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#1
04-12-2007, 01:43
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Last minute flights?
Hey guys,
I'm heading over to thailand in May and the flights I've been checking seem to be going up in price almost daily :S. Is this trend going to continue do you think, or is there a standard kind of price? A friend of mine has been to thailand a few times and reckons that the best thing to do is wait until about 6 weeks before and use lastminute.com to get cheap flights. Anyone had any success with this method? Cheers in advance 
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#2
04-12-2007, 01:58
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It is true to say that up to Songkran in April, flight prices have been increasing and will continue to do so IMO. But.... May is into Low Season in LOS, the kids are at school and I think you will find seats easier and cheaper to come by.
As for when to book.... I think you will find that in January, many airlines flying to LOS inc BA have a seat sale. There are quite often some pretty good bargains to be had during the sales. Have you signed up for any of the online ticketting agency email alerts? E Bookers, Airline Network, Expedia, West East Travel and Travelocity are a few companies that send out email alerts for these seat sales. Well worth signing up for. With regard to leaving it to the last minute, you may leave things just too late and find nothing to suit your travel dates, but at the same time find a great bargain. As always, the final choice is yours. Edit Keep in touch with BM steve@thaib, as he is in the position to sell flights and can advise you. Yaaay 10k posts
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If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat? Last edited by dawsey : 04-12-2007 at 02:02. Reason: spelling
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#3
04-12-2007, 03:19
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thanks for your great advice
 . Will sign up to all of those now and see what comes up. Do you think it's too much of a risk though? How much higher than 550 {about my budget} do you think they will rise.Have been in touch with steve, he was most helpful
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#4
04-12-2007, 03:27
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Personally, I doubt you would be asked for as much as £550 in May. But thats only my opinion for what it's worth.
Edit: Just checked out Airline Network for early May and prices start at £485. Have a look below. http://www.airline-network.co.uk/flights/farelist.asp And now the link is playing up Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
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If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat? Last edited by dawsey : 04-12-2007 at 03:40.
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#6
04-12-2007, 03:43
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The last link I posted appears to be playing up, but check out the special offer prices quoted today. Hope this link is working.
Gateway Page
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If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?
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#7
04-12-2007, 04:11
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cheers mate - looks good. Forgot to mention that I'll be trying to avoid london though
 .Hoping to fly from Cardiff, Birmingham or Bristol, so I understand this is going to cost more. What would you consider a 'good' price? I.e, one that if I see I might as well book?Thank€s for all your help so far btw, much appreciated
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#8
04-12-2007, 04:44
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To be honest, I have never really searched for flights from any of those departure points, but I found flights from Birmingham with Emirates and China Airlines for under £520 this evening with Airline Network.. These flights however are not direct to BKK which is something to bear in mind. Right now, I would leave it until the January sales, then check all the online ticket outlets you can find in here then have a good search. I'm no expert and would hate to give you wrong advise though. Everything is only my opinion and what I would do.
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If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?
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#9
04-12-2007, 05:00
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How much did Dawsey pay you to say that 
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#10
04-12-2007, 05:07
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The cheque is in the post!
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If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?
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#11
04-12-2007, 05:08
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I have always departed from Heathrow when going to Bangkok without major problems as long as you give yourself plenty of time.
I would just keep checking the prices a few times a week you never know what you might find.
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cumming to you soon Lcfc rules http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sinkbu...andEventPhotos
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#12
04-12-2007, 05:09
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Is this one made of rubber
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#13
04-12-2007, 05:09
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Im gonna have to disagree with Dawsey, im going in low season everytime i go and the prices are in no way cheaper. Book long time in advance or find a campaign offer is the most reliable thing to do imo.
Ofcourse with that said you can get lucky all the time. Have a look at Thai airways current campaign offers, you can get good prices by ordering it now. Worth mentioning is that most of the last minute prices is with charter and i dont believe there is a whole lot of charters going trough may.
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#14
04-12-2007, 05:16
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Glad to see another side to the coin Jim. Maybe prices for flights from Sweden don't drop in May & June, but they do in the UK. Rise again sharply end of July in time for families to go away. There are so many variables to getting cheaper flights. One tip given to me by another BM last year was to book my flight and one night hotel in BKK instead of flight only. Didn't bother using the hotel room but,yes, I saved money strangely enough.
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If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?
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#15
04-12-2007, 05:34
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everytime i've looked at a regional departure the cost has been way more expensive than the 40 quid bus ride to Heathrow at least there you can get a direct flight to Bangkok just picked random dates in May 10th and 24th London to Bkk direct with EVA was 460 ish Cardif or Bristol 610 ish with china Air lots of changes...i'll be on the bus to london Last edited by Caerphilly : 04-12-2007 at 05:39.
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#16
04-12-2007, 06:08
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Will be going thorugh Kuala Lumpur this time...was 200-300 pounds cheaper than going over bangkok.. Kuala Lumpur to phuket with ai asia is 20-30 pounds, cheap solution, and the flights are not always full, even if you book in very late, i bokked with lastminute.com and got the flight rountrip from Copenhagen to KL for 700 pounds.
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#17
05-12-2007, 03:18
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I reckon that a regional departure normally adds around £40. China Airlines from Birmingham at that time of year is £540, but Cardiff is quite a bit more at £591, so maybe a Cardiff departure is a big difference. I leave from Manchester and my flight is normally £30-40 more than a Heathrow departure. As for the question of whether flights will go down in January, that's anybodys guess just now but my personal opinion is that they won't. I think that competition on the route is that tough to start with that there is very little room left for fare reductions. In all honesty, I think that it's not worth obsessing over the last couple of quid and tend to book my own flights on different criteria than price alone. I much prefer a European routing and would rather avoid Heathrow until they sort the place out, so for me it's KLM or one of the other carriers with a European hub. KLMs in-flight entertainment is pretty basic but I really don't give a rat's ass about that sort of thing. Mid-Eastern carriers are the business price-wise at the moment, Etihad, Emirates and Gulf seem to have the best prices out there.
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#18
05-12-2007, 05:01
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Agree Steve - we all have different criteria
On waiting until Jan/Feb am I correct in recalling that airline tax in the UK is increasing in Feb? If you leave it too late the OP may loose any benefit in flight reduction due to tax hike
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#20
05-12-2007, 13:23
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Last week my dad told me he saw direct flights to Phuket for just 12500 baht (2495 SEK), with one of our newer tour operators. Which is the cheapest I have seen from Sweden. I guess it was last minute flights.
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#21
06-12-2007, 01:42
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LOL Looks like you might be seeing your Dad again sooner than you thought.
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If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?
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#22
06-12-2007, 11:00
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Dawsey. I've had similar experience when shopping around. Thai Airlines appear to charge travelers full price from MELB to BNKK, but offer vastly reduced fares via Flight Centre who package the flight with hotel accommodation. AUD$1,850.00 return via Thai, compared to AUD$1,150.00 for the same thing if you purchase via Flight Centre with hotel accommodation when researching this some time ago. I believe you can squeeze Flight Centre for airfares only. Thai Airlines appear to prefer you to book via their agents. Booking with them directly in Australia costs you a premium price. Maybe it's different in Europe. Having said that, I've found Jetstar substantially beats Thai on price every time, even if you go via an agent. I think airfares will get dearer over time with rising fuel costs and the trend to wards reducing carbon emissions. Last edited by Critical Mass : 06-12-2007 at 11:04.
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