ASQ hotels - refundable?

[somtumwrong]

Hi, I was surprised by getting a seat on a repatriation flight in two weeks via Germany. Now I have 24 hours to book an ASQ hotel. Does anyone know if there is/are refundable hotels - in case something with the overly tight plan goes wrong?

[stubuzz]

You have paid for the flight and now you have to hope that there are ASQ hotels in your price range?

I remember reading that not all are refundable, is the flight?

[Wars]

You'd have to ask each hotel individually each ASQ has their own refund policy. Some have 7 days before check in. Or some even let you amend the dates within 3 days of your original booking date. Some are non refundable, only able to amend the dates. 

[somtumwrong]

50 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

You have paid for the flight and now you have to hope that there are ASQ hotels in your price range?

I remember reading that not all are refundable, is the flight?

No, before the embassy reserves you a seat, you have to provide them with the ASQ booking confirmation. After that I can pay for the flight, operated by Thai Airways (oh, dear God..)

[somtumwrong]

46 minutes ago, Wars said:

You'd have to ask each hotel individually each ASQ has their own refund policy. Some have 7 days before check in. Or some even let you amend the dates within 3 days of your original booking date. Some are non refundable, only able to amend the dates. 

Thanks, so there is hope for a refund.

[SnipTheCat]

My ASQ hotel had a cancellation policy (with refund) if cancelled 7 days prior to flight date OR with proof of flight cancellation. 
However Thai Embassy proposed me the flight 10 days before flying, telling me the flight had not yet been 100% confirmed and asked me to get an ASQ booking ASAP. This was a truly horrible experience I spent over 10 hours over the phone and emailing, most were already fully booked for the 3 weeks ahead, some were handled by "agents" that were not in office pretended there was availability to later say it was full... I think I got the absolutely last place available beside one at 144k baht... The staff at the thai embassy seemed quite surprised I was able to get a booking... then they called me again to say "There is a problem with the repatriation flight... there is no seat available in economy anymore, but there is seat available in Business class for 1900€" or... there is another repatriation flight 2 days later (meaning I need to find a new ASQ booking which I knew was not possible + being past the 7 days refund limit + flight being on a sunday getting a negative covid test done less than 72 hours before flight + departure from an airport 500km from where I live seemed quite hard"

 

I would say you are asked to take leaps of faith and show you are willing to do what is necessary to go back... They seem not to like people who are not ready to take any (financial) risk

 

Just my feeling following my experience...

Edited August 6, 2020 by SnipTheCat

[somtumwrong]

7 hours ago, SnipTheCat said:

My ASQ hotel had a cancellation policy (with refund) if cancelled 7 days prior to flight date OR with proof of flight cancellation. 
However Thai Embassy proposed me the flight 10 days before flying, telling me the flight had not yet been 100% confirmed and asked me to get an ASQ booking ASAP. This was a truly horrible experience I spent over 10 hours over the phone and emailing, most were already fully booked for the 3 weeks ahead, some were handled by "agents" that were not in office pretended there was availability to later say it was full... I think I got the absolutely last place available beside one at 144k baht... The staff at the thai embassy seemed quite surprised I was able to get a booking... then they called me again to say "There is a problem with the repatriation flight... there is no seat available in economy anymore, but there is seat available in Business class for 1900€" or... there is another repatriation flight 2 days later (meaning I need to find a new ASQ booking which I knew was not possible + being past the 7 days refund limit + flight being on a sunday getting a negative covid test done less than 72 hours before flight + departure from an airport 500km from where I live seemed quite hard"

 

I would say you are asked to take leaps of faith and show you are willing to do what is necessary to go back... They seem not to like people who are not ready to take any (financial) risk

 

Just my feeling following my experience...

Thanks, I was able to book one room at a "reasonable" rate of 77 000 THB, and I opted for the business class myself, as I dont want to get stuck with untested people in the Economy class. 18xx €.

 

Now my biggest concern is if I can match the 72 hour limit, if the eligibility of the covid test is from the Testing time or the Issuance time.

 

This is a total inhumane ripoff. "Thanks for bringing my family back together" - yeah, right.

[somtumwrong]

7 hours ago, SnipTheCat said:

 

I would say you are asked to take leaps of faith and show you are willing to do what is necessary to go back... They seem not to like people who are not ready to take any (financial) risk

 

Let me fix it for you:

 

"Married? So what. Show me the money, foreigner! And besides, we have these bureaucratic, out-of-the-world instructions you need to follow. Now, jump, foreigner, jump!"

[rct99q]

Things certainly have changed quickly. My ASQ hotel made a reservation without any payment. They provided me with a written confirmation to show the consulate to confirm my seat.

Have two days left before being released.

I left Canada on July 22nd.

I am beginning to think the Thai Consulate in Canada did a much better job than some others around the world. 

[richard_smith237]

I found that contacting the ASQ hotels directly via facebook messenger provided the best means on contact with quick responses. 

 

I booked two ASQ hotels both took 50% deposit fully refundable if cancelled before 7 days. 

I cancelled the first 8 days before check in date as I hadn’t heard back from the Embassy. 

The second booking I kept and used, finishing the ASQ a couple of days ago. 

 

[Sheryl]

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I found that contacting the ASQ hotels directly via facebook messenger provided the best means on contact with quick responses. 

 

I booked two ASQ hotels both took 50% deposit fully refundable if cancelled before 7 days. 

I cancelled the first 8 days before check in date as I hadn’t heard back from the Embassy. 

The second booking I kept and used, finishing the ASQ a couple of days ago. 

 

Congratulations!

[cerox]

Congratulations. When do they release you from the hotel / time as I would need to travel further to Chiang Mai? Can I check-out on the last morning/day as I please e.g. early morning or any paperwork?

 

On pictures I saw they use some disinfectant / spray? for you and your hand luggage. How do I protect my valuables as laptop etc.?

[richard_smith237]

Has anyone managed to book an available ASQ hotel in the last 24 hrs. 

 

Asking for a friend - apparently most / all are full. 

[richard_smith237]

On 8/6/2020 at 6:33 PM, cerox said:

Congratulations. When do they release you from the hotel / time as I would need to travel further to Chiang Mai? Can I check-out on the last morning/day as I please e.g. early morning or any paperwork?

 

On pictures I saw they use some disinfectant / spray? for you and your hand luggage. How do I protect my valuables as laptop etc.?

 

I left the hotel at 9:30am (no need for a rush after two weeks !)... 

I have some friends who left their hotel at 5-6am - so an early start is possible. 

 

Other than the usual hotel check out bill etc you are also issued with a ‘release letter’ signed by the 'Deputy Permanent Secretary for Public Health and Communicable Disease Control Officer’ (how’s that for a mouthful). 

One letter in English, the same letter in Thai. 

 

No one disinfected my hand held baggage - lap top etc was fine. But if they do, I think the spray is harmless enough. 

 

 

 

[AndrewMciver]

On 8/5/2020 at 5:03 PM, somtumwrong said:

No, before the embassy reserves you a seat, you have to provide them with the ASQ booking confirmation. After that I can pay for the flight, operated by Thai Airways (oh, dear God..)

 

The irony being, the hotel i spoke today say they need the repatriation flight confirmation ! 

[AndrewMciver]

19 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I left the hotel at 9:30am (no need for a rush after two weeks !)... 

I have some friends who left their hotel at 5-6am - so an early start is possible. 

 

Other than the usual hotel check out bill etc you are also issued with a ‘release letter’ signed by the 'Deputy Permanent Secretary for Public Health and Communicable Disease Control Officer’ (how’s that for a mouthful). 

One letter in English, the same letter in Thai. 

 

No one disinfected my hand held baggage - lap top etc was fine. But if they do, I think the spray is harmless enough. 

 

 

 

 

Well done buddy !!! Go enjoy. 

[FlyingThai]

Anyone has experience with the Moevenpick ASQ ?

 

I like the Anantara Siam but that's out of my friends budget.

[moontang]

You can add "refund" to the list of words, where it seems like there is no Thai word for it.  "Integrity" tops the list.