Asia - Any cheap RTs BKK-Jakarta or BKK-New Delhi ?

does anyone know of discount flights from Bangkok to Jakarta or Bangkok to New Delhi.

Direct would be nice , but the cheap flights seem to have too many conections and take lots of extra hours.

Any idea where to look ?

thanks

does anyone know of discount flights from Bangkok to Jakarta or Bangkok to New Delhi.

Direct would be nice , but the cheap flights seem to have too many conections and take lots of extra hours.

Any idea where to look ?

thanks

Have you tried www.thaiair.com for the dates you want? Most of the time, BKK-DEL-BKK can be had for around 17000 baht.

Jakarta 5,500 baht by Emirates (http://www.greentravel2000.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=151&Itemid=33)

Try Chawla Travel - http://www.chawlatravel.com/

Rani Chawla is very responsive to email, just give her your preferred dates and restrictions (nonstop, etc.)

Sri Lankan is having a heavily advertised BKK-India promo right now.

If you want to take a free stopover in Kuala Lumpur on the way to Jakarta, www.airasia.com will give you that option because you must book BKK-KUL and KUL-Jakarta separately. Emirates non-stop will only be slightly more with normal luggage allowances, assigned seating, food and normal airline amenitites. The website allows one to pay with a Mastercard or Visa, check-in requires the booking code only, (Print out the confirmation and/or the e-mail receipt). Boarding pass is like a cash register receipt, but it still got me through immigration, customs and on to the plane in BKK, HKT, KUL, and MFT. Air Asia's limitations are baggage allowances (usually one bag with 19.99 kg free, although they may charge for anything over 15 kg. Experience says, based on 5 recent flights that one can go over the 15 kg without charge. Go over 20 and you pay per kg-see the web-site for the facts. Carry-on is limited to one per person at 7 kg, but they ignore this as well. It also is supposed to fit into the silly measuring devices at the gate, but no one checks.

Another limitation is the lack of assigned seating. This sometimes results in an uncontrolled rush to the plane. I only saw this once BKK-MFM where the hoard swept me down the jet-way. It is important to try to be at the front of the pack to get 1D, unless blocked, or the exit row seat with the extra long leg room directly behind the row marked exit row on the 737-300's operated by AirAsia. Even with the pushing an shoving, I got 1D. If you are over 60, take advantage of their early boarding policy along with families with children. Politely and, with a smile, tell the GA that you are taking advantage of their policy. Perhaps you can find someone to "assist" if you really want to cheat. You can also just grab a kid and get in the front of the line (insert smiley here!!).

The third limitation is lack of free food, but their "snack attack" is perfectly adequate for 80 baht (2 U.S. $). You can get a thin tuna sandwich divided into 3 pieces and a can of Lipton's iced tea - ask for ice if you want. If you insist on diet coke or pepsi, forget it. Regular Coke and other sugarful softdrinks are available. They also have a BBQ chicken sandwich.

Pitch is tight at 29 inches outside of the bulkhead and exits. Planes have leather seats. It seems to me that I read somewhere that many of the original ones were U.S. Air Shuttles. They seem well maintained, interiors are no worse than U.S. carriers. None of my 5 flights fell out of the air and that really is the key to safe air travel. My understanding is that they are maintained in Singapore by the people who maintain jets for the majors.

Cabin crew, engineering staff and pilots came from the Asian majors. Staff, who I spoke with had previously been with Singapore, Malaysian Air and Thai Air. Cabin leads came from all three of the above and each had over 10 years experience. All crew are professional, courteous, and helpful. I ran into a former Malaysian flight attendent on KUL-BKK. He is being promoted to train all their Bangkok-based cabin crews. This individual had been with Malaysian for 13 years prior to joining FD. Fluent English is a rule on this carrier. The lead always spoke excellent English as well as, at least one other language. Annoucements are made in English and the languages of the origin and destination. I encountered announcements in Cantonese, Thai and Malay on my flights. Staff seems to enjoy the airline and it is growing rapidly while making a profit. It just went public on Friday and can be had for about $1.25 per share in the Asian Market (KL and perhaps Bangkok), I believe.

If you fly Air Asia, be sure not to arrive too early, 1-1.5 hours before a flight seems to be sufficient. Out of BKK, one can probably cut that to 45 minutes even for international. The make money by fully utilizing aircraft and making quick turns. Thai domestic check-in does not open until 1.5 hours before flight time. Their on-time performance last week was 96%.