Bangkok to new York JFK

[ozijeff 9]

A good friend of mine from NY is joining me for his first Thai trip next February.

He is coming to Australia for a few weeks then we are flying up to Thailand for 3 weeks.

 

What I need to work out is what is the easiest / fastest / economical way for him to get home from Bangkok.

Flying Bangkok - Singapore -Sydney - LA - New York would take about 36 hours and be horrendous.

Bangkok - Frankfurt - New York seems much more human.

ie Thai or Lufthansa to Frankfurt then Lufthansa or Singapore Air to NY.

 

Has anyone done it or have have ideas/alternatives?

 

Thanks in advance.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

A good friend of mine from NY is joining me for his first Thai trip next February.

He is coming to Australia for a few weeks then we are flying up to Thailand for 3 weeks.

 

What I need to work out is what is the easiest / fastest / economical way for him to get home from Bangkok.

Flying Bangkok - Singapore -Sydney - LA - New York would take about 36 hours and be horrendous.

Bangkok - Frankfurt - New York seems much more human.

ie Thai or Lufthansa to Frankfurt then Lufthansa or Singapore Air to NY.

 

Has anyone done it or have have ideas/alternatives?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Cathay one stop via HKG, Singapore one stop via Singapore or Emirates one stop via Dubai. He can purchase an Emirates through ticket in Oz to fly Sydney-Bangkok-Dubai-New York with a stopover in Bangkok.

[LBJ 533]

Cathay one stop via HKG, Singapore one stop via Singapore or Emirates one stop via Dubai. He can purchase an Emirates through ticket in Oz to fly Sydney-Bangkok-Dubai-New York with a stopover in Bangkok.

 

I flew on Cathay one trip BKK - JFK. Nice flight.

 

Be careful when booking though, the flight I had made a stop in Vancouver as well.

[Sailfast 503]

All Nippon Air runs good specials, but otherwise will be an expensive alternative.

 

Korean Air often have reasonable prices, but check the layovers in Korea as they can be long.

 

Cathay was mentioned above.

 

Traveling the Pacific route will might get you the best price, but who the fuck knows.

 

Honestly, you probably won't find any real secret deals by asking the question here. Since you didn't offer an actual departure date it makes it even more complicated.

 

If I where you I would start scouring the internet for a deal.

 

Hipmunk.com is my new favorite flight search. Kayak.com is also easy.

 

Find a flight you like then go to the airlines website and price it there, it's often cheapest that way.

 

Some people I know still go through NYC brick and mortar travel agents and they get good deals, but they are more interested in the cheapest flight than paying a bit more for a short layover or a better airline. If he is in NY I would advice him to ask his Chinese friends where they get their tickets. They will direct him to one of those agents. YMMV.

[ozijeff 9]

Thanks for the assistance so far guys. I am very comfortable with flights originating out of Oz but the USA is a different ballgame.

Coming to Oz before going to Thailand complicates things as its not a straightforward USA to Thai return fare.

He will be flying back to NY around 8 or 9 of March.

[bigdelta 46]

Delta one stop/change in Tokyo.

Some people don't know the difference between a stop and a change.

A stop generally means you're on a through flight and even though you'll need to deplane on an int's flight,you're at the same gate as opposed changing planes/making a connection.

[BigDUSA 71]

I fly United from BKK to NRT and if I remember correctly United flies non stop to JFK from NRT. Layover times are not bad.

[js007 795]

Don't forget to check for flights going to Newark. You can get there from Manhattan just as easy as you can get to JFK. I think Continental has flights in and out of Newark.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Delta one stop/change in Tokyo.

Some people don't know the difference between a stop and a change.

A stop generally means you're on a through flight and even though you'll need to deplane on an int's flight,you're at the same gate as opposed changing planes/making a connection.

 

Fine, if you're booking direct with an airline. However, if you're using a travel agent they're likely to have a different opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sailfast 503]

Don't forget to check for flights going to Newark. You can get there from Manhattan just as easy as you can get to JFK. I think Continental has flights in and out of Newark.

 

More expensive to fly Continental out of EWR to BKK in my experience. Continental to HKG is reasonable. Could always get an Air Asia flight BKK - HKG ...IF the timing works.

 

Also, Continental has decent in flight entertainment, as apposed to some other US carriers from the east coast to Asia.

[Sailfast 503]

I fly United from BKK to NRT and if I remember correctly United flies non stop to JFK from NRT. Layover times are not bad.

I think your memory is not serving you correctly BigD. All the United flights to NRT from JFK stop in ORD or SFO, or... etc.

If seat back entertainment is important, forget United unless you travel something other than economy.

Yes, we know BigD always gets an upgrade from Philly to wherever cuz he is elite

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

Your friend could also investigate "round-the-world" fares. Most of the airline alliances have them. I used those fares all the time I worked in China. I would fly Beijing - BKK - Copenhagen (or Amsterdam) - Newark - Tokyo- Beijing, with multi-day stopovers in BKK, Europe and US.

 

Google will reurn a lot of sites with suggestions if you search for "round-the-world" fares. But the cheapest option may be two separate tickets - NYC (JFK or EWR) to BKK and return and then a ticket BKK to Sydney and return.

 

Evil

Edited November 10, 2010 by Evil Penevil

[BigDUSA 71]

I think your memory is not serving you correctly BigD. All the United flights to NRT from JFK stop in ORD or SFO, or... etc.

If seat back entertainment is important, forget United unless you travel something other than economy.

Yes, we know BigD always gets an upgrade from Philly to wherever cuz he is elite

 

UA flies from Washington, IAD to NRT non stop and yes, I almost always get upgraded to first class on the domestic portion of my trips to BKK and I get free entry into the UA Red Carpet Club.

 

Edit in. I just checked UA website and it looks like they dropped the JFK-NRT non stop.

Edited November 10, 2010 by BigDUSA

[ozijeff 9]

Great info, thanks guys.

 

It seems my mate will get from JFK to Sydney using flyer miles.

We can get up to Thailand cheaply enough from here.

 

Its getting from BKK to JFK the best way that will be the issue.

Almost all the replies indicate heading back across the Pacific. Is there a reason for this?

I would have thought that BKK to Frankfurt with Thai or Lufthansa then continuing over to NYC across the Atlantic would be quicker?

I am happy to be corrected on this.

 

An around the World fare would be the perfect option if he wasnt using flyer miles to get to Australia.

I have used 5 of those and they work really well.

 

Essentially, we can get him to Australian then Thailand easy enough.

Its getting him home is what I am after.

 

Thanks again

[Hub 203]

Great info, thanks guys.

 

It seems my mate will get from JFK to Sydney using flyer miles.

We can get up to Thailand cheaply enough from here.

 

Its getting from BKK to JFK the best way that will be the issue.

Almost all the replies indicate heading back across the Pacific. Is there a reason for this?

I would have thought that BKK to Frankfurt with Thai or Lufthansa then continuing over to NYC across the Atlantic would be quicker?

I am happy to be corrected on this.

 

An around the World fare would be the perfect option if he wasnt using flyer miles to get to Australia.

I have used 5 of those and they work really well.

 

Essentially, we can get him to Australian then Thailand easy enough.

Its getting him home is what I am after.

 

Thanks again

 

From my experience from having flown many times out of New York airports:

 

The pacific thing is because even though going through europe is quicker, usually much more expensive, but maybe not an issue if using FF miles.

 

I much prefer the EWR to HK to BKK routing on Cathay Pacific and have nothing but good experiences with them. The 1.5 hours in HK is perfect for a shower in a day room and to contact some people in Thailand. AA is a partner of Cathay for FF miles.

 

If you can find something reasonable on singapore air (they are star alliance members) I would take it

 

I may have recomended the Thai Air JFK -BKK when it was nonstop, as I flew my mom and stepson on that flight and they loved it, but they stopped that route.

 

This website usually has sime good fares:

 

www.angeltravel.com

[ozijeff 9]

Thanks Hub, i had forgotten about Cathay.

I think he will be using AA, United or Qantas to get to Oz.

He is using the many many flyer miles his wife has for the trip. (Various carriers) If only she knew!

I'll flick him off an email with options and post on here for interest sake which way hey ends up taking.

Thanks again.

 

PS Yet another option is Thai Air from Bkk to Frankfurt then Singapore air to JFK ..... options options options

Edited November 10, 2010 by ozijeff

[WeezinGeezer 2]

Check EVA Bangkok to Taipei to New York via Seattle. They may even have an east bound flight Taipei direct to New York. The best connection flight leaves Bangkok around 1630. Longest leg Taipei to Seattle is about 10 hours.

Edited November 10, 2010 by WeezinGeezer

[BigDUSA 71]

If you can find something reasonable on singapore air (they are star alliance members) I would take it

 

Singapore Air has the best economy class in the industry. Only problem with SQ is with the cheaper fares there are no frequent flier miles.

[ozijeff 9]

Agreed Big D. I always use SingAir to get from Australia to LOS.

There is a bit of urgency for my American mate to commit so we can get a cheap Singair flight up to LOS in Feb.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Singapore Air has the best economy class in the industry. Only problem with SQ is with the cheaper fares there are no frequent flier miles.

 

I would agree - if you are on their 777 or 380 aircraft. Economy class on their 747s isn't so great.

 

 

 

[ozijeff 9]

Having flown with both, personally I rate Sing above Malay.

Just MHO.