Guest Posted May 26, 2001 Report Share Posted May 26, 2001 I am considering flying to Thailand and taking a teaching English course. Not even sure when I would be returning to the States. Would it be better to get a one way ticket? Or would I have trouble in customs? The reason one-way works: I don't know when I would return to the States...maybe way past the cutoff date for a return flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 26, 2001 Report Share Posted May 26, 2001 Thank you DB sez aloha, As always, little confusting for the first-timer...and I rarely fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adikgede Posted May 26, 2001 Report Share Posted May 26, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Sammy1000: I am considering flying to Thailand and taking a teaching English course. Not even sure when I would be returning to the States. Would it be better to get a one way ticket? Or would I have trouble in customs? The reason one-way works: I don't know when I would return to the States...maybe way past the cutoff date for a return flight. Have you inquired to see if you can actually buy a one way ticket for less than the cost of a round trip ticket. The amount of money that you stand to save buying a one way ticket does not approach the utility of a return ticket. What if you get homesick? What if you become distitute? What if some one back home kicks the bucket? What if you just want to take a holiday? A one year open return ticket should give you plenty of time to decide if you never want to return. [ May 26, 2001: Message edited by: Adik Gede ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsmedave Posted May 26, 2001 Report Share Posted May 26, 2001 Sammy, I am in your same situation, and I decided to go for it with the one-way ticket (although I will surely have a visa before I get to the airport) Worse they could do, I imagine, is force me to buy the second half while I'm there. The price difference between the two was about $250, using the very special rate I got from the travel agent. Not a great deal of money, but then again, that is enough to pay for food for a month over there. Harder to become destitute if you have money to begin with. The other reason I chose this route/and problem with others suggestion of getting an "open" return, is that to do this you would need to forgo discount tickets and probably take the airlines standard fare. Thus my $500 one way flight would've become a $2200 round trip. Now, that IS a big difference, especially since I'm 75% sure I wouldn't be using it anyway. So, we'll see how the cookie crumbles. Good luck to you. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 27, 2001 Report Share Posted May 27, 2001 Sammy, There are 2 issues to address here: 1) Visa - as others in this thread advise, get a visa first before you fly to Thailand, just to avoid any possible problems of boarding the aircraft or getting through Thai immigration. It's easy to get the visa, to better to play it safe. You never know when airlines or immigration depts. may change their policy. 2) Buying one-way vs. return tickets is a more complex decision, and the answer depends entirely on how confident you are about your travel plans. From what you describe, I would lean more towards buying a one-way ticket to Thailand because: a) It is easy and cheap to book air travel in Bangkok to anywhere in the world, this gives you more flexibility in your travel plans. You need not go to Bangkok to catch your return flight. Instead, you may fancy a trip to some other S.E. Asian country - you can fly there and then go home. Of course, this flexibility comes at a price (2 one-way tickets cost more than a round-trip ticket), but the extra money is minor when you consider all the costs involved in your journey. JG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 12, 2001 Report Share Posted June 12, 2001 I am also coming to Bkk for teacher training. I have found out that the Thai Consulate here in Portland requires a ticket to issue a visa, and they suggested a round trip- open return, good for one year. I got this ticket last week for 780 US (including tax). I intend to exchange the return for alternative travel in SE Asia while staying in Bkk. One way would have cost me just over 500 US and I decided to avoid any potential hassles at immigration by spending the xtra bucks. Hope this helps, Sanuk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 12, 2001 Report Share Posted June 12, 2001 Here is what I would do. Go to www.thaifares.com. Find the cheapest one way fare from Bangkok to a city near you. You should able to get the same price one-way the other way. Most of the worlds "secondary" airlines offer one way fares for about 2/3 the cost a normal discount fare. Some the the cheap airlines which fly into Bangkok are Emirates, Olympic, Aeroflot, Egypt Air and of course Thai. If any of these airlines fly to a city near you, you will be able to get a fairly cheap one-way flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanukdee Posted June 12, 2001 Report Share Posted June 12, 2001 The correct web address for that site is... www.thaifare.com sanukdee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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