flights and on and on.

They showed all the different flights but the Delta/Thai air combination flight was always the cheapest at a little over $1430.00 all in. There were a couple of flights cheaper by $100 or so but they required multiple layovers and were anywhere from 31-52 hours from takeoff to destination.

Unfortunately after you enter in all your information these so called cheap flights offered start to become more expensive. Travelocity averaged about $50.00 per ticket with Orbitz following in a close second. The other sites showed the cheapest flights being much higher by disregarding the Delta/Thai air option for the more expensive American Airways option which was over $1000 more per ticket. Travelocity came out with the cheapest price per ticket of all the sites, but their ticket for $1430.00 ended up being $1483.00 in reality.

Buying our tickets directly from Delta and Thai air got us the lowest price. The Delta flight round trip to New York From Baltimore was $178.00 and the Thai Air flight round trip from New York to Bangkok was $1253.00 for a combined price of $1431.00 per ticket including taxes.

The flight to New York is a little over an hour and the flight to Bangkok from New York is 17 hours. The layover in New York is roughly 3 hours. As I said earlier there are many flights that have multiple layovers and stops which might cost you less if you go through the airline direct but time is money and they are stealing your time from a much needed vacation. Seventeen hours is a long flight straight to Bangkok…I couldn’t imagine flying any longer than that.

Whatever airline you use and whatever flight you decide on book it directly through the airline itself as this will be the cheapest flight even when you have to book multiple flights to get where you are going.

Thailand Land of Smiles» Flights to and from Thailand

Counting the Days

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