Trip to Phuket
 

Hi all, am contemplating a trip with my family ex-BOS to see friends in Phuket and am getting a headache trying to find the best possible routing/fares. I'd love to work in a stopover in SIN or HKG (esp. HKG as I have family there). Would it be best to buy a ticket to BKK and then get a cheapie domestic ticket on to HKT? I think I'd prefer miles going to a Oneworld FFP. My biggest headache is with the high/low season line I'm treading as we'd be leaving right around December 15/16/17-- although it doesn't seem that domestic tickets in Thailand are season specific. Ideally I'd like to have a few days in HKG sandwiching a week or so in HKT.

Thanks so much for your help-- I've done a lot of travelling, but not much to Thailand beyond stopovers in BKK.

Phuket is best accessed with Thai air through Osaka or Singapore Air through Singapore, which has direct flights to Phuket. Hong Kong makes it difficult, but I think Singapore Air stops in Hong Kong. ANA and Cathay have cheap fares but lots of connections....

To earn AA miles, you can take AA metal to NRT and a codeshare AA flight (JALways) into BKK. You then fly TG from BKK-HKT. Going this route means an overnight in BKK. TG tickets can be purchased on Thai's websites. Domestic tickets within Thailand are the same price everywhere.

A better but more expensive option would be to fly AA to LAX or SFO and connect to Cathay Pacific to HKG and then to BKK. The advantage of this route is that you arrive into Bangkok at about 11 a.m. so that you can connect to the 1:00 pm to Phuket, arriving at 2:20. No overnight in Bangkok required. If you go this route just make sure your ticket is in H class (economy) or better to earn AA miles. I am not sure if this type of ticket allows a stopover in Hong Kong or not.

Good luck and have fun.

TG flies direct from HKG to HKT, I think three times a week (3-5-7). I'm pretty sure that SIN-HKT is a daily service. To go back to HKG you have to go through BKK.

I think CX flies HKG-HKT direct as well, but not too sure.

Last I checked, there were no advance-purchase restrictions on intra-Thailand tickets on Thai Airways and buisiness class was only a bit more than economy.

QL

Since BKK is on the other side of the world from BOS here's what I would do.
[Plus I'd rather connect though LHR T4 any day than through LAX, NRT or wherever (and if you have OW status, you'll have access to the Molton Brown spa)].

1- Fly BOS-LHR-BKK on BA
2- Buy BKK-HKT on TG (in C since it's only 15$ more than Y)
3.1- Either buy a HKT-HKG direct on KA
(that's Dragonair; OW can be bought in HKT for about 160$ in economy)
3.2- Or buy a return HKT-BKK on TG and connect to a BKK-HKG flight (possibly on AY for 100$ OW in Y and around 160$ in C)
4- Return HKG-LHR-BOS on BA

(BTW, note that KA and AY don't fly every day on those routes, you'll need to check extact dates on thier websites)

Hope this helps.

If you are used to the stopovers in BKK then I would either fly to NRT and connect on the JAL codeshare flight, OR, fly Cathay and stopover in HKG, and when you are ready to head out, take the morning flight to BKK and connect via Thai to Phuket. I'm doing SFO-HKG-BKK and then Thai to HKT over Thanksgiving. Definately buy a business class seat on Thai. It is only $28 more in my case. Have fun.

I am also an Oneworld person, so I travel mostly on AA/CX for that matter.

I would recommend you do BOS-JFK on AA, JFK-YVR-HKG-BKK on CX on the outbound, where you can stopoever in HKG for free. On the inbound, return from SIN-HKG-YVR-JFK on CX, then JFK-BOS on AA. The trans-Pacific can easily be issued as an open-jaw, while the RT BKK-HKT tickets can be had for a mere $160 in biz class on TG, and for the one-way BKK-SIN you can do AY (on M, W, F, Su) for $150 in biz or LX (daily) for also $150 in biz. AY segments count for elite status in Oneworld! LX earns AA miles.

Interestingly i am leaving for the exact same trip next week. I am doing the following:

11/14 SFO-JFK AA
11/16 JFK-YVR-HKG CX
11/22 HKG-BKK CX
11/26 BKK-HKT TG
11/29 HKT-BKK TG
11/29 BKK-SIN LX
12/01 SIN-HKG CX
12/01 HKG-SFO CX

I beleive this is the easiest and cheapest alternative you can find, with options to visit all the aforementioned places.

One I've done before:

BOS-JFK-NRT-BKK
BKK-HKG
HKG-NRT-JFK-BOS

This has the advantage of allowing miles upgrades on the longest leg (JFK-NRT) as its AA metal.. it will cost about $1000 per person on an M fare that has no minimum stay and allows stopovers and interlining..

Quite a lot of flexability for the fare..

Boston AA-Flyer has the best idea, and then you can hit HKG on the way back. However, if you decide to go the Cathay route as long as you can get them as AA code share you can earn full AA miles (just no upgrades)

Bangkok Airways is also a cheap way to get into HKT. However if you status on any AA airline get United or BMI or another *A to match so if you fly TG you can get lounge access, priority check-in and what not.

Thanks for the replies! Do any of you recommend travel agents or websites that specialise in travel to Thailand/HKG? I'm having a bit of a time trying to get any decent fares, but I'm sure most/all of my problems are due to the high season.

I've used central Air Booking a few times. They've always delivered the tickets to my hotel in Bangkok. Ask for Pimjai. She can arrange everything by email.

"Central air booking 029337729" <[email protected]>

i got a note from travelocity that the fare to from washington to bkk was cut $70 today. probably true from bos at well

I must ask, How do you pronounce this destination?I would be afraid to try. Ha HA

I'm Thai and usually tell people to try:

Poo Ket

(ket sounds like "get" but with a k)

Hope that helps.