Koh Samui, Thailand

Old May 26, 2019, 9:11 pm
  #16  
 
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What about staying in Malaysia and going to Langkawi? Would certainly minimise the travel time.
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Old May 28, 2019, 4:52 am
  #17  
 
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uii

Ocean in Phuket is a little rough in July. There are direct flights from BKK to DAD so IC Danang is always a good choice. Also a new direct from BKK to CXR so you could check out Amanoi. MLE is bit far from BKK, but not too bad a flight and Baros is a really short boat trip from the airport. IMHO the beaches are not great in Koh Samui. I think Bangkok Airways has a non-stop to PQC. Bai Sao beach is gorgeous and there have been some good reviews of the Marriot in Phu Quoc which is not far from Bai Sao.

Last edited by 5khours; May 28, 2019 at 11:08 am
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Old Jun 3, 2019, 11:15 pm
  #18  
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Originally Posted by ung1
I have pretty similar requirements to the OP so thought I would ask here. Flying in/out of BKK in July, and would like to find a nice beach resort.
I would avoid Phuket in July. Seas will be very rough and you could see lots of rain.

The big advantage of Samui is the airport, which is fantastic (possibly the nicest in the world), and most of the resorts (excluding Conrad and IC) are within 15-30 minutes of the airport. If you go, book flights on PG aircraft which have the business class cabin, it's a very nice product for the short 50 minute flight. I've stayed at Vana Belle several times and am a fan.

In the same general area, there are several high end resorts on Koh Phangan, which has better beaches and is much less developed than Samui. They will offer door to door transfers from USM.
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Old Jun 4, 2019, 5:39 am
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Originally Posted by Kacee
I would avoid Phuket in July. Seas will be very rough and you could see lots of rain.

The big advantage of Samui is the airport, which is fantastic (possibly the nicest in the world), and most of the resorts (excluding Conrad and IC) are within 15-30 minutes of the airport. If you go, book flights on PG aircraft which have the business class cabin, it's a very nice product for the short 50 minute flight. I've stayed at Vana Belle several times and am a fan.

In the same general area, there are several high end resorts on Koh Phangan, which has better beaches and is much less developed than Samui. They will offer door to door transfers from USM.
Thank you! We did end up booking Vana Belle after all. It seemed "cheap" but clearly I found a good rate as now prices are 50% higher for the same "summer offer" rate. Now that you mention it, Krabi did have somewhat rough sea two years ago even though there wasn't much rain.

Now about the flights - actually decided to go to the FS Chiang Mai to start off the trip, and there is a direct flight with PG CNX-USM, but it costs a bomb! They are only selling full fare Y - so hoping the price goes down closer to the date when they open up lower booking classes. Weirdly (or not) the opposite route is a third the price. No business class on that one, though.

Considering though whether to fly TG J up to CNX instead of PG Y - a little worried as we will fly straight there on arrival in BKK, and I've heard immigration is time consuming these days because they've started capturing biometrics. the USM-BKK flights with business on PG are either too early (12 noon) or too late (19h), sadly.

Last edited by ung1; Jun 4, 2019 at 5:47 am
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Old Jun 4, 2019, 7:48 am
  #20  
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Originally Posted by ung1
Now about the flights - actually decided to go to the FS Chiang Mai to start off the trip, and there is a direct flight with PG CNX-USM, but it costs a bomb! They are only selling full fare Y - so hoping the price goes down closer to the date when they open up lower booking classes. Weirdly (or not) the opposite route is a third the price. No business class on that one, though.
PG has a monopoly at USM (they actually own the airport) and they fully exploit it. You might see how it prices on an OTA such as Expedia.

Originally Posted by ung1
Considering though whether to fly TG J up to CNX instead of PG Y - a little worried as we will fly straight there on arrival in BKK, and I've heard immigration is time consuming these days because they've started capturing biometrics.
If arriving BKK in J, you'll get fastrack and that's still not too bad, despite the biometric nonsense. Nonetheless, if you are connecting straight through, there are definitely advantages to flying same carrier. You would be marked as CIQ and go through immigration at CNX rather than BKK. Also, PG in Y is not your best experience, the seats are very close together and some of the cabins are pretty beat up.
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Old Jun 5, 2019, 5:13 am
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Originally Posted by Kacee
PG has a monopoly at USM (they actually own the airport) and they fully exploit it. You might see how it prices on an OTA such as Expedia.

If arriving BKK in J, you'll get fastrack and that's still not too bad, despite the biometric nonsense. Nonetheless, if you are connecting straight through, there are definitely advantages to flying same carrier. You would be marked as CIQ and go through immigration at CNX rather than BKK. Also, PG in Y is not your best experience, the seats are very close together and some of the cabins are pretty beat up.
Yea, I know about USM being owned by PG, I just find it weird that USM-CNX is a third the price of CNX-USM... and there are other days when the CNX-USM is available in other booking classes...

Arriving in BKK on LX F - I suppose flying on with TG the bags could be interlined (but not with PG?) and even though not the same airline, would it then be possible doing immigration at CNX? I think that only works if flying international and domestic on the same carrier?
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Old Jun 5, 2019, 6:45 am
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2 years ago I flew FRA-BKK-USM and USM-BKK-ZRH-FRA on the same Ticket (LH), BKK-USM, USM BKK with PG, The luggage was checked thru both directions and I could use the transfer immigration in BKK.
For BKK (arrival from FRA) I booked the VIP transfer service, the airport provides. You get a PA waiting at the gate and they drive you to the transfer ticket desk and to the transfer immigration.
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Old Jun 5, 2019, 7:14 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by ung1
Yea, I know about USM being owned by PG, I just find it weird that USM-CNX is a third the price of CNX-USM... and there are other days when the CNX-USM is available in other booking classes...
Its presumably a mistake. Sometimes PGs system has a problem or I suppose someone has neglected to update the discounted fare inventory. Or, it could just mean that the flight is very full on that date and only full fare inventory remains available.

I would give a call to PG reservations on Skype, or at least wait before booking. If the direct flight continues to be expensive, you could consider a connection in BKK, although that is less desirable of course.
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Old Jun 5, 2019, 9:58 am
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Originally Posted by MikeFromTokyo


It’s presumably a mistake. Sometimes PGs system has a problem or I suppose someone has neglected to update the discounted fare inventory. Or, it could just mean that the flight is very full on that date and only full fare inventory remains available.

I would give a call to PG reservations on Skype, or at least wait before booking. If the direct flight continues to be expensive, you could consider a connection in BKK, although that is less desirable of course.
Yes, I plan to wait since this is full fare Y, so it can't get more expensive. Even their advertised fare price on their site is half for the opposite direction. There seem to be 8 days between now and end Sept when this is available at a lower price, so I doubt all these flights are full, and somehow since a cheaper fare is available on some days, it also doesn't seem like no other fare has been filed. The via-BKK option is a little bit cheaper, but not enough to warrant the extra hassle, but it might be an interesting idea to call them up. Having said that, I just checked Expedia and there are only 4 seats left on this flight. So maybe their flights are just all incredibly full and they will only discount if there are unsold seats close to the date.

Last edited by ung1; Jun 5, 2019 at 10:12 am
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Old Jun 5, 2019, 11:22 am
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Originally Posted by ung1
Yes, I plan to wait since this is full fare Y, so it can't get more expensive. Even their advertised fare price on their site is half for the opposite direction. There seem to be 8 days between now and end Sept when this is available at a lower price, so I doubt all these flights are full, and somehow since a cheaper fare is available on some days, it also doesn't seem like no other fare has been filed. The via-BKK option is a little bit cheaper, but not enough to warrant the extra hassle, but it might be an interesting idea to call them up. Having said that, I just checked Expedia and there are only 4 seats left on this flight. So maybe their flights are just all incredibly full and they will only discount if there are unsold seats close to the date.
If that’s the case, then they are in fact only offering full fare Y due to load factor. Unless you do not mind connecting in BKK, I would secure full fare tickets quickly, before the flight is fully booked. It is a leisure route, which means that most passengers book in advance and do not change dates. I would not be hopeful of that changing. Samui is in high demand in the Summer from key markets. So it could just be a very busy week for PG.

Another thing is that demand is most likely higher from CNX to USM/KBV/HKT than the reverse, because leisure travelers, for whatever reason, usually prefer to end their vacations at beach destinations.

Last edited by MikeFromTokyo; Jun 5, 2019 at 12:26 pm
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Old Jun 5, 2019, 12:47 pm
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Originally Posted by MikeFromTokyo


If thats the case, then they are in fact only offering full fare Y due to load factor. Unless you do not mind connecting in BKK, I would secure full fare tickets quickly, before the flight is fully booked. It is a leisure route, which means that most passengers book in advance and do not change dates. I would not be hopeful of that changing. Samui is in high demand in the Summer from key markets. So it could just be a very busy week for PG.

Another thing is that demand is most likely higher from CNX to USM/KBV/HKT than the reverse, because leisure travelers, for whatever reason, usually prefer to end their vacations at beach destinations.
I checked again, and now there were only 2 seats left, so I booked them, and indeed that flight is no longer available. The seat map was about a quarter empty - not sure if they're playing games with inventory or whether a Tuesday afternoon flight is indeed fully booked. Just annoyed thinking where I could have stayed in Phuket/Krabi (almost free getting there) when adding the cost of these flights to the cost of the resort in KS...
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Old Jun 5, 2019, 2:27 pm
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Originally Posted by ung1
I checked again, and now there were only 2 seats left, so I booked them, and indeed that flight is no longer available. The seat map was about a quarter empty - not sure if they're playing games with inventory or whether a Tuesday afternoon flight is indeed fully booked. Just annoyed thinking where I could have stayed in Phuket/Krabi (almost free getting there) when adding the cost of these flights to the cost of the resort in KS...
You should really use a tool like Expert Flyer to get an idea of the inventory. When Expedia says two seats are left it really only means that there are two seats in the fare bucket the airlines gives to Expedia at that price which isnt necessarily the only bucket available to Expedia at any price... and as you probably know seat maps means nothing.
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Old Jun 6, 2019, 12:59 am
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Originally Posted by ridefar


You should really use a tool like Expert Flyer to get an idea of the inventory. When Expedia says two seats are left it really only means that there are two seats in the fare bucket the airlines gives to Expedia at that price which isnt necessarily the only bucket available to Expedia at any price... and as you probably know seat maps means nothing.
Yeah, I was toying with that idea. It was 2 seats on Expedia, and also 2 seats on PG - not just at that price, because a booking for 3 wouldn't show the flight anymore. In this case expertflyer would still have shown Y2H0Q0 etc but it still wouldn't tell me whether they are holding back inventory or actually sold out. Interestingly, BKK-CNX on PG was available much cheaper through an OTA than on their own site, but this particular flight (I suppose because its full fare Y inventory) was exactly the same price. Going to keep an eye open to see if they open up any seats - I did see one USM-BKK that wasn't available before suddenly show up.
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Old Aug 14, 2019, 8:52 pm
  #29  
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OP here. Old thread, but I'm back from my honeymoon and wanted to thank everyone for their advice and give a quick report.

Against many recommendations, I decided to go with FS Samui. It was by far the easiest travel option, with short flights that aligned perfectly with our existing travel plans. Samui's size also fit well with the # of days we had available; other suggestions liked Bali and Vietnam each seemed worthy of their own trip.

I booked direct with FS since they had a lower rate than Amex and Virtuoso, and promised many of the same benefits (room upgrade, free breakfast, etc).

I was quite nervous heading in, but our stay was absolutely amazing. I'll try and avoid re-hashing the positives other reviewers have commented on (like the stunning location) and only comment on negatives I was afraid of -- most of which did not materialize.

Pros: On arrival, we were greeted by the resort manager. He was very welcoming, noted it was our honeymoon, and said he'd upgraded us to one of his favorite villas. I was skeptical, but our unit was truly outstanding and had completely unobstructed views of the ocean. The welcome rose petals and bottle of champagne were also a nice touch. All units have private plunge pools. Ours was the perfect temperature the entire day, and we spent a LOT of time in it. I was very glad we had our own pool, as opposed to having to travel to a shared one. Service was excellent throughout the stay. We were only asked our villa number once, despite many trips around the resort. Villa itself was beautiful and comfortable.

Mehs: Food was solid, but not amazing. I expected that, though, for a resort. There wasn't loads to do, but we were honeymooning, so we didn't care. I did read one review complaining about housekeeping showing up whilst they were in unit. Thishappened once to us as well, but in their defense, we had basically been in our unit the entire day. We said no, come back later, at which point they apologized and left immediately (and indeed returned while we were at dinner). Didn't really negatively impact our experience in any way.

In short -- incredible stay.

Again, all the advice in this thread was much appreciated. Cheers.
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