So I've recently encountered a problem, and I want to see how many other people out there can identify:

I absolutely hate booking tours to different countries that have airfare included. That is, I don't like having to fork over my money--sometimes unnecessarily large amounts of it--to fly on an airline where my status is completely useless. As a mileage addict who flies AA or other OW carriers just about all the time (except for the occasional flight on WN ), I can't stand it when tour agencies insist that you fly with their airline and charge you for it. I'm currently trying to book a tour with friends to Thailand, and the tour company is insisting that I stick with their flight plan from LAX to BKK. They're insisting that I do it "in order to not complicate things," even though my flight would arrive two days earlier. Oh, and their fare is more expensive than the one I would have picked. It's not like it's very hard to get to BKK, so why is this a big deal? After all, it would by my problem (and not the tour company's) if I missed the start of the tour.

Is this a common occurrence, or is this just with this one group?

Simple.

They whant your dollars. Or Euro. Or Bhat.

That's understood. I was just wondering how common this is, and if anyone had any successes circumventing this money grab.

I don't do group tours, but when I did, there was usually a way to get a credit on the tour price for the airfare. Just insist.

There are plenty of tour companies that offer "land only" tours. Use one of them.

insist on not including air fare..
u're the buyer, they're the seller.. only you can force you to pay the money.

Yeah, I'm with the others: you're the buyer. Tell them you're looking for a land-only tour. If they balk, then find another agent.

At the end of the day, the on-the-ground company in Thailand is going to want people in their tour.

I am batting 100% on tours that was booked as a group to opt out of the airfare. You need to stand your grounds.

If they want you as a customer,they'll let you opt out.

Piling on.

I don't take tours myself, but almost every package that I have looked at/booked for my mother/grandmother had a ground-only option.

There are some tour operators that specialize in particular carriers, but their flights might be considered to be consolidator/unpublished and might not earn miles.

With cruises, the same issue can arise, although they might not reveal the air travel details in advance.

If the tour includes airfare, I'd be concerned about how the price of the land only part is calculated. Will they deduct what the airfare actually costs them, probably at a group or consolidator fare, or use some other method? You may not be able to get flights for what the tour operator is paying the airline.