How to book the Bangkok Air Discovery AirPass

no, you must book directly with the airline....they have an 800 number but i do not know it.... know exactly what you want when you call....dates, times, flt # and alternatives...

I have a number (866-226.4565) and spoke with them once, but it was a rather confusing call. He did say I could book thru a travel agent also.

I called them direct and booked. I had no problems. After booking I had the confirmation number and was able to monitor any changes to my tickets online. There was a flight canceled but they sent an email alerting me to the change and putting us on another airline and flight as a substitute for the cancellation. There were no extra charges.We traveled in March 2011.

Did you book only on BKK Air or did u also use Laos Air? thanks

First, you go to the website and figure out which flights you want to take. Then, you call the 866 number and interface with a call center in India. Be prepared to spell out every word. You reserve the flights and then arrange for payment. We sent a certified check and saved the credit card charge. At that time, you could not use a credit card in the original phone call anyway, so it was always going to be a two-part transaction.

If you go to the Bangkok Air website, with some careful searching you can get the locations of the four US representatives: LA, Chicago, Houston, and NYC. Each one uses the 1-866- phone number, but has its own dedicated email address. Try that, and find a way to contact them directly by phone within the US--or deal with them by email as far as you can.
Past experience shows that folks who find a domestic agent get better and more accurate results than going through the call centre in India.
Here is the contact info for the NYC rep, and from there you should be able to click on the others: http://tinyurl.com/2u3zehx

Yes that is the # I called Tel : 1 866 BANGKOK and you get the call center in India. Email may work bettr. thanks

I emailed them from their website asking a couple of specifics about dates and particular flights. After two emails which were very quick with responses, they made clear I could book with them directly BY EMAIL, despite what others have said, and I did. I have four flights set with them on the Discovery Pass and I did it all by email. Bangkok to Siem Reap, Siem Reap to Luang Prabang, Luang Prabang to Chiang Mai, and Chiang Mai back to Bangkok.

Two questions, NeoPat:
1. What address did you email to? (BKK, NYC, where?)
2. What payment arrangements were made, and at what extra cost, if any?
Will

Patrick, you are the first person here who has been able to book the Discovery Pass via eamil. It seems like a very convenient way to do it!

After having rouble with the phone, I did email then and a day or two later I got a response. I had email contact with an agent and she said she could book the flights thru email. I never got to booking because we have postponed the trip, but I'm still intersted in understanind the pass for when we do go.

NP - Are all the flights on Bangkok Air? Were you able to book flights on Laos air? To go from Lunag Prang to Siem Reap they were routing me back thru Vientienne with an overnight there before going on to SR. Laos Air had a direct LP - SR flight which I would have preferred. thanks

yestravel, you've postponed your winter '11 trip?

Yes, sadly -- timing didn't work for Feb/March which was the only timeframe when we could go. We had the chance of running into the problem with the burning of the argriculture crops in Laos, NThailand with smoke potentialy even in Siem Reap. Going to Chile and back to BA instead. Will do SEAsia end of 2011. Hope u have a great trip and will look forward to reading about it when u return.

To answer the questions above:

I asked questions and stated what I want to do with Bangkokair.
I used the email address of reservation@bangkokair.com

When I gave them my schedule and the preferred flights, they responded by giving me a reservation number. They told me what I could do -- and yes the flight from Siem Reap to Luang Prabang is on Lao Airlines with a quick stopover in Pakse. That was all that was available on the day I wanted to go.

They sent me my "tickets" by email which I've printed, but it does say "check in is required".

The four flights (five if you count the stopover in Pakse) of which three are international -- cost a total of THB 14,520 plus taxes, insurance, and fuel charges of 3205. It appeared as a charge on my Master Card as $ 551.72 US which seemed about right.

I was really impressed how quickly they answered my questions and how clear their answers were when I had asked mainly about the flights from SR to PL. I was really just asking about those flights expecting to have to call to reserve when they made clear that they could just book me by email, so I did.

this is a huge improvement over prior years contacts

NP -- thanks for your response. Looks like email may be the best way to go.

Thanks, Neopatrick. This is good news about easier access to the elusive Discovery Air Pass.

I am resurrecting this thread because we're resurrecting our trip to SEAsia. I had figured out the Discovery Pass last year, but now need a refresher and would appreciate help.

When I go to the website provided by BKK Air
http://www.bangkokair.com/en/plan-your-trip/discovery-airpass/discovery-airpass.php.
all the flights route me thru BKK and are on BKK AIR. Do I need to go to the website for Laos air to get flts that they offer? Then I would email reservation@bangkokair.com with all flights on both airlines?

Thanks!

Bookmarking - thanks for the info.

I phoned the 1 800 number and booked over the phone (India I think) and then had to fax them my credit card info. The flight from bangkok to Luang Prabang must be on Bangkok air. The rest can be on Laos Air. I found however that when I was in Laos the inter Laos flights were as cheap or sometimes cheaper through local travel agents than the discovery air pass prices. The BKK Luang Prabang flight was less using the pass and you must do minimum three flights.

thanks, live42day -- What time of the year were u there? We've been advised since we'll be travelling around Tet that flights get pretty booked up and it might be best to book in advance.

do u recall what each segment for the AirPass cost? Also if not flying out or into BKK can I book on Laos Air. For example Siem REap to Luang Prang?

I was just there in January, if you click on my name you will see my trip report. Some of the flights certainly do get booked up in advance and if your dates are set I would book it. THere are not many choices for Siem REap to LP.
THe regular fare on Lao airlines is $245 incl tax. If you do the discovery air pass and they put you though another city, say Pakse or BKK you will have to pay for two legs. WHen I flew from Pakse to Bangkok they made me route through Vientiene and pay twice.
THe fare from BKK to LP was $120 plus tax, and that would be the fare from SIem REap to LP if you can do it in one flight.
I would call the 1800 number many many times before I got some flights that worked. THey quite often would say the flight I wanted could not be booked on the Discovery Air pass. It was a very frustrating experience but I did it.

If Bangkok Air is available on a route you must book them, but Siem Reap to LP would be on Laos Air as BKK air does not fly it.

YOu must book at least three legs on the Discovery air pass so just make sure that it is worth you while before assuming it will be cheaper and easier.

Very helpful -- thank you so much. Last year when we originally planned to go on this trip I spent hours trying to work out the Discovery Pass. this time I want to try and be sure I have it figured out when I call them. I will check out your trip report.

Successfully booked our flights thru email using reservation@bangkokair.com. I sent them the requested flights and they would respond the next day on the availability of the flights requested. They suggested alternatives if the flight that I wanted was not available. Once the flights were settled upon they emailed a confirmation number and I had 10 days to provide credit card information. The day after I emailed them my credit card information in 2 separate emails I received etickets via email. The flight to Luang Prabang stops in Pakse. Per their email with the etickets they said I would need to change planes on the flight from Siem Reap to Luang Prabang, but I was not charged an extra segment for this. Fare was $120. It all worked very smoothy.

Great news. I look forward to your trip report

Thank you to everyone on the thread above! I called the 1-866-BANGKOK number. Of the 6 flights I wanted on Bangkok Airways & Lao Airlines, I was able to book 4 via the Discovery Airpass. It's a cumbersome process, since you have to fax them your credit card info. And it was nearly 48 hours from my first phone call until I got the e-tickets as a PDF in email. But I saved a lot of money.

Can I ask a few more question about the Discovery Pass...

If we're planning to travel at the end of December this year does anyone know how far out you should book flights with Bangkok Air (hopefully using Discovery Pass)? I know the # of flights is limited - and that's high travel season so if we know dates is there any reason to not book now?

If a flight's not available thru the DP program would you book your others (assuming enough separate flights to make it work to your benefit) and then just book the one as a regular flight? Or am I misunderstanding and if a flight's not available via DP it's not available period?

If a flight shows on their schedule as one flight with a stop in Bangkok (that would be Sukhothai to BKK to Phuket) is that counted as two flights for DP purposes?

Also -- if using email do you think sending c/c # in 2 separate emails is safe?

Thanks.

Successfully booked my flights thru email using reservation@bangkokair.com. I sent them the requested flights and they would respond the next day on the availability of the flights requested. They suggested alternatives if the flight that I wanted was not available

Leslie_S, one caution about booking too far ahead that I can think of. Thai Air changed the flight we had booked from Japan to BKK, with the result that a connection to the Bangkok Air flight no longer worked. That meant an unforeseen overnight stay in BKK. prior to our flight to LP.
Then too Bangkok Air changed its schedule after we booked, cancelling their flight from LP to SR, in favour of two flights routed thru BKK with 6 extra hours required. What I'm saying is that schedules change so booking now might be too far ahead of time. But one can never be sure.
If it's one flight with a stop in BKK, then it's one flight. That at least was our experience flying to Phuket from SR via BKK.
Sending cc info via email to an Asian country requires all the possible precautions you can think of. (Three separate emails from different accounts would be better!) If possible, provide your cc number by phone instead. And explain what you're doing, with the payee and amount, to your cc company in advance.

I booked with the 1800 number and talked to someone in India. It took many calls as the flights I wanted did not qualify for the Air Pass. If a flight connects, it is considered 2 stops. I wanted to book Pakse to Bangkok but the only flight they would let me use was one through Vientiene and not the direct flight, and then charged me two legs.

If it just stops you should be fine, but a connecition is two legs.
I had to fax the credit card ifo to them, could not do by phone

I would not do it this far ahead. I would wait until late summer at the earliest.

I agree about the issue of potential,changes, but I would not wait until late summer to book for December. We booked in June for January and were unable to book flights to Krabi from BKK or from Krabi back to BKK. They did offer flights to Phuket so perhaps there r more flights and you wouldn't have a problem with flights there. I booked the flights not available on DP or not eligible for DP on Air Asia. Had trouble with the Air asia website booking, but no problem with the flights themselves.

I booked DP via email, they were very prompt in responding and offered alternatives when what I requested was not available. sent my cc info in three separate emails.

Thanks so much for the helpful replies!