September holiday... Thailand?

sarah69696pink

We're hitting Thailand in September this year.
I went last year same time and only had one afternoon of rain - I know we're chancing it, but we're after the experience and if that involves rain so be it!
We're flying via Vietnam. If you can find direct flights for £500 I'd snap them up. We couldn't see any direct flights for less than £579 when we looked earlier in the year so we ended up booking with a stop in Vietnam - if you don't mind the extra time spent travelling we got these for £400 each - worth looking at as an option is saving money is your main aim (ours was!!)
We also have similar budgets to you. We're going to watch the amount we spend on alcohol and don't really plan on any shopping so think we'll be fine.

SideB

sarah69696pink wrote: »

We're hitting Thailand in September this year.
I went last year same time and only had one afternoon of rain - I know we're chancing it, but we're after the experience and if that involves rain so be it!
We're flying via Vietnam. If you can find direct flights for £500 I'd snap them up. We couldn't see any direct flights for less than £579 when we looked earlier in the year so we ended up booking with a stop in Vietnam - if you don't mind the extra time spent travelling we got these for £400 each - worth looking at as an option is saving money is your main aim (ours was!!)
We also have similar budgets to you. We're going to watch the amount we spend on alcohol and don't really plan on any shopping so think we'll be fine.

How'd you manage to find them for £400!

The flights I've seen so far are all indirect anyway, there's one at the moment available at £489 stopping over in Amsterdam, that's the cheapest i've seen so far.

sarah69696pink

SideB wrote: »

How'd you manage to find them for £400!

The flights I've seen so far are all indirect anyway, there's one at the moment available at £489 stopping over in Amsterdam, that's the cheapest i've seen so far.

An awful lot of searching!!!! We also booked about 2 months back now. Plus going via Vietnam is out of the way really.....
used skyscanner to get an idea of cheapest airlines and then kept checking on their own websites.

We eventually booked through the flight centre who beat the price by a £1!! Not a lot I know but felt better booking through that company than direct with an unfamiliar airline.

shaunskankdog

SideB wrote: »

How'd you manage to find them for £400!

The flights I've seen so far are all indirect anyway, there's one at the moment available at £489 stopping over in Amsterdam, that's the cheapest i've seen so far.

Depart: Fri 14/9 Return: Fri 28/9 (Trip spans 15 days)
£396
Oman Air
CDG 22:30 → BKK 19:15 15h 45m 1 stop (MCT)
BKK 09:05 →LHR 19:05 16h 00m 1 stop (MCT)

This one means you have to get to Paris, but if you really want to, you could get Megabus there for a few pounds...There are also similar for same price leaving at midday.

Doshwaster

shaunskankdog wrote: »

Depart: Fri 14/9 Return: Fri 28/9 (Trip spans 15 days)
£396
Oman Air
CDG 22:30 → BKK 19:15 15h 45m 1 stop (MCT)
BKK 09:05 →LHR 19:05 16h 00m 1 stop (MCT)

That's an excellent find. The secret to these sub-£500 fares is to search nearby European airports (AMS, CDG, FRA etc) for flights with a stopover in the Middle East. That way you avoid the crazy UK departure taxes. You just then need to decide for yourselves whether the saving is worth the extra cost and hassle compared to flying from a nearby UK airport. If you are on a tight budget then £100 is a lot and can easily be a big part of your accommodation costs on Thailand - which leaves more money for beer! :beer:

SideB

shaunskankdog wrote: »

Depart: Fri 14/9 Return: Fri 28/9 (Trip spans 15 days)
£396
Oman Air
CDG 22:30 → BKK 19:15 15h 45m 1 stop (MCT)
BKK 09:05 →LHR 19:05 16h 00m 1 stop (MCT)

This one means you have to get to Paris, but if you really want to, you could get Megabus there for a few pounds...There are also similar for same price leaving at midday.

Thank you! Just checked now and Megabus to Paris is around £50 for a return but if they have a sale on tickets something like this would work out great! I'll keep an eye out, thanks!

Doshwaster

SideB wrote: »

Thank you! Just checked now and Megabus to Paris is around £50 for a return but if they have a sale on tickets something like this would work out great! I'll keep an eye out, thanks!

Don't forget that you only need a single. The example above returns to Heathrow!