flights from Bankok to Vientiane

[a447]

Can someone do me a favour?? If you happen to go past a travel agency in BKK, I'd appreciate it if you could note the cost of a flight from BKK to Vientiane (one way) and the name of the airline.
TRhanks.

[thonglor55]

That's the most expensive option. Regular travelers often fly to Udon Thani and then bus from there to Vientiane. You need to have a Laos visa before you go if you want that to work well because the bus doesn't wait at the border if you also have to line up for a visa on arrival. In that case you need to take a taxi from the border into Vientiane. General information on buses can be found on the TAT site (http://www.tatnews.org/latest_update/detail.asp?id=2151), but as I recall there's a bus service from Udon Thani airport; it may be one of the regular services from the city that swings by the airport. Thai. Nok and Air Asia all fly to Udon Thani and flights can often be very, very cheap. Book via their Web sites as travel agents won't have cheaper fares.

[Sen Yai]

Why not just do your research and buy your ticket online? A little light googling will reveal that only the nation flag carriers Thai Airways (http://www.thaiairways.com/) and Lao Airlines (http://www.laoairlines.com/) fly that route. There are no low-cost alternatives, which should come as no surprise if you have any understanding of the mind-set of the governments of these countries.

There is little to choose between them in terms of price, although Lao Airlines is usually slightly cheaper, depending when you want to fly and they offer 4 fights per day compared to ThaiтАЩs 2.

I doubt youтАЩd get a better price from an agent in town so thereтАЩs really no point unless you are one of those dinosaurs who wonтАЩt use a credit card on-line or who wants a paper ticket.

[pong]

the above 2 are mostly right. Anyway-a tipical no brainer- between 2 capitals the relevant national airlines will fly.
There are NO more paper airtickets since at least 2 years now. Even if you wanted, you cannot get them!
LAO is-ONLY via local tr-agents slightly cheaper as TG, ONLY for returns though.
If you are very pateint with bookings, strike it lucky with connections, you might find a lower total price by using AisAsia-via KUL of all places-that means flying back the same 2 hrs as you fly into-but not land at BKK but carry on a little further.
The usual amount of local Thai overnight bsues and trains also can bring you to the border @Nong Khai-then its just across the bridge and find a taxi.
VIsa for Lao are issued-at cash payment+2 fotos, amount varies with nationality, at all normal borders and airprots.

[a447]

Thanks for the quick replies.
I have already done plenty of research and have looked at Lao Air and Thai. I was hoping the agents in BKK might offer better prices. Guess I''ll go with Thai, as I'm flying with them from Austrtalia.
I could go via Udon Thani but time is of the essence here - I want to get back to the BKK boys as quick as possible, as gay life in Laos appears limited.
BTW if I decide to take a Thai boy with me, do they need visas? I read somewhere on the net that they can get a 2 night "visa", although he will obviously need more than 2 nights. More like a week.

As for paper tickets, I can't remember when I last saw one of those!

If I DO find any gay life I will give you my usual blow by blow description when I get back. That is, if I can access this forum from Bangkok. I couldn't when I was there last month.

[Sen Yai]

Guess I''ll go with Thai, as I'm flying with them from Austrtalia.

You'll get a better price if you make one booking for a flight to Vientiane, with stop-overs each way in Bangkok, rather than make separate bookings. ie SYD-BKK-VTE-BKK-SYD rather than SYD-BKK-SYD and also BKK-VTE-BKK. The extra cost to fly on to Vientiane will only be about A$200.

As Thailand and Laos are both members of ASEAN, Thais don't need a visa to enter Laos at the Airport. I think the 2 night 'visa' is just issued at the land borders.

[Beachlover]

Yeah, totally agree with Sen Yai. Sometimes you can add an extra leg to your long-haul fare for as little as $50 or $100 which is similar to what you'd pay for an LCC flight, plus you get the certainty/comfort of a full service flight.

If you're flying from Australia, check out http://www.jetabroad.com.au . I've found this to be the best value and most user-friendly booking engine. It lets you book multi-leg flights (though, only three legs, unfortunately). Most airline sites will also let you input "multiple stopovers" into their booking engine.

From Australia, if you're flying via Singapore, check if Jetstar or Tiger fly to Vientiane from their hub there. If you're flying via KL, check for AirAsia flights to Vientiane from their hub there.