SchmutzigMSP

hey all,

I'll be in Thailand in about 3 weeks, arriving in BKK mid-morning Friday from KLIA and returning in the evening the following Monday. We're looking to go to either Ko Samui or perhaps Phuket and I'm wondering about cheap airfare within Thailand. I did a regular fare search like I would in the US and the cheapest I could find to USM (Ko Samui) was about $168 and about $141 to HKT (Phuket). Somewhere I heard there was domestic airfare on the order of $20-30. Is this no longer in existence, or if it is, does anyone know how to find this?

Thanks a bunch! I know we could take the trains/buses, but I imagine they would eat up a lot of our very short stay in Thailand, so I'd like to maximize my time by flying, if reasonably affordable.

(Considering i'm getting to thailand for $419 total, I'd rather not blow almost half of that again on domestic airfare if it can be had cheaper)

Thanks!

sfbarry

Had a HKT/BKK flight on Bangkok Air in Novemebr for $68.
Purchased approx. a month in advance.

Try the Bangkok Airways website - I reserved and paid online.

Flight check-in was easy and quick. ^ ^

ellielou

Airasia has some routes in Thailand. For instance, I'll be flying from BKK to Chiang Rai.....and, it's really inexpensive.

Bogey90

Check with http://www.airasia.com/site/en/home.jsp

You can book online. Prices vary depending on the date and time of flight, but should total about $75 for RT, Bangkok to Phuket. I don't know about flights to Ko Samui.

gary_nj

Samui could be tough.... kind of a monopoly
on that route last time I looked.

Phuket should be easier... As a previous poster
said, AirAsia flies it (airasia.com). Also check
out Nok Air (nokair.com).

Sometimes TG even has packages available,
if you are looking for a flight plus hotel.

SchmutzigMSP

Thanks for all the replies. I've checked Bangkok Air and they want about 4800 baht right now to Phuket. Roughly the same to Samui. Air Asia and something called Thai Orient want about $78 RT. That seems reasonable enough...

Although I could swear that very recently some LCC routinely had around $30 RT to Phuket for example. Perhaps my imagination? Thanks.

gary_nj

I can't help with the $30 trip.... I haven't run across that one.

I notice you are flying in from KL, so I am thinking that you might
be doing the AirAsia flight into BKK. In that case, you probably
know their boarding policy (kind of a free-for-all, no assigned
seating). Having said that, I have flown AirAsia a bunch of
times, and it has always worked out OK for me.

You also mention Orient Thai (OX). I have flown Orient Thai
on international trips (to/from HKG). On that route, they have
flown a very old 747 (they even refer to it as a "747 Classic").
I did the trip and I am still here to talk about it, but I don't
know that it would be my first choice. Domestically, they
operate something called "1-2-Go" I believe... some 757s, maybe
a 747. I seem to remember that tickets could only be purchased
through travel agents, and they sometimes had "day of departure"
sales when the airplane wasn't full for that day.

Given the choice, I would lean toward AirAsia.

ellielou

given the "free for all" on airasia flights, how early do you recommend getting to the airport? (I've a few flights on them for March...)
thanks, Ellen

Jaimito Cartero

For Domestic Air Asia flights, I've never gotten there more than an hour in advance. They have a "2,000,000" free seat promo going on right now. They do add a fuel surcharge in, but it's not bad. I'm flying BKK-PNH for $35 all in.

SchmutzigMSP

Well, I'm coming into BKK on MH via KUL, so I imagine I'll have to go through all the hoops and change to the domestic part of the airport. In that sense, it probably doesn't matter which LCC I would choose. But, I'd probably take your recommendation about AirAsia. Thx.

SchmutzigMSP

Specific routes only? $35 all in would be very nice.

Edit: nevermind. It's specific dates that's the problem...

gary_nj

Just to clarify my "free for all" comment....

As noted by the other poster, there is no reason to get to
the airport extremely early... AirAsia posts check-in cutoff
times (I forget what they are, but they are not unreasonable)
and there is no reason to get there a whole lot earlier than that.

My comment was related to the boarding process. AirAsia is
very good at pre-boarding families and folks who need some
help. But once that is over, it is a stampede.

I was kind of expecting it to be like Southwest, where (last
time I flew them) boarding was done in groups, and the
earliest check-ins boarded in the first group. With AirAsia, the
check-in time doesn't matter... the first passengers to
board are the people who stand closest to the gate.

Sorry if my "free for all" comment sounded a bit worse than it
is... I have flown AirAsia many times, and will keep flying them
without hesitation.

bhatnasx

Koh Samui's airport is a private airport that is ONLY served by Bangkok Airways (a great regional carrier, IMHO - I've flown them about 7 or 8 times & have NEVER had any problems - great staff, decent lounges for all, free food & internet).

An option for getting to Samui is to fly into Surat Thani (or take a train there - or even bus it from BKK - though that's a long time!) & then ferry (a few hours - not too bad) it over to Samui. You can use Surat Thani as a starting point - any travel agent in Surat can get you a one-way bus ticket to Phuket for less than 10 bucks & its only about a 4 hour drive - the bus stops once & its usually not too packed & is a pleasant ride. If you do take the bus, try to sit in the very back - less people sit back there & there's usually a space between the last seat on the left & the bathroom (they usually keep the bathroom doors locked, so there's no smell or anything). Warning - if you take a bus - bring headphones/MP3 player &/or a book - the past 2 bus rides I took, they played the same VCD of a concert over & over - it almost made me crazy!

Also, if you want, maybe fly one-way into Samui, spend some time there, ferry it to Surat & take the overland bus route to Phuket & fly out from there. Surat's not that great of a town - but there's some decent restaurants. You could probably get from Samui to Phuket in less than a day & do it for under 30 bucks most likely.

ellielou

Well, I was thinking along the lines of SWA, but it does sound worse, but not terrible....thankfully, they are all shorthaul flights!

thanks.

btw, despite a bunch of flights, I've been unable to book any of the "free" tickets....but am flying for about $50 from PEN to BKK to Chiang Rai....not too bad!

gary_nj

I don't fly a lot of SWA, so I don't know if this is true there or not,
but it does seem to work for me on AirAsia....

I typically find the flights to be about 80% full (after taking
maybe 10 AirAsia flights on a variety of routings)... And folks
really, really, really seem to like to sit in the front of the plane.

When I board (usually in the middle of the boarding process), I
walk to a row about three or four from the back of the plane... I
seldom get anyone sitting in the middle seat next to me back
there. My experience is that some folks would rather grab a
middle in row 3 than an aisle or window in row 25.

As always, YMMV... just my experience.