acnap88

Hi I am booking a flight between Chiang Mai and Luang Prabang and then again on to Siam Reap. I am having a lot of trouble booking online. Has anyone booked online recently and had success?

Kathie

Someone here recently posted that they had been successful buying online. Do know that there is a scam site connected to a French travel agent who will sell you a ticket online but it is worthless. If you search on Lao Airways or Lao Air, you should get the recent posts.

acnap88

I am still having trouble trying to book and hoping someone might have some advice. We again tried booking online which didnt work so we sent an email to Lao airways with the bookings we wanted to make. We got an email response saying they had put us on the flight and we could pick up out tickets in Bangkok. They didnt want a credit card and there is no confirmation. We tried calling and emailing, it seems like this one person is the whole customer service operation at Lao Airways. The whole process over the last couple days was very bizarre. We then managed to get one of the flights booked online, got an email confirmation and when we called back on the second flight the same guy said you cant book that one (as its operated by Vietnam Airways) and that he cancelled our booking online since we had already been booked on the flight the day before. This whole thing is making me uncomfortable that we will get to Bangkok and not really be on the flights or owe more money. If anyone has any experience with this it would be much appreciated!
Thanks

glorialf

I'm trying to do the same thing and finally decided to try Eddie at seatours in Bangkok (recommended by fodorites) but I have emailed him three times and have yet to get a response.

glorialf

Finally got a response from Eddie. Flights are a fortune!

acnap88

So are you going to go ahead and book with Eddie? Do you have his email addres?
So if you book with Eddie does this mean that you pick up your tickets in Bangkok or do you receive them in the mail, or how does that process work? when do you actually pay for the tickets? I think for our second flight which is operated by Vietnam Air we will book directly with Vietnam Air so its just the one flight from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang.

glorialf

He said I would get my ticket as an eticket. You pay with a credit card -- there's a form to fill out which you either email or fax him. My ticket has to be paid by September 15th (flight is in Dec) but airfare isn't guaranteed (including fuel surcharge) until I pay.

acnap88

Thanks for the help. I emailed Eddie and he did get back to me right away. He quoted me prices that were in line with the websites. One of my flights, operateed by Vietnam Airway is not available as an e-ticket so he said I can pay and for ~$40 have it sent to my address in the US.
I am assuming a lot of peopel have used him and not had any problems? I am a bit hesitant to email or fax copies of both the front and back of my credit card.

glorialf

I also would like to hear from others who have sent him the front and back of their credit cards. Makes me nervous as well. Which format do you think is safer or is there another way?

Kathie

I have been using Eddie for years. He's always been reliable. If you are going to be in Bangkok for a few days before your intra-asia flights, he can simply deliver your tickets to your hotel so he doesn't have to send them. When I check into my Bangkok hotel, they always have my tickets waiting for me!

Faxing the front and back of your credit card is pretty common to secure reservations in Asia. Faxing is more secure than email.

glorialf

Kathie-- these will be etickets so he can just email them to me.

Kathie

Gloria, that makes it especially easy for you.

MaryW

I've booked last month direct with Lao airlines - no problems at all. You must use www.laoairlines.com

First you MUST use internet explorer as your browser - I don't usually (I use firefox) and until someone told me to I just couldn't get the site to work. Once I used internet explorer it went easily. I paid by credit card on a secure site and e-tickets came in about 1 hour.

The scam site refered to by Kathie - it has a - between lao and airlines - it shouldn't be a problem any more, they were actually listed as agents by the proper airline but never delivered on the tickets or at least without a lot of problems. Lao airlines have apparently now stopped them being agents. If you have gone to their site by mistake it could explain all the mess.

glorialf

Of course now I'm thinking I should skip Luang Prabang and go to Burma to visit people (and give some money wherever I can) instead.

I know the person I'm supposed to be going with would have no interest in Burma but I have a strong suspicion she may cancel. If she does I may rethink the whole trip somewhat.

Gloria