Low cost airlines that fly Tokyo - Bangkok?
 

August 2008 - My husband and I are starting our trip in Tokyo (because of the direct Delta flight there from the states, we are hoping to get upgraded to business class!) but then meeting other family members in Bangkok.

Are there any low cost airlines that fly this route? Right now it is looking kind of $$ ($700+). Or is that the best I am going to do?

Thanks!

Because August is peak season for travel from Japan, it is highly unlikely that you will find any published fares for much less than that. There are no low cost carriers doing that route right now...JetStar has begun service to Australia, but their prices are in line with other carriers I've observed.

You may find unpublished, discount fares offered by various agents to be less, depending on your dates...late August is a little cheaper, after obon is over, as are the first few days of the month. These types of fares are released sometime between March and June for August, and sell out fast for obvious reasons. The cheapest fares will be on indirect routes with one or two stopovers with poor connections. Non-stops will not be discounted nearly as much. These tickets are sold through agents like No. 1 Travel, and usually have to be paid in cash via bank transfer. I'm not even sure if they cans sell tickets to someone outside of Japan. The best prices are to be found usually at agents who do not target the English speaking market. I use www.tour.ne.jp to search and sometimes I buy, but there is no English language version.

I'm sure it would be less money to book your entire ticket through to Bangkok with a stopover in Tokyo rather than booking two separate tickets, as tickets from the US to Tokyo vs. to Bangkok do not differ much in price. Many fares allow a stopover in Tokyo.

One thought about your hopes to upgrade to business class. If you are hoping for a free upgrade, your chances are slim to none. Airlines seldom give op ups to anyone but their highest tiered frequent flyer club members, and only then if they are oversold in economy with seats in business. Those traveling alone are in a better position for this as well.

Upgrading with miles is possible if there is availability. You should already have been checking this option and booking when you find it. Upgrade seats are few.

If you are not locked into Delta for some reason, you might explore your other options to getting to Bangkok via Tokyo. Northwest, United, American, ANA, JAL fly non-stop to Tokyo from many cities in the US and also go to Bangkok.

Thanks Kim Japan. I guess we will just have to pay $$ for this leg of the flight.

Regarding the upgrade, my husband is a platinum Delta member, so we are hoping if I buy the correct fare class, we will have a chance at an upgrade. Or we could also use our miles, but they told us it would be 160K for us to upgrade, which seemed like a lot of miles for just an upgrade. But, since my Husband is 6'3, we might just bite the bullet.

An op up for him alone is far more likely than for both of you, but still, not something I'd count on. With his PNR attached to yours, he will be further down on the list of possible op ups than if he were alone, if he's on the list at all. I won't say that it never happens, but I can say that in my experience and everything I've read on flyertalk.com (which if you don't know about you should go there to the Delta board and search and/or ask about your situation and what those who frequently do the route think of your chances)..anyway, nowadays, op ups are few....In 12 years living in Japan and over 1,000,000 miles flown during that time, I have gotten an op up exactly once, and that was 9 years ago. Airliines have gotten MUCH better at capacity control and often go full but not overbooked.

I'm also not sure that you got good advice regarding upgrading with miles. Delta charges 12,500 miles to upgrade from the US to Japan on full fare economy, and 25,000 for upgrade on selected economy fares below full fare. For two of you, it should be maximum 100,000 miles. http://www.delta.com/skymiles/use_mi...ards/index.jsp

You must be wanting to use Platinum upgrade certificates good on Delta worldwide.

Is Tokyo the only Delta destination in Asia?

You should find out what price Delta wants for a roundtrip to Bangkok that goes on Delta metal to/from Tokyo. From Tokyo you'd go via Seoul on Korean Air, or go via Taipei on ??.

In either case, Delta should be able to apply the upgrade certs to the trans-Pacific flights on Delta.

I expect that what I just recommended would end up costing more than two tickets end-on-end, but it's worth checking on the fare.

Last month, China Southern became a part of the Skyteam Alliance. It is only 60K Economy or 120K Business to Bangkok, connecting thru Guangzhou.
Seats are a little harder to come by on the other partners - Korean, Singapore, and China AIrlines.

Wow, this whole upgrade thing is complicated. I think we are just going to try and use miles to upgrade, but hopefully we can talk them down from 160K, which seems to make no sense as a number now that I look at Delta's website.

Northwest is also a Skyteam partner. You could take them for 60K (economy) or 120K (business) to BKK and get a free stopover in NRT. Good luck on finding availability!