There are many factors causing a late arrival to Samui. The significant factor is that the overseas flight is delayed and you miss the connecting flight elsewhere.
Or one of your flights is for any reason cancelled. If you come from Germany and have a flight route like this: Frankfurt-Doha-Bangkok-Samui.
You might need to keep your fingers crossed because the rate of late issues is high.
If one of these fights has a delay, normally you will not find the next flight immediately because you have to change for the whole remaining flights until Samui.
If your Frankfurt-Doha flight is delayed and you miss the connecting flight in Doha.
In most cases, you have to overnight in Doha. Suppose you miss the flight to Bangkok which is a station before Samui.
You might have a chance to get an alternative flight and still arrive on time.
Wait, if you have booked a hotel on Koh Phangan or Koh Tao and arrive in Samui many hours late as planned.
There are not too many boats to get to Koh Phangan or Koh Tao that day. You might have to stay in Samui that day and get to those Islands on the next day.
Many cases are different and to be solved in a specific way.
Let’s take the example.
Your Holiday plan is to stay in a beautiful hotel on Koh Phangan from 12.09.24
You fly from Frankfurt and arrive in Doha so late that you miss the continued flight in Doha.
So, you have to overnight in Doha. What to do first? You contact your travel agency in Germany where you booked the flight.
Then the agency will contact the airline in Doha airport (which is responsible for you due to their operated flight coming late) to find a hotel for you.
This hotel is a special hotel made for guests who need to stop here and is normally located near the airport.
In case you book the flight by yourself then you have to contact the airline by yourself.
Of course, a 1-night stopover in Doha will lead to 1 day late arrival on Samui, also on 13.09.24 if you arrive.
Koh Samui in the morning you can still across to Koh Phangan on 13.09.23.
If you arrive Samui later than 15:00 the chance to get to Koh Phangan on the day is rare.
If you arrive Samui at 16:30 you definitely have to stopover on Samui, especially if you book the vacation via a travel agency.
Because your agency will not let you go to Koh Phangan with another boat provided without a contract due to safety.
The travel agency normally prefers to be a partner with a big/common boat company which has the latest schedule to Koh Phangan at ca. 16:00. So, that means you will stay on Samui for a night. # Boat routes to across Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao
Now, which hotel is in Samui? and who will pay for it?
The travel agencies will search for available hotels from their contract list.
This overnight hotel on Samui should be in the same class as the hotel on Koh Phangan.
Once they find that available hotel they will inform you of the agreement or maybe not due to difficulty in contracting you while you are on the way (no internet).
That is why the agencies will find the same class hotel in Samui to prevent further issues that you don‘t like the Samui in Samui even if you will stay there just for 1 night.
Who pays for it?
If you book the hotel by yourself, you have to pay for it first on the spot and can try to claim the airline later.
This case is the most difficult and lasts long till it is closed.
If you booked the hotel by a travel agency, it is then quite easy to handle. Now the travel agency will negotiate with the hotel on Koh Phangan if
A. The hotel on Koh Phangan will charge fully as the original book or
B. The hotel in Koh Phangan refunds you for those no-show nights.
For case A.
If the hotel you booked on Koh Phangan charges fully, then you have to pay for the hotel in Samui first and make a claim with the travel agency later.
Don‘t forget to keep the bill you pay for this overnight hotel on Samui to make a claim.
For case B.
First of all, this is very important!
The hotel in Koh Phangan can only refund you the night you are not present when you inform the agency early, or while you are on the way.
So the agency can inform the hotel in Koh Phangan in time that you will arrive at the hotel late and ask please not to charge.
So the travel agency will use this amount of refund to book the overnight hotel (at the same level as the hotel on Koh Phangan) on Samui for you.
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