Good UA fare to BKK from JFK or PHL $902. R/T

[BigDUSA 71]

Just checking airfare and came up with late March depart and come back in mid April. Best fare I've found was UA for $902. R/T all in. Not a bad price considering oil is over $100USD per barrel.

[eman 0]

Thats a great deal. Any time you can get a flight for under $1000.00 its great

[PenName 1]

Well, it's good to hear there's some reasonable fares to be found somewhere. This morning, NWA was quoting $2,211.43 on their site as the cheapest coach fare for SEA - BKK for travel on a Tuesday departure and Wednesday return in May. Oddly enough, there remained 149 empty seats in coach.

 

Plummeting dollar, rocketing airfares -- nice combination.

 

~ Pen

[BigDUSA 71]

Well, it's good to hear there's some reasonable fares to be found somewhere. This morning, NWA was quoting $2,211.43 on their site as the cheapest coach fare for SEA - BKK for travel on a Tuesday departure and Wednesday return in May. Oddly enough, there remained 149 empty seats in coach.

 

Plummeting dollar, rocketing airfares -- nice combination.

 

~ Pen

 

May is the start of the summer high season for air travel in the US.

[mws1234 0]

I've noticed fares vary considerably. I guess depends on luck and timing when searching the internet.

 

Did you get that 902 fare from the UA internet web site or a ticket consolidator?

[Swami 0]

I've been shopping for airfare out of Reno to bkk, best I've found for Songkran times is about $1150 through NWA, $1230 w/United.

[PenName 1]

May might be the beginning of high season, but that falls far short of a worthy explanation (or justification) of how or why a coach ticket on a nearly empty plane on an airline like NWA, departing from the closest point to Thailand in the continental US (air route-wise) is going for $2,200+. I could route through Los Angeles on Singapore, Cathay or Thai and beat that price, including the cost of getting to L.A. and beat the NWA price.

 

Fortunately, we have other alternatives here like Eva, China and UA, or even Korean and Nippon.

 

~ Pen

[mws1234 0]

May might be the beginning of high season, but that falls far short of a worthy explanation (or justification) of how or why a coach ticket on a nearly empty plane on an airline like NWA, departing from the closest point to Thailand in the continental US (air route-wise) is going for $2,200+. I could route through Los Angeles on Singapore, Cathay or Thai and beat that price, including the cost of getting to L.A. and beat the NWA price.

 

Fortunately, we have other alternatives here like Eva, China and UA, or even Korean and Nippon.

 

~ Pen

 

There is a logical explanation, it's called gross mis-management. An empty seat is worth 0. Hell, you can sell it last minute for $200. and pay one of those flight attendant's salary for the day!! Why do you think many of the airlines in the U.S. are in bankruptcy or just coming out of bankruptcy or up for sale?

[avz349 0]

Cathay Pacific has some great fares listed on their web site www.cathaypacific/us $787.00 out of JFK if you fly between March 5th and April 30th. The best I could do for my trip in May was $1174.00 with NWA. I am flying out of my local airport so I will save the hassle of going to JFK and about $150.00 in parking fees. I booked my flight through www.bt-store.com

[PenName 1]

It's a constant battle of checking fares a dozen times a day it seems. When I was pricing out my May fare last month, China Air changed their fares three times in seven hours, with a variance of $210. I usually fly NWA, but the best fare I could conjure on them was never within $300 of China and the departure and arrival times on China are much more civil. No miles into the account, but NWA seems to have lost any interest or ability in providing passage at reasonable fares. C'est la guerre.

 

Foreign carriers beat American carriers for enjoyment of experience anyway.

 

~ Pen

[mws1234 0]

I also like the Asian carriers better, so I try to find good fares with Asiana or Thai air, which are members of the Star Alliance with United. That way, I don't miss out on putting more miles onto the mileage program. If you can do 50,000 in a year, all kinds of perks become available, such as use of international airport business class lounges, check in at business class, addtl weight on luggage, use of economy seats with more legroom, etc.

[MC_Ldop 40]

I also like the Asian carriers better, so I try to find good fares with Asiana or Thai air, which are members of the Star Alliance with United. That way, I don't miss out on putting more miles onto the mileage program. If you can do 50,000 in a year, all kinds of perks become available, such as use of international airport business class lounges, check in at business class, addtl weight on luggage, use of economy seats with more legroom, etc.

 

If you're an elite member on United then it doesn't make much sense to fly other Star Alliance carriers to Asia. You miss out on the mileage bonuses and in many cases don't earn as many miles on routes that United services. 100K is a great goal if you can hit it -- this nets you six one-way upgrades on any UA flight, including internationl.

[mws1234 0]

If you're an elite member on United then it doesn't make much sense to fly other Star Alliance carriers to Asia. You miss out on the mileage bonuses and in many cases don't earn as many miles on routes that United services. 100K is a great goal if you can hit it -- this nets you six one-way upgrades on any UA flight, including internationl.

 

 

You are right, I should have clarified myself a little more by adding I fly the Asian carriers if I can't find a decent fare on United. those bonuses can add up. I also believe some of the UA flights are actually operated by Asian Carriers, and I believe as long as you book thru United, you still get the bonuses even though it's a Asian carrier.