Many headed for a Thailand golf vacation complain about the high costs of air travel to golf in the Kingdom. I agree that this is can be the case when flying national carries like Thai (almost guaranteed to be the most expensive and worst service), British Airlines (notorious for high fares and aging fleets) and United/Delta (US flagship airlines, but only if you want to get lessons in high prices and crappy service). Much better and less expensive choices for Thailand golf holidays are EVA Airlines and several of the middle-eastern carriers like Eremites, Etihad, and Qatar,
Eva for example uses Bangkok as their Asian hub and has non-stop flights from the UK and one stop service from most other European and American cities. They have 4 classes of service and I usually opt for the Evergreen Deluxe class which basically is a business class seat with an economy class meal at an economy class price. As a bonus, flight crews are young and energetic which makes flying on Eva that much more pleasant. When I last checked Eva was selling LA to Bangkok roundtrip on their web site for $499 US.
Nowadays several Middle Eastern countries are trying to become the aviation capital of the world. This fierce completion keeps prices low and service high. For example, mainland Europe to Thailand on Qatar is only 500 Euros return. For those on the east coast of the USA similar deals can be had on Emirates and Etihad, both of whom depart daily from New York.
While travelling for a Thailand golf package is still a long haul proposition, it does not have to be a costly one. There is no time better than the present to go online, check the web sites of the abovementioned carriers, and lock in a great deal. You will have head start and be assured of reasonable costs for this years Thailand golf tour.
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5 Responses
I agree on Thai Airways pricing, and especially on their exhorbitant charge for golfbags at USD 140 return trip from Europe. It is totally counterproductive for developing golf traffic with this airline. Beeing a national carrier, it is hard to understand. Our golf group is paying USD 4500 to bring the bags!! Which is the first and the last time.
Try Vietnam Airlines who have a free golf club policy up to 20kg. This might mean you have to transit through Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, but hey isnt time to explore that new Asian destination with great golf courses opening every month anyway?
Visit http://www.vietnamgolfcoast.com for more info.
I don’t know when you last checked your prices with Eva but you are way off the mark – £600 is more likely for return from London to Bangkok.
I’ve used them once and thought the service was pretty poor.
Hi Clive,
Thanks for your comments. Maybe prices have gone up in the UK since the pound is so weak now.
On the other hand, a Thailand golf holidaymaker that booked their package through Golfasian used EVA just last week and they paid 519 Euros return from Vienna.
EVA charged them 100 Euros each for their golf bags coming to Thailand, but nothing on the way back. They loved the service and said it was much better than any European airline they have ever flown with including Austrian and British Airways.
Mark
I guess we are lucky in that we have access to AirAsia cheap flights from Gold Coast to KL. Just a short hop. step and jump then to all of Asia.