Thai Airways - cheap flights

[douglas]

Hi,
Just recieved a news letter from netflights.com. About a Thai Air sale. It is only from London to LOS.. It might help some people.
From the 16 Aug. till the 15 Nov. Flights must be booked by 31 Aug. They will do from regional airports in U.K. at a extra charge.
From Heathrow to Bangkok return. 599GBP's
Phuket return. 600GBP's
Koh Samui 598GBP's
Chang Mai 600GBP's
These are the only four places they give. For a non stop flight to BKK, it seems a good price.
Checked the prices with Thai from BKK tp LHR return. 52,955B was the cheapest i could find. As opposed to the above fare of about 29,000B. For the same dates. I think they are having a 51 year promotion. But why not do it the other way round as well. We are losing out again.
Cheers Doug.

[stattointhailand]

Probably coz the British govt won't give them any backhanders to attract tourists to UK ...... they probably feel that Air India Air Pakistan air Poland air Kosovo and Air Afghanistan are doing a good enough job already, :-"

[Galee]

Checked the prices with Thai from BKK tp LHR return. 52,955B was the cheapest i could find. Cheers Doug.

Check out Mox Travel. Return fare under 40K baht.

[tomboy]

Spoke to an ex-pat last week and was told that a return flight from BKK to LHR over xmas and the new year is 36,000 baht inclusive of all taxes.
e-mail: [email protected] (udonthani) Tel:042-246662

[douglas]

Hi,
The flight with Thai is a non stop flight. I could get a cheap flight with Jet Air, from Mox. for 27,610B, with a stopover. About 580GBP's at todays ex. rate. About 20GBP's cheaper than the Thai deal. I know who i would travel with at this price. I also checked with Mox as to the price of a flight from BKK to U.K.London, in Sept, The cheapest, with Thai, that i got was 39,645B, which at todays ex. rate is approx. 820GBP, 220 GBP's dearer than travelling the other way. This is what i was meaning when i said we are being ripped of here. Why the difference. I always get my tickets with Mox when travelling from LOS. Found them to be the cheapest and best. Also this deal also includes internal flights, but not to Udon i see. This could save you another 4,000B. plus.
In LOS if you pay by CC they usually add on a percentage, to the fare, for using a CC., At least all the T.A. in Udon, i have tried. do. This adds quiet a bit on to the price they quote. I have not come across this back home.
If anyone can get a "non-stop" return flight, BKK to LHR for 600GBP i would like to know. That is a non-stop flight with any airline. I will then travel this way, saves the changing planes lark. One trip i was waiting 4 hours in the Middle East. Would like to cut this out, getting to old, but at present do not want, cannot afford, to pay 30%, or more, for my flight. C.C.
Even though i will not be using this offer, i thought it might intrest someone who is flying out to LOS. at these dates.
Cheers Doug.

[kumphawapi]

One of the best sites to use for flights is skyscanner.

Prices for Heathrow to Bangkok return end November to end january are £473 with Kuwait.
Reverse trip is £552 with jet over the same period.

If you get the timing right, Thai Airways usually have flights Heathrow to Udon Thani for under £600 with lastminute.
If the flight from london is delayed all arrangements for next flight to Udon are made for you with VIP treatment through immigration if time is short.

[jeffjhawk]

Press release on 20 August states that new THAI subsidiary discount airline (confirmed name is Thai Smile) will include BKK-UTH service beginning mid-2012. Does this mean they will discontinue the flag carrier flights to UTH? I fear the answer is yes. Though it's minimal miles, I will miss my Star Alliance mileage credit for this route if so.

With that said (now is when I argue with myself), all of the THAI flights I've been on have been packed at presumably a higher fare level than the new discount airline will roll out. So it's a bit confusing.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2 ... t-for-2012

[wazza]

Being and frequent international traveller, 1 comment i will say on cheap airfares.

The cheaper u buy, the less ability to change or have a flexible ticket. Then when the unexpected arises , these passengers take up 30 mins trying to check in, with ticket conditions applied and unable to fly, and need to pay extra. They are a pain in the butt , they knew at the time of purchasing what they were getting, and have no one else to blame but themselves.

Prices vary with fuel surcharges, eg Singapore Airlines are approx 20% cheaper than TG right now, they hedged their fuel ages ago, etc...

Goverments and private operators also apply different charges for arrivals to departures, high season, in the country of destination, all reasons for price differences etc

[Alchai]

Press release on 20 August states that new THAI subsidiary discount airline (confirmed name is Thai Smile) will include BKK-UTH service beginning mid-2012. Does this mean they will discontinue the flag carrier flights to UTH? I fear the answer is yes. Though it's minimal miles, I will miss my Star Alliance mileage credit for this route if so.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2 ... t-for-2012

I just got an email confirming that a flight I have booked for February:
"DEAR PASSENGER.
WITH EFFECTIVE FROM 01 FEBRUARY 2013 - 30 MARCH 2013.
THAI FLIGHT FROM BANGKOK TO UDON THANI WILL OPERATED
BY THAI SMILE A NEW SUB-BRANDED BUSINESS UNIT
OF THAI AIRWAYS.
THE NEW SCHEDULE TIME OF YOUR BOOKED FLIGHT HAS BEEN
CHANGED AS BELOW.
-TG702/XX FEBRUARY DEPARTING BANGKOK AT 14:20 HRS AND
ARRIVING UDON THANI AT 15:25 HRS.
FOR MORE ENQUERY PLEASE CONTACT
THAI SMILE BY VISIT http://WWW.THAISMILEAIR.COM OR
CALL THAI CONTACT CENTER AT 66-2-356-1111(24HRS SERVICE)
THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION
AND APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.
BEST REGARDS.
THAI AIRWAYS INTL"

Well, if this is supposed to be a budget airline I guess I will be sitting in business class since I've already paid full price!
Has anyone heard anything more about THAI Smile? Not sure what they mean by "EFFECTIVE FROM 01 FEBRUARY 2013 - 30 MARCH 2013" Is it only for a limited time?

[wazza]

well one way of reducing costs is to cut the ridiculous snack they serve on all 1 hour domestic flights

Save $ 000's

If it goes back to a budget airline with ticketing issues, them im stuffed, as I need to have flexible tickets with my international connections etc

[wazza]

Maybe its to pay for this coporate fine they recived.

Will we see refunds for the overcharging - Sorry Krup !

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/na ... 6538329994#

[Svein66]

WITH EFFECTIVE FROM 01 FEBRUARY 2013 - 30 MARCH 2013.
THAI FLIGHT FROM BANGKOK TO UDON THANI WILL OPERATED
BY THAI SMILE A NEW SUB-BRANDED BUSINESS UNIT
OF THAI AIRWAYS.

Why this change only for 2 months?

I checked the websites now, and you can`t book any flights with Thai Air to Udon in those months, but you can book again in April. Thai Smile don`t have any flights to or from Udon Thani mentioned on their website at all.

[Barney]

Info by Svein66 is very true. Have been trying to book online to fly in from BKK to UT for early feb and fly out mid feb with no luck from either site.
Seems like typical Thai confusing logic to offer no info and i would now tend to think that they may trial their new Thaismile A320-200 planes into other regional locations like UT for the period mentioned and then finish the trial prior to April and Songkran.
Thaismile seems to be an identical type of carrier that Singapore Airlines introduced with their baby sister Silkair carrier. It will not be a total cheap charlie setup if the website is anything to go by, with 20kg allowance , seat choice, all points added to your thaiairways account and that dreaded snack already mentioned by wazza.
My preference as my aging body has matured is to fly business class for Thai domestic so i get the domestic lounge in BKK because of usually long delays between International and the domestic leg, Thaismile will provide business class and lounge access but in the plane it will still be the 3 seats abreast as in economy but the middle seat not allocated. Cannot compare the 2 flight charges because of the current online booking problem.

On another tangent for Thaiair, I fly periodically Thaiair from Saigon to BKK and just recently another return flight on the new route BKK to Sapporo Japan and all these flights had to be done with the bus shuttle to and from the plane. Not a whinge just seems strange that Thaiair international in it's own homebase of swampy airport cannot get terminal gates and every small time carrier seems to be at an airbridge gate.

[teapot]

Flying with Thai from Udon to Perth return then to Mumbai return in the last month 1 from 4 walk on or off on the international legs,the same for domestic. Got a whole lot better since the low cost carriers moved

[Aardvark]

Press release on 20 August states that new THAI subsidiary discount airline (confirmed name is Thai Smile) will include BKK-UTH service beginning mid-2012. Does this mean they will discontinue the flag carrier flights to UTH? I fear the answer is yes. Though it's minimal miles, I will miss my Star Alliance mileage credit for this route if so.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/2 ... t-for-2012

I just got an email confirming that a flight I have booked for February:
"DEAR PASSENGER.
WITH EFFECTIVE FROM 01 FEBRUARY 2013 - 30 MARCH 2013.
THAI FLIGHT FROM BANGKOK TO UDON THANI WILL OPERATED
BY THAI SMILE A NEW SUB-BRANDED BUSINESS UNIT
OF THAI AIRWAYS.
THE NEW SCHEDULE TIME OF YOUR BOOKED FLIGHT HAS BEEN
CHANGED AS BELOW.
-TG702/XX FEBRUARY DEPARTING BANGKOK AT 14:20 HRS AND
ARRIVING UDON THANI AT 15:25 HRS.
FOR MORE ENQUERY PLEASE CONTACT
THAI SMILE BY VISIT http://WWW.THAISMILEAIR.COM OR
CALL THAI CONTACT CENTER AT 66-2-356-1111(24HRS SERVICE)
THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION
AND APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.
BEST REGARDS.
THAI AIRWAYS INTL"

Well, if this is supposed to be a budget airline I guess I will be sitting in business class since I've already paid full price!
Has anyone heard anything more about THAI Smile? Not sure what they mean by "EFFECTIVE FROM 01 FEBRUARY 2013 - 30 MARCH 2013" Is it only for a limited time?

This is a worry, I booked on the 15/12/12 confirmed for travel to Udon from Perth on 09/02/13 returning on 08/03/13 again confirmed. Have not recieved any email from Thai. Hope they don't mess me around it's already paid for ...

[Svein66]

WITH EFFECTIVE FROM 01 FEBRUARY 2013 - 30 MARCH 2013.
THAI FLIGHT FROM BANGKOK TO UDON THANI WILL OPERATED
BY THAI SMILE A NEW SUB-BRANDED BUSINESS UNIT
OF THAI AIRWAYS.

Why this change only for 2 months?

I checked the websites now, and you can`t book any flights with Thai Air to Udon in those months, but you can book again in April. Thai Smile don`t have any flights to or from Udon Thani mentioned on their website at all.

Now it`s possible to book through Thai Air`s website for flights in Feb/Mar. Still nothing about Udon on Thai Smile.