British travellers left stranded in Thailand accuse airlines of cashing in on COVID-19 crisis

[bluemoon58]

2 hours ago, Jajazazajaja said:

 Reminds me of the Icelandic volcano incident. 
I was in Milan at the time and my flight back to the UK was cancelled. So after a while I just went to Hertz to get a car to drive home 

I thought I’d ask some other people who were on my flight if they wanted to join me/chip in, but no.

all they wanted to do was stand around moaning and complaining to Alitalia staff like they had a magic plane that would take them home.

 

 

Jajazazajaja, me and "her indoors" flew to Mexico and passed Iceland a couple of hours before the volcano blew. On arrival at the resort all the holiday reps were under siege by those wanting to go home. I left it a couple of days and went to see ours, his face dropped when I started the conversation about the cancelled flights. He was speechless when I told him not to worry about us as we could stay indefinitely because we had no reason to get back! 

[HOAX]

Geez. Crazy prices. I've never paid more than 6.500 baht from BKK to Oslo.

 

It's currently 4971 baht for the first available ticket with Norwegian (airline)...

 

... October 28th ????

[twix38]

No sympathy. I saw this coming and left 6 weeks ago. No way did I want to risk Thai health care or costs. 

 

Those that stayed until now risk both of the above.

[Finspin]

I’m back in the UK now. My holiday to Thailand was the 17th March to 2nd April. My Thai airlines return flight was supposed to be today.

i was witnessing online and news channels from my room what was happening regarding air travel. I decided I had to make an effort to return home. I attended the thai airlines offices in Pattaya to see what assistance they could offer. After queuing for 90 minutes, I saw a rep, she advised me that I could, as new business purchase an earlier flight home. She also stated that my flight on 2nd April was confirmed and would be going ahead as normal.

i left satisfied with the information provided. 3 hours later I got an email stating that the flight on the 2nd was cancelled. I had been rescheduled onto a flight the following day ie the 3rd. I was still ok with that. I became seriously worried when 2 days later I was notified that the flight on the 3rd was now also cancelled with no alternate flights offered.

i again attended the airlines offices and queued for 5 hours to speak to staff. I used that time to create a draft email to be sent to the British Embassy as a stranded tourist, should that be the case. Spoke to staff who within 5 mins found me a flight back to the UK on 28th March. There was no additional cost to me.

Just in case I spoke to my accommodation, a lovely Irishman called Dennis, who stated if I was stranded even for several months I could keep the room at a very much reduced rate. 
I'm happy with Thai airlines efforts based on the difficult situation that was unfolding at the time.

I'm worried for all of those who make a living in Pattaya in the tourist industry. It will take Pattaya a long time for it to recover. Will I ever return to Pattaya.. absolutely.

Those who opted to remain and then changed their mind, are having to bear the extra stress and costs. Take responsibility for your decisions 

[rasmus5150]

3 hours ago, Jajazazajaja said:

 Reminds me of the Icelandic volcano incident. 
I was in Milan at the time and my flight back to the UK was cancelled. So after a while I just went to Hertz to get a car to drive home 

I thought I’d ask some other people who were on my flight if they wanted to join me/chip in, but no.

all they wanted to do was stand around moaning and complaining to Alitalia staff like they had a magic plane that would take them home.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

I did similar when the Yellow Shirts occupied/shutdown the airports. I'd been seeing an old mate in the Nong Khai area and was stuck at Udon airport. A fellow Brit agreed to go halves with me for a taxi, 3,000 Baht each to BKK.

Had similar story when the Yellow Shirts occupied/shutdown the airports. I was stuck in Saigon, and immediately i bought a new one-way ticket to Vientiane - took a SkyLab over the border to Nong Khai, a songthaew to the bus station, and finally a bus to bangkok.

I was home and safe in less than 16 hours.

I read that people who tried to wait it out in Saigon Airport, were there for 5 days.

[Ian Nagle]

3 hours ago, Jajazazajaja said:

 

“I cant get a commercial flight from Thailand because Emirates have my money and my passport is nearly full.“

 

Passport nearly full? What has that got to do with anything?

 

 

 

[moontang]

18 minutes ago, twix38 said:

No sympathy. I saw this coming and left 6 weeks ago. No way did I want to risk Thai health care or costs. 

 

Those that stayed until now risk both of the above.

I think for foreigners living here, staying put was the advised and best move.  I spoke with my Pacific Cross agent..yes, covered for virus...compared to my brother in the States with a 7500 USD deductible, I feel fortunate.  Easy to get beer and food, minimarket in the lobby..it's doable, but it will be bad for those unable to attend to family emergencies back home, like death of a family member, etc..bound to happen.

Edited April 2, 2020 by moontang

[from the home of CC]

wow, peoples lack of critical thinking just astounds me..

[Benmart]

3 hours ago, Jajazazajaja said:

 

“I cant get a commercial flight from Thailand because Emirates have my money and my passport is nearly full.“

 

Passport nearly full? What has that got to do with anything?

 

 

If a passport does not have adequate blank pages for visa extentions, etc., it could have plenty to do with a great many things.

[cyril sneer]

i've checked skyscanner every day out of curiousity, and if you're willing to be flexible by a few days you'll get a good price

 

the people being charged these fares are too stupid to know how to get a good one

[spoon1967]

Anyone who is "stranded" is in that situation because they failed to act, can't book a flight on their own, are stupid, irresponsible, etc, etc.

Everyone had enough warning it was obvious to anyone what was going to happen, some people "chose" to stay in Thailand, now they're complaining.

I cut my holiday short by 7 days once travel restrictions began, because I'm an adult and made a choice. 

Grow up people, you had and still do have options.

 

[OneeyedJohn]

It's not nice to call people stupid, but really, how can anyone travel in February, let alone March, knowing what was happening across the world.

[puchooay]

39 minutes ago, moontang said:

Easy to get beer

Not anymore.

[Kadilo]

These are the kind of people I’m trying to get away from. 
Pathetic attention seeking morons full of self entitlement. The UK is full of them. 

[moontang]

14 minutes ago, puchooay said:

Not anymore.

besides Nakhon Sawan?

[Just Weird]

4 hours ago, Jajazazajaja said:

 

“I cant get a commercial flight from Thailand because Emirates have my money and my passport is nearly full.“

 

Passport nearly full? What has that got to do with anything?

He must be suggesting that Covid-19 filled up his passport and that it had plenty of space before the virus crisis!

[stephenearle2007]

I had return tickets with Emirates. Now useless to get back to the UK. I have now booked with Qatar for late April at 29000 Baht (About £720.) for two seats. No charge for seat reservations. Not too bad under the circumstances, although I am not pleased with Emirates pulling the plug on flights. Not sure what the situation in the UK will be like on our return!!

[Toany]

Just looking at profit and safety of their crew, i doubt that any airline wants to run any flights at all.  Also the flights are likely to be half empty.  I doubt that the airlines are making a huge profit.

[phantomfiddler]

An English friend last week went in to an Indian travel agent, and was quoted 90,000Bht for a one way non-direct flight to Heathrow. Slightly miffed, and more than a little bit amazed, he then went to a Thai travel agent and was quoted 20,000 Bht for a direct flight to the same destination. You  work it out, maybe it,s not the airlines at fault here ????

[geisha]

It’s not for the few baht that agents earn on a flight ticket thats going to make his day. Bit late in the day to start complaining, Thailand is starting a nationwide curfew from this  Friday. 
Also, that’s what taking a risk is, sometimes you win, sometimes you loose, so waiting so long to make an important decision is the persons very own fault. It’s up to every person to have thought this out a month , six weeks ago ! 

[StevieAus]

I am interested if anyone has had any dealings with Air Asia recently regarding the cancellation of flights to Australia.

We were booked to fly Chiang Mai- Sydney at the end of April but obviously are not going, in any event according to their website they are not operating the flights on the days we booked

It is not possible to contact anyone by phone and their online chat system must be overwhelmed as it doesn’t seem to work.

[lamyai3]

2 hours ago, Youlike said:

I will never fly Emirates again if they don't give refunds straight away.

That rules out most airlines at the current time. 

[Fairynuff]

27 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

An English friend last week went in to an Indian travel agent, and was quoted 90,000Bht for a one way non-direct flight to Heathrow. Slightly miffed, and more than a little bit amazed, he then went to a Thai travel agent and was quoted 20,000 Bht for a direct flight to the same destination. You  work it out, maybe it,s not the airlines at fault here ????

Nice bit of Indian bashing, if I believed you. Who else don’t you like?

[Austrian26]

people dont know how to look. i flew home with emirates last week from bangkok to austria for 280€.

 

 

[beano2274]

4 hours ago, Muzzique said:

The Germans have been sending daily direct repatriation flights from both Phuket and Bangkok to Frankfurt at €99 one way fixed price for all seats for the last 2 weeks. This includes, hand luggage, one suitcase, meals and basic entertainment. Check the Condor Airways site to book as flights open up regularly as the day goes on. 

 

Flights from Frankfurt to the UK are about €140 one way and run about 5-6 times a day but you have to sort those yourself.

 

They are open to Brits and EU citizens and most of the planes have been going back half empty. I saw that the Phuket flight left today at 10am with over 6 seats still bookable for €99.

 

Its a pity the UK embassy never told anyone about them. I've been writing on these forums for weeks about them. As always with the UK its too little too late.

 

 

 

 

The initial cost is 99 Euros, but you have to pay the differance later, also you have to prove that you had a return ticket from Thailand to Germany. Again you have to register on the Embassy Website, then book the flight then sign a document.

[Kalasin Jo]

5 hours ago, Jajazazajaja said:

 

“I cant get a commercial flight from Thailand because Emirates have my money and my passport is nearly full.“

 

Passport nearly full? What has that got to do with anything?

 

 

He then said I can't get an extension wih a nearly full passport?

[Andrew65]

30 minutes ago, StevieAus said:

I am interested if anyone has had any dealings with Air Asia recently regarding the cancellation of flights to Australia.

We were booked to fly Chiang Mai- Sydney at the end of April but obviously are not going, in any event according to their website they are not operating the flights on the days we booked

It is not possible to contact anyone by phone and their online chat system must be overwhelmed as it doesn’t seem to work.

If you go to a local travel agent and cross the young lady's palm with silver ( ie: a couple a hundred Baht), she might well be able to help you out?!

[hobobo]

4 hours ago, steve187 said:

eva 3 weekly direct around 22,000thb for a flight in April, dropping to 13,000 in may

I agree with about 99 percent of what you're saying, though some airlines do appear very ambiguous at times. My son returned to the UK on 26 March even though his return date was 7 April, but that airline cancelled ALL their BKK - LHR flights, and suggested he applied for a refund later on. On 25 March he booked EVA Air directly (not through an agent) for around 23K for the following day, paid for the ticket, and 3 hours later received an email that his flight is being cancelled. We embarked on the task of finding other carriers when four hours later a new email from EVA Air offered a new flight to LHR, on the same date but a few hours later, at 89K! Similar story with Finn Air later on that day, but he was "fourth time lucky" with good old Thai for about 39K. He is now busy trying to get at least some of the roughly £5,000 that now graces his credit card back. 

[VBF]

32 minutes ago, Austrian26 said:

people dont know how to look. i flew home with emirates last week from bangkok to austria for 280€.

 

 

Presumably BEFORE 25th March?

https://www.emirates.com/uk/english/help/travel-updates/

[Rob1706]

KLM was also accused of hiking up prices:

 

Klm have no flights available until 13th April and then its £10000 for 2 adults, and 2 babies.

 

Just checked website KLM for April 13 for 2 adults and two babies not older than 1 year. Price Thb 67.740 so not £10000