Have prices gone down?

Apparently not as far as flights are concerned... but I suppose many people have cancelled hotel bookings because the hotel I wanted to book in BKK - and thank god I didn't book it 3 weeks ago - has dropped 28% so I end up paying a ridiculous price considering I have lots of points to redeem...

Has anyone else noticed this "sale" thing?

If anything some prices seem to have gone UP for traditional airlines.

Yes if you want to travel on the new Indian airlines like Jet and Kingfisher there are some great deals, or some of the Arab ones like Oman Air. I'm talking about from London to BKK. Eva is usually reasonable as is KLM/China Air and of course Aeroflot, but they are always reasonable and not down on last year in my opinion.

I haven't seen any prices radically down on last year, while some (like Emirates) have hiked the prices by over 20% on last year and now with long layovers at Dubai as well. BA seem to be up as well. Easy to say don't use them but they do tend to fly from regional airports rather than just from London - and there's a big difference between a 3 leg jouney and a 2 leg, especially on the seemingly longer way back.

:occasion9:

[ceejay]

Flights from Heathrow are pretty expensive now. I have just booked for the end of July/beginning of August, and it's cost me ┬г200 more than the trip I cancelled in mid-June. I booked with Thai (I prefer direct flights and am prepared to pay for them)

It always has been more expensive if you get to within a month or two of travelling. Eva were only giving refunds for flights booked up to the end of May, so any longer term (and therefore cheaper) bookings will still be in place. Also, I guess, there is a backlog of business travel which is being made up. All in all, they seem to be flying pretty full.

[cdnmatt]

Just checked out flights for myself, and they're excellent right now. $1400 CAD for a roundtrip from BKK to Vancouver, which is normal, if not a bit cheaper. Actual flight is excellent though. Connects in Tokyo, no large layovers, and longest leg is only 8.5 hours. So none of that 12.5 hour bullshit, with a 9 hour layover in Taiwan.

I might almost have to book that for myself. I'm due for a nice two week visit to Canada.

how about hotels though?

I saw Malasia Airline have a seat sale on from Australia at the moment but the only place they did not have on sail was Bangkok. Maybe they kno nobody wants to go there. My travel agent said they had to give so many refunds to people who had booked to go to Bangkok in May so maybe Malasia Airline dont want the risk of more refunds.

[camperboy]

I AM COMINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!! :occasion9: :occasion9:

YEY! Just confirmed... going bkk end july! two more months!! roooarrr!

YEY see you there...same exact period..lol


I AM COMINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!! :occasion9: :occasion9:

YEY! Just confirmed... going bkk end july! two more months!! roooarrr!

If you're looking at air ticket prices through the lens of Pounds or Euros then they should be up, not down, because these currencies are in a funk and oil is denominated in US$, which is strengthening (slightly) due to the Euro problems. Oil is also not cheap, it is now in the US$70-75 range. If you're looking at prices in terms of Can$ or Aus$, which have revalued recently, then you'll probably see very good deals.

I AM COMINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!! :occasion9: :occasion9:


Could you not just gasp or groan quietly like most people?

....Oil is also not cheap, it is now in the US$70-75 range.

Crap - Oil was far higher a few years ago. It is now 20-30% cheaper than at its peak in 2008 when it was getting close to $100 a barrel. The reduction in oil prices should more than offset any weakening of the currencies you mention.

Stick to macaroni - I hear it rose 17c a plate yesterday.

:occasion9:

[giggsy]

Well nothing is gonna stop me going to Pattaya later this year..I have just started my exercise regime to get in shape for the event. Since the average age of SGT is over 40 I will share it with you. At no cost to your good selves of course.

EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE OVER 40


Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides.

Hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags.

Then try 50-lb potato bags, and then eventually, try to get to where you can lift a
100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute.


(I'm at this level.)







After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.

[camperboy]

I AM COMINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!! :occasion9: :occasion9:


Could you not just gasp or groan quietly like most people?

i like it loud :headbang:

:sign5:

The problem is if you eat the remaining potatoes after work out tho ;)
I am getting myself back into shape too.. I'm like bears, I put layers of fat on to protect myself from rigid winters lol



Well nothing is gonna stop me going to Pattaya later this year..I have just started my exercise regime to get in shape for the event. Since the average age of SGT is over 40 I will share it with you. At no cost to your good selves of course.

EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE OVER 40


Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides.

Hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags.

Then try 50-lb potato bags, and then eventually, try to get to where you can lift a
100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute.


(I'm at this level.)







After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.

Crap - Oil was far higher a few years ago. It is now 20-30% cheaper than at its peak in 2008 when it was getting close to $100 a barrel. The reduction in oil prices should more than offset any weakening of the currencies you mention.

It's not meaningful to compare against the peak in a year of tumultous price variations. It was an exceptional point in the graph. For most of the past decade, oil was in the US$20 - 30 range, and many travellers' perception of airticket prices was based on their experience in such a context. At the time, the pound and euro bought more dollars (and thus more oil) than they do today. More recently, oil has traded much higher than that. Since today the pound and euro have less purchasing power, it is only to be expected that airlines selling tickets priced in pounds or euros have a hard time discounting even when there's a recession. They still have to buy aviation fuel in dollars; aviation fuel that is not cheap when viewed over the last 10 years.

Even when the oil price briefly crossed $100, airlines did not fully adjust their prices to reflect it, because many had hedged their oil purchases at lower prices. In other words, travellers never really saw what $100 oil would mean in airticket prices. If the airlines had charged sustainable prices in the context of $100 oil, and we today compared our current prices against that peak airticket price then, yes, you should see a discount. But we never saw those airticket prices, so expecting to see substantially lower prices today compared to 2008 is unrealistic, especially in terms of a weakening currency.

Perhaps you don't like to hear this bit of bad news - and I can understand that you, like me, want very much to enjoy good discounts - but just because the news is bad is no reason to get upset with me.

If you really need to see a discount compared to prices a year or two ago, then you should do this: Look up the price you paid in 2008, and convert it to baht at 2008 exhcnage rates. Do likewise with the cost of your 2009 trip, using 2009 exchange rates. Now take the current airticket price and convert it to baht at today's exchange rate. Perhaps you will see a drop?

I'm not upset with you Macaroni - it's just your (original) argument did not hold up!

Since you have now modified your argument, let me remind you what it was - we should expect to see a rise in GBP air prices because the GBP has fallen against the $ and also the price of oil is now not cheap. That's right isn't it - you did say that? Euros I can't comment on as I don't monitor air ticket prices in Euros.

What I am pointing out is that whilst the GBP has fallen against the $ it has not fallen as much as the price of oil has fallen since it was at its peak in 2008. Ergo, if the price of oil is the prime factor in the price of an air ticket then I would NOT expect ticket prices to have gone up since 2008, and generally they haven't.

You go on to say that when the price of oil reached almost $100 dollars a barrel we did not see commensurate increases in air ticket prices. Well, I'm sorry but the UK certainly did from the full service airlines like British Airways who were hiking the surcharges up as fast as they could DESPITE having already bought the bulk of their fuel at lower prices. In fact the low cost carriers like EasyJet were shouting from the rooftops "NO SURCHARGES" which tells you that others were surcharging heavily. Even when the oil prices came back down, the likes of BA kept the surcharges on for many, many months more than was decent.

Anyway... moving on ......

:sign5:

The problem is if you eat the remaining potatoes after work out tho ;)




Well nothing is gonna stop me going to Pattaya later this year..I have just started my exercise regime to get in shape for the event. Since the average age of SGT is over 40 I will share it with you. At no cost to your good selves of course.

EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE OVER 40


Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides.

Hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags.

Then try 50-lb potato bags, and then eventually, try to get to where you can lift a
100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute.
........


:idea: TIP OF THE DAY :idea:


Replace the potatoes with packets of Instant Mash.

Far less strenuous


:hello1: :hello1:

DESPITE having already bought the bulk of their fuel at lower prices..

That is the part that always pisses me off... as soon as the price for any raw material goes up they say they have to adjust the prices.. when the prices of raw materials go down they say "hey the stocks that were bought when prices went up" so when are we ever going to enjoy the effects of cheaper raw materials?

We had an embarassing case of this in Italy about 2 years ago... with.. PASTA of all things.. you can imagine the national turmoil lol

[Dboy]

There's another factor to consider. Some airlines have been cutting flights and taking planes out of service. The result of that is fully booked flights at same or higher prices.

As for hotel prices, the result of the local unrest and the global financial crisis is that you'll pay the same hotel rate but it will be easier to find a room. I have not seen any price reductions on anything. In fact, haircuts have gone UP 20 baht, to 80 baht (the horror).

[lonelywombat]

There's another factor to consider. Some airlines have been cutting flights and taking planes out of service. The result of that is fully booked flights at same or higher prices.

As for hotel prices, the result of the local unrest and the global financial crisis is that you'll pay the same hotel rate but it will be easier to find a room. I have not seen any price reductions on anything. In fact, haircuts have gone UP 20 baht, to 80 baht (the horror).

I am unsure of where you looked at room prices but Agoda is quoting much much lower
prices than this time last year. Sofitel Silom is offering rooms from 2702 baht, Unico Grande the old Tower Inn 1189 baht. My friend who prefers Sukhumvit claims that even bigger discounts are available compared to last year.

Cheaper hotels like Wall St in Surawongese 849baht, the Rose 1614baht, and Just Beds budget single 510baht
http://www.agoda.co.uk/asia/thailand/ba ... hotel.html (http://www.agoda.co.uk/asia/thailand/bangkok/just_beds_hotel.html)

While I haven't been checking around hotel prices, what lonelywombat is saying does make sense. Hotels rooms are immovable. They are either occupied and revenue-generating or they're empty and a dead cost. Likewise their staff cost, unless they downsize, which most employers are reluctant to do so long as an upturn is foreseeable. Airlines on the other hand have aircraft and staff they can divert to other routes. They also have a larger component of variable costs - aviation fuel, landing fees, etc - which are not incurred if the plane is not flown. So this means hotels usually have to be much more aggressive in discounting during low periods than airlines need to be. Airlines just need to be more flexible in re-routing to make the best of a bad situation. If the market is really bad, airlines can even park/mothball their aircraft in a desert. It's not so easy for hotels to mothball rooms, because they come in different classes located on different floors - and how much do they save mothballing a room? Not much.

I indeed booked in Sukhumvit through Agoda and got that 28% off compared to a month ago.. what sucks is that the charge is in US dollars though lol



There's another factor to consider. Some airlines have been cutting flights and taking planes out of service. The result of that is fully booked flights at same or higher prices.

As for hotel prices, the result of the local unrest and the global financial crisis is that you'll pay the same hotel rate but it will be easier to find a room. I have not seen any price reductions on anything. In fact, haircuts have gone UP 20 baht, to 80 baht (the horror).

I am unsure of where you looked at room prices but Agoda is quoting much much lower
prices than this time last year. Sofitel Silom is offering rooms from 2702 baht, Unico Grande the old Tower Inn 1189 baht. My friend who prefers Sukhumvit claims that even bigger discounts are available compared to last year.

Cheaper hotels like Wall St in Surawongese 849baht, the Rose 1614baht, and Just Beds budget single 510baht
http://www.agoda.co.uk/asia/thailand/ba ... hotel.html (http://www.agoda.co.uk/asia/thailand/bangkok/just_beds_hotel.html)

[goji]

Of course hotel prices have gone down in many parts of the globe as a result of the economic downturn.

If there is no discount, try haggling.

Not so true... the economic downturn has started waaaaay before may. Still, all Phuket hotels charged the same as last year as did restaurants and bars.

And as I stated, the price of my hotel dropped all of a sudden a whopping 28% compared to what they were quoting 4 weeks before so if it is related to any event it is the red shirt affair because of which I am completely sure they had many bookings cancelled even if they were for 2/3 months later.

As many governments state in their warnings: visit Thailand only if you MUST.... So other than those NEEDING to go for work... and those WANTING to go for the sex industry.... I think anyone else can really postpone their visit to Thailand for another year and go elsewhere safer..

PS: take a look at holidays in Greece and tell me how much cheaper it is.... the hell they are discounting prices when it's the only time of the year they can actually make money...


Of course hotel prices have gone down in many parts of the globe as a result of the economic downturn.

If there is no discount, try haggling.

[Beachlover]

There's another factor to consider. Some airlines have been cutting flights and taking planes out of service. The result of that is fully booked flights at same or higher prices.

As for hotel prices, the result of the local unrest and the global financial crisis is that you'll pay the same hotel rate but it will be easier to find a room. I have not seen any price reductions on anything. In fact, haircuts have gone UP 20 baht, to 80 baht (the horror).

That's why flights were so high in Dec/Jan... airlines had cut capacity on the whole but there was little or no change in demand for that specific high demand period.

[Beachlover]

Hotels are definitely cheap/cheaper overall...

But most regular flights have gotten more expensive, though there are still a few specials and bargains here and there.