How to get to Thailand?

[Gallaher]

Swim?!?
Seriously, we are investigating travel to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam from the west coast of USA. It’s a long haul. I could fly economy for 20 hours or business class for 4x cost.
What I really want to do is travel economy and stop/layover for a few days at an interesting spot along the way.
Where is that? Most flights on the west coast fly to Singapore but that is a 16 hour flight by itself. I’m not sure what travel to the east looks like. Maybe stop in Europe someplace?
Ideally, I’d like to split the trip into two equal parts.
I appreciate input from anyone who has made this trip.
Thx

 

[Peter]

You can get pretty much anywhere in SE Asia on cheap flights from Hong Kong. Still a decent length hop to HKG, though, depending on where on the West Coast you're located.
Another option is Taipei, an interesting place in itself. Can recommend EVA, the Taiwan flag carrier.

 

[rodi]

When we went 2 years ago we flew from San Diego to Singapore (change of plane in Tokyo). We spent a few days in Singapore. Then we flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Then to Phuket, Thailand. Having the couple of days in Singapore was great fur adjusting/recovering from the long flight.

We planned on spending more time in Thailand but the trip was unfortunately cut short when my MIL passed.

Flying home we flew Phuket to Doha to Seattle to San Diego. That was extra long because the flight left super late from Phuket and we missed our connection in Doha.

We flew business for the part to Singapore, and from Phuket... But Coach on local airlines for the intermediate flights.

Premium economy looked pretty comfortable, albeit not lie flat.

Edited to add:



Our flights were "AA". But in fact were JAL, Qatar air, etc.

 

[Koolau]

I've never made the trip you're thinking of, but how about stop one in Hawaii. That's 5 hours from the west coast. Lots to explore if you've never been. Perhaps next leg could be to Tokyo or Manilla. Just thinking out loud.

 

[NgineER]

We did this trip earlier this year. From mid-west to Seoul for a couple of days, then Thailand. On the way back we flew over Hong Kong and Tokyo before heading home. I think Koolau's idea is good, break it up a little. Our stopover in Seoul and Tokyo made the flights 14 and 12 hours from the mid-west.

 

[brett]

We have done the trip to Bangkok multiple times. We have gone through Narita a few times, Hong Kong, and Seoul. Usually from SEA, SFO, or Vancouver, Canada. Once we did go via SFO to Singapore. That was 17,5 hours but we had lie flat seats. Four days in SIN, then we went to the Philippines.

We have gone on to Australia from Thailand/Malaysia twice. Both times coming back we did Sydney-Honolulu. One or two nights in HNL to break up the trip, then home.

For us, flying to Bangkok is about 23hrs elapsed time (from Calgary, Canada) depending on the connections and on whether we have one or two connections. Coming home has been 18-19 hours elapsed time.

 

[JDARNELL]

we flew from DC to Brussels to BKK business class in January. When we returned we flew Saigon to Tokyo then back to DC. I would think SFO, LAX, Seattle, SD to Tokyo then on to Thailand would be OK.

 

[walkinwood]

Premium economy is a good compromise between economy & business class.

On international flights, most big carriers use seats that are similar to the ones in US domestic first class.

 

[brett]

The best flight, the best service that we have had on any of our trips when flying economy was on Korean Air. Incheon is also our favorite transit airport on the way to Bangkok.

 

[bonvoyage]

We have to attend a destination wedding in Thailand later this year. I just booked a couple of business class tickets for us on Cathay Pacific for $6k each (New York - Bangkok). This is actually a very good deal considering the distance.

 

[Palmtree]

I'll admit that Thailand has been on my short list for a couple of years. I'd love to book us a vacation there but I know nothing about the country and this lack of knowledge has always held me back.

 

[martyp]

Swim?!?
Seriously, we are investigating travel to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam from the west coast of USA. It’s a long haul. I could fly economy for 20 hours or business class for 4x cost.
What I really want to do is travel economy and stop/layover for a few days at an interesting spot along the way.
Where is that? Most flights on the west coast fly to Singapore but that is a 16 hour flight by itself. I’m not sure what travel to the east looks like. Maybe stop in Europe someplace?
Ideally, I’d like to split the trip into two equal parts.
I appreciate input from anyone who has made this trip.
Thx

I live in Thailand. I typically take flights between Bangkok - Japan/Korea - San Francisco. I fly economy class and the trip typically is 20-22 hrs. You could, of course, spend a night at the layover. I had a friend do that a couple of weeks ago.

I avoid Manila as a layover. It is a terrible airport. I went through China once and it was a bit confusing so I don’t do that anymore either.

 

[nphx]

If you search on google flights, Google Flights you can sort by time. That first hop gets things out of the way. Seoul, Narita, Qatar Doha, Singapore ..

 

[SecondAttempt]

I've never made the trip you're thinking of, but how about stop one in Hawaii. That's 5 hours from the west coast. Lots to explore if you've never been. Perhaps next leg could be to Tokyo or Manilla. Just thinking out loud.

We are on the last day of our SE Asia trip starting from Hawaii. We flew through Seoul but I think that was a mistake. Japan and Korea are very far north of SE Asia.

Koolau's suggestion is good but I would suggest the Manila route rather than Japan. If you choose Japan, don't focus only on Tokyo Narita. Flights to Tokyo Haneda, Fukuoka, Osaka, and other Japanese cities are often cheaper than Narita and most of those have direct flights to Bangkok and Singapore.

For our trip the routing from Kona to SFO then to Seoul was several hundred dollars less than a routing directly HNL to Seoul would have been. It was even less than routing through Manila for some reason. It added 5 hours to the flight in each direction though.

 

[zangbao]

Manila airport is terrible. I’d avoid at all cost.

I recently took a roundtrip flight on Starlux airlines to Bangkok from Seattle in business-class for $3600. Layover in Taipei. Highly recommend.

 

[bmcgonig]

From the West Coast, you could fly into Europe in 10 to 11 hours. From there it’s about 10 hours to Southeast Asia.

 

[brett]

I'll admit that Thailand has been on my short list for a couple of years. I'd love to book us a vacation there but I know nothing about the country and this lack of knowledge has always held me back.

We were the same. DW was always hesitant. I want to to go. Our first winter back to our rental condo. Snowy,icy day in Jan. We still had no plans to escape.

An offer came across my screen for air to Bangkok. DW said yes, just get us out of this weather. Less than a week later we were in Bangkok for three days, then went south

Since then we have spent six snowbird winters in SE Asia. Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, and two side trips to OZ.

Thailand/SE Asia quickly became DW's first pick for snowbird escapes. The only downside is the flight time.

 

[SecondAttempt]

We just got home (today) from over 3 weeks in Seoul, Saigon, Laos, and Cambodia. Everything I thought I knew about those countries (except Korea) would have kept me away but I was very curious to be in Saigon on the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam war.

I am SO glad we went! We now want to go back to Southeast Asia, especially Thailand and Malaysia. This trip we only saw Saigon in Vietnam which we liked but I've heard pretty much everywhere else is much better. In Laos we were in Luang Prabang which was awesome. Cambodia was for Siem Reap and Angkor Wat plus Phnom Penh and the Cambodian Genocide sites.

We met some incredible people during our travels and, while I would not say I was specifically afraid of going to any of these countries, I did not know what to expect and I was prepared for the worst. But we only experienced the best!

As an American about age 60 I vividly remember the Vietnam War and a lot of the related events like the Cambodian Genocide and the bombing of Laos, our ally at the time. Yet they have moved on much more than we have.

Lack of knowledge of Thailand should not keep you away. Just study up, prepare, and enjoy.

 

[Palmtree]

Six winters in SE Asia. Way to go. I would love to hear more about how you planned for the longer stays and your favorite areas.

"Since then we have spent six snowbird winters in SE Asia. Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, and two side trips to OZ.

Thailand/SE Asia quickly became DW's first pick for snowbird escapes. The only downside is the flight time."

 

[pook]

We went last year and made terrible life choices (for us). DC to Newark to Narita to BKK. Layover in Narita changed from 2 hr to 7 hr. By the time we arrived we were wrecked. If / when we do it again, we will do a layover of a couple days somewhere and make that part of the trip. All that being said, we really enjoyed Thailand and have recommended it to all of our friends. We did the BKK-Chaing Mai-Phuket circle. Next visit will not include Phuket, but would include the northeast.

 

[brett]

To date our favorite airports for change have been Incheon and Hong Kong. We try to avoid Narita. We would like to try a Taipei stop via EVA airlines. We liked Singapore Changi but it is a 17.5 hour flight from SFO. We prefer to do two 8-11 hour flights. Shopping for winter flights now, alas the best fares for us all seem to be through Narita.

Only once in six trips have we spent time in Phuket and Ko Samui. Too crowded, too touristy, too many timeshare and vacation club hawkers. Never been to Patong, not interested. We only spend 2-3 days each time in Bangkok at most. One day when we are flying out of Bangkok.

We spent a month in Vietnam doing independent travel. We would have liked to spend another 10-14 days however our 30 day visas expired the day we flew back to Thailand from Hanoi. My spouse was not keen to visit Viet Nam but she loved it once she got there. We entered Viet Nam by land from Cambodia, started in the southern island of Phu Quok.

I spent some time in Hue speaking to a gentleman who was on a Gate One (?) tour He seemed very pleased will all aspect of the tour.

We only did ten days or so in Cambodia. Angkor Wat was the highlight for us. Enjoyed those ten days but we prefered VietNam, Thailand, and Malaysia. Also Singapore. Lots of great beach places and islands in southern Thailand down to Penang, Malaysia. Some you can only reach by water taxi.

Knowing what we know now I do think that we would go all the way to Thailand for two or three weeks. The distance is so far for us mid seventies oldies. We need more time for slow travel.

Time change going has never been a problem. We usually arrive in BKK at midnight or so. By 1:30 we are in our hotel bed. Sleep in until 10ish, have breakfast, and we are good to go. No issues. Going home is the complete opposite. Takes us four or five days to get over the jet lag/time differences.

 

[zinger1457]

From my experience the shortest flights (timewise) to/from Thailand and LAX are either through Taipei or Hong Kong. I've used Cathay Pacific, EVA, and China Airlines and they are all good. Have to also remember that if you're trying to stretch your Thailand visa to the max the clocks starts at 00:01 on the day you arrive, not the time you get your passport stamped. If you have a late arriving flight, say 11pm, you might already be on day 2 as far as the visa is concerned before you even leave the airport. I ran into this issue once on a 30 day visa.

 

[brett]

My understanding is now we can stay in country for 45 days though I have not confirmed this.

In the past we either got a Thai visa extension or continued south for a few weeks into Malaysia, down to KL, and then went back in to Thailand. Or went to Cambodia/Vietnam for six weeks, then re-entered Thailand.

We had to be very careful with our Viet Nam visa regarding both our stated entry date (vs the visa application date) and our departure date.

We obtained a Cambodian visa when we arrived by air in Sien Reap.. Took ten minutes. Obtained our VietNam visa whilst there. . Local TA, as per Tripadvisor, charged a nominal fee to courier it to a VN consulate office just across the border. We had our passports and visas back within 48 hours.

My understanding is that Thailand is clamping down on daytrippers who do so to reset their allowable days in Thailand.

 

[SecondAttempt]

We went last year and made terrible life choices (for us). DC to Newark to Narita to BKK. Layover in Narita changed from 2 hr to 7 hr. By the time we arrived we were wrecked. If / when we do it again, we will do a layover of a couple days somewhere and make that part of the trip.

We had to fly from Hawaii east to San Francisco (5 hours) then back west to Asia (~ 12 hours). The alternatives were a little shorter in time (a couple of hours) but several hundred dollars more expensive.

This is our first major flight being retired and somewhere in those long flights I realized that in the future we will be staying a few days at layover places. For Europe, likely DC or NYC. For Asia, San Francisco or even somewhere in Japan. I only say Japan because we are flying from Hawaii and Japan or Manila are pretty much the only direct connections to Asia. Time has far less value now than comfort and convenience. No worries about optimizing vacation time anymore!