How can I use a Thai bank card to pay for tickets with Austrian Airlines?

Apr 14, 2022
3 years ago
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Hi, i have bkk bank MasterCard and also in yellow bank but both cards doesn’t work with austria airline so i cannot buy tickets and agencies are way more expensive then what i found myself. Did some of you have experience with using some thai bank card to pay for international airlines?
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The user is facing problems using their Bangkok Bank MasterCard and another Thai bank card to book tickets with Austrian Airlines due to payment failures. Comments suggest that the user may need to activate their card for international transactions. It was noted that some Thai banks block certain international companies for fraud prevention. Other users shared their experiences of successfully unblocking their cards by contacting their banks directly. A solution involved visiting a bank branch to request that their card be activated for online international payments, allowing them to finally purchase the tickets.
Paul *******
Try Pay pal. Most airlines offer it as a payment option.
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Pa**
i did but i dont have any balance on paypal and i dont have option to put money.. only if someone sends me, but then if friend send me he have to pay fee..
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Thanks everybody, i fixed the problem, it turned out the bank blocked some of the international airlines or some kind restriction on my card. Even i addressed this problem already in 4 different bank offices before and no one helped, today in the one of the bank offices another worker was understandable enough to take my phone and call the call center and explain everything and they said they "Activated my card" for other companies besides Asians. So if someone else have the same problem - just need to be pushing forward with different bank offices or different workers, dont trust if bank worker tells you cannot be done, try with another worker and can be. Specially if they are acting unsure which they almost always are.
@Andy ********
thanks a lot :)
Peter ****************
Open fixed deposit account with an amount you want to use as a limit for your mastercard. Then most banks will give you a mastercard. (i say mastercard, because of course it is no real 'creditcard' then, because you already deposited the money in a fixed deposit account)
Giuseppe **********
I even informed bank to allow me to use card when i was away , but couldnt.
Kool *******
You not only have to activate your card for internet buying, but you must go to your branch and also activate it for international buying. It is a completely different activation. It has nothing to do with you using your card in another country. It has to do with buying things from foreign countries. Even though I could buy domestically and from Chinese companies, I had to get it activated for international buying to use Android Play Store purchases. There are two different activation requirements. You also have to set your daily limit
Richard ********
Buy by agency or if you are in Bkk direct at the desk of the company at Suvarnabhum
Michael ***************
Cannot use my Bangkok bank Mastercard to book on line, have to use my partners
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Mic****
what bank they use?
Scott *******
If it has anything to do with a Russian company it might be blocked due to the ‘invasion’ of Ukraine.
Andy *********
@Scott ******
blocked last year due to the high levels of fraud - advised was temporary until bank resolved issues
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Sc***
no, im trying to buy tickets from Austrian airlines. Just additional: im not Russian, im Macedonian, we are in NATO and we have great service in our banks but my card from there is expired as im stuck in thailand for the pandemic, and all options now i have to buy ticket is to make thai bank card which i did in two banks but sadly both doesnt work for Austrian airlines. The second option is to buy in agency but its expensive. My logic tells me they also use some thai bank to buy tickets so if i can find that bank or the way they use it i could buy the tickets myself.
John **********
@Даниел **********
why can you not pay via online banking rather than with the card?
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Jo**
it says on austrian airlines website that payment options include bank transfer but when you get in the tickets processing and on the end it shows you two options only - card and paypal
Andy *********
Bangkok bank blocked some international companies - you can ring up and ask for a temporary release - I.e cannot use to purchase for apple.com at all but for booking.com they opened up for 2 hours - all to do with fraud 🙁
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
i did also, i booked on agoda and i paid trip to bali airplane ticket and there was no problem. But now when i tried austrian airlines then is blocked.. doesnt accept payment for some international companies. But thanks to this post and your commets i fixed the problem this afternoon - i went to one of the 4 bank offices i went before and they didnt wanted to fix the problem, but this time another worker fixed everything, she took my phone and called call center and reported my card to be "activated" for international companies payment. and it worked i bought tickets today :)
Paul *******
Never heard of such a thing. I've been using my Thai debit cards for online purchases, including on Agoda and booking. com for years never a problem, never got blocked.
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@An**
you saying i can just call them and ask nicely if they can unblock austria airlines just to buy tickets? 🙂
Andy *********
Andy *********
@Даниел **********
they hv a list that they can remove block temporarily- Bangkok bank contact centre
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@An**
you wont believe what happened... i called them and when i explaned the problem they just stopped me just on the end and they said: "sir just a moment" and opened the music again for 30 min.... i think they have no idea how to help so they just going to make me give up with the endless music on the call...
David *******
My friend had same with swiss air, could not use visa or master card with K bank nor BKK
Paul *******
Try PayPal.
Michael ********
Have you activated your bangkok bank card ?

Needs to be done for online stuff.

Even though work as ATM card still nees to activate for online stuff
Paul *******
My card works just fine on international websites. The problem could be Union Pay, which western countries mostly don't accept. American merchants generally don't accept Union Pay at all.

However, if you use PayPal then your card will be accepted.
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Mic****
yes i went to bkk office, they activated maximum online payment 50 000 baht. I have used before when i went to Bali. the card works with asian companies but not with Austrian airlines or any other out of asia.. I just asked if someone have experience with another bank that worked for him for international airlines so i can get card there. Its hard to get the right information from the bank workers, they dont know...
David ********
@Даниел **********
Bangkok Bank aren't very good at this stuff, I'd go back again and explain that the card isn't working for any websites outside of Thailand. I had the very same problem with Bangkok Bank and it turned out they had activated for online transactions but not for transactions outside of Thailand. After insisting they needed to recheck everything several times, the guy on the phone eventually admitted that they hadn't set it correctly and resolved the issue for me.
Michael ********
Michele *********
Maybe you have debit card, not credit card ? Airlines will accept credit cards
Paul *******
Bangkok Bank debit cards generally use Union Pay, which many western countries don't accept. However, PayPal will accept Union Pay. Select the PayPal option at checkout, if available.
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Pa**
i did but on paypal is connected only my bangkok card and paypal tried to withdraw but the card refused and error.. it says put new card
Paul *******
@Даниел **********
very strange...try talking with Bangkok Bank. I've had zero issues and used my card at more than 30 different merchants over the past few years.
Paul *******
My Thai debit cards work just fine for any online purchases and also abroad. Contact your bank to activate online purchases.
Lisa ********************
@Michele ********
airlines accept debit cards too.
Michele *********
@Lisa *******************
I think some do and some don't 🤷‍♀️
Lisa ********************
@Michele ********
there is aways a choice to click; debit or credit card. Mastercard or Visa. Same banking system for debit or credit.
Danny ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Mic****
its not possible to get credit card cause they have condition - you have to work in thailand to apply for that card. Also it arrives in one month they said which is too late to buy a ticket then.
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