Attention when booking a Thai VietjetAir ticket!
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Thai VietjetAir operates a large number of domestic flights in Thailand. It is a budget airline like there are more in this country, but unlike most others, this airline does not have Don Mueang as its base, but Suvarnabhumi. This is a good thing for arriving and departing international travellers.
Until a few years ago I usually flew between Bangkok and Chiang Rai with Bangkok Airways, and occasionally with Thai Smile. The former no longer flies on this route, and the few daily Thai Smile flights are less compatible with the flights on which I arrive from Europe than those of Thai VietjetAir. Been a customer of the latter for a while now. I have no complaints about it, in practice it is a flight of just over an hour between the two cities and that is fine without extensive service on board. You pay to be taken from A to B and that's exactly what they do.
Before I go into that 'paying' – because that's what I want to talk about – I should also say that in terms of legroom in the Boeing 787 of EVA Air in economy, I am no more spacious than in the Airbus A320 of this budget flyer. Fine for an hour, but for 10 – 12 hours I find it a visitation……. Must say that I was 'spoiled' by flying mostly Premium Economy or Business before.
Now that 'pay': on one of my previous trips, earlier this year, I had to pay remarkably more for my ticket for the domestic flight with Thai VietjetAir than on other occasions. I hadn't paid much attention to it until a month later when I happened to see that the credit card statement showed a different 'receiver' than the other times. So I looked at my booking again and then I found out that I had not booked on the official Thai VietjetAir website – th.vietjetair.com – but on thaivietair.com. The latter website also appears at the top of the Google list as an advertisement when you search for Thai VietjetAir. However, on closer inspection, this is simply a ticket dealer selling Vietjetair tickets, but – as I will demonstrate below – at a significantly higher price.
Anyway, the damage had already been done, and I resolved to be more careful when booking from now on. The reason to delve into it a bit more was a recent conversation with someone who arrived in Chiang Rai shortly after me. The current ticket prices were reviewed and it turned out that he had paid considerably more than I had for the same domestic route. I don't know where he had booked, but I immediately thought of those different websites and decided to put it to the test. Here the result:
Starting point: flight VZ137 from Chiang Rai to Bangkok on Monday 6 February, departure time 17.45 pm. Cheapest ticket ('Eco'), without checked baggage, but with 7kg cabin baggage.
On thaivietair.com this flight was offered for USD 38. This appears to have become USD 77 at the checkout due to taxes and service fees.
Then exactly the same booking on th.vietjetair.com official website. Oeff, that saves a coat: 1563 baht, all-in. That USD 77 from that other website comes down to a good 2500 baht………
I won't make that mistake myself again, but I thought it would be worth informing blog readers about this so they don't fall into this trap too. If you still want to give away 1000 baht, there are better goals in Thailand, right …….
Hey,
I don't want to book it anymore.
As you say yourself, you just fly from A to Z without any controls.
Booking is always a bit complicated with them and in the end the expected price keeps going up, additionally for your luggage, additionally for your seat, additionally having to pay for your booking yourself with a credit card, but you have no other option, etc....
I just book and that rarely makes a difference in price with Bangkok Airways, everything included and very good service.
I don't know where you booked, but on the official website of Thai VietjetAir there are no additional costs for a credit card. I don't understand what's complicated about booking. You can choose from 3 ticket levels with corresponding prices, and for each level it is clearly indicated what is included and what the specific conditions are. If you opt for the cheapest option ('Eco') and you do not purchase hold luggage, seat reservations or insurance, you will pay exactly the price originally indicated. Only pay attention to the insurance (ad 99 baht): if you do not want it, you must 'uncheck' the relevant box.
Dear Cornelius,
Writer clearly indicates the difference between ThaiVietAir (is directly with the airline) and ThaiVietair. A mistake is easily made. Sounds a bit similar. But can cost you double.
It is the same plane but through a different booking office.
General;
At https://www.airpaz.com/en you can also view a nice overview of flights,
whether you book through Airpaz is up to you to decide. Have done it myself many times before.
Regards Manow
Yes, I know that the writer clearly indicates the difference, you don't have to explain that to me - I am that writer ...
Thanks for your helpful tip!!
I myself flew a domestic flight in Vietnam with this company in the spring. Only with hand luggage.
Although there were many people flying with larger bags/backpacks/suitcases, I was the only one taken out of the line at the check-in desk to weigh my hand luggage. 1,5 kg too much earned me an extra fee of almost the ticket price.
It was too much of a hassle to take out that one and a half kilograms of clothes and whether or not to put them on, the flight was already delayed, so keep in mind that this can happen 🙂
Annoying websites Yes.
They use identical domain names.
The web layout, colors and logos are all very similar.
When you click through, all sorts of costs will be added.
Many of those brokers are also active in the Netherlands, usually appear at the top of the Google search and spend a lot of money on advertising.
It is hoped that this type of scam will be banned in the future.
Just like gambling websites are no longer allowed to advertise with well-known Dutch people (hello postcode lottery).
Regards,
jos k.
The official website can require the counterfeiters not to make their website so similar.
Want to report?
Great tip thank you, never noticed
I had also noticed at the beginning of the week with the company when booking.
But thanks for warning anyway.
Thanks for this kind of always welcome information Cornelis. We are going from NL again this year and will probably use it. Let's see what other destinations they have.
Thanks Cornelius,
Was just looking for a (cheap) ticket to NL from Chiang Mai.
Hey Cornelius
Interesting story. I experienced something similar, but with air Asia. So pay attention, double check that you are indeed booking on the official website.
Dear Cornelis, you can also download the Vietjet Air app on your phone. You also have a program called Opodo and if you fill in the data you entered there you will see a whole list of flights for that day and there is Vietjet departure 17.45 for €30.11
That € 30,11 then turns out to be a higher price, but you will only see that when you have already entered all your details and make the step to pay.
No surprises on that point on the official Thai VietjetAir website.
Something similar applies to ThaiEmbassy.com.
This seems to be an official website of Thailand, but turns out to be the website of the commercial company Siamlegal, which offers all kinds of services for a fee. The information on this site is in any case not up to date and may be incorrect. So pay attention!
Dear,
Thanks for your info.
I want to add one more thing. When booking through sites like airasia and trip.com.
They start with a cheap price. You will receive additional pages as you proceed towards payment.
Proposals for insurance, airhelp, and all sorts of nonsense.
If you skip these pages without unchecking these extras, and even then there are still snags, you'll end up with a higher checkout.
Even with extra luggage I already paid too much.
Greetings,
Show
For several years I have been using 'CheapTickets.co.th', the Thai version of Cheaptickets, to search for cheap flights (originally Dutch I think, but now also .be and other national wings). Yes for Asian flights.
Have never been bought.
In Belgium I had booked a Bangkok-Saigon ticket with a good travel agency (Connections.be that can make good prices for BRX-BKK) to travel to Bkk. Cost me 125 eu for Vietnam Air.
Could now buy the same flight and time at Vietnam Air for 1500 baht at the Thai department CheapTickets for 41 eu.
That saves a sip on the drink.
Yesterday we flew with VietJet from BangKok to Chiang Rai. Booked with eSky.com I'm afraid we were tricked too. The price was abnormally high and indeed additional costs. It also took a long time to find our data at the VietJet desk in Bangkok. Clearly something was wrong.
Next time we will pay double attention when booking. Thank you for the warning.
I had a problem with hold luggage once when checking in in Chiang Rai. According to the VietjetAir computer, I still had to pay for the luggage, while I had already bought it when booking. Fortunately I had printed it out and I was able to convince the employee. My reserved - and paid - seat was also not there, and it had already been assigned to another passenger.
At that time I did not know that I had booked on the wrong website, so I only found out later, as I described above.
This is very interesting information Cornelis.
I am just looking for a flight from Bangkok to Vietnam.
Please check carefully before making a decision.
Thanks!