Flying one-way to Thailand ...

Since starting to live long-term in Thailand in 2007 I've been purchasing return tickets only.
My folks are of a quite advanced age and I need to be back in Canada at least once a year ... usually for varying lengths of time. As they are pretty stable right now I am quite happy with going back for 3 or 4 month stints, but in fact that could change at any time ... sometimes fewer months than that, but if necessary, more: life is "play by ear" in this regard.

But the return fares lack flexibility. The return dates can easily be changed, but there's a reasonably hefty fee to do that every time.
I was wondering whether buying a one-way far to Thailand is even possible? If so, then I can have a very flexible option to buy the return fare which suits me the best.
I have heard that airlines will not even let you board if you do not have a return fare. But I've not heard anything definitive about this.

I hold a Non Imm 12-month 'O' visa which gives me multiple entries, so that part is not really an issue. It's the home country/home airline policy on one-way fares which I'm not certain of.

Any first hand knowledge out there? Obviously I can use other methods for receiving info on this (yeah yeah " ... google it ya dumb fuck ... "), but I am thinking that other folks on this board may be interested in some first hand experience regarding this.

Cheers ...

Airlines have an obligation to check that you can legally enter Thailand, therefore they will insist on either
a) a correct visa,
or b) if you are entering on the Visa Waiver or Visa Exempt scheme for 30 days, then a return ticket.

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Originally Posted by gwm4asian

Airlines have an obligation to check that you can legally enter Thailand, therefore they will insist on either
a) a correct visa,
or b) if you are entering on the Visa Waiver or Visa Exempt scheme for 30 days, then a return ticket.

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Close, but one small correction:

b) if you are entering on the Visa Waiver or Visa Exempt scheme for 30 days, then an onward ticket. They don't care if you're returning to your destination or not -- just that you are ticketed onward to leave the Kingdom within 30 days.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Smiles

Obviously I can use other methods for receiving info on this (yeah yeah " ... google it ya dumb fuck ... "),Cheers ...

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Oh well you beat me to it!!!!!!!But Thai Airways have been very flexible lately i just changed my flight with no fee

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Originally Posted by gra46

Oh well you beat me to it!!!!!!!But Thai Airways have been very flexible lately i just changed my flight with no fee

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Different ticket fares have different restriction. Even within economy class, there are different fare classes. Just because your TG ticket can be changed, it does not mean others can do the same.

Food for though, even though certain Thai Airways classes offer to change your ticket free of charge, does not mean that actually happens, "that" class has to be available when you change your ticket, otherwise a fee is payable. This happens quite a lot, especially during busy periods and one wants to change their ticket for an extra couple of days or so. A bit of a scam really.

In short, not all economy tickets are the same.

Economy class codes
Full fare: Y, B
Standard fare: M, H, N
Special or discount fares: G, I, K, L, O, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X
On most airlines, unrestricted economy ticket is booked as a Y fare. Full fare tickets with restrictions on travel dates, refunds, or advance reservations are commonly classed as B, H, or M, although some airlines may use S, W, or others. Heavily discounted fares, commonly T or W, will not permit cabin upgrades, refunds, or reservation changes, may restrict frequent flyer program eligibility, and/or impose other restrictions. Other fare codes such as X are restricted for use by consolidators, group charters, or travel industry professionals. However on some airlines X is used for frequent flier program award redemptions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel_class

Three years ago I flew Thai non-stop out of New York on a one-way ticket with a multiple entry 'O' visa and no one asked anything. The airlines as usual asked to see my passport but never looked at the visa pages. US immigrations did not look or ask for anything either. When I arrived in BKK, I was stamped in with the "Valid until date" on the reentry permit and they did not ask anything as well.

FINN air is running adds in the Bangkok Post today Business class to Europe 74,000B

Smiles,
I flew out of Toronto with Eva on a one way ticket to Bangkok with a Non Immigrant Visa and there was no problem. Now I have the same visa as yourself, and I purchase return tickets from here in Thailand. Thus when I return I am essentially flying on a one way ticket as I am on the second portion of the ticket. I have never had a problem.

My experience is that a one way fair is almost as expensive as a return ticket. Recent checking for a flight to BKK has shown that to be true at present.

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Originally Posted by kjun12

My experience is that a one way fair is almost as expensive as a return ticket. Recent checking for a flight to BKK has shown that to be true at present.

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Thanks all for the (mostly) informative responses. Consensus seems to be that there is little problem with one-way fares as long as the correct visa is presented.

Kjun, I agree that traveling on a one-way fair can often be nearly as expensive as a return ticket. If that was a set circumstance I would probably re-think the who enterprise. But I have been looking at those travel sites which offer a comparison shopping experience for ticket prices and have often found a very significant difference in prices between different airlines ... so if that holds true then I may give it a go.
On the other hand, if the one-way price is consistently exorbitant across the board then of course I'll give that a good long think before jumping in.

For instance, doing a search on the United Airlines website (I usually fly United because of my billions of accumulated airmiles) I plugged in my preferred date of return next flight from Canada. Using the 'One-Way' choice I received a price of $1627.00 . . . a bit ludicrous when one considers the return ticket with the same departure date (and a return date plugged in) is only $40 more. Singapore Airlines and EVA were quite a bit better at around $1150. (All examples are Vancouver >> Bangkok)

But when I tried a random variety of those airline ticket shopping centres and found these prices (plugging in the same date and the 'One-Way' option):

Cheaptickets: $821
Expedia: $830
Travelocity: $830
Kayak: $630 (China Airlines) $ $750 (Cathay)

Looks like the expensive one-way prices are found mainly using the airline websites. Cheaper prices ~ up to about half the airline price ~ can be found using the search websites.

Cheers ...

A few weeks ago I was checking fares out of Seattle and found something out of the past. EVA offered the option of an OPEN RETURN. Remember those good old days when you could be flexible with no penalty.

EVA did not have any rate penalty for using the option. Don't know details about scheduling the return flight. I would guess options are limited at that rate. But the flexibility is well worth any inconvenience.

At that time they had awesome specials running out of Seattle. Like as low as $850 RT or you could upgrade to their Business Economy (think they have another name for it) for only $1,050 RT. I used that class about three or four years ago and was on one of their older 747's. Nothing like first class but seat space and reclining was way better than economy. Well worth the few hundred bucks extra each way.