Information on Thai Vietjet Air Flights

This low-cost airline is the Thai offshoot of VietJet Air based in Vietnam. Its rock-bottom airfare is attractive, and travelers can add only the services they need like bags or meals. Like other low-fare airlines in Southeast Asia, these carriers open up the world of travel to an entirely new market (people who may have otherwise driven or taken the bus because flights were too expensive).

In many countries, people have to drive tremendous distances without easy highway access or island ferries. Therefore, Thai VietJet Air becomes a great option for locals and tourists looking for a good bargain.

Bikini-clad flight attendants

You read that right. The airline has made a name for itself by advertising its flight attendants in skimpy uniforms and even giving away calendars with these images to get attention. On board, however, they are dressed in a short-sleeve shirt, shorts and a military-style hat.

Despite the marketing efforts, the onboard environment is professional, and the crew focuses on both safety and service (even if you have to pay for everything along the way).

Aircraft and seating

The airline flies a fleet of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft in a high-density configuration of all economy class seating. Soon, the airline will swap these planes for an entirely Boeing 737MAX fleet, but the same tight seat layout is expected to remain.

Seating is in a 3-3 layout with 29 inches of seat pitch (I can confirm that that’s tight, especially so for tall passengers). Luckily, the first three rows of the plane have more legroom for an additional fee. I always pay up for the first row because it has the most stretching space.

You are also among the first to be served. This is an important consideration on shorter flights if you plan to enjoy food and drinks. You don’t want everything to arrive right before the plane starts to descend.

Different fare types

The airline wants fares to appear as cheap as possible (at least at first), but travelers can pay extra to unlock more benefits via three fare types.

Eco

This is the most restrictive airfare and does not include a checked bag. It does come with a small carry-on bag no heavier than 15lbs. Changes are allowed on these tickets, but a fee will be imposed. The fares are non-refundable though, and cancellation is not permitted.

The cost of a checked bag grows with the overall weight of the bag. Unlike some airlines that charge a flat fee for a checked bag, Thai VietJet Air will penalize those who carry a lot.

Pro tip: if you purchase luggage before you get to the airport, you will receive a better price than if you add it at the check-in counter.

I usually place heavy items like a camera or charging cables in my pockets. I also recommend wearing heavier items like boots or jackets to lower the overall weight (and therefore cost) of your checked baggage.

There is also a charge for advance seat assignments, or you can wait for the luck of the draw when check-in opens. Because the cost of adding more checked bags at the airport is much higher than doing it online, the airline can avoid people trying their luck with an overweight bag once they get to the airport.

Weigh your bags before getting to the terminal, and follow my advice about wearing the heaviest items in your bag without appearing like someone dressed for three weeks in the mountains. Believe me, in many of these steamy destinations, you would not want that anyway.

Deluxe

This middle-of-the-road price does not permit flight cancellation but does allow changes for a fee. If you need to cancel your ticket, just pick a potential new travel date that you think you might need in the future so you do not lose the overall value of the ticket.

This fare includes a 15lb carry-on bag and a 44lb checked bag. Included are a subset of seats available in advance for free, but not all of them.

SkyBoss

While this cheekily named fare is substantially more expensive, it still does not permit cancellation. Follow my advice about trying to reschedule for a future date to keep the ticket’s value since you can change the ticket fee-free with only any difference in price being charged.

SkyBoss customers get access to a seat in the first three rows of the airplane, which comes with extra legroom. This is the primary reason I pay for this fare, but I appreciate that the carry-on bag allowance is higher (22lbs). You can also check a 66lb bag for free as well as one set of golf clubs.

Other perks include priority boarding, a welcome drink, free hot meal, snack and drink from the buy-on-board menu, and more attentive service. Being able to carry more items on the plane and also check a bag means you won’t need to worry about removing heavy items and stuffing them into pockets either.

Where Thai VietJet Air flies?

This is the Thai branch of VietJet Air, and all of its flights begin or end in Thai cities (almost all from/to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport). Among the destinations are a host of domestic cities as well as others within the southeast Asian region.

The airline also flies farther afield. This means you could find yourself on 5+ hour flights to Fukuoka, Japan on a low-cost airline with barely any seat pitch and no free food or drinks. The carrier flies a narrowbody A320 on the route.

Thai VietJet Air also sells itineraries on its sister carrier VietJet Air, which means travelers connect on flights from Thailand through Vietnamese airports to destinations like Sydney and Melbourne.

Luckily, the Vietnamese airline uses widebody planes on longer flights that feel more spacious. It is still a no-frills experience though.

What costs extra?

The airline charges a ridiculous online service fee when making a reservation, which should be bundled into the overall airfare.

Onboard food and drinks carry a fee, but if you purchase them online before the flight, you can score a substantial discount. I usually select a few snacks because the prices are quite low (and it means you do not need to carry them in your carry-on, which lowers its weight, too).

What is the experience really like?

Having flown SkyBoss most of the time, I cannot complain as the service is very good. The food is decent although not all flights serve (or sell) alcohol. Not all flights use a jet bridge, and whenever my flight arrived without one, there was a private bus waiting for SkyBoss travelers to take them to the terminal. That’s impressive!

I recommend comparing the price for SkyBoss fares with full-service airlines in the region like Thai Airways or Vietnam Airlines. The latter includes more benefits, and at times, their business class can be the same or even cheaper than a SkyBoss fare.

Their business class is significantly better than the economy class-style seat on Thai VietJet. And those fares come with more perks like business class lounge access, loyalty program elite status earning and priority security lanes.

What you will not find when flying Thai VietJet Air?

The airline does not have its own airport lounges, and it does not sell lounge access to partner facilities. Luckily, I find that most of the large airports that it flies from (including its main Bangkok Suvarnabhumi hub) have some sort of Priority Pass-accessible lounge.

It is worth paying for a Priority Pass membership to this global lounge program, but check to see if any of your credit cards already come with a free lounge access card. You may be pleasantly surprised.

You also will not find standard first-class or lie-flat premium cabin seats on Thai VietJet Air. But, if you connect to a VietJet Air flight to a long-haul destination like Australia from Vietnam, that sibling airline does offer the traditional business class with flat-bed seats and better meals included in the fare on more comfortable Airbus A330s.

What to consider before booking Thai VietJet Air?

This budget airline works well for travelers taking short, nonstop journeys where they are willing to forgo certain comforts for a low fare.

If you are checking multiple, heavy bags, however, you may want to compare the price with a traditional carrier to see if you are really saving that much money. The competition’s price may be similar and include meals, drinks and checked bags.

A word of caution if “self-connecting” from this airline to another carrier using a separate ticket, allow time to pick up luggage and take it to the new airline.

Thai VietJet Air does not codeshare with full-service airlines and will not interline or automatically check your bags through to another airline. If your first flight is delayed, the next carrier has no liability to protect you on a later flight.

As a budget carrier, some of its flights may not operate on a frequent basis. All of these are tradeoffs for scoring a lower airfare.