It's summertime, let's fly off somewhere

The irony is that travelling to Singapore can be faster than going from your house in Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

Nevertheless, more and more people are flying. About 26 million passengers travelled from Suvarnabhumi last year alone. No wonder the traffic to and from the airport is always horrendous.

Not only is it safer, but air transportation is also a time-saving alternative to land-based transportation, a lot more convenient and sometimes even cheaper than travelling by bus. 

With a promotion from a low-cost carrier, flying to Chiang Mai could cost you less than Bt1,000. With so much competition these days, sometimes an airline can offer you a ticket as cheap as Bt945 to any destination within the country.   

Air fares have been so inexpensive that air travel has suddenly become popular.

Why pay Bt800 and suffer a 10-hour ride on a packed, cramped bus, trying to sleep while being bumped on the shoulder by your neighbour or other passengers? Travelling by bus, sometimes you even have to make a mandatory late-night stop when you are about to fall asleep, just for Thai porridge. 

Just as one airline’s slogan goes – now everyone can fly. 

But with so many airlines and tickets agents, there are so many competitive offers to choose from. So where is the best place to get the best deal?

Air ticket purchase is not a simple transaction, nor is it always cheap, yet in many cases such transactions have become too “virtual” for many customers. All you receive after spending quite a large sum of money is just a piece of paper, or sometimes just a code. Therefore, some people feel more assured when they visit an airline office or travel agency instead of calling the reservation hotline or booking online.  

Dates, booking classes, terms and conditions, fuel prices, and currency exchange rates – all of these can make a lot of difference in pricing. Interacting with your preferred agency in person can at least guarantee you a seat on a flight. And you might even get a better deal if you’ve got the negotiation skills.

But that is not always the case.

With the boom in e-commerce and the popular use of smart phones and computer tablets, many customers are becoming more familiar with buying air tickets online.  

But when it comes to payment, extra charges and security can be an issue.

Check with your preferred credit card’s call centre. Some are offering member services beyond just financial transactions. Travel assistance like buying air tickets has become one of the main services, as this is part of the new lifestyle. 

Some card operators can even guarantee best air fares, as they have valid statistics of prospective travellers, and can thus negotiate for the best prices from airlines. 

With the benefit of owning the credit card product and processing the transactions, the card operators can control most expenses to make their prices most competitive. They will also gain customers’ loyalty if they offer satisfactory services while generating high-value transactions.

That’s a win-win situation, indeed.

 

Janejit Ladpli is vice president of travel and leisure marketing at Krungthai Card (KTC).