[MekongMike]

Don´t know if it is the same for flights from UK... but found a message at the German section of the Thai Airways site, which says that there are major changes in the timetables of all flights from Munich and Frankfurt to Bangkok, from now till the end of March 09 !
So, for me, wheels up will flap open earlier as planned: 2:10 pm instead of 8:25 pm on 08 March 2009.

[MekongMike]

Due the change of Thai Airways´flight time table, I´m now booked on another flight that goes earlier on that day ( 08th March 09 ).
There was no need to make a new booking, because the airline did it for me.
Flight TG 923 FRA-BKK was canceled... I´m now booked on TG 921, which goes every day and is around 60 Euro cheaper than TG 923 !
Tomorrow, my friend in the travel agency will check out if I can get some money back.
She also has to make sure that there isn´t anything wrong with all this, because TG 921 is a regular flight...
What if it was overbooked already before the previous time table had changed ?

[martinlanna]

Due the change of Thai Airways´flight time table, I´m now booked on another flight that goes earlier on that day ( 08th March 09 ).
There was no need to make a new booking, because the airline did it for me.
Flight TG 923 FRA-BKK was canceled... I´m now booked on TG 921, which goes every day and is around 60 Euro cheaper than TG 923 !
Tomorrow, my friend in the travel agency will check out if I can get some money back.
She also has to make sure that there isn´t anything wrong with all this, because TG 921 is a regular flight...
What if it was overbooked already before the previous time table had changed ?

I wouldn't worry Mike...in all likelihood Thai are consolidating flights because of UNDERBOOKING rather than overbooking in order to increase their load factor.If Germany is anything like the uk then there will be plenty of spare capacity in the system.
At the moment there are only 450 flights per day into and out of the swamp as opposed to 700 previously...this will have a huge effect on revenue for AoT and I expect it to be up to 600 by March but there will undoubtably be some that will find alternatives.

[MekongMike]

I wouldn't worry Mike...in all likelihood Thai are consolidating flights because of UNDERBOOKING rather than overbooking in order to increase their load factor.If Germany is anything like the uk then there will be plenty of spare capacity in the system.
At the moment there are only 450 flights per day into and out of the swamp as opposed to 700 previously...this will have a huge effect on revenue for AoT and I expect it to be up to 600 by March but there will undoubtably be some that will find alternatives.

Thanks Mart... Will see how things go and will visit my friend in the travel agency today !

[MekongMike]

Latest news on my itinerary confusion is, that I don´t get any money back even TG 921 is cheaper than the flight I was previously booked on and that TG 923 was unconfirmed till yesterday, but is now back on Thai Airways´time tables ( but goes 20 minutes later ).
I informed my friend at the travel agency that I will now stick with TG 921 ( 2:10pm FRA-BKK on 08th March ), to avoid problems that might occur by coming to the airport for the evening flight TG 923 only.
( "Sorry Sir, but you were booked on TG 921... 2:10 o´clock this afternoon !" )
So, in case they inform me at the check in counter that I can´t fly 2:10pm, I will just wait in an Irish pub in Frankfurt for the evening flight´s check in and boarding time.
The e-ticket receipt online is still showing the itinerary of TG 923 ( evening )...

The reservation desk of Flipper House hotel in Pattaya has informed me by e-mail about a construction site in Soi 7, which might cause some noises from 8:00am to 6:00pm every day.
Same story like in the year before... But this time it is true, because PeterP has confirmed it in his PM at AJ´s forum ( ...that the noises outside are very disturbing for his afternoon beauty sleep... lol ).
No problem for me... I don´t need sleep by daylight !

And SamSongTom is still not sure if he can get his holidays as planned or not in coming March, even he is already booked on a Thai Airways flight from Munich to Bangkok on 06th March.

Well, things are looking good !
The "No Water Gun Required Tour" is going to be fun... from the very begin of planning already.

[MekongMike]

Got SamSongTom on the phone earlier tonight... he made his booking online with Lufthansa for 06th March, Munich-BKK and return on 27th March... but Lufthansa said that the flight is TG 925 ( Thai Airways via Star Alliance ).
Now, his booking has been canceled by Lufthansa, because the flight will not go on this date.
But TG 925 is still on Thai Airways´timetable !
Tommysan had spoken to an official of the online travel agency where he had booked his flight and complained that both flights ( Munich-BKK and BKK-Munich ) and the e-ticket are gone from his itinerary on virtuallythere.com.
The official said, that Thai Airways is still suffering badly from the recent events at the swamp and that they have problems to get back to normality... and that SamSongTom is not the only traveller who is affected by all this.
SamSongTom is adviced to wait till January, before thinking about canceling his flight and getting his money back or re-booking on another airline.

Some people on German internet forums are discussing similar problems and the rumors that Thai Airways is about to go bankrupt within the next two or three months !

My own online itinerary now shows TG 921 FRA-BKK and TG 920 BKK-FRA only... the previously booked TG 923 is gone ( ...even it is still the only flight FRA-BKK written in my online e-ticket )
Everything is looking fine for my flights.
Nevertheless, I have a bad feeling about all this !

[martinlanna]

Got SamSongTom on the phone earlier tonight... he made his booking online with Lufthansa for 06th March, Munich-BKK and return on 27th March... but Lufthansa said that the flight is TG 925 ( Thai Airways via Star Alliance ).
Now, his booking has been canceled by Lufthansa, because the flight will not go on this date.
But TG 925 is still on Thai Airways´timetable !
Tommysan had spoken to an official of the online travel agency where he had booked his flight and complained that both flights ( Munich-BKK and BKK-Munich ) and the e-ticket are gone from his itinerary on virtuallythere.com.
The official said, that Thai Airways is still suffering badly from the recent events at the swamp and that they have problems to get back to normality... and that SamSongTom is not the only traveller who is affected by all this.
SamSongTom is adviced to wait till January, before thinking about canceling his flight and getting his money back or re-booking on another airline.

Some people on German internet forums are discussing similar problems and the rumors that Thai Airways is about to go bankrupt within the next two or three months !

My own online itinerary now shows TG 921 FRA-BKK and TG 920 BKK-FRA only... the previously booked TG 923 is gone ( ...even it is still the only flight FRA-BKK written in my online e-ticket )
Everything is looking fine for my flights.
Nevertheless, I have a bad feeling about all this !

Thai is just one of many airlines in the financial shit.....I doubt if the government ( If there is one ) would allow such a loss of face....Alitalia however is a basket case.......but most likely the reason is as I said that they are simply consolidating flights because of the recession....I wouldn't worry too much.

[MekongMike]

Thai is just one of many airlines in the financial shit.....I doubt if the government ( If there is one ) would allow such a loss of face....Alitalia however is a basket case.......but most likely the reason is as I said that they are simply consolidating flights because of the recession....I wouldn't worry too much.

Thanks for your encouraging words, mart !
I´m not too worried of all this... I just see things from a realistic point of view and want to be prepared for all difficulties that might come.
You can call it a Krautish way of planning and rethinking... But you can believe me, that I will stop with all this as soon as I´m overthere.

As for SamSongTom... well, the other problem is still not gone:
His employer has still not allowed his application for holidays in March, because of the present order situation in the company...

[MekongMike]

Another chapter in the itinerary and time table confusion is Thai Airways´ present promotion sale to lure tourists back to the LOS:
SamSongTom and I are not amused about the fact that Thai Airways is now selling tickets ( FRA-BKK and MUC-BKK ) for about 500,- Euro for the same flights we are booked on but paid 800,- Euro in November.
( We made our early bookings to make it understandable to our bosses that they have to keep their word and allow us to go on holidays as planned )
My friend is now thinking about canceling his booking to make a new booking with Thai or another airline.
The question is, if we are going to make a good deal or not by doing so, because they will definitely charge a fee for canceling the booking.
SamSongTom is very angry about all this... But I´ll be calm and wait till January to check some possibilities at my friend´s office in the travel agency.

[billy6]

Another chapter in the itinerary and time table confusion is Thai Airways´ present promotion sale to lure tourists back to the LOS:
SamSongTom and I are not amused about the fact that Thai Airways is now selling tickets ( FRA-BKK and MUC-BKK ) for about 500,- Euro for the same flights we are booked on but paid 800,- Euro in November.
( We made our early bookings to make it understandable to our bosses that they have to keep their word and allow us to go on holidays as planned )
My friend is now thinking about canceling his booking to make a new booking with Thai or another airline.
The question is, if we are going to make a good deal or not by doing so, because they will definitely charge a fee for canceling the booking.
SamSongTom is very angry about all this... But I´ll be calm and wait till January to check some possibilities at my friend´s office in the travel agency.

Dont think its just Thai ,Mike nobody is traveling overseas at the moment,due to the world economy,so airlines are cuting prices to keep themselves in buisness,plus fuel is a hell of a lot cheaper now,so off comes the fuel levy.
ps,cant help feeling a bit guilty,and i never said anything,but the day after i ate a chocolate bar tillak left out for Bhudda,the whole world economy went into free fall,i brought a new bar and put it back the next day,but i think the damage had already been done.

[MekongMike]

Dont think its just Thai ,Mike nobody is traveling overseas at the moment,due to the world economy,so airlines are cuting prices to keep themselves in buisness,plus fuel is a hell of a lot cheaper now,so off comes the fuel levy.
ps,cant help feeling a bit guilty,and i never said anything,but the day after i ate a chocolate bar tillak left out for Bhudda,the whole world economy went into free fall,i brought a new bar and put it back the next day,but i think the damage had already been done.

So, it was your fault !
You caused all the trouble....
Bad Karma, mate... you are going to reincarnate as a bar of Marzipan in your next life,- getting eaten alive by an ugly fat Krautish bint !

[martinlanna]

Don't feel too bad Mike....I paid £530 for my flight...it's now £389.....

[MekongMike]

Don't feel too bad Mike....I paid £530 for my flight...it's now £389.....

So, we should have a drink together when we are overthere... to ease our pain !

[martinlanna]

So, we should have a drink together when we are overthere... to ease our pain !

150 drinks....one for each pound.....or is it Euro?

[MekongMike]

150 drinks....one for each pound.....or is it Euro?

1 EUR = 0.959244 GBP tonight...
It doesn´t matters... 1 Euro = 50 THB.
Who says so ?
I say so !
I don´t care about the Satang, Cent or whatever when buying drinks and having fun !

[MekongMike]

Another chapter in the itinerary and time table confusion is Thai Airways´ present promotion sale to lure tourists back to the LOS:
SamSongTom and I are not amused about the fact that Thai Airways is now selling tickets ( FRA-BKK and MUC-BKK ) for about 500,- Euro for the same flights we are booked on but paid 800,- Euro in November.
( We made our early bookings to make it understandable to our bosses that they have to keep their word and allow us to go on holidays as planned )
My friend is now thinking about canceling his booking to make a new booking with Thai or another airline.
The question is, if we are going to make a good deal or not by doing so, because they will definitely charge a fee for canceling the booking.
SamSongTom is very angry about all this... But I´ll be calm and wait till January to check some possibilities at my friend´s office in the travel agency.

SamSongTom made it !
He called me yesterday evening and told me that he has canceled his booking, payed a fee of 170 Euro and made a new booking on the same flight, but for the special promotion Thai Airways price of 498 Euro.
So, he cares around 200 Euro compared with the previous price for the ticket.
The funny thing about all this is the simple fact that his itinerary is now the same like before.

No doubt... I will definitely do the same.
Will try to get my friend from the travel agency on the phone on coming Friday... and latest on coming Monday I will get my new booking.

Cheers !

[MekongMike]

SamSongTom made it !
He called me yesterday evening and told me that he has canceled his booking, payed a fee of 170 Euro and made a new booking on the same flight, but for the special promotion Thai Airways price of 498 Euro.
So, he cares around 200 Euro compared with the previous price for the ticket.
The funny thing about all this is the simple fact that his itinerary is now the same like before.

No doubt... I will definitely do the same.
Will try to get my friend from the travel agency on the phone on coming Friday... and latest on coming Monday I will get my new booking.

Cheers !

Haven´t found the time today to make a call to my friend at the travel agency, because I was too busy with work.
But I´ve surfed the web tonight and had a look at e-bookers, opodo and other online travel agencies, even at Thai Airways online booking page.
It looks like all the cheap flights, SamSongTom was talking about, are going from Munich only.
Flights from Frankfurt to Bangkok are still the same like before the crisis: 700 to 900 Euro.
A cancelation of my booking wouldn´t make any sense, because the costs to get to Munich ( 600 kilometres from here ) and the cancelation fee would make it more expensive as it already is.
It´s better to keep up with the original booking, because of the free railway service from here to 200 kilometres distant Frankfurt ( ...and back again on the day of my return from LOS ).

Will give my friend at the travel agency a visit on my next day off, probably in one week from now.
But there is no hope for a similar good deal like the one SamSongTom has made.