p3t0t

Dear fodorites,

We are thinking of making a 3 days side trip to Angkor Wat from BKK.

I'm looking for input & advice on what airlines have this route and what is a reasonable price for this?

TIA!

Craig

Well, there's Bangkok Airways and there's Bangkok Airways. And unless you have this flight as part of the Bangkok Airways Discovery Pass, it will be expensive.

p3t0t

Thanks Craig...yes, I checked BKK Airways, and yes, it's very expensive

Unfortunately we don't have the discovery pass
We are using our milleage for the free tix to Asia.

Looks like there is NO other option..?

Kathie

No other option to fly directly between Bangkok and Siem Reap.

About the Discovery Pass. This has nothing to do with how you are getting to Asia, but only has to do with whether you fly three legs on Bangkok Air. Are you going anywhere else besides Bangkok and Siem Reap? Bangkok Air flies to the beach aresa of Thailand and to Chiang Mai, for instance, as well as flying some other international routes within SE Asia. You have to buy the Discovery Pass from outside of Asia.

p3t0t

Thank you Kathie for the clarification

Do we MUST fly 3 legs on Bangkok Air?

I googled this to find out more and how to purchase this, but the website is not too clear.

Scotters

you could travel by land quite comfortably by taking a taxi to the Poipet boarder crossing and once across taking another taxi to Siem Reap. Total time including boarder formalaties between 51/2-61/2 hrs. Cost less than $150 and that is for 2 people or more.

Kathie

Yes, you must fly three legs on Bangkok Air to qualify. There are lots of posts here on how to buy the Discovery Pass. Someone recently managed to make the arrangements via email. Between the posts here and the Bangkok Air site, it should be clear.

As Scotters points out, it is possible to go overland. It's a long and not very comfortable journey, with plenty of scams along the way for the unwary. It basically takes two full days of you time (one day each way). If you want to consider this option, take a look at www.talesofasia.com for all of the details.

sf7307

How much IS the fare from Bangkok on BKK? I'm curious, because we're flying to Siem Reap from Saigon on Vietnam Air and it's $177 one-way per person, which is pretty high compared to the cost of flights <i>within</i> Vietnam on Vietnam Air, and it's also quite a bit more than our flight on Air Asia from Siem Reap to Hong Kong (via Kuala Lumpur).

Craig

I think you mean how much IS the fare from BKK on Bangkok -

US $369 RT, US $225 one way

2g

You won't a have a choice, there's only Bangkok Airways and this is an expensive flight because there is no competition. In general I found flight to Siam Reap to be expensive because no matter where I was flying from there was no competition to this destination.

MichaelBKK

KL - Siem Reap is the only route that has any competition. Regarding taxis, I had dinner with Offwego earlier this week and she was telling me the taxi situation in Poipet was driving guesthouses in Siem Reap crazy. There's long been a problem with the taxis not taking people to the place they want to go, and taking them to other guesthouses. That lead to the guesthouses sending their own taxis to Poipet to pick people up, and now the police, in collusion with the taxi 'mafia', are charging taxis from Siem Reap $10 or more to get in and out of Poipet. It all means that ground transport from Poitpet to Siem Reap will end up costing you two or three times what the cost from Bangkok to the border - with is more than twice the distance.

If you had more time, I'd suggest flying to Phnom Penh, which has three options from Bangkok, and traveling to Siem Reap overland from there.

Smeagol

Hope you dont mind me jumping in to this thread, SO it could be cheaper to go PP from BKK then onto SR that way? i was planning to do BKK-REP-PNH-BKK? but am open to flying into PNH first (although i guess i still have to get back from REP to BKK)
For the OP i have been using Eddie at SEtours (an agent in BKK) to look at prices for me (he booked my Lao flights in Feb) and he can normally get cheaper tix - granted they are still not cheap though. Let me know if yo want his address (or do a sreach on here many people have used him)

jfcarli

My two bits to this thread:

You will be better off using AirAsia flying r/t to Kuala Lumpur and again R/T to Siem Reap.

We have just finished our Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia tour a week ago.

Kathie

Smeagol, it doesn't matter for your itinerary which way you fly, you still have one very expensive leg that goes nonstop between BKK and Siem Reap. And, while I've been using Eddie for many years others, should know that he cannot get you the discovery pass.

jfcarli, yes flying to KL is one way to save some money on getting to/from Siem Reap. But it depends on which is more important to you at this point - money or time. Flying via KL means it will take most of a day from checking out of your Bangkok hotel to checking in to your Siem Reap hotel, vs. a one hour flight on Bangkok Air.

Smeagol

Kathie
Yes good point, i kind of came to that conclusion too! Even though Eddie couldn't get me the discovery pass in Feb, his prices were still very good!

I also agree with Kathie ref flying to KL, to me a waste of precious holiday time!

p3t0t

Thank you all for the inputs.
Unfortunately, time is very valuable for us...
I will look into the Bangkok air fares...just a quick question, does the price ever change for BKK - SR route? Does it matter if we book now or wait a little?

Thanks again!

Kathie

In my experience, the price does not change.

When are you going? If you are going during high season, flights do sell out. While there are multiple flights each day, if you wait too long you may not get the flight time you want. During the busiest season, from just before Xmas through New Year, all flights will be full, so book as early as possible.

HappyMom32

How about Air Asia from BKK to Phnom Penh and then Siem Reap airways to Siem Reap?

toni46

Sawati

HappyMom

Very good idea

Sanuk

gearsau

I have been from Bangkok to Siem Reap three (3) times this year. Recently there in July and in August. Both times, I have taken the 5.00AM bus ( 212 baht ) from MORCHIT BUS TERMINAL in Bangkok to the border.
As long as you are fit, carry your bags across the border yourself.( its a 300 meter long crazy place).

Fill out all the necessary forms yourself, and get a CAMBODIAN e-VISA on line before you go. Suposed to take up to 3 days to process, but, last time, took 2.5 hours. Probably because I was in the system
http://www.mfaic.gov.kh/
Take a US$45.00 taxi from Poipet to Siem Reap, and tell them that you will not pay until you arrive at your hotel.
This is what I did last trip, and on my trip in July, I fell victim to a couple of the scams. On the last trip, I had no problems.
I arrived at my hotel in Siem Reap at 1:00PM. So,5:00AM bus to border ( 5 hours ),one hour to cross border, and two hours to get to Poipet. Total cost US$ 52.00.

Want to fly or save money? .. Choice is yours.

Same applies to reverse rip, but, generally, the taxi back from Siem Reap to border will only be US$35.00.

Hope this helps