Beijing To Bangkok - Cheap Way?

[allmodcons]

Hey,

I'm going to be travelling from Beijing to Bangkok on 30th November and I'm trying to work out what is the cheapest way. As far as I can tell, the cheapest flight tickets are over £300 (which isn't really cheap at all)! So, looking at cheaper options, it seems to be better to get the overnight train to Hong Kong and then fly out from there. From what I can see, the train tickets are about £40-£50 for hard sleeper (which I'm guessing is just having a seat not a bed) and about £70-£80 for a soft sleeper (is that the 4 berth option?) and then flight tickets are about £50 so that works out much cheaper. Am I correct in thinking this is the cheapest option? Or does anyone have any great cheap travel tips from Beijing to Bangkok?

Will appreciate any advice you can give!

Thanks!

[MirroRobin]

Are you looking for round trip or one way? If it's one way you're looking for, Cathay Pacific offers a flight from Beijing to Bangkok (through Hong Kong) for £232. It's the first site I looked at, so there might even be cheaper options.

Itinerary Details

Date Flight Operated By Departure Arrival Stop Duration Aircraft Class

30 Nov CX6117 Air China PEK 17:30 HKG 20:50 0 7:25 321 Economy Special (V)

30 Nov CX709 Cathay Pacific HKG 22:00 BKK 23:55 0 330 Economy Special (V)

Fare Details

Total fare Passenger Fare Tax/Surcharge

CNY 2,312 Adult x 1 CNY 2,060 CNY 252 ?

Total fare CNY 2,312

[JonBI]

Hard sleeper is just a crappy mattress and rather low bed, so you may hit your head against the ceiling easily, especially on top. It's a better value, but I guess if you are going such a long distance, it won't matter. either way, probably better to just fly, as back and forth to Hong Kong then to Bangkok may equal just as much.

Either 150$ for hard sleeper and a few days of travel, or 220odd for soft sleeper. I guess it's up to you.

[jbradfor]

ITA is showing PEK -> BKK (connecting in Guangzhou), one-way, for USD297 on China Southern. A bit less then Euro300. [Although the way the eruo is going, USD297 may be more than Euro300 soon ]

[tortue]

If you consider going by HK then I would rather suggest to transfer at Shenzhen. Air Asia operates Shenzhen - Bangkok at very cheap prices, well under RMB1000. Just don't forget to check their lugguage policy which you might have to book in advance. They arrive in the middle of the night, but it's easy in Bangkok, get a cab, there are a lot of inexpensive hotels you can book which will let you in around the clock.

I did recently SH-Shenzhen in a hardsleeper, i liked it. The mattress is not really hard, much softer than an average chinese bed. The difference to the soft sleeper is that you are 6 in an compartment, but since the compartments are not closed it makes a bit more space. You will get a lot more in contact with people which I enjoyed a lot. Personally I preferred it to the softsleeper I had from BJ to SH.

By the way I think it is maybe a little early to book for a good price in november. Have a look at the "how to find cheapest rates" at ctrip.com. I can imagine it will be possible to book sri lankan airlines for less than 2000.

Cheers

[skylee]

Is it safe to go to Bangkok? What with the riots etc?

[natra]

Is it safe to go to Bangkok? What with the riots etc?

I was kind of wondering about that too. Earlier in 2009, I knew several Americans who didn't seem to even bat an eye at the political turmoil happening when making their summer plans... *shrug*

[adrianlondon]

An acquaintance of mine has just flown to Bangkok.

This was one of the worst riots in ages, but it happened in only one part of Bangkok. I don't know the city well, but apparently the shopping centre which burnt down was a famous one and popular with tourists. Outside of Bangkok there's usually nothing to worry about. However, this time, even the quieter cities had some problems.

The curfew has just been lifted so all should be getting back to normal. If it were me, and I didn't have a trip booked, I'd leave it a while. However, if I did have a trip booked I'd go and I reckon it'll be fine, especially if you're not stopping in Bangkok.

At least, unlike last time, the airport wasn't/isn't affected.

[allmodcons]

Hey,

Thanks for all the tips!

It is just a one-way trip as I'll basically be meeting a friend who will be arriving in Bangkok the same day to then start backpacking around SE Asia together.

Even though there do seem to be flights cheaper than £300 from Beijing to Bangkok, I've got to be careful with my money (i.e. stingy!) and it still looks like it'd be cheaper getting a hard sleeper train ticket to either HK or Shenzhen and flying out from either of those places. Thanks for the tip about Shenzhen, by the way - I would have never known to look at flights from there but they are cheap as chips with Air Asia! This might seem like a silly question but is the hard sleeper option ok for a girl travelling on her own? I'm guessing if there are 6 of you to a compartment you'd be very unlucky to end up with the 5 other passengers being creeps.

Re: recent troubles in Bangkok. My friend and I have pondered over this and whether we should book flights elsewhere in Thailand but I think we've come to the decision (perhaps a very hopeful one) that we will risk Bangkok in the expectation that everything will be ok by November and if it isn't then just arrive at the airport and get the next bus out of Bangkok (provided the airport is not affected as it has been in the past)!

[chrix]

Yeah, in 2008, I was flying out of Indonesia with a two-day layover in Bangkok, and just got out before they closed down the airport. So this year I'm having a layover in Singapore.

[JonBI]

Is it safe to go to Bangkok? What with the riots etc?

Riots aren't targeting tourists; technically if you stay away from the riot zone, you should be fine, as they have been mostly "peaceful" in the sense that they aren't trying to kill people. By November though, cleared for sure.

[tortue]

This might seem like a silly question but is the hard sleeper option ok for a girl travelling on her own? I'm guessing if there are 6 of you to a compartment you'd be very unlucky to end up with the 5 other passengers being creeps.

From the experience I made i'd say no problem. Maybe she would even prefer the hardsleeper to the softsleeper since these are open compartments, they do not have a door - there are "more people around" if you want

[Lantos]

Thanks for the tip about Shenzhen, by the way - I would have never known to look at flights from there but they are cheap as chips with Air Asia!

I would like to add that there are direct Air Asia flights from Guangzhou to BKK too. So besides SZ and HKG it can be an other cheap option. But as already mentioned, check the baggage policy, it could make extra costs.

[roddy]

Also, given that you can book plenty in advance, you may find flying to GZ or SZ worthwhile - the savings to be made by taking the train are less than with HK.

[allmodcons]

Yeah, I've been checking out the Air Asia baggage policy and it doesn't seem so bad if you book in advance with their new Baggage Supersize provided you don't go over 30kg. I'm going to be backpacking with a 65 litre backpack and guessing that when not filled to the brim it will weigh between 20kg - 30kg (though I may be completely optimistic there)...

Flying from Beijing to Guangzhou or Shenzhen sounds like a good idea if it does work out cheaper than the train but I notice that Air Asia doesn't do those routes. Are there any other cheap Chinese airlines similar to Air Asia that you could recommend? A bit like Britain's equivalent of Ryanair and Easyjet...

[roddy]

In China it's not so much a case of looking for discount airlines as looking for discount tickets. Have a look at ctrip or elong, but bear in mind that discounts that far ahead may not have been set. Have a look at tickets in the next month or so to see what may be available closer to your actual travel dates.