Thailand

[Wasitalwaysgoingtobelikethis]

Wanted to book tickets to Thailand for April seems like I have left it too late. >£1k pp for return! I last went during April about 12 years ago. Can’t remember tickets being so expensive. Obviously prices have gone up. I went in 2022 last in October and the flights were not as expensive. Question being, if you are booked to go in April did you pay £1k for flights or did you pay less because you were sensible and booked it 6 months in advance. Just wondering if tickets during April are always this expensive irrespective of when you book or we were just naive and left it too late?

£1000 does seem way over the top, we normally pay £400-500 via the middle east. When in April are you going? It's the Easter holidays at the start which puts the price up. Also Songkran around the third week though I'm not sure how much effect that has on long haul prices. Flights are normally cheapest around 6-8 weeks before departure, so if you can hold your nerve you may get a cheaper price. Also check different UK airports - in can be cheaper to fly from the opposite end of the country even with the added cost of travel and a hotel the night before.

@User2123 I thought so too. I know flights have gone up recently but I don’t know if £1200 is the norm. I think laziness and having 2 kids would deter me from flying from anywhere but Heathrow or Gatwick. Do you think flights might be cheaper closer to the time?

@Wasitalwaysgoingtobelikethis not for April, but prices for July have been consistently high since they were released in August/September.
You quite possibly haven't missed a bargain.

I looked at return flights for April 24 back in May 23 and they were high £800s then for the UK easter holidays.
Depends on your overall budget, but you could find some great value accommodation on Booking.com

To Thailand, that is, Bangkok slightly cheaper than Krabi or Phuket, but not much in it.

@Not19foreverpullyourselftogether @House4DS I think that’s what I was wondering if prices in April are always £1k and above irrespective of when you book. Think it’s their peak season. I’m happy to pay around £800 but spending £4.5k on return flights and then peanuts on hotels just doesn’t seem right in my mind.

I agree, I can’t believe how much more expensive flights are compared to pre pandemic, they seem to be around 30-50% more expensive, at least for long haul destinations.

I've been looking at Phuket for next November. They have been consistently around £900 since they were first released, and I guess that's not a particularly popular time of year.

@Not19foreverpullyourselftogether did you book eventually? I think I will look for 2025 and if it’s around £800 I will book. Anything above that is not worth it for me.

@rookiemere i thought November would be cheaper! I just looked back at when I went in end of September 2022 and the return flight to Bangkok cost me £630. I know it was not peak season though. And November is just the start of their tourist season and not school holidays. I guess flights have just gone up in the last 2 years

@Wasitalwaysgoingtobelikethis I'm going to keep an eye on the prices as we've not completely given up on the idea. It might be possible that they release them at a high price the reduce if there isn't the demand, i don't know.
With two very elderly DPs it felt a bit risky to be shelling out so much for flights so far in advance, we would have insurance of course but that only covers the big things.

Flights everywhere have gone up since covid. We went to Thailand last year and direct flights were just over 2k each.

Try emirates and have a stop over for a few nights in Abu Dhabi. Worked out much cheaper for me, that way.

@Wasitalwaysgoingtobelikethis had the exact same thing, it’s been £1k pp direct economy for April since last September. I gave up in the end, we paid about £775 each for our april 2023 trip.

@Twilightstarbright when did you buy your 2023 tickets? Was it closer to the travel dates?

@Fullofxmascbeer i will try tonight

@Wasitalwaysgoingtobelikethis six months before. I think demand for Thailand is high and less direct flights so they can charge more.

We looked for months, they’ve only being going up once released not down and long gone the days of them being cheaper 6 weeks before especially if a family and need more than 1 or 2 odd seats left.

We booked for this Feb a few weeks after they were released, about £650 ish each, within a few months they had gone up to £1k each and stayed there until sold out - our flights sold out months ahead too, there seems to be a lot of demand

Sorry I meant Etihad airways. I just put in random dates and added a 2 night stopover but I think the prices were similar with no stopover but a connecting flight only.

I have literally just now booked!!!! Hurrah! Last year we got caught out with the Air traffic control problem and were left stranded! Have been fighting to get some pennies back for the last 6 months from last minute.com and had given up hope! Woke up this morning to be told that we could have vouchers back to be used with them. Found tickets for around £750 each and ended up using the voucher so paid £2k on top of the voucher. Now looking at internal flights and itinerary. Thank you all for your inputs! I really do appreciate it.

@Wasitalwaysgoingtobelikethis can I ask what Thailand was like in Oct when you went? We are thinking of Oct this year but I'm worried about the weather! Thanks

@Ilikeyoursleeves I did Bangkok, Krabi and Phuket. Bangkok rained for half the day and then hot the rest of the day. This was for all 3 nights I was there for. Krabi was overcast but hot. Phuket had torrential showers and I actually cut my trip short as we weren’t really liking the rain and not even being able to spend time in the pool. We cut Phuket short by one day and went off to Bangkok. I like Bangkok as a city so didn’t mind it so much. This was the 1st week of October just for context. I think weather starts getting better towards the end of October