How can i fly roundtrip from the US to Thailand for $200?
 

I remember meeting this seasoned backpacker a while back and him telling me that he either traveled one time or on the regular to Thailand from the US for $200. I didn't have plans to travel at the time so i never really cared much. But now...i wish i kept his contacts.

I don't care if it takes a week and 10 flights to get there...any tricks you can share on how to get to Thailand from anywhere in the US to anywhere in Thailand for around $200?


And yeah...from between mid Aug to mid Sept.

Redeeming miles, obviously, and it used to be possible to be on-call to go last-minute as an air courier IF you lived in LA, SF or maybe NYC, but you'd have only a few hours' notice and might be limited to carry-ons. Dunno if they even do that anymore.

You could play the credit-card churn game by signing up just to get the bonuses. If it's not enough for a RT you could do OW awards on 2 separate airlines.

While land costs in Thailand are lower than the U.S. and there are some very cheap options, it's also not a good place to run out of money. In theory you can hold total expenses under $30/day but you have to forgo a lot and live a bit like a monk.

Got to be miles redemption.... AA would charge less than $200 in taxes....

If not then Id say he was pulling your leg....

Most likely redeeming miles, though I suppose it could also be a mistake fare or, even less likely, he was really good at fuel dumping. Using miles can be done fairly easily by anyone...mistake fares are random....fuel dumping is complex and definitely not for the novice.

Make sure that shipping crate has air holes.

There are mistake fares that pop up every once in a while for $200.

Haha!

So i c it's impossible then huh?

OK, So what's the cheapest i can get then (like cheaper then that is unheard of)?

Pretty much. Also depends on where you fly from @:-)

Keep an eye on Mileage Run forum here on FT. There's a deal right now to Vietnam under $600.

More complicated to China for just over $300 r/t, but you'd have to a longer way to Thailand.

I've also seen $500 fares to Hong Kong, and it's not too hard to get to LoS from there.

Forgot about this one. From NYC area to Thailand for $600.

I think my lowest paid regular fare was $275 or so for LAX-KUL-LAX (required a positioning flight for me) and that was a mistake fare, sometime around the mid-aughts.

Also flew as a courier three times (once each out of LAX, NYC and SFO) but had to pay something like $200 because it was pre-booked and I couldn't do last-minute because of not living in those cities. Two of the three were on Northwest and earned miles. Was also limited to just one carry-on for a 2-week trip, and they took your ticket at the destination (back when they had paper tickets). I think that whole bit has gone away now.

it depends where you are flying from. from the east coast, you can flights to Asia for $500-$600

It's possible. I flew New York to Bangkok, round trip, taxes included in March for $260 Return, with only 1 layover each way (not using awards/miles)

Subscribe to flight deal blogs, and pay attention to the mileage run deal thread in order to seek out mistake fares. Once a mistake fare is exposed to the blogs/forums, usually the deal lasts only for a matter of hours, sometimes minutes. So make sure the airline has a 24 hour free cancellation, and if it does, book something asap if you want to take advantage of the mistake fare.

Mistake fares are always YMMV, an airline might cancel a mistake fare anytime. Had one airline cancel my flights 2 and a half months after original purchase once just because it was a mistake fare

Now there are some other "tricks" as well to get really low fares but that's a whole other level, which requires a crap load of time, research and patience.

The "tricks" thread has seen its glory days @:-)

I'm sure they are still out there, but for a newcomer .... hardly worth the effort.

I like to fly in comfort these days, still a Budget Traveler and wonder if I should, but those $2K fares in Business Class from YVR to almost anywhere in Asia got me a lot more excited @:-)

So yes, I no longer spend hours trying to "trick" a fare, even though I now have the time, and PAY $2K to fly Biz in style and comfort. and next year will benefit from all the EQMs to fly as 1K with Star Alliance :D

But do agree with your other advice, especially mistake fares. Buy right away if there is 24 hour free refund, it may be gone in hours, sometime minutes. Ask me how I know :rolleyes:

I recently saw SEA-BKK-SEA for ~$380, but it was gone within a few hours. There were also a few fares that hung around $450 for a few days for that same route.

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We may have burst OP's bubble.

One last thought on this:

Norwegian flies to BKK and you may be able to do it with a single plane change. Their prices are ridiculously cheap, but do not fly all routes served days a week, so may be a little harder to find flights.

Wait for AirAsia to get a 787.