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“Note that QR has a lot of double Avios dates where yes, you can use Avios but it would be 300k return for one ticket in business.”
There are definitely blackout dates for premium cabin award seats – the entirety of the school summer holidays for instance.“Also, you cannot book a mixed business and first fare with Avios on BA.”
Not only that, but quite often the price for the very same QR flight is higher on BA site than on Qatar’s website/app, e.g. 93k avios on BAEC instead of 75k avios on Qatar site.“Concerning Bangkok hotels and travel, top end hotels are at their highest prices ever, up to 50% ahead of a previous high and literally 200/250% of their norm pre covid.”
Is this actually true though? Yes, prices are higher than Covid times for sure, but “literally 200/250% of their norm pre covid.” sounds unlikely across the board.I just came back from 2.5 months in Thailand and yes, for most of the spring and summer hotel rates were crazily expensive and they remain so, though a few provincial hotels have relaxed prices marginally.
There has been a lot of demand from Asian and middle east tourists and I also noticed more Europeans staying longer than I have seen previously. I myself weas there for 10 weeks.
The hotel prices are concerning, think Airbnb may be a better option?
I did try searching for ‘bangkok’ on the forum but strangely it comes back empty.
Bangkok is heavily covered by expert commenters on this forum
Sesrch within the forum won’t find anything – at all – though. It’s basically not enabled. At some time @Rob may decide to have the search button link to his post in the Housekeeping section.
https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/forum-search-not-working-click-to-read-more/
Basically, do an external search restricting it to this site using Google, and you’ll find all the Bangkok you want. As in type into Google
site: headforpoints.Bangkok
check out luxury escapes. often good deals for Bangkok. Luxury hotels may be struggling to fill but they do not like to publically discount so they use these channels to get rid of some excess inventory
check out luxury escapes. often good deals for Bangkok. Luxury hotels may be struggling to fill but they do not like to publically discount so they use these channels to get rid of some excess inventory
Bangkok hotel prices are holding up through Q3 and forward viewing into Q1 2024 shows no let up but on the ground there seems to be a change in philosophy of hotels being prepared to take less volume at higher margins as opposed to the decades long “sell the last room” approach.
I harken it to the change in flight bookings originating from Oz as the internet came into being which went from discounting the last flights to get bums on seats to actually hiking the prices hoping to catch a few people who had to fly rather than lots of people who only flew because it was cheap. That developed into the fuzzy logic and yield management we see today – thanks Ozzies !
For those looking for award seats to/from BKK I posted Saturday 7th chat that there is good availability on Finnair in September 24. Post explains about getting Norra connections.
Chain hotels in particular continue to be over the top in Bangkok, better value to be found in independents.
The lack of a direct BA flight to BKK continues to frustrate, particularly given that revenue fares are niw generally higher than both SIN and HKG both of which are double daily. I suspect @Lady London is possibly correct in suggesting that Qatar Airways is pulling strings at IAG. Departing EDI I neex one stop anyway so the absence of a direct BA flight would be no biggie were in not for the amex and Barcs vouchers.
As somebody who spends about one weekend every month in BKK, it is fast becoming a pretty sketchy place. The Thai tourism minister announced the other day a new foreigner tax to be paid at the airport, and the Thai government announced a few weeks ago that from Jan 1st all foreign income brought into Thailand by anybody (tourists included) that spends more than 180 days in the country each year, would be taxed. No details were provided on the practicalities of either initiative. Obviously.
The advice i’ve heard anecdotally from a few locals here in Malaysia is lone females should exercise heightened caution in Thailand, and [particularly in BKK, due to kidnappings and human trafficking.
When I lived in the UK I flew BA009 regularly, and when they stopped flying the route was irked like many others. Given the declining situation in Thailand post-pandemic, politically and economically, I think BA have the right idea. Definitely can’t see them bringing it back given QR serve it.
The main reason BA will likely never bring back BKK (and KUL) is it just does not have the same high yield demand to justify sending a jet that can go twice to the East coast of the US in that time – especially at the moment when BA has a shortage of aircraft since it retired all the 747s during COVID.
At least a bunch of seats in F and J on SIN/HKG are sat in by corporate travellers paying £7k+ and down the back similar corporate demand – my employer buys multiple of these a week. There are still execs and expats out there who have F in their travel package and these cost even more and the cabin is often full. + healthy high yield cargo demand. There is little such demand to BKK. I’ve actually flown to Singapore twice via BKK for work recently (last minute and SQ / BA wanted 10k+ direct!) and the crowd on Thai has been very leisure vs what you’d see on the BA direct flights.
@shanghaiguizi – Bali has also announced a tax on arrivals for foreigners I believe – seems like tourists are being seen as a bit of a cash cow but demand does seem higher than ever so you can see why it’s tempting. Whether such demand will continue remains to be seen but as @Talay says hotels certainly seem to be pricing like it willBoth Bali and BKK used to have a departure tax, so I guess it’s just a new version of that!
I read over on FT that there is a “crewmour” that BA is looking at the possibility to fly the A350 LHR-BKK-MEL. Apparently in response to the recent denial of Qatar in flying to more places in Australia. So it would be a BA plane with a QR codeshare
That would be great if it happens although I think it more likely they’d fly LHR-DOH-MEL. Either way that would be great for 2-4-1 voucher holders.
Is there any way we can create a BA customer survey saying this is what we want and force BA to implement it line with the upcoming Avios earning changes 😄
Is there any way we can create a BA customer survey saying
This is based on the very large assumption that BA actually listen to their customers, which – as many will attest to – is borderline fantasy.
Is there any way we can create a BA customer survey saying
This is based on the very large assumption that BA actually listen to their customers, which – as many will attest to – is borderline fantasy.
I think it’s not so much that they don’t listen but that they take almost exclusively commercial decisions. Huge numbers of people here clamour for BA to restart BKK but it clearly is a very thin route for both passengers and cargo. Australia has historically been a very difficult route for BA and even QF to make money on from London. Just too many seats/carriers, very long legs, crew complications etc.
I see this topic alot on here….. but rumour has it that April 2024 BA will be announcing they are flying direct to BKK again….
Fingers crossed! Might drive the price back down on EVA and THAI
Perhaps the aircraft from the LHR-TLV route might be utilised.
I was in BKK a few weeks ago. Airport full of Europeans so obviously many airlines other than BA make it work. Hotel prices were ok, although more than on our visit pre Covid. Still way cheaper than Singapore though. Conferences have started up in BKK – several hundred Dassault Systems employees in our hotel.
I don’t have a problem with BA giving up many eastern routes to QR. But where BA doesn’t fly, it could give us an option to use the vouchers on QR, atleast for a small additional fee. Well, one can dream…
As previously mentioned….. it’s actually happening.
LLONDON TO BKK direct will be restarting late October. But Gatwick not LHR
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