With my new Passport on my desk and all those empty pages, I sat down and started my search for flights to Thailand. Planning my first overseas adventure to Thailand was Soooooo exciting! But, I will admit, I was a bit intimidated. Here’s what I found.
From LAX to Bangkok, Thailand, I have used travel websites to book China Eastern, China Southern and China Airlines. They have been the cheapest “around $650 round trip” for me so far. Now that’s not to say this won’t change, or that you can’t find one cheaper from your neck of the woods. So here is how to get the best bang for your buck.
Booking your flight with travel websites. What you should know.
You can use any number of travel sites you like. I am sure you know many of them. There are several out there. I started my journey by looking for flights on Expedia.com. I did try four or five other sites to see their pricing as well.
Some will show you the price before the fees which can be frustrating when you think you found a better price only to find out it is actually higher than the other guys. I stay away from those sites just for the peace of mind. Just show me the price.
Book in advance.
The first thing to make sure you do when booking Thailand is to book around two to five months in advance of your travel dates to get something close to the cheapest rates possible. In most cases, people book longer flights earlier than short flights, so try to book as soon as you know your travel dates.
You should also check the prices for different days of the week. Quite often Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s are cheaper. But not always. I check every day of the week.
Layovers, layovers, layovers.
The second thing I found was. You need to pay attention to the layovers! The last thing you want after flying fifteen hours, is to be in Beijing Capital Airport for seventeen more hours waiting for your next flight into Bangkok. This will happen if all you care about is price. Now, not all flights with long layovers are cheaper.
In fact, most of the time they are the same and sometimes even more expensive. Look at the layover times for outbound and return flights. They are always different. I prefer anywhere from two to three hours. I will be okay with up to five hours. But not any longer. I prefer to start my Thailand vacation as soon as I can.
The reasons I like at least two hours are.
#1. Getting through security can take anywhere from half an hour to an hour and a half. That only gives you half an hour or so to get through the airport to your next flight. If you have been in a large airport, you know that this is not much time.
#2. If you get through security quicker or you have a little longer layover, that gives you some extra time to breath and stretch your legs. After all, sitting on a plane with hundreds of other people for fifteen hours is hard enough.
More on how to deal with the plane ride in a future post.
Incognito.
The third thing I found out the hard way. Only search these sites with your browser in incognito! Right click on your browser icon and click New incognito window. Do this with every travel site you search.
The reason for this is that the travel sites send you cookies and site data. The sites will know that you are looking for the best deal. If you search one site and don’t make a purchase and close the page, the next time you search that same site, the prices are usually higher.
If your browser doesn’t save the data, (incognito) that site won’t have anything to see the next time you search that site.
The last time I was searching ferociously for the cheapest flights, I came back an hour later and the price was the same as before, but when I selected the ticket, it had gone from $686.00 to $9,000.00. I know what you are thinking. No I am not kidding.
I tried again and the same thing happened. I came back the next morning and it was still the same. So I took a moment to think about what was going on and decided to clear all data and search history and try again. The price was back to normal.
Another trick you can use is to search on different devices. Pricing can be different from one device to another. Phone to laptop to tablet. Anyway, I bought the tickets and learned my lesson.
I tried searching without incognito later as a test to see what would happen and yes, the pricing was different.
Should You book direct with the airlines web site?
Direct answer? I don’t. I have tried every time and it was never cheaper. It was either the same or more expensive. I never called them directly to see if they could beat the travel sites prices. But with that being said it doesn’t mean they wouldn’t beat those prices.
That is up to you if you want to take the time to talk with someone on the phone and try to explain what you are looking for for dates etc, etc, etc…. I would rather be in control of my booking.
With the travel sites, you can see everything in one place all at the same time. You can see the calendar. You can see the price for each flight. All the different departure times and how long each flight will take along with layover times. You can see what airports you will be using. Everything is at a glance so you can make the most informed decision about your flight.
On some sites you can even see baggage fees if any. On Expedia.com for example, you can click on the baggage fees and at the bottom is a link direct to the airlines website to check if baggage fees have changed.
Use the biggest airport near you.
This one might seem obvious to some. But I need to explain why anyway. I live around three hours drive from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). If I book a flight from my hometown to LAX, it costs around $200.00 round trip per person for a one hour flight. My flight from LAX to Bangkok, Thailand is around $650.00. Think about that for a second.
On top of that, the times don’t match on those flights. I tried this a few times and it just didn’t work. One time I would have been in LAX waiting for my outbound flight for ten hours. On my return flight I would have had to stay overnight in Los Angeles and catch my flight home the next day.
So the cost to fly from my home town airport, waiting in LAX, and the hotel in LA just don’t make fiscal sense.
Oh, and don’t forget getting a ride to and from my home town airport and the amount of time at that airport. All said and done, that is around three hours each way. The same time it takes to drive to LAX.
So here’s what I do.
I book a parking garage near LAX for around $7.00 a day and take their free shuttle to and from the airport. Yup! That’s it.
Get in my comfortable vehicle five to six hours before my flight takes off. Drive to the parking garage in LA and take their free shuttle to the airport. All with at least two hours to spare for check in, security and standby time at my gate.
So, for me and my wife to fly to LAX, the total cost would be around $450.00 (not including if we need a hotel, another $100.00).
Now, driving to the airport would only cost around $250.00 for gas and parking for 22 days. You get the picture. If you are on a budget and value your time, do some research and use the resources in your area.
Do you have public transportation? Buses? Amtrak? Maybe you have a friend or a relative that you could leave your vehicle with near the bigger airport etc…etc…
I tried rental cars with no luck. It was more expensive because you are not returning the car to the original destination. Just try to be creative. It is kinda fun trying to come up with different options to save time and money.
Should you use a travel agent?
Another direct answer? Again, I don’t. Yes, you can go in and talk to your local agent and have them do all the searching and booking for you. But what is the point? You can do just about everything they can do in your own home, at your own pace and you don’t have to pay a booking fee to an agent.
Their fees are usually around 25-35 bucks. Airlines no longer pay commissions to agents so the agents charge fees to the traveler.
Now don’t worry about the agents missing out on your money. They would rather be booking vacation packages and cruises anyway. They make the bulk of their money booking those kinds of services.
That being said, if you are more comfortable with letting an agent book your whole vacation (flight, hotels, rental cars, etc..) then by all means use an agent.
Just remember, you can do all of those bookings on your own at home with travel websites. And when you get home from your successful Thailand vacation, you will feel confident enough to do it again and again and again with any destination.
Happy Thailand Travels!