The price of a ticket...

[pampamsam]

$1783 if you depart 7/22

[TEXASMAC]

Thank you pampamsam. I figure as long as I buy 10 days in advance I can keep playing the dates. It is till better in LOS than here in Texas.

[BlueBallz]

Get used to it boys. Prices for airfare are going up!!! And they should!! A big caveat is that if the economy progresses that is. If the economy takes another hit i.e. a double dip recession, then all bets are off......................

people ahve gotten used to the Wal martization of air fares. The work has gotta turn!!! You see in the USA Spirit Airlines pilots are on strike!! Good on them I say. They have been negotiating for 3 years!!!! they have had enough!! If they have to burn the place down, they will. I feel the same way about the pigs that run our airline!!!

Spirit Airline pax are stranded and they are "shocked' that other airlines wont honor the $9 fares!!! LOL!!!!

[kahuna]

You might consider booking separate flights...You can get a ticket on Southwest from Dallas to LAX for around $200 RT...

I'd wager you can get a deal from LAX to BKK...I usually pay $1000 or less for a RT on EVA or China Air...

I live in Phoenix and book separate flights...Only prob is getting from the domestic terminals to the international terminal at LAX but they have buses running around the loop that are free...

[JaiDee]

TexasMac .....one thing I will recommend if you are planning more and more trips to Thailand in the future is to stick with one airline......for you out of Texas  that would most likely be American from their Dallas hub.  Or try United; do NOT go with Delta/Northwest; they suck ass and I am trying to bail from them now and switching to United.


 Reason being;  your savings will not be substantial if you shop around, maybe a few hundred bucks each time MAX.  But if you become a frequent flier on say United, you start building miles and after 3 or 4 trips to Thailand you get a free one; that drops the 4 trips you just took by 25% each.  That's the best deal you will ever get, plus you get free domestic upgrades into first class and with their credit card you can get 25K free miles right off the bat..... then every time you buy *anything*, from gas to groceries to hotels, use the card and build miles.  If you prefer to pay cash for everything, just make sure you pay the CC bills every month and you will never have a balance.

 3 trips since last may..... by this time you would have way over 50K miles in the bank with one airline and already be looking at a free trip soon.....IMO this is the best way to go, and I had extremely good luck with Northwest for years and years until they merged with Delta.....you can also choose emergency exit row seats as a frequent flier, and they offer up a lot more leg room than a typical coach seat; when you shop around or just  buy off Expedia, et al, you get whatever they give you.  You can also move to the front of any queue when you flash that frequent flier card, even at BKK airport!


If  the future looks bright for you and you feel as though you will be going to Thailand quite often, try this out; I stopped shopping around years ago and stuck with just one airline and it always worked out great for me, saved a lot of shopping around on-line hassles also.

[TEXASMAC]

Thanks JaiDee, excellent advice I never paid attention to. Plus since I fly American for work once a month.

[Snick]

One advantage to United is they are part of Starworld, which also includes Thai, JAL and ANA.
I often use Starworld miles to fly to Koh Samui on Thai.

Try following Kahuna's advice, look at ANA or JAL from LAX to BKK, and then use Southwest to get to LAX.
Check JAL and ANA website directly

[kahuna]

I fly EVA 99% of my Thai trips...I just checked and I can get a flight from LAX to BKK for 1060 USD by using 8000 air miles...1150 USD without using any miles...Those are Evergreen Club member prices...As Snick says, join the clubs...you'll save money...

[Rocket J. Squirrel]

(JaiDee @ Jun. 14 2010,21:31) You can also move to the front of any queue when you flash that frequent flier card, even at BKK airport!

Would you explain this JD

[Snick]

You need a certain level of miles, to achieve a 'Gold status' level.
For Thai you need 50,000 Miles in a year or other variations.
Then you get priority when entering the plane, access to the lounge, and a larger luggage allowance.

If you have Gold on any Star Alliance partner you can use it with other partners.

[JaiDee]

(Rocket J. Squirrel @ Jun. 17 2010,14:02)

(JaiDee @ Jun. 14 2010,21:31) You can also move to the front of any queue when you flash that frequent flier card, even at BKK airport!

Would you explain this JD

Well, whenever you see a line at an airport check-in, you can move right to the VIP line, which is also the Business Class line; but you need your skymiles credit card,  you show that to the girl and  can avoid any waiting.  Example;  when I left BKK on June 1 to come home there was a HUGE line of people checking into the  Tokyo flight I was on {there always is};  no people were in the Business Class line, I just showed my Delta Skymiles card and walked right in, dropped my bag and got my tickets;  prolly saved 1/2 hour of waiting in line.

   I am moving to United partly because Northwest now SUCKS ASS since they joined with Delta and because their frequent flyer card is now on American Express, which is accepted nowhere. United uses Visa, you can build miles really quickly by using it for ALL expenses; I used to use mine for server expenses and make 24K free miles a year just from that! And as Snick says, United has some good partners; Thai and Continental go to a lot of places I fly to as well, so I will be using them from now on.

 Bottom line; if you fly a lot, join a good airlines' program.....you may pay a bit more per flight but in the long run it all works in your favor.

[gart4571]

(kahuna @ Jun. 17 2010,13:35) I fly EVA 99% of my Thai trips...I just checked and I can get a flight from LAX to BKK for 1060 USD by using  8000 air miles...1150 USD without using any miles...Those are Evergreen Club member prices...As Snick says, join the clubs...you'll save money...

Kahuna:

What dates are you looking at for those prices? I have been trying to find good rates on EVA out of LAX or SFO anytime between July 15th and Sept 1st and the cheapest that I can find are around 1700.00 and that is using some of my airmiles. I always fly EVA Deluxe. I find that service on EVA is far superior to any of the USA airlines. I find that usually I can get a better fare on EVA just by changing the days of the week that I depart but I am not having any luck this year so I appreciate any feed back from you. Thanks

[TEXASMAC]

I got $1593.00 out of LAX to BKK on 7-22-10. But it is $318.00 even on Southwest to get from Dallas to LAX. But its my vacation. I have earned it, I desreve it so I am going to wait till July 5th then book it for Juyl 22nd through August 2nd. I will keep looking and reading all comments. Thanks for the info.

[azza33]

(JaiDee @ Jun. 17 2010,23:42) ...their frequent flyer card is now on American Express, which is accepted nowhere

That's rather ironic as i use amex all the time here in oz for my Malaysian airlines ff partner - widely accepted and usually no added fees where i shop.

[El_hefe]

Yeah TM, if you live in Dallas & fly AA monthly definitely join their FF program now, it really adds up after a few years. I fly a few times a year, 2-4 maybe, with one of those being east coast US to Asia, & between that & using my affilliated credit card for everything & gaming the system when it won't cost me any $$, I'm just a few miles short of 1 million after 15 years, I will get there very soon & a small % of those miles are actual airtime.
I get to take the elite lines for security & early boarding, ("preboarding" whatever that's supposed to mean), no baggage fees, 25% bonus on miles flown, priority for upgrades & I can use the Business lounges on international flights. A pretty nice bonus for no extra costs for me (ok, I could've flown cheaper to LOS on Air China, Korea Air or Aeroflot, but I'm not going to spend 24+ hours flight on any of those for any price anyway.) I always watch & wait for a fare sale & buy the cheapest ticket available for personal flights. (In the late '90s I actually found a AA round trip NYC/BKK for $350 that gave mileage, the ticket agent was shaking his head as he wrote it, that was a freak but occasionally you can catch one if you can act quick....last year got a NYC/SFO in Oct for $260.)

Right now I think you can get an AA/Citi MC card with a 35K miles bonus, or the Starwoods Amex will give you a 5K mile bonus every time you transfer 20k miles to AA, both of those are good deals. Then charge everything you ever buy, including monthly bills, & pay in full when due.

A bit of a hobby for me you could say.