Airline prices

It appears that the figure of £1,000 is now being charged for a return economy direct flight from London to Bangkok, late November: e.g. Emirates, Thai, Eva.

The cheapest flights (around £670+) currently involve Gulf air and a stop-over on both parts of the trip. Reviews of Gulf Air are not brilliant!

Would you book a direct flight now or wait a little longer to see if prices will fall back? Delay in purchasing now may prove even more costly, of course. On the other hand, fuel prices have stabilised and are dropping slowly.

I booked with Thai two weeks ago for a trip at the beginning of December which was £851 which is actually less than I paid for my last trip. Flying Economy doesn’t bother me but I do insist on a direct flight. I would have thought it’s best to book now as I can’t see much chance of prices going down.

I'm a veteran EVA man. For that airline at least, my advice is to book as early as possible. The closer you get to departure date, the higher the price is likely to be.

For many years I’ve been travelling twice a year from the UK to Thailand. I’ve always chosen either Thai or EVA depending on which was cheaper at the time. This year it’s Thai but I’ve just checked and it’s gone up by £167 since I booked exactly two weeks ago.Very glad I booked when I did!

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Originally Posted by poshglasgow

It appears that the figure of £1,000 is now being charged for a return economy direct flight from London to Bangkok, late November: e.g. Emirates, Thai, Eva.

The cheapest flights (around £670+) currently involve Gulf air and a stop-over on both parts of the trip. Reviews of Gulf Air are not brilliant!

Would you book a direct flight now or wait a little longer to see if prices will fall back? Delay in purchasing now may prove even more costly, of course. On the other hand, fuel prices have stabilised and are dropping slowly.

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If it is any consolation, fares from the States are just as high. The old days of bargain fares seems to be a fond memory. Demand for "revenge" travel is likely to continue for some time until all the wanderlust is wrung out of demand.

As for Gulf Air, I've traveled them several times and they were perfectly adequate, not quite up to "Middle East" standards, but reasonable. If you can get a bargain on them, I would have no hesitation to fly them. As I am sure you know, Bahrain is a modern Arab state which also happens to be somewhat liberal, assuming you are not Shia.

ive justs pent 2 weeks in Italy...place is awash with Americans spending up big, dropping euro 90 for lunch and more....guess your economy must be doing really well...

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Originally Posted by latintopxxx

dropping euro 90 for lunch and more

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Maybe it takes that much to find a decent meal. The lousiest Italian food I've ever had was in Italy . . .

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Originally Posted by Gaybutton

Maybe it takes that much to find a decent meal. The lousiest Italian food I've ever had was in Italy . . .

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You are right, almost without exception, Italian food in "tourist Italy" can be dreadful. On the other hand, last time I was in Italy we booked an airbnb in a residential quarter and followed our neighbors to their favorite hang-outs and had totally amazing food. And sorry to upset my dearest British friends, but I never ever take the advice of a Brit about where to eat -- seems the British palate and British tastebuds have been dead for centuries! Last week I ate at an upscale place called the "Duchess of Cambridge" in Windsor (does Kate know she has a restaurant named for her?) which serves the most dreadful and overpriced food I have eaten in a very long time.

While we are on the subject of European travel, I was recently in Norway and Iceland. I found those countries so clean you could eat your eggs off the sidewalk it seems. Amazing the shine. Do they wash their windows, their cars and their streets every day? Sure seems like it. But wooh the prices are sky high! I refused to try to convert kroner to dollars, I would have freaked myself out I fear! I'm looking forward to being back in Pattaya in late August for sure!

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Originally Posted by Gaybutton

Maybe it takes that much to find a decent meal. The lousiest Italian food I've ever had was in Italy . . .

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The only way to enjoy a good meal in Italy is totally to avoid the tourist places. We have friends who have lived in Italy for nearly 4 decades. Whenever I have visited the country, they either come to spend a few days with me or advise the best (inexpensive) trattoria to eat. Many owners have invited us into the kitchen to see the ingredients and what is being prepared. I remember one visit to Rome where we went by bus to a restaurant close to the outskirts of the city. It was both a small butcher's shop and simple restaurant. The meal was superb. Frankly, the only place I have had a lousy meal in Italy was in Venice in a restaurant I knew nothing about!

seen a news item last week here in the UK ........Qatar and Emirates are putting more A380,s back into service flying from the UK thus there will be more seats available and prices might come down

Qatar fly 3 times aday to bkk and at the moment 2 of these are 380s

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Originally Posted by aot871

Qatar fly 3 times aday to bkk and at the moment 2 of these are 380s

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Slight correction. Qatar flies 5 daily flights between BKK and Doha with 2 on A380s. Also has between 2 and 3 non-stops between Doha and Phuket depending on day of travel.

I would guess that prices are not likely to come down anytime soon for international travel. Here in the states flights are constantly full. With the possibility of a US recession looming (though that's been talked about for months now) I could wager US domestic travel might see a slight fare decrease in the next few months, but since international travel took longer to bounce back than domestic, and in general those that are traveling internationally can most likely afford to spend more money, I don't see international decreases anytime soon.

For context I booked 2 business class tickets to BKK for travel in February 2024 a little over a month ago. I paid a whopping $7800 EACH. Now, the fare for those same days starts at $9800 each. I'm hoping our dates don't have to change between now and then and risk paying a difference in fare.

In general, if it's a fare that is acceptable to you, don't wait to "see" if it will go down. Just book it. With most carriers (at least in the US) you can now cancel and receive a credit for future travel. You could then book the cheaper fare (if one becomes available) and have a residual credit for other travel.

Good advice. Book early for the best deals. I don't see prices dropping anytime soon.

Back to subject: prices did come down-around 200 €!! (just over this North Sea on the continent) some 4-6 weeks ago-on an airline I fancy a bit and would get double points/miles etc-for an extended stay as I am/was used to from late oct/early nov till just before 1/1. Giving reasonable prices of around 666-still way more as pre-covid. But then I lost the password for account and they would not send a replace and it took all so long that it went over. Then a small lowering on STAR* alliance-combo of LH and Swiss came and I took it-to find out they now also charge extra for check-luggage.
Still looking at skyscanner and googleflite ev 2-3 days for the next trip planned for-as usual-around half jan. ´24 and this is and remains way higher as pre-covid, but not as high as 999/1000.
Cheapest are usually GULF and Etihad and on some dates also Turkish, but then with very long waits or even change the 2 IST airports (takes some 2 hrs by train....)-around 800.
So no-prices will not come down. At least here one has the choice a little more extended as one can also look to FRA/BRU/DUS or the like (DUS once had direct flites when AirBerlin was there) and take the train to there. Only feasible if one has enough time to waste.

Got a good price on EVA, by flying New Year's Eve!

Via its website? can you tell us how much you paid? Of course, it may help that it's "our" New Year and not that of Taiwan where EVA originates.... Taiwanese make up a large proportion of its customers on its LHR/BKK route.

Mainland Chinese airlines have not made a significant return to North America post covid. Many reasons for this, not the least of which are the poor relations that still exist between Canada/US and China. I recall not many years ago a business class fare from Vancouver to Bangkok was $2400-$3000 on China Southern or China Eastern. Now the cheapest fare starts at $6000 on China Airlines/EVA (Taiwan), if you can get that. It really is competition that drives fares down. That doesn't exist right now from North America across the pacific.

On website. £3,100. Business flex. Not cheap. But a lot cheaper than competitors. Think I was lucky, as that fare not available now. It's weird, I booked for Chicago in the BA sale, and the 09.30 flight was £950, business one way, AA. The 11.00 flight was £3,500!

PS. I was on Swiss, via Zurich, £4,100!

Moscow-Bangkok China Eastern $1000 for one way via Beijing, $1750 round trip, business class. Hainan Airlines also via Beijing 900/1650.

Keith's EVA Business price is amazingly good. I always book on the website and have never got that low....perhaps it's not on an EVA plane? The website allows booking on other associated carriers now.
As a comparison, My March fare is around £4000.

it's direct, EVA. they had a cheaper fare via Vienna, but I wanted to fly direct. I think it's just chance, see my comment on Chicago fare.

I used to use Finnair, but their prices have gone up, and no longer refundable.

Living 'up North', we have no direct flights to BKK. I travel Premium Economy and prior to Covid I was paying Cathay around £1300 for MAN-HKG-CNX-HKG-MAN. This year, for the same dates, they want £5200. Last year, for £1450, I flew MAN-CDG-BKK-CDG-MAN with Air France. Now AF are asking £3880 for the same dates. Consequently, in 2023, I'm flying EVA, MAN-LHR-BKK-CNX and BKK-AMS-MAN for £1955. (Open Jaw - I guess that the return via AMS was convenient for them and I wanted to spend a few days in Bangkok on the way back.)
When I flew in 2021, AF wanted £990 and the 777 with 381 seats had only 40 passengers, but I was told that this was more than on the previous flight. Of course, ASQ added to the cost.

I plan and buy airline tickets 3 months out...great prices if you can plan and buy early...

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Originally Posted by Blueskytoday

I plan and buy airline tickets 3 months out...great prices if you can plan and buy early...

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Agreed usually yes, but…

I was supposed to fly LHR to BKK late June (having booked it months before) but had to cancel it. I had booked Business with Evaair for £3400 and they returned it (less 300 Euros) within a week.

By the middle of July I was ready to go again and was petrified having looked up fares. To cut a long story short Eva wanted of £4000 but I got a flight with Emirates for £3400 including their chauffeur driven pick up.

I did spend hours and hours analysing the Emirates fares and if you left it less than 10 days they wanted £4000+ (Without the car journey) but anything over 10 days it was the £3400, including the ride to Gatwick and back.

I then looked up December and it was back to normal …£4000+ And no car.

Seems they see you coming a long time off and a very short time off. However, if they haven’t sold seats with a few weeks left to run, they make a good offer.

I'm not being sarcastic but I'm sure not many guys are interested in going to either Moscow or Beijing at the present time.

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Originally Posted by Oliver2

Keith's EVA Business price is amazingly good. I always book on the website and have never got that low....perhaps it's not on an EVA plane? The website allows booking on other associated carriers now.
As a comparison, My March fare is around £4000.

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New Year's Eve is usually a great time to fly because so few want to fly on that date. I once flew long distance between Asia and Australia on the Eve of Chinese New Year. There were about 23 passengers on the plane!