Flying from Phuket to Udon Thani

[Wolf]

Hi,

did anyone here fly recently from Phuket to Udon Thani?
If yes, how long did it take you and what were the app. prices you paid?
Which airline did you take?
I could only find Thai - they are supposed to be quite good.

Thanks,
Wolf

[dizbuster]

I will be doing that same route in about 5 weeks time and my TG said she can get tickets for approx 5,000baht with Thai Airways. This is much cheaper than on their website, so I'm not entirely convinced but she knows where she lives and what an airplane is, so I'm taking this as a good price which she got from a travel agent in Patong.

[fun2have]

wolf, been about to udon only on thai airways about 4200 or 4400 bt i think. many udon expats favour nok airline, lot cheaper i think about 2600 bt.
so about 1 hr 20 hkt - bkk, bkk - udon about the same.
try and catch the midday flight from bkk to udon about 3 flights i remember each day. 1 very early morning, early afternoon and 1 about 1800 hrs. the last flight is usually full and is the bg/customer express,expats and familys and business people.
thais prices i seem to remember are best middle of the week.
business class bkk-udon about 1000 bt more.
nok flights from udon to bkk did not connect with flight to hkt so its change to thai or bkk airways or stay a night in bkk.
ticket for return journey available opposite the mall in front of "little pattaya" (soi bar farangs)

[fun2have]

forgot to say in previous post, quite often the udon - bkk flights can be booked out so book in early the previous day or 2 days before.
also double check your ticket slips, as they gave my mates bg the wrong one in the wrong name, so it was buy another ticket at the airport next morning, and he could only get refunded into a thai bank account.

[Wolf]

WOW what a price difference!!!

On the Internet I only found prices for about 25000BHT or €500!!!
But that is for 2 people.
And return ticket.

Still a major difference!!!

Thanks a lot,
Wolf

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by fun2have

wolf, been about to udon only on thai airways about 4200 or 4400 bt i think. many udon expats favour nok airline, lot cheaper i think about 2600 bt.
so about 1 hr 20 hkt - bkk, bkk - udon about the same.
try and catch the midday flight from bkk to udon about 3 flights i remember each day. 1 very early morning, early afternoon and 1 about 1800 hrs. the last flight is usually full and is the bg/customer express,expats and familys and business people.
thais prices i seem to remember are best middle of the week.
business class bkk-udon about 1000 bt more.
nok flights from udon to bkk did not connect with flight to hkt so its change to thai or bkk airways or stay a night in bkk.
ticket for return journey available opposite the mall in front of "little pattaya" (soi bar farangs)

Sorry to ask but where is "little pattaya"?
Dont remember seing this in Patong.

Thanks again,
Wolf

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by dizbuster

I will be doing that same route in about 5 weeks time and my TG said she can get tickets for approx 5,000baht with Thai Airways. This is much cheaper than on their website, so I'm not entirely convinced but she knows where she lives and what an airplane is, so I'm taking this as a good price which she got from a travel agent in Patong.

Thanks Diz,

very good info!
But what do you mean when you say "she knows what an airplane is".
Made me smile!!!
Or did she thinks its a fast car!!!

No offense!

Cheers,
Wolf

[fun2have]

little pattaya or the pattaya strip, is the farangs bars opposite the charoensri mall in udon.
the beer bars are located there. check www.udonmap.com
for the udon maps and bar locations.
charoen hotel is good hotel, excellent pool, short walk 10 minutes to the mall and bars.
not a great nightlife but i love it.
airport about 10 minutes to town if no vehicle to pick you up, go with the hotel shuttle buses free.

[Wolf]

Thanks mate,

but I will be getting the tickets in Phuket alreaddy.
Any place in Phuket where I can buy tickets?
Or shall I go to the airport to the Thai office?
Thanks for the rest info - excellent.

Cheers,
Wolf

[fun2have]

i usually use the travel agent (sweets ?) virtually opposite club rio, never had a problem with them, but maybe some of the expats know somebody cheaper.

[H3X]

Wolf

Did just that on 21st March with GF. Cost 8,800 Baht for 2 with Nok Air. Booked with the travel agent almost opposite the Bangla Rd entrace.

Both flights on time and no problems with luggage....

H3X

oh yes...BTW its via BKK.. NOT direct !!!

[Wolf]

Thats Great news - Thanks a lot.

In contrary to Geespot you make me may be come to MTB if you are there at Songkran.

Cheers,
Wolf

[Mr Lucky]

If you're looking to do it cheaply, both Nok Air and AirAsia have flights between Phuket, Bangkok and Udon Thani. So if you can't match up a Phuket - Bangkok flight with a Bangkok - Udon Thani flight on one airline, switch to the other in Bangkok.

Also, why go to a travel agent for this? They don't get any commission for selling budget airline tickets, so any profit they make comes out of your wallet. It's easy to book yourself online:

http://www.nokair.com/nokconnext/asp...currlang=en-US
http://www.airasia.com/site/en/home.jsp

I just tried a Nok booking and came up with a total price of 6,200 baht per passenger round-trip.

I recommend trying Nok first, since they allow you to select your seat when you make the booking online. AirAsia has a free-seating policy, which makes for an unruly mob at boarding time. Also, Nok is run by Thai Airways, and recently they are doing some code-sharing with THAI. In other words, every so often Nok passengers end up on a THAI flight. Free meal and better service at no extra cost.

Regarding budget carriers, I wouldn't recommend One-Two-Go, by Orient Thai. The owner's a nice guy and I hate to bad-mouth his airline, but they fly the oldest aircraft in Thailand. Older than Phuket Air, if you can believe it.

Another aside: I just flew round-trip to BKK on Nok. Due to technical trouble, the HKT-BKK flight was delayed three hours. I switched to Bangkok Airways because I didn't want to wait. Three days later, returning from BKK, I had no trouble getting a refund for my unused Nok ticket in less than five minutes at their Don Muang Airport office (not at the check-in counter - they don't know s**t).

Happy flying and have fun in Udon. Be sure to make a day trip to Nong Khai. Nice little town and the Mekong's a sight. Also, if you do, check out the temple at Sala Kaew Ku. One of the weirdest places I've ever seen. It'll put a new fold in your brain.

[fun2have]

those are good prices on nok and sometimes codeshare with thai thats good value. maybe next time i will check out that option. just, having worked around fixed wing and rotary aircraft i am fairly set in the airlines and the type of aircraft i will travel on.

[Mr Lucky]

Originally Posted by fun2have

just, having worked around fixed wing and rotary aircraft i am fairly set in the airlines and the type of aircraft i will travel on.

Very wise. Nok leases their Boeing 737-400 aircraft from THAI. Thai AirAsia has been using new B737-300's, but they are now receiving the first planes in an order of 60 new Airbus A320's.

[stevem]

Originally Posted by Mr Lucky

Thai AirAsia has been using new B737-300's, but they are now receiving the first planes in an order of 60 new Airbus A320's.

Too bad they dont know how to operate them!!!!

[Mr Lucky]

That's certainly a consideration. When I hear a Thai voice over the pilot's intercom, I can't help but think about things like how lax the education system is, and how easy it might be to get a pilot's license with good connections (in lieu of actual skill).

However, to put Thai air safety in a broader perspective, check out this link:
http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/database.cgi

I don't recommend checking it just before a flight, though.

[stevem]

Originally Posted by jimholio

I will never fly with airasia, if they have been banned from flying across europe its for a reason.

And where did you get that little gem from???

They are no better or worse than many of the other low cost carriers flying around the world, and that also includes Europe. With lower fares, something has to give.

[jimholio]

Originally Posted by stevem

And where did you get that little gem from???

They are no better or worse than many of the other low cost carriers flying around the world, and that also includes Europe. With lower fares, something has to give.

Obviously I got it mixed up! Im so sorry, the airline i was thinking about was ofcourse Phuket Airlines.

[Mr Lucky]

Phuket Air...that's another bag of worms. An airline started by a gambling tycoon with heavy connections to the Burmese junta. It has now been cut back drastically, but it's main routes included several destinations in the Golden Triangle and a connection to Amsterdam. Coincidence?

And Phuket Air just won't die. Right now they are trying various ploys to resurrect the airline, applying for reconsideration by the EU with one hand and registering alternate names with the other. Be careful of flying any new airline operating under the names Suvarnabhumi Air or Holiday Airlines.

[stevem]

Originally Posted by Mr Lucky

Phuket Air...that's another bag of worms. An airline started by a gambling tycoon with heavy connections to the Burmese junta. It has now been cut back drastically, but it's main routes included several destinations in the Golden Triangle and a connection to Amsterdam. Coincidence?

And Phuket Air just won't die. Right now they are trying various ploys to resurrect the airline, applying for reconsideration by the EU with one hand and registering alternate names with the other. Be careful of flying any new airline operating under the names Suvarnabhumi Air or Holiday Airlines.

Dont worry they have no pilots, and only the desparate will apply. The last lot are sueing for owed salaries.

[butterflyblonde]

I need to ask a question,

If I book with Nok Air today, 2 tickets to Udon from Bkk for mid may, do they hold the tickets at the Domestic terminal for when I arrive ?

Does anyone know how the tickets are collected or are they posted to my address in the uk ?

I haven't booked internal flights (from the uk via the net) other than connecting flights to HKT in with the price of my long haul tickets before, so this is why I ask.

[H3X]

You never get tickets like in Europe ( well I hav'nt so far and ive flown 5 times with Nok & Thai Air ) ... just an online 'voucher' with booking reference on it to print out (same as hotel reservations over the net).

Just take the printed voucher with your passport to the domestic terminal and check in.

Its the same buying internally. Even at BKK I just got a scrap of paper like a check-bin cos the 'puter was down..... but no probs

BTW I must add that the flight from BKK to UT was a bit of a vertical lift off and then a dive into UT at full whack...... my ears were poppin 2 much.

H3X

[butterflyblonde]