Who doesn’t want a cheap airline ticket or to know when to snap up discount flights to Thailand?
Actually, a good way to procure affordable airline tickets is by looking for promotional seat sales offered by the airlines. During promotional seat sales, airline tickets sell like hotcakes!
Everyone wants a good buy, and that is the main reason why the airlines’ promotional seat sales almost always generate long queues – either in their ticket sales outlets or on their online booking websites.
But a lot of airlines offer discount flights to Thailand, so how do you know which ticket to buy?
Firstly, keep in mind that promotional seat sales are offered within a limited time frame, so you need to make a quick decision (either to buy or not buy) regarding an airline ticket purchase.
Let us first differentiate two common terms: sale period and travel period. A sale period is the duration of time customers can place their bookings, pay for them and have their tickets issued. A travel period, on the other hand, is the duration of time that these tickets may be used for flight.
Seat sales usually specify the applicable travel period of the promo, so be sure to check your intended travel dates!
Non ReBookable Discount Tickets
Tickets sold during promotional seat sales are usually discounted to a much lower price than the normal fares. As such, these discounted tickets may have more restrictions. One common restriction of discounted tickets is that they are non-rebookable.
A non-rebookable ticket means that you cannot change the date or time of your flight other than your original booking. If you don’t show up for your flight, then the ticket is forfeited.
Non ReRoutable Discount Tickets
Another common restriction is that discount tickets are non-reroutable. This means that you cannot change the itinerary of your ticket.
For example, if your original ticket has a Manila – Bangkok sector and then you change your travel plans to Manila – Chiang Mai, you cannot request the airline to change your original ticket. In short, you’d have to purchase another ticket.
Which wouldn’t really be too bad – after all, there’s always great low cost Thailand domestic flights available!
Non ReFundable Discount Tickets
One other common restriction is that discount tickets are non-refundable. This means that once you have purchased the ticket, you cannot cancel your booking and get your money back if you change your mind about your future travel plans.
Again, if you don’t show up for your flight, the ticket is forfeited.
If you must cancel your booking, ask the airline if you can still recover the travel taxes that you paid. While you may not be able to recover most of what you paid, at least you get your travel tax back, right?
Other discounted tickets or discount flights to Thailand may be re-routable, re-bookable, or refundable but they have corresponding penalties for doing so. It’s good to know these extra fees so that you are well-informed of the consequences of making changes to your flight.
Getting a discounted ticket during promotional seat sales despite all these restrictions can still be a good buy and offer you value for your money, just as long as you understand exactly what you’re getting into!
Daily Flight Tips For Effective Travel
Try booking during sales. Most low cost airlines offer seat sales at regular intervals, particularly during off-peak times of year, such as winter. You can pick up incredibly good deals on offer during such sales, sometimes where you only need to pay the taxes and charges! Flying from less busy airports during a seat sale will often let you snap up even cheaper seats.
