# Cheapest way to TLand from UK



## brighton_traveller

Hello,

my partner and i are looking to travel to Thailand before moving on to Australia. We are looking for the most economical way to get to Thailand from the UK but could use a bit of advice as am going from one travel site to the next with little luck. I was wondering if lots of smaller flights is the way forward?

Any help would be great!

Thanks
:ranger:


----------



## Guest

Flying when? Different airlines have different offers at various times of the year, but you'll be lucky to find one-way flights much under £350 incl taxes from London to Bangkok. Gulf Air, Oman Air, Etihad, Emirates, Eva Air all have competitive rates at various times, but occasionally the European airlines can have reasonable costs too. It really is a question of checking out the budget flight websites as well as the official sites of the likes of the above, until you find a good price.


----------



## KhwaamLap

Yep. A lot of the very cheap carriers are now banned from Europe! There was a whole series of black-marking airlines and even air authorities (and thus all national airlines thereof - this happened to Gurruda for instance) over the last few years. A lot of the Indian carriers are no more as far as the UK goes. 

Indirect is always cheaper than direct, gone are the days of 280 quid flights on Thai Airways. British Airways/Quantas can sometimes be cheaper for direct than others! Personally I find Etihad and Qatar to be the most consistantly reasonably priced (that I would actually fly with that is). Both airlines have good service etc. Gulf Air is my favourite indirect if I can get cheap tickets.


----------



## Acid_Crow

I would check China airlines (or is it airways?). I found a roundticket with them stockholm-beijing-bangkok and back for about 500 euro. It was a 10 hour layover in Beijing, but thats just fun, sit down and look at all the chinese people while enjoying a beer.

I ended up going with another airline though, one that I am comfortable with, but I had to pay much more. But from what I hear, China airlines are pretty decent.

Im sure they fly to UK aswell.


----------



## Guest

Yes I've nearly flown with China Airlines too, from France. Didn't work out in the end (dates were wrong), but you're right AC, it was a cheap rate.


----------



## Mindaugas

Gulf air last minutes deals always cheaper, once i bought ticket 3 day's before flight for something around 350GBP and second day i still saw cheaper, for 330GBP. Plane was full.


----------



## andyhenry

I'd suggest Air Asia from Stansted - KL and then a short hop to Thailand. I did it six weeks at Xmas for £300 return and about £40 return to Phuket with 20kg and meals etc. There's also a surprising amount of leg room for economy and until they raise their prices I'll be giving my usual carriers a miss.


----------



## chrislane

hi we have friends who live in thialand and when we go out to see them we get goodcheap flights on backpacker sights lets face it students want to travel as cheap as possible
we are 45 and 55 and do'nt look like your typical backpackers so give it a try


----------



## soiwalker

I can't speak for travel from the U.K., but from the U.S. (unless you find a special sale specific for each airline... e.g. springtime sale at China Air right now... select cities... LAX/SFO to BKK at $512 USD), the consolidators are your best bet for super low prices. Just know that these consolidator tickets always have very strict rules/fees for changes/cancels or rebookings. Thusly, book an itinerary with plenty of time between connecting flights, etc... as most airlines will not 'take care' of you/place you any other carrier, etc, should you miss a flight or whatever... it'll become between you and the consolidator. Most flights have no problems, but you just need to understand your limits/options before booking. 

An example of such a consolidator is Best Travel Store in California ( Best Travel Store - The Cheap Flights Website ) where you can often find mid-week flight deals in the $550 USD range from U.S. to BKK on a well-known U.S. carrier. I think that price would be about equal to 340 GBP and I'm sure that cheaper prices could be found from the U.K. (You're much closer to Thailand than I am in the mid-USA).


----------



## KhwaamLap

soiwalker said:


> I can't speak for travel from the U.K., but from the U.S. (unless you find a special sale specific for each airline... e.g. springtime sale at China Air right now... select cities... LAX/SFO to BKK at $512 USD), the consolidators are your best bet for super low prices. Just know that these consolidator tickets always have very strict rules/fees for changes/cancels or rebookings. Thusly, book an itinerary with plenty of time between connecting flights, etc... as most airlines will not 'take care' of you/place you any other carrier, etc, should you miss a flight or whatever... it'll become between you and the consolidator. Most flights have no problems, but you just need to understand your limits/options before booking.
> 
> An example of such a consolidator is Best Travel Store in California ( Best Travel Store - The Cheap Flights Website ) where you can often find mid-week flight deals in the $550 USD range from U.S. to BKK on a well-known U.S. carrier. I think that price would be about equal to 340 GBP and I'm sure that cheaper prices could be found from the U.K. (You're much closer to Thailand than I am in the mid-USA).


Unfortunatly the taxes are so high in the UK that 340 pound fight are a thing of the past in the UK. Cheapest I have seen is around 430.


----------



## soiwalker

KhwaamLap said:


> Unfortunatly the taxes are so high in the UK that 340 pound fight are a thing of the past in the UK. Cheapest I have seen is around 430.


Yes, after I posted the comment above, I did a quick check on the BT-Store website and found that a flight out of London had nearly as much tax as the actual airfare! Ouch! That's just crazy... :eyebrows:

I surely can't complain about most of the U.S. airport/flight taxes, as my average tax/fees per int'l flight are in the $40-$50 USD range.


----------



## mikecwm

*China Airlines*



Acid_Crow said:


> I would check China airlines (or is it airways?). I found a roundticket with them stockholm-beijing-bangkok and back for about 500 euro. It was a 10 hour layover in Beijing, but thats just fun, sit down and look at all the chinese people while enjoying a beer.
> 
> I ended up going with another airline though, one that I am comfortable with, but I had to pay much more. But from what I hear, China airlines are pretty decent.
> 
> Im sure they fly to UK aswell.


Try this link re China Airlines safety :-http://www.airsafe.com/events/airlines/taiwan.htm
I'd rather use EVA - a perfect safety record - touch wood. (My wife flies with next week).


----------



## soiwalker

mikecwm said:


> I'd rather use EVA - a perfect safety record - touch wood. (My wife flies with next week).


EVA does have some fairly good fares almost all of the time and a good safety record. I seldom can get a good itinerary with them, however. But, that's because of where I live in the U.S. (remote area with few flights going out and thusly connecting difficulties). For most people they are a good option.


----------



## anindam

try Jet Airways....a damn good premium service carrier with a short stopover in India....just go to their website


----------



## KhwaamLap

anindam said:


> try Jet Airways....a damn good premium service carrier with a short stopover in India....just go to their website


I think Jet is banned in Europe as a carrier.


----------



## Guest

If it's the Kazakhstan airline by that name, then they are on the current EU list of banned operators. Click here for full details (pdf document)


----------



## anindam

KhwaamLap said:


> I think Jet is banned in Europe as a carrier.


dear khwaamlap.....i think you are mixing up between jet airways and jetstar! i am associated with the aviation industry and have never heard of either of them being banned in europe, although jetstar does not have any flight to europe. jetstar is one of the finest budget carrier in asia pac, while jet airways is one of the best premium carrier of the world. it just one the award of the best carrier flying out of europe and even won the conde nast readers' award a year back as one of the 3 best carriers of the world...


----------



## KhwaamLap

anindam said:


> dear khwaamlap.....i think you are mixing up between jet airways and jetstar! i am associated with the aviation industry and have never heard of either of them being banned in europe, although jetstar does not have any flight to europe. jetstar is one of the finest budget carrier in asia pac, while jet airways is one of the best premium carrier of the world. it just one the award of the best carrier flying out of europe and even won the conde nast readers' award a year back as one of the 3 best carriers of the world...


Yep, looking a FB's list (which I have previously seen - hence my post) airlines with Jet in their name appears at least four times on the list, however "Jet Airways" specifically doesn't (I did say I think). However, JetStar is definitely on the list.

It isn't down to the air line all the time, it can often be that the air authority in the country is not up to scratch (observing the same level of safety etc as Europe expects) - this happened to Indonesia for example and several good air lines were banned.

I don't know how you are associated with the aviation industry, but this was big news about a year or so back when Garuda was hit (it was later made an exception along with some others from Indonesia).


----------



## Guest

I'm not sure how that list works, but Jet Airlines is on page 9:

_"JET AIRLINES AK-0349-09 SOZ Republic of Kazakhstan"_

In the section that starts:

_"All air carriers certified by the authorities with responsibility for regulatory oversight of Kazakhstan, with the exception of Air Astana, including,"_


----------



## brighton_traveller

*Thanks*

Thanks so much for your help eveyone, we are starting to find some great deals, Asia arilines wasn't too much at all. We just need to look into how we book our return now (wondering whether to do it when we are there) as we don't intend on returning until March/April 2011 and of course, no airlines book that far in advance.

We are planning to stay in Thailand for one month and then fly to Australia for a few to work.

Cheers, we really appreciate the help and friendlines


----------



## KhwaamLap

brighton_traveller said:


> Thanks so much for your help eveyone, we are starting to find some great deals, Asia arilines wasn't too much at all. We just need to look into how we book our return now (wondering whether to do it when we are there) as we don't intend on returning until March/April 2011 and of course, no airlines book that far in advance.
> 
> We are planning to stay in Thailand for one month and then fly to Australia for a few to work.
> 
> Cheers, we really appreciate the help and friendlines


 
OK a little confused now, "we don't intend on returning until March/April 2011" and "We are planning to stay in Thailand for one month". Therefore, I guess, you are leaving the country so book one way to Thailand and a later flight to Oz (this will allow you to fly to Thailand on a one way ticket and a tourist visa).


----------



## adverthaiser

Check out the deals on Kuwait Airways, I think they must be the cheapest flights from the UK to Thailand at present.

Goodluck!


----------

