About a month ago I posted about Thai’s announcement that they’ll be cutting service between Bangkok and Koh Samui as of January 16, 2012. I saw it as a pretty big loss, given that they were the only airline belonging to one of the three big alliances that served Koh Samui. It’s a beautiful part of Thailand with great hotels, so this meant it was at least ~$200 more expensive to get there on an award ticket, since the ticket between Bangkok and Koh Samui would have to be purchased separately.

The good news is that Thai Airways just announced that they will in fact maintain Koh Samui service beyond January 16, so the flights remain in the schedule. Awesome news! There’s no longer a rush to burn Hilton points for the Conrad Koh Samui. :D

Posted on October 15th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Thai | 17 Comments »

  1. October 15th, 2012 at 10:34 am

    HoKo said,

    This is clutch, I visit Samui every couple of years so I’m glad to hear it even though availability isn’t the greatest

  2. October 15th, 2012 at 10:41 am

    Gary said,

    Just goes to show that you cannot ever rely on news out of Thai Airways. Statements may be runors. They could well reflect intentions at the time they’re announced, and then overturned for political reasons. Or they could be implied threats. Always so hard to know as an outsider…

  3. October 15th, 2012 at 10:51 am

    Alex K said,

    That’s great news – thanks Lucky! I had my parents booked on that flight and it was killed off their itinerary. United.com doesn’t see it yet – any idea how long that takes to populate out to partners?

    And it was great to meet you this weekend – thanks for all the information!

  4. October 15th, 2012 at 11:02 am

    Tetens said,

    Hey Lucky,

    you can change your Miles from Flying Blue for a Award Ticket with Bangkok Airways BKK – USM.

    Greetz, Sven

  5. October 15th, 2012 at 11:56 am

    Adam said,

    Lucky, i tried looking at Thai’s website and cant seem to find the flights back in the schedule. Even on the Thai website they only have flights through Jan 15th. Think it will just take them time to update? I actualy had an award flight starting from USM next June, so this would be fantastic news.

  6. October 15th, 2012 at 12:11 pm

    lucky said,

    @ Tetens — Interesting, I wasn’t aware of that. Any clue where the award chart for that is?

    @ Adam — I suspect it will just be a while before they update the schedule, as this was just announced today.

  7. October 15th, 2012 at 12:13 pm

    HoKo said,

    @Tetens/Lucky Interesting idea using AF/KL miles to book travel on PG. I had some trouble finding an award chart but it looks like this miles calculator says it would be 20K RT for BKK-USM. Is that right Ben?

  8. October 15th, 2012 at 12:14 pm

    HoKo said,

    Haha looks like you and I were thinking the same thing Ben, forgot to include the link: http://www.klm.com/travel/gb_en/flying_blue/earn_and_spend_miles/spend_miles/miles_finder_spending.htm?from=bkk&to=usm

  9. October 15th, 2012 at 3:33 pm

    Ripper3785 said,

    You said that Thai announced it? Isn’t the link just someone saying that the flights are back in GDS systems?

    How credible is that source and/or the posters at that source?

    Any travel agent with GDS access could see that the flights were reloaded into the timetable and inventory display.

  10. October 15th, 2012 at 4:41 pm

    MT said,

    This was likely dependent on negotiations (likely a renewal) with Bangkok Air, who own the airport at Koh Samui.

  11. October 15th, 2012 at 4:48 pm

    Arthur said,

    Question. After having 2 almost identical trips….lax-fra-ICN-bkk-hkg-bkk-ICN-fra-ORD-lax. 5days in bkk,2 days in HKG…I was “told” it would be 160,000 not the 120,000 I had previously paid. Is this a case of random agent? Call back? I had it on hold Saturday at 120,000, only to call today and it was 160,000. Majority in 1st. Thoughts?

  12. October 16th, 2012 at 1:29 am

    Tetens said,

    Lucky,

    you find it under earn and spend miles flying blue partners:

    http://www.klm.com/travel/at_en/flying_blue/earn_and_spend_miles/flying_blue_partners/index.htm

    But i think you have to call Flying Blue Air France.

    Greetz, Sven

  13. October 16th, 2012 at 1:40 am

    Tetens said,

    I find also a solutions with Air Berlin Top Bonus you can also spend miles for Bangkok Airways.

    http://www.airberlin.com/site/affiliate/tb/partner/airlines/meilen_einloesen_AA_deu.jpg

    When you open a Account with Bangkok Airways you get 15 Free Points with first flight the also have a cooperation with Bangkok Hospitals.

    http://flyerbonus.bangkokair.com/ffp/promotion_detail.aspx?id=120&type=news_en

    and this is a Information about Flyerbonus:

    http://flyerbonus.bangkokair.com/ffp/home.aspx

    Greetz, Sven

  14. October 16th, 2012 at 12:16 pm

    lucky said,

    Very interesting, thanks guys!

  15. October 16th, 2012 at 12:23 pm

    lucky said,

    @ Arthur — I would call back. They’re charging the 160K since you’re routing through Bangkok, I suspect, which is South Asia.

  16. October 16th, 2012 at 3:04 pm

    Arthur said,

    Thank u! The agent said I was “lucky” with my 2 previous itinerarys that were identical!

  17. October 17th, 2012 at 12:44 pm

    Alex K said,

    FYI – The flights are now available for award redemption on united.com. I just called and got my parents’ segment added back without any hassle. As of right now it looks like business is showing availability through end of schedule every day, but economy only pops up in August for a few dates.

    One weird note – the phone agent claimed that the flight was reinstated but was going to be canceled again after March 1. I mentioned that flights seem to be loaded throughout next year, but she was convinced. Then again she didn’t know the flights had reappeared in the first place – so I don’t put any stock in the comment.

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