June 3, 2020
Hello Everyone,
Well, the bad news came out yesterday. Korean Air will not be flying us to Thailand next month. It made me sad yesterday, so I didn't make the post until this morning. The airline will be flying to all of southeast Asia next month, but will not be coming to any city in this country. We didn't do a good enough job of getting Covid 19 under control here I guess. Sad times.
You now have two options:
Option 1: Get as much back as possible- Korean Air is currently saying that because we bought the non-refundable tickets, they will refund our money, but they will be keeping $175 (+$23) total of $198 of the ticket price. This is per ticket. (I personally have 3 tickets on this flight and have to pay this for each one.) This can be had from the airline as soon as I have all the responses. I'll then begin the school process of refunding all of the money you have deposited. This will differ depending on how much you sent in for each person and how many people you had traveling.
Total cost to you $198 per ticket. Total money back All - $198 per ticket.
Option 2: Plan again for next year. As you know, we were ready to do this. I'm still ready! I know that some of you are seniors and may not wish to plan for summer of your Freshman year of college, but for those that do, we can parlay the tickets into new ones for what would be an early summer trip next year. (Probably about a week after school let out. June 1 or so.) The airline would change your ticket date to the date we pick out and you would already have your ticket for next year. This would not cost you any additional money nor would they take the $198 from each ticket.
Total cost to you $0 Total money back $0
I would like to have the travel agent haggle with the airline about the cost. I'd like to offer her $50 per person if she could get ALL of our money back. That would mean $50 per ticket instead of $198. This is a win/win in my book as it would only be $50 per ticket for us and it would get her what is probably some much needed income as travel agents are not in high demand at the moment. If you would like to try this (no guarantees that it will work), just list Option 1 in for $50 on your reply somewhere and I'll put you down for that as well.
Honestly, I will be asking for Option 1 in for $50 right now. This is not because I don't plan to go next summer, it is just because I can't afford to have Korean Air hold almost $3,000 of my money for a year. I'll get another job (like my pizza delivery this year) and re-raise the money for next year.
I know that this is depressing. I'm sorry to have gotten your hopes up and then had this pandemic crush them. I just hope that we are in a better position by June of next year. Thailand is awesome and I'd like you to have that experience. Let me know what you would like to do: Option 1, Option 2 or Option 1 in for $50 and I'll get on that as soon as I have all of the responses.
I hope you are all safe and healthy. I'll be in touch as soon as I have a reply from you and an answer for you.
Sadly,
James Mills
919-884-6268 cell
jmills@voyageracademy.net
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Sunday, May 17, 2020
May 17, COVID-19 Update
Good Morning Everyone,
I have been checking the Korean Air flight we booked, the US State Department website, and the Thailand Government website each Monday and Friday. Here is how the trip stands right now:
Korean Air: Has not cancelled flights into July. (According to them we can still go)
US State Dept: Has issued a Level 4 (Do Not Travel) to all international destinations (According to them we can't go)
Thailand Govt: Has a travel ban on all Foreign Nationals (According to them we can't go)
2 out of 3 say we cannot go, but the one that says we can currently holds our money!
Do not despair! I will keep checking each Monday and Friday. The State Dept. updates weekly as does the Thai Govt. Korean air updates restrictions weekly, but only updates their flight schedules at the beginning of a new month.
Thailand has a very low case count of COVID-19. Only 50+ people have died there. There is still a chance, though with 1/4 of all cases (and deaths) happening in the US, they may ban our country anyway. I'll update this again on June 1 so that you are as informed as can be.
If you have concerns and would like to remove your name from the trip, please let me know and I'll contact Korean Air directly to see if they will refund your ticket now. As for me and my family, we plan to wait it out and go if at all possible!
Thank you for your patience.
James Mills
919-884-6268 cell
jmills@voyageracademy.net
I have been checking the Korean Air flight we booked, the US State Department website, and the Thailand Government website each Monday and Friday. Here is how the trip stands right now:
Korean Air: Has not cancelled flights into July. (According to them we can still go)
US State Dept: Has issued a Level 4 (Do Not Travel) to all international destinations (According to them we can't go)
Thailand Govt: Has a travel ban on all Foreign Nationals (According to them we can't go)
2 out of 3 say we cannot go, but the one that says we can currently holds our money!
Do not despair! I will keep checking each Monday and Friday. The State Dept. updates weekly as does the Thai Govt. Korean air updates restrictions weekly, but only updates their flight schedules at the beginning of a new month.
Thailand has a very low case count of COVID-19. Only 50+ people have died there. There is still a chance, though with 1/4 of all cases (and deaths) happening in the US, they may ban our country anyway. I'll update this again on June 1 so that you are as informed as can be.
If you have concerns and would like to remove your name from the trip, please let me know and I'll contact Korean Air directly to see if they will refund your ticket now. As for me and my family, we plan to wait it out and go if at all possible!
Thank you for your patience.
James Mills
919-884-6268 cell
jmills@voyageracademy.net
Monday, September 23, 2019
Welcome to Thailand 2020
Welcome to the VAHS Thailand 2020 blog. Here we will post important and exciting information about the Summer 2020 trip to Thailand taken by VAHS students and others. You may view the already posted itinerary for the trip by clicking on the links on the right.→
Thailand is an amazing place where the economy is based on tourism. This means that most people speak English! We will be spending 2 weeks traveling, sightseeing, eating, playing and generally having a good time! We will also take some time to do some community service while we are there.
The 2 week trip will cost $2700. (I have done my best to make this as affordable as possible.) I'm asking that a $600 non-refundable deposit be made so that we can begin to buy plane tickets now. If you will then pay $300 per month (starting in December), you will reach the goal of $2700 by June.
Please note: The price that will be paid to the school will be $2,200. The remaining money should be brought with you to pay for food, and some travel. The currency exchange rate in Thailand is 30 baht per US dollar. As an example, dinner at a market might cost you 40-50 baht per serving. (I eat 2!) Travel expenses not already included will be things like Songthaews (a unique Thai taxi) which might cost 30-60 baht per person. The remaining money will go a loooonnng way.
Please also note: This is just covering things we are doing. This does NOT include spending money while you are there.
Thailand is an amazing place where the economy is based on tourism. This means that most people speak English! We will be spending 2 weeks traveling, sightseeing, eating, playing and generally having a good time! We will also take some time to do some community service while we are there.
The 2 week trip will cost $2700. (I have done my best to make this as affordable as possible.) I'm asking that a $600 non-refundable deposit be made so that we can begin to buy plane tickets now. If you will then pay $300 per month (starting in December), you will reach the goal of $2700 by June.
Please note: The price that will be paid to the school will be $2,200. The remaining money should be brought with you to pay for food, and some travel. The currency exchange rate in Thailand is 30 baht per US dollar. As an example, dinner at a market might cost you 40-50 baht per serving. (I eat 2!) Travel expenses not already included will be things like Songthaews (a unique Thai taxi) which might cost 30-60 baht per person. The remaining money will go a loooonnng way.
Please also note: This is just covering things we are doing. This does NOT include spending money while you are there.
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