UKH

I’m looking to book flights to Nepal for a trip this October. 

Can anyone advise the best time to book tickets in terms of value?

Also any airlines that are reccomended/not recommend?

Cheers,

Tom

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

BA to New Delhi then Air India or many others to Kathmandu is a cheaper option. However it's two different airlines so a delay would mean loosing the next flight.

My favourite is Emirates. I fly from Glasgow to Kathmandu with just one stop. I usually splash out on a business class seat, which is not cheap. Economy on Emirates is ok but the annoying thing is the wait for the connecting flight is usually quite long and in the middle of the night when not everything is open. if you fly business they have the usual lounge facilities and the bonus of the upstairs bar in the A380.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

No direct flights from UK, so for the shortest duration flights looks at either via Middle East or India. Air India used to be the cheapest, but Vistara prices are good currently.

Cant go wrong with Qatar, Emirates or Kuwait airlines. The only ones I would avoid are Biman Bangladesh and Nepal Airlines, both pretty poorly run, unreliable and subject to cancellation at short notice.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Flights have gone up quite a bit in the last month from c£1000 - c£1200 with Qatar. Last autumn there were a few cheap seats within a month of departure, but most people were paying c£1600 for a reasonable schedule if they booked late.

In reply to Tom Briggs:

Thanks Tom. What would you count as booking late?

In your experience is there a sweet spot for booking at the best price?

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Seats are ticketed at 30 days from departure, so you sometimes see cheaper fares become available at this point as unsold seats are released. But honestly with Nepal I’ve seen very few cheap fares last minute. I would book now. The best deals are as soon as fares come into range c11 months before the departure date.

In reply to Tom Briggs:

This .
Somebody (  something nowadays ) at the airline is responsible for making sure each flight makes a profit . They allocate a certain number of economy seats at each price band .  The number of the very  cheapest seat will vary day to day and month to month .  Go on to emirates site and you be able to see how the prices vary over a date range . You can get an idea of of the price range then fiddle around with your dates to get the cheapest option that works for you . As to flying via Delhi on different airlines . As long as buy the  flights as one ticket you will be looked after if you miss your connection . If  you book separate tickets  you’ll loose the second leg if you miss it .  Remember to leave plenty of time between arriving back in Kathmandu and your return flight . Lots of people on here , me included will have takes  of being stuck in lukla and being stuck behind angry shouty people ( often Americans ) who demand that they are more important than everybody else and have to get on the next flight . 

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Hi Tom

We've just booked returns Manchester to Kathmandu, via Doha, (3 hr layover) for the start of May, for just under £900 each with Qatar airways- a bit more for seat bookings. It was cheaper to book direct with the airline than via price comparison sites and you also then have no issues if you miss the connection. 

We were due to go last November and originally booked those flights 10 months in advance for almost exactly the same as we have paid now, so I’m not sure it makes a lot of difference. 
I had fare notifications running for a while and it consistently appeared cheaper to book on a Mon/Tues rather than weekends, but not a huge difference. 

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Tom, I fly regularly to KTM and if you can get a price below 1000 pounds for October 2024 I’d book now. Currently 1200 with Qatar and 1100 Turkish. Emirates/Fly Dubai may be just less. Agree with Tom (Briggs) that the earlier the better. I’ve started buying tickets almost one year ahead now. Once the cheapest economy seats have gone the prices rise sharply. There will be the odd promotion running through the year but not on general prices to KTM but rather on extra points or 10 percent discounts for frequent flyers etc. It seems that post-Covid air fare inflation over the past three years has contributed a lot to overall inflation (according to BoE last year) and with unrest in the Middle East we may see further airfare rises if fuel prices increase. October is the start of high season here and the cheapest economy prices may go before summer, esp if you have fixed travel dates.

Regards Andrew

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

We flew Heathrow to KTM via Abu Dhabi with Emirates.

Oddly, when we got off the plane in Abu Dhabi, we had to go through security/scanners to get into the airport, so be careful what you buy on the way out/take off the plane, because it may be confiscated there. We had to empty water bottles at that point.

Never had that when I've transited through anywhere else.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide: 

Qatar Airways has a one day flash sale today 14th including for flights from UK with up to 15 percent off. Fyi Regards Andrew