Airfare can be a tricky thing. From day to day, fares change and it can be quite confusing for a lot of people. It is often confusing for me as well, but I have learned a few trips over the last few years that help me to get better fares. There are dramatic differences between the long haul flight from farang-land and those trips taken over the course of our trip.
There are two airports in Bangkok which can be a source of confusion sometimes. On a separate page, different aspects of each airport are considered. See Airports which is another faq topic for more information and details.
International Airfare
At the time of writing, it is the beginning of October. I need to get to Thailand from December 18 - January 11/12/13. This is the peak of the high season in Thailand. My empty backpack is beginning to look a bit depressed because prices seem to be sky high. How can I get a cheap fare?
Well, there are a number of tactics to use.
First, you are going to need to exhaust every available resource available on the internet. There are literally thousands of sites to book a flight on. I usually start with Kayak. I have an agreement with them, so you can use their search function right here:
Generally, I find Kayak to be the best by a long shot for flights from the states; however, there are a few other sites that are worth mentioning. I would avoid the obvious ones like Travelocity, Cheap Tickets, and Orbitz. I could have easily put something here for you to search them as well, but this option will present itself after searching in Kayak. Also, Kayak checks them for you, so there really is no point. Instead, I would check Mobissimo and SideStep. I don't have a nice little box for you to type your information into and get results, but hopefully I will soon. I simply haven't got all the time in the world to make such arrangements. If you are a student and you are under the age of 26, STA Traveloften has some pretty good deals.
Additionally, I tend to sign up for airfare alerts. A number of companies will be more than willing to send you out alerts if fares drop in the time period you specify. Furthermore, they will send you emails on a periodic basis to alert you of different specials that airlines are offering. Booking Buddy does a good job with this. You can reach their site by going here: Subscribe to BookingBuddy.com's FREE email travel newsletters for current travel savings!
You can also sign up for fare alerts at Kayak. There are numerous other sites that provide services like these as well. I wouldn't go overboard, but I would sign up for a few of them.
I always used to believe it was a myth that the best travel deals can often be found late Wednesday night, but it has been true for me. Just last night, I watched fares drop right before my eyes. I picked up my own ticket from New York to Bangkok with Cathay Pacific for a very reasonable fare. It might be worthwhile for you to watch and see for yourself.
Domestic Airfare
Domestic airfare is a great deal easier than dealing with international fares. Low cost carriers are engaged in heavy competition. As a general rule, you are best to book early for your flights. However, it is a good idea to keep up with current promotions. Currently, Air Asia has a 0 Baht airfare promotion. Yes, that is right - 0 Baht. The taxes and fees will bring the cost of a flight up to 600 - 700 Baht, but this is still an amazing deal. Would you rather sit on a bus or train for 12 hours and pay more or take a 1 hour flight?
The single most useful tool I have found for booking flights in Thailand or even Asia is Sky Scanner. This tool is kind of like Kayak in that it searches a lot of sites. It will compare prices for many airlines on the selected route. They allow you to check the price and find the cheapest travel dates. I use Sky Scanner quite frequently. It is worth pointing out that Sky Scanner often has glitches when reporting the price of Nok Air flights. The fare shown is often misleading because it does not include taxes and fees. Since you don't book directly with Sky Scanner, this will be revealed to you when you get to the Nok Air website. It is merely time consuming when this happens.
