Paper ticketing on Thai Airways website???
 

I'm certain some of the smart people here can solve this conundrum... I went to the Thai website to buy tickets for the six of us from Bangkok to Rangoon and back. 1st problem: one can only buy 4 tickets, which I can presumably solve by registering my wife and letting her buy two of the tickets (still coming out of my pocket!). 2nd and primary problem: although the outbound is e-ticket eligible, the return is not. Under these circumstances, Thai requires that the tickets be purchased at a Thai office in the country of departure (Thailand) within 72 hours of the reservation being made. For me, anyway, this impossible. They will not take a credit card on their website (???!!!) given the paper ticket issue. I can buy the tickets on Expedia, but they are $50 more per ticket. I called Thai before I discovered this issue. They told me that I could buy them on the phone, but they would be more expensive (presumably the Expedia price) than online. Does anybody have any ideas about how to reserve and buy these tickets at the online price?

It seems that you either have to be in Thailand to buy the paper tickets, or pay the fee to get them via another route. Maybe check to see if you can buy them from a Thai office in the US? Or try a travel agent in person? I do know that now most paper tickets cost extra to issue.

We bought our tickets for BKK-RGN from Eddie often mentioned on this forum. He is affiliated with American Express and takes credit cards. The prices are as good as or better than on the Thai web site - I think we paid US$260 each. Do ask for the lowest cost tickets though or you might not get the price you want. In our case he sent the tickets to us via courier for a nominal charge.

The e-mail address is:
[email protected]

I found that the tickets I needed for BKK to Penang could not be e-tickets, but had to be issued as paper tickets. I had Eddie at the AmEx office in Bangkok buy the tickets for me, and he'll have them delivered to our hotel. I've used Eddie before. Just email him and ask for a price quote: [email protected]

oops- Craig has the right address.

I totally forgot about Eddie. He's the way to go I think.

thanks, everyone. I knew I had come to the right place.

I remember planning our first trip to Asia back in the fall and quickly coming to rely on the advice of the Fodorites. I mentioned to some people at work who asked how I was making all the arrangements that for flights I had sent an email to a guy named Eddie in Bangkok whom a bunch of strangers on a newsgroup had told me about and that I had given Eddie my credit card number and he was booking the flights and would have the tickets delivered to my hotel. I got some strange looks.
:-)
But of course, when we got to Bangkok and checked into the hotel, I was immediately handed an envelope - with the tickets from Eddie just as promised! So yes, go with Eddie.
:-)

eddie is the best and that is the correct address....you should also see a drop in the price....have him deliver the tickets to your bkk hotel...he is very prompt about this...

Also, did you price out the flights on Bangkok Air? They also fly BKK-Rangoon.

If this shows up twice, I'm sorry... Didn't seem like it was working... Cruisinred, Yes, I did and they are cheaper. However, the Thai flights have better times for us. I will say that since I first flew Thai 25 years ago, I have been unbelievably impressed with them. Even when flights were very late they seemed to make it nice. However, this experience has really soured me. I find it very hard to believe that if one needs a paper ticket one can't buy it on the web and thus get a web fare unless one is a) located in Thailand or b) in a city with a Thai ticket office. Paper tickets shouldn't cost $50 more than e-tickets. The responses I've gotten from Forestine at Thai from the emails I've sent are nothing short of astounding in their lack of regard for the customer. Luckily I've found Eddie!!!

Eddie is wonderful. It's so nice to check into my Bangkok hotel and have my intra-asia tickets waiting for me.

I'm glad Eddie has worked for you.

It's not only Thai that charges $50.00 for paper tickets. I can't think of an airline that doesn't charge for paper tickets. Most nowadays also charge extra for booking on the phone versus online.

Kim, The issue here is not that Thai charges extra for paper tickets. I am well aware that airlines sometimes charge extra for paper now (although it's usually only a nominal $10 or $20 and it's usually only when e-ticketing is an option but one elects paper). The issue here is that because they are paper tickets it is IMPOSSIBLE to buy them on Thai's website - at any price - unless one happens to be in Thailand. This is crazy. After all, what's the point of having an online reservations system if it can't sell you a ticket? It's beyond me why they can't take my credit card, sell me the tickets and then either 1) mail them to me (perhaps with some postage and handling charge) or 2) allow me to pick them up when I get to Bangkok. I know that when we were there last summer, I was able to buy paper tickets on both Sri Lankan and Bangkok Airways websites - without any extra charges - and then collect them at the airport in Bangkok. If one's in the business to make money, one should make it easy for a customer to buy your product. The good news here is that Eddie clearly understands this. He has made it remarkably easy and somehow he is able to sell Thai's tickets for even less than their web price.

i have made res on thai's site and then picked the tickets up in bkk later....they claim you can not do this, but i have done it more than once...

i think i may have just called their "800" number and arranged it all...

ccc, I agree that Thai has some ticketing problems. For instance, I'm flying from BKK to Penang, then back through BKK to CM, then return to BKK. Here's the crazy part: the BKK-PEN-BKK tickets are required to be paper and the BKK-CM-BKK tickets are required to be electronic. Thus, while Thai Air shows a rate from PEN-CM you can't book it because the two tickets are in different forms! Even Eddie couldn't get Thai to book it. So I have two separate sets of tickets, one set electronic, one set paper, for my itinerary. And I had to pay for them as two separate sets of tickets, so it cost a bit more than it would have had they been able to book a through fare from PEN-CM. I expect this will be resolved soon, once Thai goes to all electronic ticketing.

Bob, The problem with calling their 800 number is that they charge $50 more per ticket (in my case $300) for booking that way even though they can't/won't sell me a ticket on their website. If the fare were the same, or even had a $5 or $10 surcharge for talking to a real person (which is what most airlines now charge), that would be one thing, but $300 here and $300 there starts adding up to real money.

ccc-

What is the itinerary for your 2006 family adventure?

Burma, Bali, and a few days in Bangkok in the beginning and middle. Am counting the days! What I am incredibly excited about as well, although it isn't finalized yet, is that my oldest son (16) may get to go over early and spend 8 or 9 days with Ponheary helping teach English in Siem Reap.

ccc-
sounds like a great itinerary...we may be doing the very same (Bali&Burma) next year. Wow, that would be a great experience for your son. My step-son will be 16 next summer, and we were discussing the idea of him doing something similiar in Cambodia....so I would love to hear any details about your son's experience.