flightcrew1

just my 2 cents. We have 3 daily flights in and out of BKK from Abu Dhabi. 840a, 1020a, 2140. The first flight is nearly always full into BKK as many passengers connecting from Europe which arrives into AUH around 6am. The second flight is generally less than half empty as is mainly middle eastern passengers and also means a 4 hour layover for passengers if coming in from Europe. The third flight is again generally full as it's an overnight into BKK with early morning arrival and a direct connect for those morning flights that left Europe or North or South America.

On the outbound the flights leave at 0255, 0835a, 2035. The first flight again is generally the less crowded of the 3 as again the connections into Europe mean a 4 hour layover whereas the other two have about 2 hour connections.

That said from AUH to Europe depends on the day of the week if flights full or not. I worked a flight from FRA to AUH 2 weeks ago that had 42 passengers total on board with nobody in Business class. A couple of days ago I worked a flight from LHR that was full 100pct with upgrades to First and Business being done at the gate.

We've stayed in the IBIS at Place de Italie and the Mercure on Auguste Blanquel (sp) I've stayed at both several times. Mercure a bit more expensive but nicer with market several days a week in front of the hotel. The Ibis is fine with standard Ibis amenities. Ibis can certainly be had for 80 euro a night including breakfast and Mercure a bit more if booked and paid for in advance on their websites. Both are within 5 minute walk to the Metro Place d'Italie with lines 5 6 7. Good restaurants in the area and pretty much walkable anywhere.

You can message me if you want more information as we go there every April.

There is a Royal Thai Consulate in Dublin.

Royal Thai Consulate,
1st Floor Harmony Court,
Harmony Row,
Dublin 2

Tel: 00353 (0) 1 643 6468

On Qatar you get a free stop in Doha and that's it. Anything else would be a round trip from Doha to Istanbul or Dubai.

You could give St. Gabriels a call but I believe you have to be a teacher there in order to use it as not open to the public. Many of the big schools in the city have good size swimming pools and I have checked in the past and that was the answer I received.

My partner has applied for the Schengen visa 3 times through the Netherlands Embassy and the fastest was one day and the longest was two days! Gave multiple entry and beyond the time limit we asked for. On the other hand we just recently applied to the German embassy for Schengen visa and it took a week and gave a multiple entry for the exact time limit of the the travel itinerary which was 5 days. We laughed as what was the point of the multiple entry.

Have fun!

The Patumwan Princess Hotel which is connected to MBK is not far from the the train station and have day passes to to the gym and swimming pool. The pool is 25m long and has plenty of sun beds. Good locker room with amenities. I'm a member there but I've seen people pay 300++ for the day.

Near Surasak BTS station, behind St. Louis Hospital, there are many apartments in that price range. Plenty of food options as well as St. Louis area is known for good street food.

http://www.thaiairways.co.uk/news/2013/04/flights-cancellations-in-may-and-june-2013/#.UaT8QUDVDro

Just googled the above link...guess there just is no business, people who booked cheap flights early are having problems re sceduling the flight in the same class and are being hit for £500 to get on a flight due to a higher class econ ticket, surely not right?

They are only being hit with the higher fee if they decide to change the days of the original flights. Instead of leaving on the night flight they are now being changed to the earlier flight that day. Though I could see this being a problem if you already had plans for that day, and want to go the next morning. Then it seems you would be hit with the penalty if booking class not available, which I doubt it will be.

We always use Netherlands Embassy as the turnaround is 24 hours to 48 hours. France and Germany can take two weeks and longer, but I suppose for all is the time of year and the season.

I found that particular Gourmet Market very confusing as it was actually in two different stores with having to leave one store and cross the mall and enter the other store. That said I also never seen it particularly busy either.

LOL!! got me!! April fool on me!

this again? As a flight attendant for over 25 years and currently a Purser on Etithad I have to say that upgrades do not happen on board just because your wearing a nice suit and flash a big smile at the young pretty stewardess. The young pretty stewardess is very junior with no authority and doesn't even work in business or first class and in fact would need to get authorized by the Purser or Flight Service Director. Believe me I've heard every imaginable story from passengers once we close the door on why they should be upgraded. Someone mentioned they were upgraded by the Captain as they knew him. That can happen but these days rarely as even the Captain would need to submit paper work on why later on. An upgrade on board can happen if there is a problem passenger or a medical emergency. But again everything is from beginning to end is now documented on flights. You csn upgrade at

I hope she wasn't writing this from the galley because it finished rather abruptly.

LOL! Pretty close...pretty close!

Irish consulate in BKK have always been helpful and I only have dealt with the Thai staff. The answer the phones they call you when documents arrive and even call to the embassy in Kuala Lumpur to find out correct information. Of course getting things done is painfully slow as the documents are sent to Kuala Lumpur and then to Dublin and back again to Kuala Lumpur...well you get the picture.

Working for Etihad I often get the Dublin flights from Abu Dhabi. We have two a day. We have about 15 different flights both morning and evening and connecting to these flights and the average amount of passengers connecting to Dublin is about 30 to 40 from Bangkok.

I don't see a non stop from any airline in the near future to Dublin.

Probably conclusive flightcrew, but if there were 40 every day on Etihad, Emirates, BA, Air France, Lufthansa, KLM, Quantas, Thai Airways, Swiss Air, China Airlines, etc...... If priced right do you not think they could fill 1 flight per day, also young Irish going to Australia have to take minimum 3 flights unless they go through the UAE, there's huge numbers heading to Australia and stopping in Thailand and surrounding countries for a month or so, I honestly think it would be commercially viable. By the way any chance of an upgrade next time I use Etihad (joking)

you hit the nail on the head there saying if the price is right and for some reason i doubt it will be. with etihad at the moment, flights to bkk from dub are fairly expensive compared to flight to elsewhere in asia. they are taking advantage of the fact that many young irish are heading to aus and stopping off in thailand. etihads special offer to thailand now is 768 euro while you can get it with turkish airlines for about 630

Where's Williaminbkk?? He knows more about this than I do as he was airline management. Even if Etihad or Emirates, Finnair or whoever wanted to fly non stop from Bangkok to Dublin or Singapore to Dublin they would have to have the permission of both of those governments involved. Example Etihad is from UAE so they are allowed to fly from Abu Dhabi to Dublin nonstop as Abu Dhabi is the home city. But to fly nonstop between two countries that they are not based out of is near impossible. Not completely impossible but near. On the other hand if Thai Airways wanted to fly non stop from BKK to DUB this would be allowed as Aer Lingus would also be allowed to fly non stop. This all has to do with "Air Freedom Rights"

Many years ago I worked for an airline called UTA and we flew from Paris to San Francisco and continuing on to Honolulu. Though the majority of the passengers got off in San Francisco we continued on to Honolulu with a half empty aircraft as we were unable to sell tickets on that sector.

Working for Etihad I often get the Dublin flights from Abu Dhabi. We have two a day. We have about 15 different flights both morning and evening and connecting to these flights and the average amount of passengers connecting to Dublin is about 30 to 40 from Bangkok.

I don't see a non stop from any airline in the near future to Dublin.

With reference to post 19, I have seen youtube pictures of an middle eastern airline, think Man city, who picked up a new A380 and totalled the aircraft before take off, always best to read the maunal before you think you can fly/drive.

It was a A340-600 for Etihad and it was in Toulouse, France. It wasn't the pilots who were picking it up but ADAT but the flight crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies.

"travel agent with prettier lipstick" LOL! Good one!

Sounds fun! I'm in! plus 1.

Thanks

The only problem I have with Ethihad is Abu Dhabi airport and the connecting flight, time is usually quite tight between the arrival of the Bangkok flight and the departing London flight (and visa versa) and negotiating the security funnel in the middle is nightmarish.

Also, I know that Ethihad has my travel preferences recorded as always wanting to be seated next to unruly small children and crying babies but this is simply not the true but I don't know how to change things.

Here's a tip about security. 1. If you are on a connecting flight with bags checked through we will not take off without you, (rarely) as we would have to off load your bags which takes a long while and are aware of security backlog, though 15 to 20 minutes is the worst during peak arrival times. 2. Instead of following the crowd to the right when you come down the stairs to get into the massive queue of 3 or 4 plane loads arriving at the same time go to the left as you come down the stairs which is fast track. Nobody checks and it just puts you into the front of the queue.

Regarding children if you request a seat in front of the cabin this is where the children are seated as we have the cribs to put on the bulkhead. Sit in the 2nd cabin of economy which is less likely to have kids.