SiamSam Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 In 2010 and 2011 I traveled Canada to Thailand an obscene number of times. The cost of the flights were between $900.00 and $1,400.00 return. I never paid more and during the Japan earthquake crisis paid considerably less if I was connecting through Tokyo. All of those fares earned me full status mile points towards upper tier status for the following year. It was terrific. This year I cannot get a flight from Canada to Thailand for under $2,200.00 and these fares either earn NO mileage points or 50%. There has been an incredible change in the market in less than 6 months. At least that is what I see traveling from Canada. I am curious if others from the US , Europe, Asia, etc. are experiencing the same increase in prices from last year. If so, what is this about and will we ever see prices we've enjoyed in the past? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLBT Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 SS, I can relate to that brother... In 2008 when I first started to visit, I was paying £475.00 for a flight form London to Bangkok via Amsterdam. When I booked my last trip in January, I paid £730.00 so I think the prices have increased so much that it means having to tighten the belt a little more so I can still visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 I casually looked into return/round trip tickets from Ireland to Thailand later in the year and the prices seem pretty similar to previous years. FBUK might shed some light on what is happening at your end SS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepthroat Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 I booked my winter 2013 trip a couple of months ago, and as I'm using FF miles I didn't notice any increase. I will say though that I've been listening to radio news reports here in Porcupine Tree Montana about the steady rise in passenger fares from the airlines. According to the industry reporters, it's not just the cost of fuel that's - er, "fueling" these increases; it's more about the increased traffic that the airlines are seeing. Apparently, air travel is up dramatically, and as a result the prices are rising to meet the increased demand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hefe Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 I get daily updates on "sale" fares to my favorite destinations & this month they are running about $400 U$ RT more than last year. In fact a RT trip from east coast US to Malaysia "sale" fare right now is $1613, $250 more than a month ago! Part of that is high season, but it must also reflect higher fuel costs too. A year or 2 ago this fare was around $1000, give or take $100. 4-5 years ago I was doing it with a base fare of $800. I usually try for the cheapest fare & then upgrade with miles/$ to business class, but today the cheapest fare doing that would cost me more than $2300! That's a lot of pesos. I'm traveling to ireland next week & even that fare is almost $200 more than I would've hoped.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beijo Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Just booked a November/December fare from LAX to BKK on United for US$ 1018 and a July fate for July on Thai for US$ 1160. However, the Thai flight price was just plain lucky since the airline had posted a price excluding the $400 fuel surcharge by error. That price was available only on line for 2 days before Thai Airline corrected it, now the price is back at US$ 1560 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beijo Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 SS, if that is what you are paying from Canada you might be better off getting 2 tickets, 1 from Canada to US west coast and the second one on to Thailand. The price I quoted in my above post is including full 100% milage credit or 150% credit for premium members. Keep in mind that right now you have high season and fares for later in the year are up to US$ 500 cheaper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted May 6, 2012 Author Share Posted May 6, 2012 Thanks Beijo. I will certainly check out flying from the US. I have direct flights to LAX and SFO so it might just be worth it. United and Thai Airways are both members of Star Alliance. United usually awards 100% status points to my Air Canada account regardless of the fare class. Thai Airways is less generous. Many times you'll get zip from Thai. Other times you might get 50%. I prefer United. By the way, EVA will soon be part of Star Alliance and I believe they have direct flights from LAX, SFO and YVR to Taiwan. I am sure there are good connections from Taiwan to Bangkok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PANIC Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 As u all know Thai airways,gulf airways ,stop flying from greece,singapore,and etihat,QATAR continue to operate here. Its funny but all those left airlines, somehow have nearly the same prices,between 560-600 euros,that is from athens to bkk return...ofcourse me staying in rhodes i have to add on that price the extra ticket rhodes athens,which brings the ticket up to 800 - 870 euros. Those prices have been the same for the past 3 years. The cheapest ticket i ever found was in may 2009 (big bash) for 500 euros... In febr (gotc ii) it cost me 814 euros (Qatar airways)...now we have to see how much it will be for my next trip... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted May 6, 2012 Author Share Posted May 6, 2012 Panic, it will be more for sure. Just out of curiosity go to www.kayak.com and check out fares from Athens to Bangkok January/February, 2013. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted May 6, 2012 Author Share Posted May 6, 2012 Panic, I just checked for you. I checked a departure from Athens on January 30 with a return on February 16, 2013. You can do it for 700euros return with Turkish Airlines. There are others like Qatar but the price creeps up to 800. 700euros is not bad with Turkish airlines. I flew with them a few times and they are excellent. If you fly with them you have to connect through Istanbul which by the way we just learned a few days ago has an active LB community. There are no direct flights showing from Athens to Bangkok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PANIC Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 siamsam,i know about turkish airlines,but the 700 euros as u said is from athens not from thodes.Turkish airlines dont work with qatar airways,nor with agean airways (greek airlines),so if i fly from rhodes to athens with agean airways it will cost me 80EUROS 80 euros return(because agean works with qatar )but if i get a ticket from turkish airlines to go to bkk through Instabul,the ticket from rhodes to athens will cost about200euros,so that price is not good for me...the best one is with Qatar who also makes special offers all the time and the maximum price it will go up is 870 euros ...about the active lb community in Istanbul...that is interesting,so pls could you give me some more details about that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted May 6, 2012 Author Share Posted May 6, 2012 Panic, Go to the "A List" of the forum and you will see a thread started by Zaronxas called "Istanbul Ts Nightlife". After reading it I am sure you might reconsider flying with Turkish Airlines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted May 6, 2012 Author Share Posted May 6, 2012 By the way, this afternoon I opened up a terrific bottle of Retsina (Cambas) and am currently half way through it. Nothing like a great bottle of Retsina!!! Yummy. Someday we'll share one or two or three of them. Perhaps in Istanbul... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beijo Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 Siamsam - here is some stuff for you. Dont rely on info shown in Kayak, its good for general info but sometimes misleading as well. My experience is that if I go directly to airline sites I will get a better price than shown by Kayak, in addition i noticed that at times Kayak does not show all airlines flying the route I am searching. Thai airlines had been excluded at times and i noticed that i can get better additional flights on the united site. Just checked, EVA flights for July LAX - BKK economy US$ 1314, Premium Economy US$ 1944, Vancouver - BKK August thru November CA$ 1771 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted May 6, 2012 Author Share Posted May 6, 2012 Thanks Beijo. I am aware of Kayak's limitations, however with the information it provides I found it enabled me to deal more effectively with the airline directly. For example, if I go to the Air Canada or United or Thai Airline sites it will not show some of the routing Kayak provided. What I do is note the Kayak itinerary I want and then repeat it to the agent at Air Canada, United or whatever. They plug the information into their system and VOILA they get the same rates that Kayak is quoting. This has happened with favorable results many times in my experience. That being said, it is all a crap shoot. I have purchased $800.00 (all in) return tickets to LOS from Canada in the past just because I was on the right website at the right time and they made mistakes. Imagine $800.00 Canada to LOS return that is eligible for upgrade (which I used). Can't beat that!!! It's like Vegas and as such an airline should hire us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PANIC Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 SS,I will bring u a bottle of retsina in febr...i owe that,for the times u looked for me and never found me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke007 Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 SS,I will bring u a bottle of retsina in febr...i owe that,for the times u looked for me and never found me I still have that bottle of Ouzo you gave me Panicos, I am waiting for something special to celebrate it with and was hoping to "toast" Man United winning the Premiership next week and raising a glass in your honour, but that looks a forlorn case now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Mr. Duke you can celebrate the free porn and figuring out how to use it. That's cause for celebration for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxpharm Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 If you want to accumulate mileage on Star Alliance airlines, you need to check the booking class. For Thai Airways, it has to be Q class or higher. What this means is the tickets that are on sale for discount prices tend not to accumulate mileage. Each Star Alliance member will post which classes can accumulate mileage and which do not. Most travel agents know this, but not all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 The only Star Alliance partner that awards 100% mileage (regardless of the booking class) to other Star Alliance partner's members is United/Continental. All others will range from 70% to 0% of the miles flown depending on the booking class of the ticket. Also there is no uniformity among the partners. For example a Thai Airways international ticket with a "W", "V", or "G" " booking class will will reap you 0% of the miles flown but the same class with ANA gets you 70%. A "V" class might get you 50% with some partners and 0% with others. For domestic tickets the booking class has different rules. It's a puzzle so you need to check first. Also do not assume that codeshare flights will get you 100%. For example you can buy an Air Canada ticket from Toronto to Bangkok and all three flights (Toronto/Vancouver/Tokyo) have Air Canada flight numbers attached. However that flight from Tokyo to Bangkok is operated by Thai Airways and as a result you will receive 0 mileage and not 100% even though the flight and and your Air Canada boarding pass has an assigned Air Canada number. Take it from me, hahahaha I've had many arguments with them over this issue and it boils down to the operating airline calling the shots regardless if codeshared or not. Here is an example for Thai Airways: All scheduled flights operated by THAI are eligible*†. Please refer to the tables below to see how many miles you'll earn based on eligible booking class. Mileage Earned‡§ International Flights BOOKING CLASS AEROPLAN MILES F, A, P, C, D, J, Z, U, Y, B, M, H, Q, T, K, S 100% of miles flown Domestic Flights* BOOKING CLASS AEROPLAN MILES C, D, J, Z, U, Y, B, M, H, Q, T, K, S 100% of miles flown G, V, W 50% of miles flown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEXASMAC Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I just checked for a flight in August. $1729.00. That will be the most I have ever paid if I go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 That's my point. Airfares this year are through the roof. At least out of North America. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beijo Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 S-Sam, I have used EVA flights from Los Angeles to BKK in the past and the connection is quite good, on the way back even better than on the way over. If I remember correctly it was 2hr over and 1hr back for lay-overs. Overall trip time close to non-stop trip times, and EVA's premium economy is certainly worth the money. It's a class by itself, like Thai premium economy, far far better than United. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JustSumGai Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I"ve been watching this for a few years now, it's been going up consistantly since my first 2007 trip which was around 1000. IF i'd booked in Aug 2010, would have gotten the same. A month and a half later it was 1375, 2011, same. Now? 1500 generally. What WHACKS ME is being in bumfuck Alabama. Costs me 400 to cross my own stinkin country. From SF, on Thanksgiving day (believe it or not I find good prices then)? $1024. WORSE, if I want to book one way as I'm not really sure how long I'll want to stay? $1200...ONE way. SF? $650. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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