Flights from Europe

Hi,

I'm thinking about spending my next vacations (1 month, probably August) travelling in Vietnam and Laos.

I was thinking about flying from Portugal to a big European airport (probably London, as there are low-cost airlines flying between Portugal and London), and then to Bangkok, and from Bangkok to Vientiane in Laos. From Viantiane I would travel in-land, via Vietnam and Cambodia, back to Bangkok.

I was expecting flight prices between Europe and Bagkok to be reasonable, as Bankok is a major airport in south-east Asia. But I've been checking and they are more expensive that I expected.
So I may consider flying from Europe to ... maybe Hong Kong, and then fly from Macau to Bangkok or to Ho Chi Min, and then travel in-land back to Hong Kong. Or maybe fly from Europe to Chendu (KLM has/had very good prices) and do something similar.

The last summer I flew from London to Shanghai and from Beijing to London, with British Airways, for around 900 Euros, and I bought the ticket just one week before I left London. I was expecting flights to Bangkok to be cheaper than to China, but apparently they are more expensive!

So, what do you think would be the cheapest flights option for me to travel in Vietnman and Laos.

Cheers

I booked a return flight Barcelona - Bangkok through Lastminute, about six weeks ahead of departure. Like you I was first surprised about the high fares. By checking various dates I found out that the fares differed up to 500 Euros. As I was sort of flexible concerning my flight dates, I established a "corridor" of two weeks each for the flights to and from BKK: starting with the first day of a possible flight to BKK and introducing then one after the other every possible day for the flight back, then continuing with the second day... sounds more horrible than it is, takes maybe half an hour or little more and saves you a lot of money. I didn't expect it on intercontinental flights, but monday until wednesday are on an average the cheapest days. If you want to fly (or you have to) on fridays or weekends, ecpect to really pay a lot more.
The result was a return flight Barcelona-Amsterdam-BKK with KLM / China Air for 838.- €. It would have been a bit cheaper with Iberia or AllItalia over Rome and from there with China Air to BKK, but - sorry, dear friends from Italy or Spain - I preferred to pay a little bit more, but be sure that I wouldn't miss a connecting flight or loose my luggage somewhere between BCN and BKK...
As I'm not a student any more, it was probably the best I could get... other fares went up to almost 1400 €...

Thai Air flies from Madrid to Bangkok, I heard they have reasonable flights, although I didn't see them on Lastminute...

Good luck
Michael

Yeah flights are expensive, but the cost of living is so much cheaper once you get to these countries (much cheaper than Europe) makes it worthwhile. Check out qatar or gulf airlines cheapest I have found.

Some budget airlines flies to Vietnam are Thai Air Asia between Bangkok and Hanoi, Air Asia between KL and Hanoi, and Tiger Airways between Singapore and Hanoi/Sai Gon. As for travelling overland between Laos and Vietnam, expect it will take much time and more hassles than direct flight Vientiane/Luang Prabang - Hanoi.

Thanks for your answers

As I said, I was considering flying via London because of the low-cost companies, but if there are direct flights from Madrid to Bankok, I may also consider flying via Madrid as there are also cheap flights from Portugal to Madrid.
If I fly via France, Holland, Germany, or Itally, I guess I'll have to pay around 300 Euros just for the return flight between Portugal and one of these countries.

Sirius, did you pay that price already with taxes?

I can be a bit flexible with my flight dates, but because of that I may miss some days in Asia ... so I'll have to make some compromise

But I'm still a bit surprised that, even looking for flights more than 4 moths in advance, the prices are that expensive. And cause I can plan my vacation dates only around 1 month in advance, I'm afraid that then the prices will have gone up a lot.
So I may seriously consider flying via China, instead of Bangkok.

Cheers

the fare includes taxes...
if you visit the regular websites of, let's say, China Air, indicated fares are much higher than what I pay now, and that means only the China Air stretch (Amsterdam-BKK or Frankfurt-BKK), without the connecting flights... it might be the same with Thai Air.
so maybe you should try Lastminute in any case...

you can try aeroflot, they have good prices as well as alitalia. as for lost or late luggage, or missing connecting flights, it simply is not true that there are more risks with "southern-italy and spain-" airlines ; there is another flight comparing site called "easyvols" and by playing with dates you can find a deal.
i envisaged also to fly through london, hongkong, macau and bangkok to reach vietnam and laos, but adding up the flight costs, one overnight and taking into consideration that it costs me 2 days at least i soon gave up this idea- and booked amore convenient and slightly more expensive one.

Hi there!
Reading all these answers was very usefull, bu I still did not find anything cheap in Europe. I could also go from London, but Italy is more convenient for me. When I look for the prices it is just amaziing-all is more than 1200 per person, and we r a family, so it is defenetely too expensive. If u guys find something, please write me an email! smihili@yahoo.it
Best, J.