Changes to Bangkok Air's discovery airpass

[Davey612]

I previously used Bangkok Air's coupons to travel within Thailand. They are quite economical if you travel within their air routes (for example, Utapao - Samui - Phuket).

Anyway, I used to be able to purchase them using a travel agent in Thailand. I will ask a friend in Thailand to do so. But now, Bangkok Air has changed the rules and you can only purchase them outside of Thailand. This has become quite troublesome. For example, here in the U.S., the travel agent has to deal with Bangkok Air's office in LAX. If you want to purchase the passes with a credit card, Bangkok Air will impose a 5% surcharge and will want a copy of your driver's license and credit card.

Is it still worth it? Well, the domestic coupons cost $50 per flight while the international one cost $90. However, what Bangkok Air does not tell you is that there is still taxes, insurance surcharges, and fuel surcharges. But given that Bangkok Air has a monopoly on some routes (Samui, Siem Reap, Luan Paban), it is still worth it compared with their web prices. Also, I discovered that you can do Siem Reap - Phuket without changing planes in Bangkok.

Hope this helps someone's holiday planning.

[Surfcrest]

Last year I purchased the Bangkok Air Pass through my Cathay agent in Canada.
I recall she said it was troublesome, having to wire them the money and then sit back and wait for the ticket to arrive. I recall she needed a week or so to line it up for us.
I was planning to use the same pass this year.
You may want to ask a regular travel agent if they can do the work for you...it should work.