help with thai airlines problem!!
 

ok, i am in the united states and i am trying to book a ticket on the internet site of thai airlines from seoul to bangkok for early next year. they have a very good fare. when i get done it tells me that to use my credit card it has to be an electronic ticket. so i say fine. but them it comes back and says this route cannot be booked using an elctronic ticket. i can buy it but it must be picked up within 72 hours in the city of origin, which is seoul, korea. i live in arkansas for pete's sake. i called the airline and they were no help whatsoever. she said i should have someone book it for me in seoul and come and pick up the ticket and send it to me. this is crazy. does anyone have any ideas. by booking over the phone the tickets are twice as expensive. why do they tease you with a good fare and then make it impossible to book it. i need help.
thanks
michael

Sadly that is the way so many airlines are! Considoring the advances in technology and the amount of world travel it is still a real nuisance! Try the Singapore Airlines website, you 'might' get lucky as they do the Seoul - BKK route non-stop and one thing I know is that they have cheap online fares on their website which are comparable with 'cheapie' ticket prices, give it a try, you never know!

www.singaporeairlines.com

I've dealt with this also. I'm afraid you are out of luck. Your best bet is to try and book your ticket through a Thai travel agent. You will not get as good a rate as the internet rate but it will be close and a lot better than any rate you can get in the USA. Try www.thaifly.com. I had a good experience with them.

to james a
i tried singapore air web site. wow, it was 3 times as expensive. maybe i am doing something wrong.
michael

No, you are right, I tried out of interest and they quoted about $1,000. Maybe you should go back to the start and just search Yahoo or Google for 'Travel agent Seoul' and find a local agent who has deals. probably the best way. if not find some small agent maybe an agent that specializes in Korea Travel as they always have local agent/office in Seoul and they can get cheap flights.

craig
i tried thaifly.com but they only do fares from the usa. do you know any sites that i could inquire of seoul to bangkok?
michael

Ask at the agents at the Thai Air 800 number in the US whether they can sell you the ticket and have it next day mailed to you. That's what I was able to do for a pair of tickets roundtrip from Bangkok to Hanoi. I had to pay the $15 Fed Ex charge, but I got the tickets.

Try going through Nova Travel. I've used them and had great results. They have an internet site and you can also call them. www.novatravel.com, 1-800-646-6682. Good luck and happy travels!

X-man, Thai-fly may have an office in the USA that only serves the USA. They are based in Bangkok, though. I bought a business class Bangkok - Bali ticket which they Fed-ex'd to me from Bangkok. You may have to fool with the site a bit to get the info you want - or just e-mail them: [email protected]

I had the same problem as well, but when I phoned the LA office I was able to get the tickets for only $10 more than the on line price. You would think they would realize that many people booking on line are located elsewhere then the departure city!

Once again fodorites prove their savvy -- there are a lot of good suggestions on this thread and I'm going to save it for next time.