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yotaiji012
Joined: 13 Jul 2004
Location: Sunae Bundang
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 Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 6:25 pm Post subject: What is wrong with this country? Airfare |
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I am trying to go NZ for some snowboarding end of july beggining of august. First of all my company (biggest corporate *beep* in korea) chooses my vacation time for me. Which pisses me off completely.
Now i am trying to buy a plan ticket. And they are all sold out and long list of people in waiting. Seriously pissing me off lately I am getting sick of this place. and all the backwardness it stands for. I am just pissed and raving. Oh the stories I could tell about "korea's premier company". Everything is a big mess |
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ajgeddes
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, travelling can be a pain in the butt here because everybody gets vacation at the exact same time. That combined with the high prices for flights out of Korea can make it a pretty crappy time to try to get anywhere interesting during your time off.
Every summer, I fly Cathay Pacific home to Toronto. Last week, I did a search from August 3rd to 18th with 3 different prices and there was not a single seat to Toronto. The only airline that had any seats was Northwestern. |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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Check out flights which go via Australia or Japan, flights from australia to NZ are dirt cheap (well compared with Korea Japan flights) plus you might be able to fly straight into Queenstown. Check out a company called freedom air
I had the same problem at the end of my contract.
Last edited by blackjack on Sun May 27, 2007 8:53 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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The problem is that people book tickets for about 5 different places at the same time, without having to prepay any of them. Then at last minute, they cancel 4 of them and go to 1 of those places. It causes planes to be 'full' but more often than not, tickets free up.
They need to fix their system here. Force people to prepay or a penalty for cancelling at last minute. |
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ajgeddes
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 7:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Ilsanman wrote: |
The problem is that people book tickets for about 5 different places at the same time, without having to prepay any of them. Then at last minute, they cancel 4 of them and go to 1 of those places. It causes planes to be 'full' but more often than not, tickets free up.
They need to fix their system here. Force people to prepay or a penalty for cancelling at last minute. |
You know, I never understood this. This is what people always say, but whenver we buy tickets we have to pay within 3-4 days after booking them. Where can you book tickets but not have to pay for them until the last minute? |
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sojourner1
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Location: Where meggi swim and 2 wheeled tractors go sput put chug alugg pug pug
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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Yea, like the OP, my vacation is at the exact same time too. About a month ago, my boss told me that 20 million Koreans get the exact same time off. He told me if I wanted to go on vacation I had better have purchased my airfare by the 1st of May and that it would be very expensive! I thought that was really messed up too, so I will stay in Korea and save money. Then at the end of my contract just after everyone comes off of Winter vacation, I will take my long economical plane trip around the world during the low season. Thats a reward that I look forward to everyday.
Yes, this means living in Korea for a year straight with no travel possibilities. Kinda dissappointing, but at least I will have a little money at the end of the line.
You might check with the travel agencies and airlines for last minute bargains, if that exists here. This is typical in the Americas in attempt to sell seats that are not going to sell due to cancelations. Might not be possible with having to apply for visas at least a few days ahead of time though. |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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Hi OP, check out the travel forms. I posted up a name and phone number of a great travel agent (she's Korean but speaks some English). She has incredible prices! 
There are other posters in that form that provide useful information as well. Give it a shot. |
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seoulsucker
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Location: The Land of the Hesitant Cutoff
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 8:59 pm Post subject: |
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| sojourner1 wrote: |
| I will take my long economical plane trip around the world during the low season. |
There is no low season in Korea. I've taken trips during every part of the year, and on each occasion several different agents have told me that tickets are expensive or not readily available because it's "busy season."
The booking thing is a real pain in the ass, and TKIK do it regularly without a second thought as to how inconsiderate it is. If you're not Korean, agents will give you "deadlines" as a "security measure. One agent explained that she enjoys booking for foreigners because she felt we tend to be more direct, effecient, and cooperative throughout the whole process. |
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vino-luvva
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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| yeah..you can fly directly to Queenstown from Aussie. Queenstown is me home town...tis a great place. It'll be busy there during the winter, so tis a good idea to get online and book accomadation. Theres plenty of backpacker accom which is comfy. Take loads of coin, cos theres soo much to do, if ya like a bit of mad adventure. Check out Wanaka too, its a bit more laid back, and a really beautiful town. |
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Newbie
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 11:46 pm Post subject: |
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| ajgeddes wrote: |
| Ilsanman wrote: |
The problem is that people book tickets for about 5 different places at the same time, without having to prepay any of them. Then at last minute, they cancel 4 of them and go to 1 of those places. It causes planes to be 'full' but more often than not, tickets free up.
They need to fix their system here. Force people to prepay or a penalty for cancelling at last minute. |
You know, I never understood this. This is what people always say, but whenver we buy tickets we have to pay within 3-4 days after booking them. Where can you book tickets but not have to pay for them until the last minute? |
Not quite last minute, but back in March my wife and I booked a flight to Toronto in August. We don't have to pay until June 1 |
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Masta_Don
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: Hyehwa-dong, Seoul
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| Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 12:12 am Post subject: |
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| seoulsucker wrote: |
| sojourner1 wrote: |
| I will take my long economical plane trip around the world during the low season. |
There is no low season in Korea. I've taken trips during every part of the year, and on each occasion several different agents have told me that tickets are expensive or not readily available because it's "busy season."
The booking thing is a real pain in the ass, and TKIK do it regularly without a second thought as to how inconsiderate it is. If you're not Korean, agents will give you "deadlines" as a "security measure. One agent explained that she enjoys booking for foreigners because she felt we tend to be more direct, effecient, and cooperative throughout the whole process. |
I dunno. When I was booking my flight for end of July, I was offered $700 roundtrip to LA for then which was late April/early May. That was pretty standard and seemed fair to me. Plenty of airlines, plenty of seats. Instead I ended up with a direct roundtrip flight, save the 'secret' stopover that they told me about after I booked, for $1500.
It really is that everyone gets off at the same time and wants to go to the same places. For Chinese New Years I found tickets to Paris cheaper than tickets to Australia, Thailand, and the Philippines. If you can make it in the off-season then you should do fine (use the internet and the Koreans you know's knowledge). |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 1:09 am Post subject: |
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| All first and business class seats sold out too? |
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cangel
Joined: 19 Jun 2003
Location: Jeonju, S. Korea
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| Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 1:51 am Post subject: |
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| Booking out of Fukuoka, Japan, for example, can save you up to 50%. Of course getting to Fukuoka means taking the Beetle which is abou $220. For me though, I go to Fukuoka to visit friends so it's no big deal. If you need some info on good travel agents (websites) for Japan, PM me. Just checked a site, and to NZ at the beginning of August is about W641,000 + taxes. I don't know if that's good or bad... |
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superacidjax
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 7:13 am Post subject: |
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| Try working for a French company in August.. good luck getting August tickets cheaply.. |
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