When to buy cheap flight tickets to Thailand? (page 2 of 2)

Paris Tokyo round-trip for 10 € less we had premium economy

Hi

10 € less than what? The original price? Economy class?

hi oh good tip what’s this agency? Best regards

Hi! From the standard economy price.

Hi, I just sent you a PM. Eric

thanks Eric

Hello I just sent you a PM Eric

... I'm interested too. :-)

Is the service good in case of cancellation or date change?

hey Henon21 thanks for the feedback

Good evening Thierry,

After contacting a few travel agencies—one of which told me that prices can’t drop unless a group cancellation happens (airlines set these prices based on flight booking levels, as Matthew explained earlier)—I’m starting to regret not buying my tickets back in August.

Which leads me to my question: Does the following still hold true when you have cancellation insurance (I have one through my VISA GOLD, and I’ve linked the specific terms at the end of this message)?

I think buying your ticket almost a year in advance is another extreme because the longer the wait before departure, the higher the risk of something coming up (family, health, work...) that prevents you from leaving. Plus, that risk multiplies with each family member traveling together. And if you have to cancel, at best you’re only partially refunded—at worst, you lose everything.

Are cancellation insurance policies an effective solution if something goes wrong?

Damien

Here are the specific terms of my cancellation insurance, in case anyone’s looking for some light reading: https://assets.ctfassets.net/pniyec9izm4q/2INHFOH7pFZCunUJVh3tOB/81fb7a6a4680aadd1be348768621c7c0/Travel_cancellation_and_interruption_Insurance_VISA_Gold_fr.pdf

Hi Damien, I read all 4 pages of the terms and conditions—it looks like the coverage is pretty comprehensive and the exclusions seem logical, but since I’m not an expert on the subject, I can’t really vouch for it. AXA is definitely not some small, obscure insurance company.

Thanks Thierry.

What I wanted to know is if anyone on the forum has had experience with cancellation and insurance intervention.

Good evening

Yes, end of August 2025. My partner has a severe lung infection that spread to the pericardium. In short, 16 days in intensive care, etc. On the day of discharge, the agency handled all the necessary insurance paperwork for a total of 450 €. The agency reimbursed me for the airfare taxes—the contractual part of the Paris-Tokyo-Hanoi-Paris ticket. Within a month, I was back to square one financially. The hotel, unfortunately booked through Agoda, took longer and was more complicated, but it was reimbursed within a month and a half. Nothing to complain about. Eric

Thanks Thierry.

What I wanted to know is if anyone on the forum has had experience with cancellation and insurance intervention.

Hello, A few years ago, my husband was urgently hospitalized (pulmonary embolism) the day before a trip to South Africa. The flight tickets were fully refunded by the insurance on our Visa Gold card. Best regards, Françoise

Hi,

This has never happened to us, but a couple of friends—one of whom got sick—had no problem getting a quick refund for the sick person’s ticket. However, for the healthy spouse, it was more difficult and took much longer... but they eventually succeeded. 😄 They had taken out travel insurance in addition to the one from their gold credit card.

What I wanted to know is if anyone on the forum had experience with cancellation and insurance intervention.

Hi there,

I have the same insurance as you (the one from my Visa Gold card), which worked really well for reimbursing flights and hotels for both my partner and me after a scaphoid fracture. They asked for a medical certificate and X-rays. Another time, I got reimbursed for a flight after my employer refused my leave request. Gold just needed the refusal letter.

In both cases, the process was pretty straightforward despite the paperwork, communication with the insurer was smooth, and the reimbursement was quick. For the partner’s share, you need to be married, in a civil partnership, or cohabiting, and, of course, have paid for everything with the Gold card.

Every year, I call them to ask for the latest version of the general terms and conditions. They’ve changed before, especially for rental car insurance.

Thanks Thierry.

What I wanted to know was if anyone on the forum had experience with cancellation and insurance intervention.

My father-in-law was very ill; the doctors couldn’t tell us how much longer he had. We had a flight booked, along with hotels and a rental car. We couldn’t bring ourselves to leave knowing he might pass away while we were gone. I called our travel cancellation insurance, and they gave us two options.

First option: go as planned, and if he passed away, they would cover the cost of a faster return flight and reimburse the "unused" services—hotels, the car, and any non-refundable bookings.

Second option: not go on the trip at all, and the insurance would cover all the non-refundable bookings.

We chose the second option—no way we wanted to go on vacation in that situation. After sending the medical certificate, the insurance reimbursed us in less than two weeks.

The same insurance also covered some costs when we had to cancel our trip because of Covid.

hello yeah good info what’s this agency? Best regards

Same question here... what’s this agency?

It’s true that a long time ago, buying tickets from agencies in the 13th arrondissement could be a great tip.

Dear VoyageForum members,

For the past two months, I’ve been checking flight prices for a 4.5-week trip to Thailand from early July to early August. I’m leaving from Brussels with a young child, so I really want to avoid layovers. That’s why I’m only looking at Thai Airways’ website and only considering direct flights.

At the end of August, I saw tickets for 955 € per person. On October 1st, they were 1,225 €. Today (October 22nd), the price is the same as on October 1st. (Same dates: Departure: July 4th, Return: August 7th.)

My question is: is it possible that these prices will drop significantly in the coming months?

Note: I clear my browser cache before every search, which I always do during the week and in the evening. This time, we also checked on my work computer, which has a VPN. So, the price isn’t influenced by cookies.

Thanks in advance for your feedback and advice.

Damien

Hello,

If, for personal reasons, you absolutely want to take a direct flight from Brussels to Bangkok, then there’s really only one airline to consider!

You should try searching with slightly different departure and return dates—this might change the prices. But don’t get your hopes up: Thailand is no longer a budget destination, and that’s been the case for a while now. Happy searching!

Hi there,

I was re-reading one of Aroythai’s posts and thought I’d answer my own question after doing more research (and still not buying my tickets, which are super expensive!):

- If you’re flexible (dates, airports, layovers, airlines), there are clearly opportunities to grab if you go by all the feedback pointing that way,

- But if you’re picky (wanting a direct flight, specific dates and airports, traveling during school holidays), it’s best to book as soon as tickets go on sale (1 year in advance) because prices just keep climbing.

Have a great weekend.

Damien