Phuket Thailand - Bkk- phuket connecting flights

sparky · #1 19-01-2006, 03:10

HI everyone

i have a slight problem which i hope soem BMs can help with

booked a flight last week with Thai good price of £430 so cant complain.

now i have decided that i want to go to phuket first rather than straight to pattaya as i have done in the past.

i want to go for about 4 days but if i like it- i may well want to stay longer.

the problem is this- if i book the Bkk-Phuket connection in the Uk its fixed and cant change dates or times.

if i just turn up at the internal terminal and book as i jump off the international flight then.....

1 will i get a flight with no problems

2 will i be able to extend my stay by changing the day once in phuket if i want to stay longer

Is phuket busy in the middle of march?

it will be my first time in phuket so i will hope to meet some fellow board members.

i am staying at the andaman - is this a good choice and how far away from the action is it?

are the prices the same as Pattaya -500st ,1000lt etc

thanks in advance

sparky

ps if there are similar posts sorry for repeating my queries

stevem · #2 19-01-2006, 03:14

Advisable to book your connecting BKK/HKT with your international flight, as this makes the connection in BKK so much easier. On arrival in BKK, you go downstairs to gates 1 to 7, and wait for your flight to be called and they herd you onto a bus and take you to your domestic flight to Phuket.

On arrival in Phuket you clear immigration and customs there.

sparky · #3 19-01-2006, 03:32

thanks for replying steve

unfortunatly my international flight is already booked so the phuket trip is an afterthought hence my query re the best way to book it now

chucky66 · #4 19-01-2006, 03:47

If you are flying thai air then all you have to buy an additional flight for your trip from BKK to Phuket. Present this ticket (e-ticket if booking online) at check in of your international departure and they will book your luggage to go right through to Phuket. When you disembark in BKK you can catch your connecting flight to Phuket without going through immigration, as this can be done at Phuket airport. Thai air advise at least 90 minutes between your international flight landing and your connecting flight. So say you ladn at 4:30pm, the earliest connecting flight they would advise is 6pm as the airport has restrictions on transit passengers.

This is the easier route rather than going through BKK immigration and then finding the domestic check ins and booking a flight as this can sometimes take you quite some time. You cant always get a flight last minute, depending on the time your international flight arrives into BKK. Your flight out of Phuket at a later date can always be changed by phoning the airline and paying a small fee (I think 100 baht with Bangkokair and similar for Thai air).

Pattaya is slightly cheaper than Phuket for ST and LT. If you want dirt cheap at the moment, consider Chiang Mai. Prices there in November at least were lower than both Pattaya and Phuket.

ALso bear in mind that if you are flying from Heathrow you may have to stop for a refuel in Copenhagen. This is currently occurring on a weekly basis due to the Buncefield oil depot fire and there is no end in sightm, according to thai air who I spoke to yesterday about this.

chucky66 · #5 19-01-2006, 03:47

Hope this helps!

sparky · #6 19-01-2006, 04:27

Cheers Chucky

thats good info

your post brings me more questions tho(sorry)

If thai are refuelling in Copenhagen is this adding any time to the flight journey at all or are they adjusting their schedules accordingly- to your knowledge.

i am not flying till march so hopefully this may not afffect things by then

its not the cost of the st/lt i just dont want to upset anyone when i am over there as i am used to Pattaya prices .

As the heathrow-bangkok leg is already booked i will have to get on thai and book an e-ticket for the Bkk-phuket leg so that i can avoid Bkk customs which may be a blessing as pkt customes may be quicker>??????

If the international flight is either --early or late will thai allow you to jump onto a later/ earlier flight if there are vacancies????

sorry to be a pain

Sparky

stevem · #7 19-01-2006, 04:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

If the international flight is either --early or late will thai allow you to jump onto a later/ earlier flight if there are vacancies????

So long as you have allowed the legal minimum connection time from International to Domestic, which is 2 hours at Bangkok. Otherwise you will find you might be on your own.

chucky66 · #8 19-01-2006, 05:09

Thai air told me that the refuelling in Copenhagen is sporadic and they can only determine if a flight will have to stop there based upon how loaded the aircraft is and how fuel supplies are at Heathrow on the day of departure. I was told that the turnaround at Copenhagen is around 1 hour, although I have heard several friends report the refuelling taking up to 90 minutes. By March, things should have substantially improved but the news is reporting that disruption may last many months.

Booking an e-ticket for your BKK-Phuk leg would be best and then show this e-ticket at check-in so that your luggage and yourself are transited through BKK and can do immigration at Phuket. Not so sure if this is any quicker though.

Another option would be for you to catch a cab to BKK and spend a night or two there. Enjoy the pleasures., catch up on your sleep so you will be fresh as a daisy for Phuket and skip any connecting flight worries?

Regarding catching earlier or later flights. Provided you are with thai air if your international flight is late they will put you on the next available flight free of charge (minimum of 2 hours between flights).

Start off at 500 ST and 1000LT. Worked for me last November in Phuket almost everytime

sparky · #9 19-01-2006, 05:22

Quote:

Start off at 500 ST and 1000LT.

start off? thats the end point lol

thanks for all your advice

i prefer beer bars rather than gogos for my hunting - obviously i have heard of mai thai but any pointers on good nice friendly beer bars that you could recommend.

whilst i am pickin your brains

steve@thaib · #10 19-01-2006, 05:33

If it was me, and I wish it was, I would stick with the flight you have and clear immigration at Bangkok. You might want to check flight times for domestic carriers but there really should be no probs mid march availability wise.

If you book a flight here then you may struggle to change it, book a one-way at the airport and then it's 'up2u' when you leave.

sparky · #11 19-01-2006, 06:01

well since it is thailand and i gotta wait 2 hours i think i will prob wait and book it when i get there if the flights aint to busy .

then i have the options if i change my mind or not bein worryin about connections.

thanks guys for your help... now about these bars ????