Help with Flights Between Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam
 

Hi all-

My husband and I are planning a trip to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam in May/June. We will have approximately 25 days on the ground. We are planning to fly into and out of Bangkok. Our tentative itinerary is to travel from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai to Siem Reap, Siem Reap to Danang, Danang to Ko Samui, and Ko Samui back to Bangkok. I am trying to figure out flights/travel between each of these destinations. We have a couple of questions:

1. Any suggestions for airlines between these destinations?
2. Do you suggest booking in advance or is it best to book once we get to SE Asia? I have heard it's cheaper to book once we get there. Is this doable or will it be hard to get flights?
3. Flights on the internet from Cambodia to Siem Reap seem expensive. Is it normally expensive to fly to Vietnam? Is there a preferable route from Siem Reap? We are concerned about time due to our 25 days total.

Thank you all for your help!

Try Eddie at SEtours (there's a thread on here about him) he saved me £££ just recently.I personally wouldnt wait, some flights sell out quickly.

I have just booked (a couple of days ago) the following flights: Bangkok-->Chiang Mai-->Phuket-->Kuala Lumpur-->Siam Reap-->Kuala Lumpur-->Bangkok with Air Asia. Tickets for two people cost altogether about U$ 730.00.

Since this is my first time in Southeast Asia, I cannot say about the quality of the company. But it seemed a LOT cheaper. All together the full itinerary with AirAsia cost me less than the Bangkok--> Siem Reap --> Bangkok with the other airline.

abwils, there is no one airline that flies to all of your destinations; you'll probably use three different airlines. And some of the flights you want (e.g., Chiang Mai to Siem Reap)don't exist, you'll have to take connecting flights. As you look at flights you may opt to change the order of your itinerary.

Only one airline flies between Bangkok and Siem Reap, Bangkok Air, so those flights are expensive. But if you fly three or more legs on Bangkok Air, you can get the Discovery Pass which will save you a lot of money. You must buy the Discovery Pass before you get to SE Asia. Indeed, you'll want to buy it as early as possible, as Discovery Pass seats do sell out.

jfcarli opted for Air Asia, which has good prices, but which has several issues you should know about as it is a budget airline. A couple of the issues are easily solved by paying extra (low baggage allowance, you can pay more to check more baggage; no assigned seats, you can pay extra to board early and choose your seats) but others are not so easily solved. Air Asia won't transfer your luggage from one flight to another - even another Air Asia flight. This isn't a problem if you are flying point to point, but if you are connecting to another flight...

Let me use part of jf's itineray as an example. jf flies from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur. If jf is staying in KL, no problem. But if jf is flying onward from KL to Siem Reap that same day... you get off your Air Asia flight from Phuket, go through passport control, pick up your luggage, go through customs, go to the Air Asia ticket counter and check in for your flgiht. You then go back through passport control and on to your Air Asia flight. The airport at KL is huge... this all takes time. If you miss your Air Asia flight for ANY reason, even if your previous Air Asia flight was late, your ticket is worthless and you must now buy a new (much more expensive) ticket. Air Asia tickets get more expensive the closer you get to the flight date.

Eddie, who I have been using for many years, cannot buy Air Asia tickets for you nor can he buy the Discovery Pass. But for other tickets, he can often save you money. [email protected] This is the American Express agency in Bangkok.

Oh, the idea that one should wait and buy tickets once you get to SE Asia as they are cheaper is simply not true. It's true in China, but not SE Asia. And tickets do get more expensive the closer you get to the flight date.

buy the tickets now to avoid any chance of the planes being full which happens all the time...

in K/L you are at a special low cost carrier airport, when using air asia, which is about a 20 minute ride from the main K/L terminal..

i have had very good luck with air asia and will be using them on two trips this year... BUT YOU MUST PAY THE EXTRA FOR THE EXTRA LUGGAGE AND ASSIGNED SEATS TO AVOID HUGE EXPENSE AT THE AIRPORT AND A REAL CATTLE CALL FOR SEATS....CHOOSE SEATS UP FRONT, ROWS 1-5 AND YOU WILL END UP WITH A SEAT IN BETWEEN YOU EMPTY...

air asia has excellent flights from bkk to both hanoi and HCMC but not danang... try vietnam air...not sure about any VN flights from SR..

flights from bkk to cambodia are quite expensive unless you use the discover pass

Forgot to mention: All tickets run from 11th July (earliest) to 04th August (final flight back to Bangkok).

The prices paid include seat assignment for each and every flight. I also paid for two suitcases up to 25kg each except for the KL-->Siem Reap-->KL, since I expect leaving the heavy suitcases at the hotel, while travelling to Cambodia.

Furthermore, we will stay at least 3 days in each step of the flights, so I so not expect problems with connections. I am returning to Bangkok on the 4th, but will only leave to Beijing on the 7th. I am a little paranoid with loosing connections. 8D

Currently I don't see any carriers that provide flights from Siem Reap to Da nang, but to Hanoi and Saigon only. Check out the sites of Vietnam Air and Cambodia Air.

From experience, flights would be the very first things to be booked once your dates and itineraries are fixed. There's no point in booking hotels and/tours if you can't get your flight tickets. Best regards.

AirAsiaX... be careful.

Most recently, my wife and I were stranded in Abu Dhabi when AirAsiaX announced they were canceling service to/from Abu Dhabi in January this year. They didn’t notify us (their stranded passengers) until Feb 10th. Neither did they offer any accommodation nor answer our emails asking for help. We had to get back to Malaysia on our own. They won’t reimburse our additional expenses either.

They said they would refund the Abu Dhabi/Kuala Lumpur portion of our trip, but it will take them 30-50 days to process the refund. Such an attitude!

Watch out for these guys. If you are considering using AirAsiaX, It might be a good idea to develop a plan B... just in case.