Ubon Ratchathani has a New Bird in Town
There's a new bird in town now servicing Ubon Ratchathani. Now we have a choice of three airlines for our trips to and from Bangkok. Nok Air has two daily flights from Bangkok to Ubon and Ubon to Bangkok. It seems they are expanding into Isaan. Nok Air is a subsidiary of ThaiAirways International. It is their version of a "no frills" airline.
Nok Air offers an early morning flight and a late evening flight. Their hub is Don Muang Airport in Bangkok so it makes it a lot more convenient and quicker to get into Bangkok city than from Suvarnabumi Airport. Here is their flight schedules:
Bangkok To Ubon
- Flight DD9310 departs BKK 06:20 arrives Ubon 07:30
- Flight DD9318 departs BKK 19:55 arrives Ubon 20:05
Ubon To Bangkok
- Flight DD9311 departs Ubon 07:55 arrives BKK 09:00
- Flight DD9319 departs Ubon 21:30 arrives BKK 22:35
It is comparable to Air Asia in service but you do get reserve seating. You can make reservations online, purchase your tickets and choose your seating. You can even check-in by phone but you must do this prior to 2 hours before the flight. You can only use phone check-in if you have no checked baggage. Also for some reason you don't get the flight insurance if you check-in by phone.
They still seem to be working out the kinks. Check-in was suppose to close 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure time but at 25 minutes there were still 20 people in line waiting to check in.
Don Muang is a skeleton of it's former self. Not near the traffic as before. There are a few restaurants open there but only in the terminal. Once you enter the passenger waiting there is nothing. So eat before you enter. No city buses from Don Muang now but there is a bus to Suvarnhabumi Airport.
The fares are reasonable the the price fluctuates. It seems to be driven by supply and demand. I think it is also effected by the day of the week. If you are planning to travel and you see a good fare you should grab it. I was planning my travel and there was a good rate in the morning but when I decided to go with Nok Air in the evening the ticket price had gone up by 300 Baht.
All in all I was satisfied with the service. The flight times aren't ideal but that is a small thing. If you are coming to Ubon Ratchathani or going from here to Bangkok I would recommend you give Nok Air a try.
They have a website in English you can visit them at Nok Air.
Labels: air travel to ubon, Isaan, Nok Air, Ubon Ratchathani
posted by Darwin @ 2:03 AM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
Useful information here, Darwin, as usual! One question - how much did you pay in the end (you mention that the price had gone up, but not what the final fee was)?
We've not traveled Ubon-Bangkok and vice versa by air for a few years now, so it'd be interesting to know roughly how much it costs these days. And, which is the cheapest airline to travel with would be handy info' as well.
Good, informative post. Thanks!
Gary at Forest Wisdom,
http://forestwisdom.thaipulse.com/
Gary,
Thanks. It was just under 1200 Baht one way. The first time I checked it would have been 900 Baht. Air Asia has a Zero Baht promotion now for a limited number of seats. ThaiAirways runs about 2500 Baht one way.
Good info Darwin. I am visiting my girlfriend in Ubon in January so this info is a help. Is it possible to send you a separate email with a few questions about Ubon?
Redbox
Redbox,
You can go to my website, weloveubon.com, go to the bottom of a page, click on "contact us" and send me an email. I will be happy to answer any questions you have.
Hmmm. I guess this will be Thai Airways trying to drive Air Asia of the route! (call me Mr Cynical).
Short term gains from increased competition for us - long term pain when and if AA depart - i.e watch for the Nok Air prices to shoot up towards the Thai Air price, which has stuck at double the Air Asia price over at least the last year.
Current on-line price for Air Asia is about 1500 baht one way. I have flown with them maybe 12 times in the last year and rate them highly among the lo-cost carriers.
Can I also give a plug for Budget Rent a Car at the airport. Super guys and I always get a very clean reliable modern small car or basic pick-up for about 1100 baht a day. 50% of the time it seems I am upgraded at no extra charge.
PS I have absolutely no connections with any of the companies mentioned in this blog
Steve U
Steve,
Thanks for the input.
Post a Comment
<< Home