fares to thailand
 

I am planning to go to thailand between dec 10-26. I got a quote for an airfare of $820 on AA from JFK. I would to know if that's a good fare or not. Are there any other source I can look for a cheaper flight? Thank you.

That sounds like a good fare - I just did a search on mobissimo.com and the lowest they had was $1028 on United. The best price for American was $1156. Of course, these things change every minute it seems so no guarantees.

Thanks. The reason I am asking is that the agents tells that's very expensive. I guess the flight to BKK should be a lot lower.

I think that's a decent fare, because you're returning on 12/26, when it's pretty busy season. You can probably get a fare in the 700s or even lower in Nov, but probably around Christmas time. And Asian travel has really picked up this year compared to the last two, so the really cheap fares will be harder to find.

Max10, I hope you're monitoring the travel warnings published by different national governments (eg US, UK, Canada and Australia are a good sample) regarding travel to Thailand. While many people seem overly concerned about travel risks in some countries, I've noticed that many people do not seem to be aware of the risk of terrorist attacks in certain parts of Thailand. For example, the Canadian government currently is advising people not to travel to the southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, and Songkhla (and the government doesn't issue a lot of "don't go there" warnings. Make sure that you take appropriate precautions to familiarize yourself with the situation and take "financial precautions" regarding your bookings for flights and hotels, if possible. Thailand is a beautiful place, but not as safe as many people seem to think it is.

There have been warnings about possible terrorism in southern Thailand for some time now. Haven't noticed postings here on Fodor's or other travel boards where travelers are stopping anywhere near that area. But it's good to remind people to be aware. It's a caution warning not unlike many other destinations these days.

max10 - $820 is an excellent fare for travel in December, especially direct from the AA. Don't hesitate as it's not likely to get any lower. Even the consolidators as posted above are higher, as is United. Go for it!

It's part of my job to monitor various governments' advisories about travel to various countries. The warnings about Thailand aren't just "caution" warnings. The warnings about threat levels in Thailand have increased significantly in the last half year (since I visited there), going from an "exercise caution" level to a "don't go to the following regions" warning (although the warning is at the "exercise caution" level for the rest of the country). The "do not go to region x" warning is a more serious warning than the warning for, for example, Syria (a place that many people might think was a no-go country), although not as serious a warning as the one for Indonesia, which currently says "tourists should not go to [any part of] Indonesia").

One of the things that is significant about the Thailand warning is that it covers some areas that would be "beach vacation destinations" for Western travellers (some countries have "do not go to region X" warnings, but the regions mentioned frequently aren't tourist hotspots).

Kate_W - Where can I find a listing of these cautions/warnings - US State Dept. web-site? I have no clue and would like to look up an upcoming trip to Turkey.

Hi mjz: I usually check and compare a few different countries' travel advisories because the warnings are sometimes affected by "politics", or more simply by department priorities related to where a country's citizens tend to travel (e.g. Australians travel everywhere, but they travel a lot in SE Asia and the Pacific, so Australian warnings are particularly strong in that area). I check the warnings published by Canada, the US, the UK and Australia. Some of them have subscription services (I get a daily email from the Canadian government and updates for specific regions from other countries).

The US URL is http://travel.state.gov/travel/warnings.html

The Canadian URL is http://www.voyage.gc.ca/dest/ctry/new-en.asp

UK URL is http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?...=1007029390572

The Australian URL is http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/

Finally, you might also want to consider the relatively inexpensive service (about US$25) offered by iJet Travel Risk Management. The service is called Worldcue Traveller. You give them your itinerary and they send you customized advice, and send you electronic updates if some arises (via email, blackberry, internet etc), 24 hour contact info for travel and medical assistance, etc. When I was sent on a consulting project last year, the organization I was working for signed me up for it. Nothing dire happened, but I did get a useful update at one point - a timely warning about checking my measles immunity because one of the destinations I was flying through had had a sudden measles outbreak. I wish I'd had the service when I found out for the first time ON THE NONSTOP PLANE to Asia about the SARS outbreak where I was going (the news had broken in North America late in the afternoon before I left). You'll want, of course, to evaluate the WorldCue service yourself. Check out http://www.ijet.com/services/traveler.html

Thanks for the tip Kate_W.

Mjz-if you are an American, you should primarily be concerned with State Dept. Travel Warnings-I posted about the Indonesia Travel Warning recently on the Asia board. Reason being is that each country has, quite obviously, differing foreign policy, both good and bad, and this foreign policy is, in many instances, directly related to the Travel Cautions and Travel Warnings posted by the individual govt. For example, what might be a State Dept. Travel Warning in one part of the world for Americans, might not be issued by other foreign govts. for its citizens, and vice versa, yet as an American, you need to pay greater attention to the State Dept. Warnings, as such Warnings are posted when there is specific and credible threat information directed at Americans, and/or more generally, western interests.

That's a good fare. I would buy it.

Spygirl - A traveller should always check her own government's warnings. However, I don't think they've been able yet to design bombs capable of determining a person's nationality before killing him or her. So it is best to collect information from several other governments' warnings (particularly from countries whose citizens look and sound similar to you (hence, I always check US warnings even though I'm Canadian), and who may have similar foreign policies (hence, an American might want to look at UK and Australian warnings since some people group these countries together in respect of their governments' position on the war in Iraq). Finally, those warnings can be influenced by politics - a government might over-emphasize or downplay risks (intentionally or unintentionally) in a particular region because it is influenced by its overall view on a region. So it's worth checking several sources and comparing the advice.

Are airfares to Thailand cheaper after xmas? I got a quote from gobundle.com for about $800+ for travel between dec 27 and jan 5. Thanks.