There are are some important things to consider when pricing the Air Asia tickets, especailly
the ones that are "free" other than taxes. It's still far from free.
After staying up late in BKK for several nights in a row, the last thing I want to do is take a
flight at 7AM. When you consider getting up and dressed, checking out of hotel, maybe a
premium price for the taxi driver, arriving at the airport 2 hours early, and on and on... you're
looking at getting out of bed as early as 3:30. Hey, the room is paid until 12:00 noon.
On the other hand, a flight that leaves at 1-2PM gives you the ability to monger all you like on
that last night in BKK. There's no rush on anything. It's only an hour's flight to Phuket, which
means arriving there long before the nightlife begins.
The difference in fares is definitely worth it to me to have much more relaxed trips, in both
directions. Phuket's airport is an hour's ride from Patong Beach, and what happens if the driver
has a flat tire? So, should you get up at 2:30 to be ontime?
Finally, the mere thought of leaving the hotel long before sunrise is depressing. If you finally
found that perfect LT date, with every reason to believe there will be a second round the
next morning, you just kissed that off.
With the taxes being so high, the differences between a 0 baht fare and 899 suddenly
doesn't look so far apart. My found-trip fare is 2400 baht, which is dirt cheap for a 1,000
mile roundtrip.
If you're a true early-bird, and the savings outweigh the rest, then you're the person that
the 0 fare is intended for. In that case, please ignore everything I've said.
Either way, go to Phuket and have a blast. It's almost impossible not to
