live42day

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.

yestravel

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?

live42day

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.

yestravel

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.

yestravel

Successfully booked our flights thru email using [email protected]. 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.

live42day

Great news. I look forward to your trip report

mowreen

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.

Leslie_S

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.

darrenmike99

Successfully booked my flights thru email using [email protected]. 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

WillJame

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.

live42day

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.

yestravel

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.

Leslie_S

Thanks so much for the helpful replies!

donnahelene

Everytime we called the toll free number above, we were asked to leave message - maybe just bad timing. We were trying to coordinate flights using the Airpass, however it ultimately turned out that the flights we requested were not available during the busy Dec/Jan season. I was successful in working through the New York office of Bangkok airways. Tel 212-279-6602. The flights we wanted from Bangkok to Luang Prubang were $610 on the Bangkok Airways web site (same on Kayak),but the New York office was able to book them for $470 each. We overnighted a money order (or you can use a credit card with a 5% surcharge) and the tickets were emailed to me the next day. Bangkok Airways also has offices in Chicago (312-822-0048), Houston (713-626-1905) and LA (818-501-2098).

blackrooster

I wanted again to try to revive this helpful thread. My wife and I are traveling around the area in June-July as part of 6 months in Asia, and the discovery pass sounds perfect. But we don't want to book exact dates and would like to have some flexibility. I'm wondering if we could still take advantage of the pass, esp. since I read that you can't book one while in Thailand. Or perhaps we may be better off buying plane tickets further down the road. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Gabi7

Blackrooster, We are planning on doing the same and would appreciate any information from people who've had experience with this service. Since we live in Cambodia, we won't be able to call an 800 number in the U.S.
Thank you.

Gabi7

I have been in touch with them via email and received this information which may be helpful:

Terms and conditions:
§ Stopover: One stop over is allowed per city.
§ Transfer: Unlimited transfers
§ Rerouting:
o Rerouting is allowed with a charge of USD 30 per transaction, plus fare differential (if any).
o Ticket validity can be extended according to the maximum coupons. For example, a number of 4 Discovery Airpass coupons can be reissued to 6 if the passenger agrees to pay for the fare differentials and rerouting charges.
§ Minimum stay: No minimum stay is required, with the only exception of SiemReap, where a minimum stay of 1 day is required.
§ Maximum stay: A maximum stay of 2 months is required.
§ Refund policy:
o Once the first journey has begun, the ticket becomes non-refundable.
o If the Discovery Airpass ticket is fully unused, passengers can submit a refund request. In this case, administration fees would be deducted for any refund of the original ticket.

Additional information:
§ Passengers are required to confirm their all flights before the departure.
§ The entire journey must be completed within 2 months from the first traveling date.

yestravel

While it is always a good idea to confirm flights, we did not do that with the Discovery Air Pass. We looked online to ensure no flight times had been made.

Marija

I didn't know we had to confirm flights until I read the above but it didn't seem to matter.

salcho

I just called the 1-866 number and spoke to the customer rep. Everything went great except for 1 leg of the trip, the Luang Prabang - Siem Reap flight with Lao Airlines. I can see the flight that I want online in the Lao Airlines website but for some reason they cannot book that one for me. They want me to go to Vientiane, have an overnight there, and then leave for Siem Reap the next day. The other option is going to Bangkok and then Siem Reap but that flight takes way too long (7 hours).

Is there some other way that I can book that flight from Luang Prabang to Siem Reap stopping in Pakse with the Discovery Air Pass? This is very frustrating.