Summer ’23 planning dilemma

[rashomon]

Hi all,

I was planning under ideal circumstances to fly my family (4 of us so using two 241 vouchers) in Club to Singapore summer 2023 and from there take a short haul to Thailand flight with a view to fly back to London in Premium economy.

The headache is that BA have no direct flights scheduled for Bangkok as far as I can see … only via Qatar and not sure they can be booked with 241 return leg.

I think I can secure the 4 outbound to Singapore when the 355 day dates become available but then to book a return I’m stuck as I’m waiting to see if BA will restart that BKK > LHR route. I am surprised that they have dropped what I thought was a popular route – what are the chances that BA will start flying to Bangkok again?

So in a dilemma … wondering if I should just book the outbound one way and then see what happens?

[ChrisC]

Popular does not always mean profitable.

I would asssume that BA isn’t going to being BKK back for some considerable time so best make alternative plans.

And yes a 2-4-1 can only be used on BA metal

[SteveJ]

@rashomon I wouldn’t rely on it being reintroduced. You might need to consider the hop back to Singapore (or somewhere else nearby that BA fly to) to get back home on BA metal.

[Karl]

I’ve been looking at using a 2-4-1 next summer and the options to east Asia are limited to say the least. I wouldn’t automatically presume that Japan nor Hong Kong will be entirely open from a Covid point of view, and they aren’t exactly that close to Thailand either. Therefore it seems to be Singapore or….. Singapore.

[rashomon]

Thanks all for the replies … and as expected to be honest but good to hear opinions.

Two weeks in Singapore seems a bit much … was hoping to mix up the city side and grab some beach time in Koh Samui … as well as tucking into my favourite Thai grub 🙁

@Karl – what else are you considering out of interest?

p.s seriously wondering if the whole Avios/241 thing is worth the hassles.

[Karl]

Singapore is a good gateway to SE Asia. There are plenty of short and inexpensive flights to nearby places.

We managed to get a CW outbound and PE return for an 19 day trip. Sorted a nice itinerary of a night at either end in Singapore, 3 nights in BKK, 3 in Chiang Mai, 2 in KL, 2 in Penang and a week on the beach in either Koh Samui or Bali.

SIN redemptions seem to be going quickly but they are available if you’re fast.

[rashomon]

Thanks @Karl – wow that sounds like a fantastic itinerary! Hope you have an amazing time.,

I’ve given it some more thought and made peace with a LON-SIN round trip idea now and will find destinations in between. Though with only 2 weeks some of which I want to see Singapore itself, I’ll go for one or maybe two additional destinations max.

Any tips welcome on how to bag those SIN tickets though – assuming that calling the Japan based BA call centre when it’s midnight here in the UK is the right move but do let me know if I’m missing a trick!

😉

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[SteveJ]

Tickets are released midnight GMT, so that’s 1am summer time. Japan/Australia any other office that is just opening up at that time. Make sure you’re calling the exec club team, sales office won’t be able to help. Good luck!

[SamG]

Nothing much to add other than it’s easy to bookend Singapore. Wheels down to your hotel is an hour max!

I would do a couple of nights outbound and one night inbound. Singapore Airlines and Bangkok Airways will happily check bags to BA but you’d need to be very sure your travel insurance would cover any mishaps if you did it same day !

The bad thing is the Koh Samui flight is extremely expensive for what is pretty much the shortest flight from Changi. This used to be a good use of Krisflyer on Silkair but sadly no more as they retired their A319s during COVID.

You may save some money going via Bangkok and having a night or two there if you’ve enough time

[SamG]

There is also a little side effect of the “new” vouchers – expats who can still hold UK cards may bother to collect them now they can start from abroad. In the summer from Singapore you’ll also be competing with expats wanting to visit home, I know a couple of people planning to use them next year

[rashomon]

Thanks SamG for the reply – damn those pesky expats!

Not sure what you meant by ‘couple of nights outbound and one night inbound’ … are you saying stay in SIN first night and then move on to next destination … and have 2 (or more) nights in SIN before flight to London? I’m thinking I’d need around 4 days in Singapore to see the things we’re interested.

Yep – seen those eye watering prices to Koh Samui … averaging around 350 GBP per person return. I’ll def check other options like you suggest but will secure the LON-SIN route first!

[memesweeper]

Maybe forget Samui and head for Krabi with Scoot? Good flight times and prices when I did it. Great resorts. Then from Trang a train to somewhere else perhaps…?

[SamG]

Krabi would be pretty quiet and not the best weather in our summer though. I was there in Feb 2019 and even then there wasn’t much happening!

Phuket maybe a better bet just because there is more happening all year around (may still be wet though) or just to throw a wrench in the plans it’s the best time to visit Bali weather wise (that’s where I’m going)

If you’d want 4 nights in Singapore then I’d do 2 on the way and 2 on the way back, then you’ve plenty of buffer for any flight problems (though things run very well usually)

[memesweeper]

SamG wrote:

Krabi would be pretty quiet and not the best weather in our summer though. I was there in Feb 2019 and even then there wasn’t much happening!

Phuket maybe a better bet just because there is more happening all year around (may still be wet though) or just to throw a wrench in the plans it’s the best time to visit Bali weather wise (that’s where I’m going)

If you’d want 4 nights in Singapore then I’d do 2 on the way and 2 on the way back, then you’ve plenty of buffer for any flight problems (though things run very well usually)

Sorry — wasn’t paying attention to the weather at that time of year!

Random suggestion: central Vietnam coast, strangely, doesn’t get rain then, even when the rains kick off north and south of the country. Lots of flights to Da Nang from SIN.

[rashomon]

Cheers peeps

Have been toying with Bangkok or could do Kuala Lumpur to get another city in. I’ve been to Bangkok before so KL might be a good alternative for 3 days or so.

Krabi, Phuket – I think are pretty rainy in late July, Aug so ruled em out. Bali you say? nice … might just have to investigate that!

Da Nang I think I’ll save for a proper trip to Vietnam (on the bucket list)

This all might all turn to dust of course if I don’t get the bookended Singapore flights … but it’s fun to plan!

[SamG]

Personally I wouldn’t make a trip to KL unless I was going elsewhere in Malaysia (which is also an option!, East Coast though for the best beach weather), we struggled to find things to do after a day or two vs Bangkok / Singapore etc there is plenty. Depends what you like to do though

Another tip is the BA15 & 16 flights continue to Sydney. You’ve more chance of getting on the BA11 & 12 as these terminate in Singapore

[BJ]

My 2p worth, and what we’re doing with same dilemna: SIN is pricey both in cash and in avios being zone 8. If, like us you bet on TYO you save both cash and avios. Actually, if you return from Zone 7 too, you could then be looking at CW both ways instead of WTP on the longer flight back. We’ve booked INV-TYO, and are keeping an eye on HKG through this year. If it starts to look promusing we’ll book return from HKG which will cost us 75k avios plus around £150 for two. If that does not look good we will go to plan B and use the return from TYO later in the year, nesting a QR redemption or revenue return from BKK-EDI. I prefer to be optimistic and believe both TYO and HKG will be a thing for independent travel again by summer 23. JAL Y on a 787 with 2-4-2 seat config is a cheap option for TYO/KIX-BKK using avios. Alternatives are FC miles on ANA, or LCC. Japan so much more exciting than Singapore IMO so personally I consider it worh the extra hours. In Thailand I’d opt for Phuket and/or Krabi over Samui for reasos others have described.

[Pangolin]

BJ wrote:

My 2p worth, and what we’re doing with same dilemna: SIN is pricey both in cash and in avios being zone 8. If, like us you bet on TYO you save both cash and avios. Actually, if you return from Zone 7 too, you could then be looking at CW both ways instead of WTP on the longer flight back. We’ve booked INV-TYO, and are keeping an eye on HKG through this year. If it starts to look promusing we’ll book return from HKG which will cost us 75k avios plus around £150 for two. If that does not look good we will go to plan B and use the return from TYO later in the year, nesting a QR redemption or revenue return from BKK-EDI. I prefer to be optimistic and believe both TYO and HKG will be a thing for independent travel again by summer 23. JAL Y on a 787 with 2-4-2 seat config is a cheap option for TYO/KIX-BKK using avios. Alternatives are FC miles on ANA, or LCC. Japan so much more exciting than Singapore IMO so personally I consider it worh the extra hours. In Thailand I’d opt for Phuket and/or Krabi over Samui for reasos others have described.

SIN makes way more sense as a redemption if you’re willing to position from somewhere like IST

[rashomon]

Hi @Pangolin – trouble is I live in London so get hit by those APD charges and fees and its my local airport (25 mins away).

Time and money spent getting to somewhere else like IST doesn’t work out as far as I can tell unless there is something I’m missing.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[rashomon]

Did some crude checking

1) LHR -> SIN one way in Club World = 87.5k Avios + £1k
2) INV -> LHR -> SIN one way in Club World = 87.5k Avis + £680

A saving of £320 if positioning at Inverness. But then factoring in cost to get to Inverness by air, one night at hotel, taxis and grub … that saving is pretty much eaten up. And that doesn’t even consider the time element. True for a family of four with 2 x 241 the Inv positioning could still offer a saving but the case is not compelling for me.

Sadly need to suck up those monstrous APD fees for the ‘privilege’ of departing from LHR … this is the way 🙁

[BJ]

@rashomon, if you were prepared to gamble on TYO and HKG the maths becomes 75k avios plus £495 per pair INV-HND. Coming back from HKG it is 75k avios plus £150 per paif to EDI so about £100 to LHR I guess.

I agree INV is not ideal though. If you did it I would advise protecting yourself against schedule changes by booking maximum avios least cash RFS option and flexible hotel rates.

Alternatively, I’d just consider spending your avios at Sainsbury’s and add the cash saved on weekly shop to your cash pot for revenue flights to Bangkok as there will be deals for sure. For example Lufty group companion fares. Given you were hapy to fly back from SIN in WTP and given timenis a factir for you then you might want to give some thought to premium economy on Scoot direct from Gatwick to Bangkok if that survives.

[rashomon]

Thanks @BJ … I’m definitely not as clued up with this as you are! I’m a noob for sure – amassed a load of Avios 250k+ with a plan to treat the family to a long haul in Club and hence was eyeing up Singapore as a good long flight to get the most of it and lots to do in South East Asia area as well.

I think you’re suggesting an alternate spend is to use the Avios and 241 vouchers to open jaw from Inverness to Tokyo (via London) and then take a flight to Hong Kong (budget Asian airline) and return to London from there … and off-peak this would cost :

LHR -> INV – £60 quid per pair (approx)
INV -> HND – 75k avios for CW + £495 per pair
HKG -> LHR – 75K avoids for CW + £100 per pair

Am I right? Certainly a lot cheaper in both cash and Avios terms.

Appreciate the other points also and will have a look at Lufthansa companion fares – didn’t know about this either. Not sure what a ‘revenue flight’ is either.

[EvilGazebo]

‘revenue flight’ = a flight you pay for. With money. Will never catch on.

[BJ]

@rashomon, we all have to start someplace and it’s a continuous learning process. Even when we know better we sometimes do silly things too. My partner is Thai and we usually like to combine visits with other cities, Especially Tokyo and HK. The problem with both is we cannot be certain either will be possible even in summer 23. We are based in EDI so INV is relatively simple for us compared to you. When not flying direct from INV-LHR-BKK or BKK-LHR-EDI then this is what we do (using 2-4-1):

INV-LHR-HND about £500 now + 75k avios CW
HKG-LHR-EDI about £150 now + 75k avios CW

HND/KIX-BKK/DMK by JAL using avios (from 13k in Y plus about £80pp) or possibly now ANA using FC miles, or LCC business Air Asia X for cash. Flight duration is around 6h

DMK-HKG hot seats (at front of plane with priority security and boarding) on Air Asia for cash. Flight duration about 2.5h.

Lufty companion fares are usually covered on HfP when available. Those, or the direct flight from Gatwick with Scoot if still available would let you save your avios and companion vouchers for another day to a destination you want to go that BA was actually flying. Given this, in conjunction with the information you have provided, I think I would personally be strongly tempted to take the Scoot option direct to Bangkok from Gatwick if available, that despite the fact I rarely ever fly Y or PY. There is something to be said for just getting there simply without a fuss. There will also be Thai who used to sell standby Y-C upgrades for about $700-800 IIRC, and hopefully the direct flight with EVA also from LHR will also return as they sometimes had good deals in PY.

One thing I think you should consuder is wgether you want to see tourist Thailand or non-tourist Thailand, although combining elements of both is very easy.

I note that @Evil already explained revenue tickets.

[BuildBackBetter]

Karl wrote:

Sorted a nice itinerary of a night at either end in Singapore, 3 nights in BKK, 3 in Chiang Mai, 2 in KL, 2 in Penang and a week on the beach in either Koh Samui or Bali.

That’s quite a bit to cover in one trip. 2 in KL and 2 in Penang. You’ll be spending half a day to reach the place, check in and unpack etc. Another half a day to pack and check out etc. Hope you aren’t travelling with kids.

Just my opinion, I’d choose either KL or Penang. Similarly BKK or Chiangmai. Visit attractions at a leisurely pace and you might also have a chance to absorb culture and go to places that are off the obvious tourist path.