Finding a decent flight to Thailand

struggling to find a decent flight to Thailand?????

Hi everyone, I’ve been traveling in Asia for over 30 years, often to Thailand, but only during the school holidays in February, April, and especially in the summer, departing from Marseille or Lyon.

For some time now, I’ve noticed it’s really hard to find a flight at a reasonable price (under 900 €) and, more importantly, with a decent itinerary (we’re often offered 2 or 3 layovers with total travel times of 40 or even 50 hours), and this is the case almost a year in advance. This is something we never saw even 4 years ago—I’m wondering: are there fewer flights available now...?

Marsyork

If only it were just Thailand...

More travelers? Fewer flights?

Bankruptcies post-Covid? Catching up on lost revenue? Tourists making up for "missed" trips? Global wealth increase worldwide?

True, I used Thailand as an example because I go there often—the prices are skyrocketing on all flights. The trend doesn’t look like it’s about to reverse anytime soon... Recently, a Marseille to Essaouira low-cost flight during the All Saints' holidays was 600 €!!!!

There were cheaper options, but only if you stayed for 3 days—crazy!

The thing is, the consumer—especially the average one—often gets the short end of the stick. As I mentioned recently elsewhere, for nearly 10 years now, the best prices are usually around a year in advance when bookings open.

Honestly, I think it was the old prices (a round-trip for under 500 €) that were *actually* cheap.

hey Carole, given the current geopolitical situation, sorry for the corporate speak, but yeah, the trend isn’t about to reverse anytime soon. And with Trump wanting to invade Venezuela, things aren’t gonna get better because the price of a barrel of oil could skyrocket

Hi there,

The ever-increasing demand (10 billion passengers expected by 2035)

The post-Covid effect

The shortage of planes and crews

Inflation, which never goes back down

Airlines returning to profitability

We have to face the facts—cheap flights are a thing of the past! Or, if they do exist, it’s by going against the flow…

Hi, Rounding it up, the distance from Paris to Bangkok is about 9,500 km, which is 19,000 km round-trip. At 1000 €, that works out to 0.05 €/km, including meals, in-flight services, and all airport fees. Can’t really say it’s excessive.

I was wondering how much prices have skyrocketed in just a few years—I still travel, but I go less often and for shorter trips now.

Marsyork

Hi, Roughly speaking, the distance from Paris to Bangkok is 9,500 km, which is 19,000 km round-trip. At 1000 €, that works out to 0.05 €/km, including meals, in-flight services, and all airport fees. You can’t really say it’s excessive.

Well, not really—when it comes to air travel, the number of kilometers and the price aren’t directly linked.

But it’s true there was a golden age before Covid for flights to BKK with Chinese airlines for under 500 €.

Hey, I’m not saying the price of a flight ticket is *only* tied to distance—I’m just pointing out that 1000 € for 19,000 km isn’t outrageous. It was just to put things into perspective; after that, everyone does what they want.

...but it’s true there was a golden age before Covid for flights to BKK with Chinese airlines for under 500 €....

Right now, there’s also a golden age... if you’ve got gold 🙂

Hi,

Last winter I paid 650 € for my round-trip ticket from Paris to Bangkok with Oman Air.

I’ve still seen them for 600 € round-trip in January.

I booked a round-trip with Etihad for 700 €, leaving in early January.

You can find flights between 600 € and 700 € with Air India—they’re cheap, but yeah, it’s Air India.

hi, for the south of France, definitely not Marseille. With 4 months to go, sometimes a little competition from Nice can be worth it between Air France, Turkish Airlines, and Lufthansa (avoid Qatar and its issues)... prices can drop to 700-750 €. Otherwise, the Paris option: a direct TGV to CDG for 19 € + one night in a nearby hotel for 50 € and two bus tickets, then departure the next day with Oman Air, Vietnam Airlines, Gulf Air... you might find fares as low as 560-600 €. For the return, arriving around 7 AM and taking the train to Marseille at 11 AM (3h50 trip, 19 €—these prices are available 3 months in advance). Good luck!

Thanks, that could be an option I’ll look into for my future trip (haven’t decided where or when yet).

Cheers, Marsyork

Thanks for the tips! For my part, I’m avoiding Paris for now, but that could change. On the other hand, I can’t travel outside of school holidays at the moment (so January’s out)... bring on retirement!!!!

Marsyork

What issues have people had with Qatar, voted the best airline 9 years out of 10?

hi there, first off, I don’t know which reliable journal you’re getting that statistic from. But there are plenty of firsthand accounts from people who were treated poorly or ignored on their flights: bad food, bad service, missed connections, and this airline leaves its passengers stranded for hours at its airport without any consideration or compensation. And then there’s the fact that around 3,000 people disappeared during the construction of the stadiums for "their" World Cup... bodies never found, slave labor with confiscated passports, appalling living conditions that are way behind our times (containers housing 40 people in 30m², no toilets or ventilation, some only getting one meal a day). All of them from Southeast Asia and India... Not to mention their heavy involvement in financing terrorism... Giving them even 1 € is getting involved... so make your choice... have a good day

Hi, You can find negative reviews for all airlines, including the highest-rated ones like Qatar Airways, which has consistently been at the top of the Skytrax rankings for several years. https://skytraxratings.com/the-worlds-5-star-airlines https://skytraxratings.com/about-airline-rating

I find the second part of your argument pretty bold coming from someone who chose to settle in another dictatorship...

A dictatorship, you say? Do you live in the EU? Have you ever been to Thailand? Well then..........

You know, for the past few months, when you search on Google, the first result offered can be an answer from Artificial Intelligence. For a lot of questions, it really saves you from having to dig through sometimes 5 whole pages and dozens of different sites for info.

Try typing "BEST AIRLINES IN THE WORLD OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS" and you’ll get a clear-cut answer. I thought everyone was aware of this since all the newspapers talk about this ranking every year.

For the rest, of course, I can see where you’re coming from, but are you sure you’re considering the whole picture?

Anyone who wants to live in a country where the government respects its citizens and doesn’t want services, food, or goods from countries with questionable practices—well, that person can no longer drive, fly, travel, eat, or even live. We’ve had this discussion a thousand times here. There are French flight attendants working for Qatar Airways—should we massively boycott the airline even if it means they lose their jobs?

I hope you’re not heating your home with gas, because I could give you a thousand reasons to refuse gas from Qatar, Russia, Algeria, and the United States. When we can no longer read your posts on VF because your fingers are shaking too much from the cold on the keyboard, we’ll know you’ve stayed true to your convictions 😉

Check out Air Calin, they’ve got a promo on right now. Under 700 € for a round-trip CDG-BKK direct flight—I think that’s pretty good! 😉

Thanks for the info. I checked Aircalin, and for a round trip from July 20th to August 10th, it's about 1400 € per person. That’s not what I’d call a good price... Oh well, no Asia for me this summer.

I checked yesterday, just out of curiosity, for slightly different dates and found 700 € per person.

Hi, I paid exactly 698 € directly on the airline’s website (you can find it a bit cheaper on platforms), 3 weeks before departure and in peak tourist season—I think that’s pretty good! I did a simulation with Air France for the same dates, and it was double the price! Sorry the deal doesn’t apply to flights this summer. Happy searching.

hey, 700 € is a good price but does that include checked baggage?

yes