Star Alliance founding member Lufthansa and SWISS have put a decent price tag on business class flights from London to Bangkok. Roundtrips from both Heathrow and London City airport start at £1,244 (~€1,457) with short layovers in either Frankfurt or Zurich. Availability is pretty good in the first half of 2022.
These tickets are not refundable if you cancel them on your own. To change flight dates, you’d need to pay the fare difference, but at least the rebooking fee is waived.
Worldwide travel restrictions are in place to slow the spread of Covid-19. We strongly recommend gathering detailed information about the travel and quarantine restrictions that apply to your desired origin and destination.
A good start is the International Air Transport Association (IATA) website. It provides current updates on a country’s immigration policies. Even better, the Covid-19 Travel Regulations Map is one of the most useful tools you can find.
Our availability calendar shows you all possible flight dates for less than €1,500 (~£1,281) for trips up to 28 days. It will forward you to lufthansa.com, where tickets for both airlines are sold slightly cheaper than on Swiss’ website.
Carriers & Seats
After enjoying a short European business class ride from London to either Frankfurt or Zurich, you will board a Lufthansa or Swiss plane at the airlines’ respective hub. Swiss plans Boeing 777-300ER services to Bangkok, while Lufthansa’s flight plans sees an Airbus A340 scheduled for the trip to Thailand. As both airlines’ business class products are almost identical across their fleet, it’s up to you which you’d prefer.
With SWISS, it very much depends on the specific seat, as SWISS has a throne seat in every row. While the double seats share a platform in the middle, the throne seat has its own platform on each side, which you won’t have to share with anyone. Those seats thus offer privacy and comfort to an extent that the other seats cannot compete with. Therefore, you may be disappointed if you don’t get one of the throne seats, even if the other seats obviously also have a very high standard.
Many of our readers may have already experienced Lufthansa’s business class. Generally, Travel-Dealz writers and readers are not big fans of the Lufthansa business class, even though it is definitely not bad. One reason for that is that the service is too inconsistent: From extremely friendly and quick to unfriendly and slow – everything is possible with Lufthansa, even in business class.
Search & Book
According to the fare rules, flights are sold at this price until October 13, 2021. It is valid for flights leaving London before June 6, 2022 with a minimum stay of at least eight days. Maximum stay is three months.
You can find suiting flight dates with Google Flights (instructions). We recommend purchasing your tickets directly at LH’s website.
Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?
More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:
Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.
If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.
This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.
Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.
This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.
Mileage
Both Lufthansa and SWISS issue these tickets in booking class P. Your reward mileage might differ depending on you flying either Lufthansa via Frankfurt or SWISS via Zurich. A trip with Lufthansa should be rewarded like this:
- 23,996 CV Points on Vistara Club Vistara
- 14,998 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
- 12,684 Award Miles + 480 Points on Miles&More
- 12,684 Points on SAS EuroBonus
- 11,998 Award Miles + 2,398 PQP on United MileagePlus
- 11,998 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
- 11,998 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
- 11,998 Award Miles on LATAM Pass
- 11,592 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 8,398 Miles on ANA Mileage Club
A trip with SWISS generates the following mileage:
- 15,292 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
- 12,852 Miles on Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 12,752 Award Miles + 480 Points on Miles&More
- 12,452 Points on SAS EuroBonus
- 12,252 Miles on Aegean Miles+Bonus
- 12,232 Award Miles + 2,446 PQP on United MileagePlus
- 12,232 Miles on Asiana Club
- 12,232 Miles on Avianca LifeMiles
- 12,232 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
- 12,232 Miles on Ethiopian ShebaMiles
- 12,232 Miles on EVA Infinity MileageLands
- 12,232 Award Miles on LATAM Pass
- 12,232 Miles on TAP Miles&Go
- 12,232 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
- 12,232 Miles on Egyptair Plus
- 11,742 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 8,562 Miles on ANA Mileage Club
Information & Tips for Thailand
Thailand is an increasingly popular holiday destination for Europeans – both beach and party tourists get their money’s worth in the South Asian tropical state.
Whether Bangkok, Koh Samui or Phuket, Thailand offers multi-faceted cities and quiet beaches. Also, the country is always easy to reach from Europe. Especially to Bangkok, there is almost always at least a good deal!
Best Time to Visit
While hot summer temperatures prevail the whole year long in tropical Thailand, the best travel time is definitely the winter from November to February. Thanks to the northwest monsoon it doesn’t get warmer than 33 degrees. In summer the temperatures can quickly reach 40 degrees. The rainy season also starts in June and will last until October – high humidity is what you’ll have to prepare for!
Entry & Visa
Most EU citizens do not need a visa for stays up to a length of 30 days. The entry permit can be extended by another 30 days before expiration by local immigration authorities.
Currency
The national currency of Thailand is the Baht (THB) which is divided into Satang. One Euro is about 40 THB.
Finding the Best eSIM Plan
We’ve compared various eSIM providers, such as Nomad, Airhub, and RedteaGO. To see which plan is best for your travel needs, and which network offers the best coverage, feel free to read our detailed guide:
The Best eSIM Plans for Thailand 🇹🇭 Compared (Bangkok, Phuket…)
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