181 replies to this topic

[Rinzler]

I've been home almost a week now and I really want to go back to Pattaya.
Trying to book the exact same flight and hotel now costs $1300 more than I paid for my first trip.
Looking for the best price, its still about $1100 more than I paid before.

I guess we all just need to keep an eye on the fluctuating prices and hopefully get lucky and find the lowest price possible.

[Tony Soprano]

I read a couple of news stories today while at work that said it's expected that oil prices will be above $100 in 2011 and probably stay there. There at $90 a barrel now. So, my guess is that will keep airfare high and it's not likely to drop soon. I'm hoping to go back to LOS in April and am going to decide asap to get what the fares are now. About $1288 from Atlanta to Bangkok.

[winsome]

cascade09, on 03 November 2010 - 01:18 AM, said:

Well it looks like I'll be able to take a small vacation soon.Like in a few weeks time.But not soon enough.Land Of Smiles definitely on my mind. However,airfare seems to have gone up like crazy.I've checked around online but can't really find anything good.I know it will be worth it when surrounded by beautiful ladyboys and having my hands full... But are there any sites where cheap airfare is to be found,some I don't know about?I would be flying out of Los Angeles.Thanks for any info.

try korean air I payed 1,200.00 & check this out derect fight to korea 16hrs Iam laeving out of washington,dc. then 4hrs, to bbk touch down @ 8:15 pm I have 7 more days to go I can't wait.

[Tony Soprano]

winsome, on 29 December 2010 - 08:42 AM, said:

try korean air I payed 1,200.00 & check this out derect fight to korea 16hrs Iam laeving out of washington,dc. then 4hrs, to bbk touch down @ 8:15 pm I have 7 more days to go I can't wait.

Their the cheapest out of Atlanta, too, plus the fastest to Bangkok. They take pretty good care of you during the flight, too.

[icebergjr.]

Korean Air is great out of ATL and I highly reccomend it the flight was superb and I was in economy class,never been treated so well in my life they are heads and above shoulders over all the US carriers and will definitely be using them next time even if it cost a bit more but if you want to save some money then just look around as there are so many out there on Cheapoflights.com that you have your pick.

[Backdoor Specialist]

Still waiting on Eva Air, price at the moment is £550 odd, it was soooo much cheaper last year and the year before.

BD

[Rinzler]

Of course, I'm itching to go back to Pattaya.
When I purchased my package last August, I paid $1600 (US) for both flight and hotel for 10 days.

Today, I just checked airfare. $2200. Airfare is definately much higher.

Just a side note - For me, living in Dallas Texas, it was a 24 flight. I'm 6' tall, so the economy seat on the airplane is very uncomfortable. I looked forward to the lay-overs.
So, just for shits and giggles, I thought I'd check on a 1st class ticket. An unbelieveable $6500. Why does first class cost so much more? You arrive the same time as first class. The service isn't really that much better. Yeah, the seat is much more comfortable, but for more than $4000? Holy crap.

[robw]

Studmuffin, on 05 January 2011 - 04:38 AM, said:

Of course, I'm itching to go back to Pattaya.
When I purchased my package last August, I paid $1600 (US) for both flight and hotel for 10 days.

Today, I just checked airfare. $2200. Airfare is definately much higher.

Just a side note - For me, living in Dallas Texas, it was a 24 flight. I'm 6' tall, so the economy seat on the airplane is very uncomfortable. I looked forward to the lay-overs.
So, just for shits and giggles, I thought I'd check on a 1st class ticket. An unbelieveable $6500. Why does first class cost so much more? You arrive the same time as first class. The service isn't really that much better. Yeah, the seat is much more comfortable, but for more than $4000? Holy crap.

That's a lot of STs LOL.

[Rick O'Shea]

Quote

Am I the only mug who flies with British Airways? They do have frequent offers though - my return flight LHR-BKK direct on 23 March, returning 19 April, is costing me £650

Er, yes. I've got a flight with Jet Airways LHR - BKK, admittedly changing in Mumbai, on 10 February, returning 28 April for £509. The flight time is another 4 hours on direct each way which is not an issue when I have plenty of time at my destination. And curiously, I find that whilst I am more tired on arrival, my physical shape is much better for having been forced to walk about a bit between flights.

Before anyone gets uppity about flying with an Indian airline, Jet is superb! Ever since I stopped travelling for business, I have discovered a whole new world by turning right at the top of the stairs and some airlines are considerably better in economy than others. Jet is one of the best - good food, good movies, average fleet age is low (and the aircraft I have flown on so far have been 2 or 3 years old at the most but obviously that is the luck of the draw), good leg room and best of all as a diver - their luggage allowance is 35 kilos for journeys that originate and terminate outside India. Highly recommended.

Whilst I am a cheap charlie, price isn't everything when considering a 14 hour journey. Two websites that I use all the time which might be of interest to others:

• to check the aircraft ages and accident records of obscure and not so obscure airlines, I use http://www.airfleets...e/recherche.htm
  
• to check that the seat I book online is acceptable, I use http://www.seatguru.com/

[American Eagle]

Rick O, on 05 January 2011 - 03:06 PM, said:

Whilst I am a cheap charlie, price isn't everything when considering a 14 hour journey. Two websites that I use all the time which might be of interest to others:

• to check the aircraft ages and accident records of obscure and not so obscure airlines, I use http://www.airfleets...e/recherche.htm
  
• to check that the seat I book online is acceptable, I use http://www.seatguru.com/

Those are two great websites, thanks for posting.

[Darkside Apprentice]

I'm flying Korean Air from NY to Chicago 1hr, to S.Korea 13hr. to BKK 5hr. $1250.oo booked 7 months in advance. 9 more days and waiting.

[alex the hedonist]

Some good news last night...flights from Florida in Feb/Mar are down to $1300 ($1700 when I checked 30 days ago)...and flights from LAX are down to $900 for the same time frame (down from $1200)...so things are looking up.

I never know where the hell I am going to be flying from too far in advance...but its usually one or the other coast of USA, Germany or Japan...from Germany, best deals seem to be on either Air Berlin or Eithad...Japan there are all kinds of deals...from east coast USA it seems its either Continental or United (Florida) or Korean (Atlanta)...from LAX it seems to be cheapest with one of the Asian airlines (China or EVA)...but always the best if you an spend a little more is ThaiAir cuz its non-stop from LAX, has premium economy, and all for about $1500.

RE previous poster's comment on Business or First Class fares...you would be surprised...I dont know the actual stats (I will have to look for them sometime, sure they are available)...but I would bet that 30% of those seats are folks using miles to UPGRADE and 50% are folks whose company is paying for it and dont care and 20% of folks who actually have the $$$ to pay the extra. I know the only times I fly in Biz/1st is the first two...I volunteer for every assignment with a long flight (especially the ones to Japan) to gather up those miles...they pay for me to be in biz class on those flights and I get all the miles! Then, I use em to get to BKK in comfort! Also, I try and get assignments/clients in countries that get me close, then tack on a pleasure trip to the LOS! Makes it all worthwhile.

Cheers Alex

Edited by alex the hedonist, 06 January 2011 - 07:09 AM.

[69billy]

Rick O, on 05 January 2011 - 03:06 PM, said:

Er, yes. I've got a flight with Jet Airways LHR - BKK, admittedly changing in Mumbai, on 10 February, returning 28 April for £509. The flight time is another 4 hours on direct each way which is not an issue when I have plenty of time at my destination. And curiously, I find that whilst I am more tired on arrival, my physical shape is much better for having been forced to walk about a bit between flights.

Before anyone gets uppity about flying with an Indian airline, Jet is superb! Ever since I stopped travelling for business, I have discovered a whole new world by turning right at the top of the stairs and some airlines are considerably better in economy than others. Jet is one of the best - good food, good movies, average fleet age is low (and the aircraft I have flown on so far have been 2 or 3 years old at the most but obviously that is the luck of the draw), good leg room and best of all as a diver - their luggage allowance is 35 kilos for journeys that originate and terminate outside India. Highly recommended.

Whilst I am a cheap charlie, price isn't everything when considering a 14 hour journey. Two websites that I use all the time which might be of interest to others:

• to check the aircraft ages and accident records of obscure and not so obscure airlines, I use http://www.airfleets...e/recherche.htm
  
• to check that the seat I book online is acceptable, I use http://www.seatguru.com/

Jet Air use to be good but they are gone down hill last few years..But main reason I won't fly with them again is the Mumbai Airport..What a shit hole..Must be the one of the worst international airports in the world...
http://www.airlinequ...m/Forum/jet.htm

Etihad got a good price at the moment £449...OK i like to fly direct but EVA is coming up £550..and only saving of 2Hrs. flight time..

[jcs]

69billy, on 06 January 2011 - 01:50 PM, said:

Jet Air use to be good but they are gone down hill last few years..But main reason I won't fly with them again is the Mumbai Airport..What a shit hole..Must be the one of the worst international airports in the world...
http://www.airlinequ...m/Forum/jet.htm

Etihad got a good price at the moment £449...OK i like to fly direct but EVA is coming up £550..and only saving of 2Hrs. flight time..

I would rather spend an extra GBP100 and get the direct flight billy, much less stress and IMO EVA is way better than Etihad.

[69billy]

jcs, on 06 January 2011 - 02:09 PM, said:

I would rather spend an extra GBP100 and get the direct flight billy, much less stress and IMO EVA is way better than Etihad.

I'm with you on thet one Jcs..
On my 25+ trips..once with Etihat,once with JetAir,and once with Qatar Airways,rest always been with Thai air n Eva air..
But problem is Thai n EVA both use to have morning flights...now only evenings (21.30) n i usually finish work 6 in the morning so by flyin at night I lose a day.. if I'm going for 3 week no problem..but 2 weeks..!!?? I can not lose a day...

[Rick O'Shea]

I take the comments about Jet Airways (be careful if booking based on the name alone - everybody who is short of imagination calls their airline Jet something), but having flown with them 5 times in the last year, I remain impressed. I've also flown Eva (uncomfortable seats, cancelled a flight with no warning, bad customer service in Bangkok), Qatar (very good, but charge like wounded bulls for excess baggage which unfortunately is a problem when carrying my dive kit), BA (expensive, poor leg room, treat you like shit if you are not silver or gold exec club member - since I used to be, I am particularly sensitive to this) and let's not even start on US airlines! Middle Eastern airlines in general are good, but when I have been booking, they have been a good £100 plus more expensive.

As for Mumbai being a poor airport, I agree it is, but I am only there for 2 hours maximum and if I can save £100 on the airfare for a total of 8 hours extra travel time including 4 hours in a crappy airport, then I will do it (8 hours being 0.4% of my total time on a typical trip). And since I don't spend money in airports (see my earlier comments about being a cheap charlie), I either sit and read or walk about anyway.

One caveat - my recommendation for Jet Airways is valid until they screw up and don't do anything in recompense. At which point, I will treat them as if they were the devil incarnate! And yes, I will let the world know all about it.

[Tony Soprano]

Odd that from Altanta, Korean Air is about $100 cheaper in March than in April. Maybe they anticipate the rise in fuel prices that's coming. Gas now in the Atlanta area in just about $3.00 a gallon. It's expected to be $4.00 sometime in 2011

[69billy]

TSteve C, on 06 January 2011 - 08:33 PM, said:

Gas now in the Atlanta area in just about $3.00 a gallon. It's expected to be $4.00 sometime in 2011

And you think that is expensive? In UK ..its $8+ for a gallon...(£1.25 a liter)

[Tony Soprano]

69billy, on 06 January 2011 - 09:09 PM, said:

And you think that is expensive? In UK ..its $8+ for a gallon...(£1.25 a liter)

Well, the same increase for you will make it $12 a gallon there. But it'll make airfare higher as their fuel costs rise.

[robw]

I just booked a flight on Emirates from Sydney for 970 AUD.I've only flown with them once before and they ok.
The only drawback is I don't arrive until 1am.