Flying - BKK to Narita (Japan)

[deepthroat]

Hi there, I'm not going to BKK until February but I've already booked my flight as I'm using Frequent Flyer Miles. I'm using NW to fly Seattle to Narita to BKK, but coming home I was only able to book Narita to Seattle using the FF points. Thus, I need to get myself from BKK to Narita to then link up with my NW flight to Seattle. I'll probably go to Japan the day before my flight to ensure I've got time for flight delays and last minute problems.

Should I book the NW flight from BKK to Japan for the outrageous price of $1,200 or wait and book something later? If so, when? Should I wait until I actually get to BKK to book a flight to Japan?

Any and all info appreciated.


deepthroat

[SamplerDoc]

I flew that same route about 2 months ago and yes prices are sky high and stay that way.
Best bet fly using FF miles on NWA

[kahuna]

Odd I can find a flight on Kayak for 640 USD...NW is 893 USD...In my opinion you don't want to wait until you are in BKK to book the flight...Do you have any idea what will happen to the ticket prices in February 09 with the ever increasing cost of fuel and the proposed mergers?

[deepthroat]

This is frickin' nutz... I can practically fly roundtrip from Seattle to BKK for the same price as the BKK to Narita flight. Since there don't seem to be any Freq Flyer trip awards available at that time on that route perhaps I'll cancel my FF ticket and save the points for a different trip, and re-book a whole new RT ticket.

[azza33]

I am just curious, and given i am not sure off the flight paths for north american flights....

But why do you have to go back via Narita?

Can you open JAW the ticket? And fly direct BKK to Seatle? Perhaps pay cash to top up your FF points to allow something like this?

I have heard flights from HK can be very very cheap... perhaps if you are desperate, you could take air asia to HK area and then jump on plane to narita.

A lot of farting around to save only a few hundred $$$ tho...

OR

Maybe just pay cash for the ticket and upgrade to business class with your FF points and enjoy yourself....

[dummy_plug]

(kahuna @ Apr. 18 2008,11:08) Odd I can find a flight on Kayak for 640 USD...NW is 893 USD...In my opinion you don't want to wait until you are in BKK to book the flight...Do you have any idea what will happen to the ticket prices in February 09 with the ever increasing cost of fuel and the proposed mergers?

Kayak doesn't always take into account the fees, surcharges, and additional taxes so the price differential you are seeing is likely due to those omissions. Honestly, with the rising fuel prices and fewer flights between US/Asia, I haven't been able to find RT tickets to BKK from SFO for less than $1k lately. There are the odd exceptions to that rule, but they are few and far between. A new era of high prices has come sadly...a double blow to the weak dollar.

[Guest]

I have flown BKK to Narita on Japan Airlines although not sure how cheap they are.

[tapioca]

I have flown Thai Air on the flight from BKK to LAX with the stop in Narita. I know that they sold tickets for the leg from BKK to Narita, mostly to Japanese. You might look into their rate if it is still available. Tapioca

[deepthroat]

I just went ahead and booked a RT flight Seattle/Taipei/Bangkok and back through Travelocity. They're using Delta (operated by China Airlines) from Seattle to Taipei, Thai Air from Taipei to Bangkok, then on the return it's Eva Air to Taipei and Delta back to Seattle. Total was $957.50 - I'm canceling the Frequent Flyer ticket I'd gotten through my Alaska Air mileage plan (using NW Air as the partner carrier) as it would have cost me at least 2/3 that much just to get from BKK to Taipei. This way I can save the miles for a later trip, and the Delta flight leaves Seattle at 1am and arrives BKK around 10:30 AM a day later. That's great because I'll have a better chance of getting some rest on the flight out of Seattle, and will arrive 16 hours later at 10:30 AM so the day will be useable (aside from my jetlag). With NW I would have left Seattle at 1pm and arrived BKK at 12:35 AM 2 days later, which is a crappy time to be arriving and then going to hotel and (supposedly) right to sleep. Seems to me that the extra $350 is worth saving the FF miles and getting a better start on my trip.

Anyone else got experience with this flight?

[kahuna]

(dummy_plug @ Apr. 19 2008,15:31) [Kayak doesn't always take into account the fees, surcharges, and additional taxes so the price differential you are seeing is likely due to those omissions.

Nope...those were all in prices DP...The $640 was on Malaysia Air..from Narita to Bkk...it's only a 6 to7 hr flight...shouldn't be $1200...

Right now you can fly out of LAX on JAL to BKK for $762 all in...It's another $50 or so to get to LA...and it adds a couple hours to your trip...but the cheapest I can find out of SFO run around $1200-$1300...

When are you going DP?

[deepthroat]

Sounds like what I booked is a good deal then. Airfare to LA is around $150 for the cheapest fare and would add one additional stop which means one additional way to miss the flights - I'd need to come down a day earlier in order to ensure I was on the JAL flight.