Etihad will fly you from Madrid to Bangkok for only €464. You can also fly to Phuket for €551. These tickets include luggage. There’s high availability between January and March 2024.
Our calendar displays all available dates for trips of up to 28 days for both routes. You can either book through an online travel agency (OTA) at the cheapest price or play it safe and book on Etihad’s website for around €45 more.
Etihad has just introduced a light fare, that doesn’t include luggage. The online travel agencies, however, still state that luggage is included. Should that be true – that’d be great. However, we recommend:
- Either book on OTAs and make screenshots of all places where it states that luggage is included
- Or pay the ~€45 higher price on Etihad’s website for the fare that includes luggage to be on the safe side.
From Madrid, you’ll fly 6 hours to Abu Dhabi, from where you’ll fly another 6 hours to Thailand. All flights are operated with Boeing 787 Dreamliners. You’ll be served food and drinks on all flights.
Search & Book
This fare can be booked until August 30, 2023 for departures before March 31, 2024. The minimum stay requirement is 2 days. Furthermore, your stay cannot exceed 4 months. You can add a free stopover in Abu Dhabi of up to 96 hours. These flights can’t be cancelled and can’t be rebooked.
Our calendar displays all available dates for trips of up to 4 weeks. For longer trips, check out Google Flights‘ calendar. You can then either use our Travel-Dealz flight search to find the cheapest online travel agency or pay around €20 more on Etihad’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
The tickets are issued in booking class T. To give you an example, a round trip to Bangkok would get you:
- 3,296 Award Miles on American AAdvantage
- 3,296 Award Miles + 13,178 Tier Miles on Etihad Guest
- 3,296 Award Miles on Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles
- 3,296 Points on Malaysia Airlines Enrich
- 3,296 Award Miles on Oman Air Sindbad
- 3,296 Award Miles on Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
- 3,296 Award Miles on SriLankan FlySmiLes
- 3,296 Award Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 3,296 Award Miles on Saudia Alfursan
- 3,296 Award Miles on Flying Blue
Destination
Hotel prices in Thailand usually start at roughly €15-20, depending on the city. Whichever category and hotel you opt for, make sure to get the best price! Our recommendation is to search on booking.com, or even on our own Travel-Dealz hotel search:
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…)
→ All Dealz for Thailand
Comments (2)
Oddly enough, on the Etihad calendar, I’m seeing 400+ fares for the green days, and that’s just for the way to (same for returning flight), so above 800+ returns
Hi Rita! You are right. It seems like this fare already expired.