Originally Posted by
frappant
SNIP
Has anyone flown Bangkok Airways domestically? They're about $7 to $23 more on GF, though I suspect when I buy luggage allowance, prices will be much more than what's displayed in GF search results.
SNIP
For a Bangkok Airways flight, Booking.com has the lowest fare of the booking options displayed by GF and their fare includes 1 carry-on at max 11 pounds and one checked bag at max 44.1 pounds. No personal item?
Have people flown either of these airlines? Do they enforce the luggage weight?
Strange that Bangkok Airways has a slightly lower carry-on weight and no mention of personal item though that's probably an omission on the booking site.
First, while you can use price comparison sites to check fares, airlines, and routes, I'd book direct on the airline's own web site rather than try to save a few Baht by booking through an OTA like booking.com. The fare saving will be tiny compared to the inconvenience of trying to deal with any potential schedule changes or other SNAFUs through an OTA when you could just deal with the airline directly once you're in Thailand if you book direct.
Second, check the airline's own baggage rules on its own web site because these are what will apply. You risk confusing everyone by citing pounds as the weight allowances (presumably quoted by booking.com because you're in the US) rather than the standard kilograms which the airlines in Thailand use. BA lets you check in 20kg in economy.
Click here to see Bangkok Airways baggage allowances from the horse's mouth
Third, regarding enforcement, Bangkok Airways calls itself a boutique airline which in practice means it has a limited route network and better service compared to the region's LCCs. I can't compare it to Thai Smile as I never consider flying that airline out of principle (Thai Airways uses the Thai Smile designator to get around its *A elite obligations on domestic and some regional routes). But BA is invariably the more expensive airline on domestic routes and can be insultingly expensive on routes such as to Samui where it has an effective monopoly because it owns the airport. On the other hand, it does give refreshments and snacks to all passengers at most domestic Thai airports while you're waiting for your flight and you'll get a meal on board - generally a hot meal on Airbus flights and a cold snack on Turboprop planes. To get to your question about baggage enforcement... in the last 18 months I've taken 40-50 domestic flights with Bangkok Airways and I have never seen them check the weight of a passenger's carry-on bag as long as it looks like it meets the rules. I'm not saying they never have, I've just never seen it. For checked baggage, I've always bought additional allowance on the airline's web site before the flight when I knew I'd be over the 20kg limit.
I don't hesitate to recommend Bangkok Airways as a legitimate and quality airline which you'll pay for in the fare compared to Air Asia or the other LCCs in Thailand. But do book direct so you can deal with them direct in case of any issues along the way.