Scouse123
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Posts posted by Scouse123
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1 hour ago, SiSePuede419 said:If it was the case of always double checking the customer at Qatar airport, how come it is a new rule when they never used to do it before?
Security rules were changed WORLD WIDE after something called 9/11 where terrorists blew up multiple airplanes and killed thousands of people.
You didn't know that?
Yeah, back in 1977 I got on an airplane flight with bicycle tools in my carry on, including screwdrivers.
And prior to 9/11 they used to let you board with POCKETKNIVES.
And plastic BOX CUTTERS.
You didn't realize that the 9/11 terrorists used BOX CUTTERS?
If you are a sophisticated world traveler you would already know all this plus cargo stored under the plane is held to a different security standard than carry on baggage?
Screeners routinely miss guns and ganja in carry on bags all the time. Ask me how I know. ????
In America they have Federal Agents who put guns and other weapons in their carry on bags just to test the security screeners at airports.
Wow. Just wow.
Aren't you the clever one!
If the topic doesn't interest you then just move on to one that does instead of treating us to your infinite wisdom and knowledge of airline security matters.
I am not particularly interested in Federal agents, American security screening procedures, but I am interested in the reduction of benefits and the point of rewards programmes offered by Qatar and other airlines in the region and judging by responses, so are others who have responded.
The thread is about Qatar airlines,the lack of air bridges, poor food, and other airlines craftily and gradually turning the screw and reducing the benefits, something which many other TV contributors have noticed as well.
Instead you want to talk about 9/11, Federal police, Security issues and procedures in the US and America, America, America.
There is a big world out there that doesn't revolve around your USA and United airlines.
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16 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:
"So, you get off a Qatar flight, to connect to second Qatar flight and then you have security all over again ..."
Apparently you are not a sophisticated world traveler.
Other airlines require this too.
Korean airlines. Japanese airlines. Chinese airlines.
Probably all airlines.
If you worked in Security in another country airport would YOU trust Thailand to thoroughly screen luggage? DUH.
Totally 100% normal.
BTW, I've flown Qatar. The food is just as good as Japanese, Chinese and Korean airlines. And all were better than United Airlines.
And yes, they gave me TWO free glasses of wine. I don't fly in order to get wasted.
Drama Queen much? ????
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Ah, as usual, a baiting post.
I see you have ignored a lot of points just to get your silly GIF in there and try to be smart and a tad rude.
I have flown many different airlines in all classes from economy to first over a number of years and on board many types of aircraft..
If it was the case of always double checking the customer at Qatar airport, how come it is a new rule when they never used to do it before?
Also, your point about not trusting Thailand to screen luggage is rather lame, if it was the point you mention and lack of trust in security screening in Bangkok, what about all the luggage transferred directly to your ongoing flight?
Food and drink has deteriorated and the way your post is phrased it looks like you haven't flown with them for quite some time.
Now go play with your computer and see if you can find any more hilarious GIFs to show us how clever you are.
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I have checked website and my flight which is on March 30th. As of now, ( I am well aware things are constantly changing ) my flight leaves as normal via Doha, where I am only in transit.
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4 minutes ago, oby said:
no problem, u cannot fly from thailand with qatar
Nothing about Thailand on Qatar website, I am confused a bit?
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1 hour ago, Kerryd said:
I used to fly Dubai-Bangkok-Dubai a lot when I was working in Afghanistan. For the last few years I was there I used Gulf Air (through Bahrain)
Started off using Air India (as they had flights from Kabul to Delhi and Delhi-Bangkok). They sucked wang though. One time I showed up for my return flight - on a confirmed ticket - and they told me to wait off to the side, then a couple hours later closed the check-ins and informed me that they'd put me on stand-by and the plane was full !! Had to reschedule that flight and then the connecting flight to Kabul. Plus you had to get a 3 Day Visa unless you had a connecting flight within a few hours of arriving and they wouldn't let you in the terminal at all until 3 hours before your flight !
After that I flew Ariana Afghan Airlines to Dubai (on ancient B-727s). Then used Thai Air (the company was booking the flights so I didn't care). Then I was able to take an Emirates Business Class flight and that was like a dream compared to the others.
I started booking my own flights after that and treated myself to another Business Class flight on Emirates. Got to Dubai, went to check-in and was told I had to use the Thai Air check-in in the main terminal, even though I was holding an Emirates ticket, because it was a code share "operated by Thai Air". Couldn't use the Emirates Business Class lounge either ! (Didn't get the Emirates Air Miles credit either.)
I then found Gulf Air, which, at the time, was offering Business Class seats for slightly more than Emirates/Thai were charging for Economy. As well, the Gulf Air flights left Dubai earlier, meaning I didn't have to spend the extra 8+ hours sitting in the terminal in Dubai as the Emirates/Thai flights often didn't leave until 10-11pm.
The Gulf flights departed Dubai much earlier and connected in Bahrain but the flight is barely an hour and they served a nice snack (and drinks). Their terminal was quite small and they had to use buses quite often as they had limited air bridges/gates but it was a short ride and they used the air bridges for the flights to/from Thailand.
Limited smoking rooms too (only 2 and one was part of a coffee shop so you had to be a customer to use it). The other one was a single small room and there'd often been 3 times more people outside the room than inside it. They were doing a lot of renovating every time I went through there. Wasn't an issue in the years after I quit though and the Gulf Business Class lounge was pretty good (their small lounge in Dubai was OK as well - they use the CP Business Class lounge in Suvarnabhumi).
I'd arrive in Bangkok at almost the same time as the Emirates/Thai flights, but on a much nicer flight and then could use the Priority Immigration lane as well.
One time Gulf had a special promotion as they'd just leased a new 777 Dreamliner. A 1st Class seat to Bangkok was only about $200 (US) more than a Business Class ticket.
It was awesome - especially as there were only 2 people in 1st class (but they were staffed for a full load).
However, when I went to check in for the return flight the staff started to apologize almost immediately as Gulf had taken that plane off that route and the replacement (A-330) didn't have 1st class seating.
So what did Gulf do ? They put me in Business Class and told me when I got to my destination to request a refund for the return ticket. I did that and they refunded the entire value of the return ticket ! So I flew back (Business Class) for free and got the return portion of my ticket refunded as well ! Awesome customer service.
I ended up with their "Black" Frequent Flyer card, the highest level they had. Never really used any of the benefits other than the luggage allowance.
But, like everyone else, towards the end (2013/2014) their prices started to climb, a lot. Got to the point where it really wasn't any cheaper to fly them than any of the other airlines in the region. It came down to mainly being a choice made on convenience or scheduling. One advantage they used to have was that their Frequent Flyer miles would never expire but eventually that changed as well.
Loved using the e-gate in Dubai though ! Never a line and it took 10 seconds to clear Immigration (scan the card, enter the lane, scan a finger, exit the lane).
And we used to get a 90 Day stamp on arrival (down to 30 for Canadians the last time I checked).
(The card cost 200 Dirhams and was good for 2 years - well worth it for frequent travellers.)
The g/f used Qatar the last time she flew home (from Germany) as they were the cheapest option. Just saw that they were going to ban arrivals from Thailand though so she might have a problem going back to Germany though (unless the ban doesn't apply to Transit passengers).
What is most frustrating is that when oil went up to $150 a barrel, all the airlines raised their prices and added Fuel Surcharges. But when oil dropped back down to $50/barrel (or less) flights didn't get cheaper ! If anything, the prices went up even more !
(Kind of like governments, once they implement a new tax it's almost impossible to get them to give it up again or do anything other than raise it even more.)Great and very interesting read, Thank you.
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37 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:
Saw Finnair business class 1700 quid return to Heathrow, better than the middle eastern ones? never tried it
Me too from Manchester, I am keeping an eye out for both Finnair new economy premium and business class fares.
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1 hour ago, baansgr said:
Can't beat BA on price or service, and if your from West London, T5 can be home in 20 minutes
I used them twice in Economy premium or as they call it World traveller plus. Seat OK, Service passable, delay London to Manchester was a pain. Given a choice in Premium Economy I would go with Cathay Pacific. Prices similar.
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The frequent flyer cards now are getting to the stage where they are so poorly rewarded, you might as well just look for the best flying deal as and when it comes with any respectable airline and ditch any loyalty.
On many occasions and even as I write this post, Emirates are offering deals to the UK , 200 GBP cheaper returns than Qatar air. When this occurs on three or four return flights a year, it's well worth switching and saving.
I will be better scouring the websites, cutting my trips to twice a year, and flying economy premium or business on a promotion and still save money.
US Travellers seem to get cracking air miles deals on some credit cards, I may be wrong, but I have not seen these type of deals quoted to travellers to Europe, or especially, the UK.
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10 hours ago, HashBrownHarry said:Emirates is the same, to use miles to upgrade from cattle to biz DXB to BKK used to be about 45000, not it's just shy of 70000.
I do see the flight prices dropping recently as expected, 2 pax BKK to EDI return in Biz in August is approx 150K which is very reasonable.
They seem to forget or take for granted the fact that frequent flyers check things like this and that the public are not stupid and notice these types of changes and this will certainly influence their future choices.
It will mine.
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16 hours ago, Jip99 said:
That is interesting.
I know many Thais who visit the UK for 6 months at a time on a 'family visit' basis (still a standard visitor). The typical case is where the UK husband needs to continue to work (to retirement) but wants his wife to spend time with him in the UK - and use his holiday entitlement to spend with her in Thailand. Settlement isn't favoured whether they meet the financial requirements or not.
And some of these people need to be careful about how they are using British visit visas. They seem to be of the opinion just because the UK generously gives 6 months for a tourist visa that they can do this every time and they can't. It is not within the ' spirit ' of the conditions the visa was issued.
British Immigration will eventually say you are not a tourist, you are living in the UK on tourist visas, which with this type of history, they are.
You can flower it up all you want by saying the partner has to work etc etc, this won't wash. Also, quoting others that have got ' away with it ' won't last indefinitely either.
The authorities will come to the conclusion that the purpose for which the visa was issued is being abused, and it is!
They cannot expect the British government to change the visa system and process to accommodate some individual just because applying for a settlement visa isn't favoured or doesn't suit their personal circumstances.
Thailand has requirements for Aliens residing within the country and so does the UK.
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49 minutes ago, transam said:
Would you agree that the spread of this virus from China, that has spread worldwide, is mainly via air travel...?
Yes,
And cruise ships and almost anywhere with large numbers of people in a confined space including markets, airports, stadiums.
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Guys,
I have been a silver/Gold member with Qatar air for 10 years now but this will be my last year I think.
Slowly but surely they have chopped and chopped at service levels, especially in Economy. The meals are not as good, the drinks don't flow like they used to, it took them a great effort to find me a toothbrush on a recent flight and they let me know they didn't provide these on day flights. The point was, I had one of course in hand luggage, but the cabin crew had found it necessary to move my hand luggage further down the plane from my overhead bins to accommodate other hand baggage. I allowed it because I didn't want to be thought of as a ' grumpy passenger '
The three things that have cheesed me off, is that we were told during the building of the new airport in Doha, that the buses were a temporary thing and we would be back to using air bridges when the new terminals were fully operational. This has not happened, We still have a ridiculous bus journey and then we have to go through baggage inspection control again at Doha.So, you get off a Qatar flight, to connect to second Qatar flight and then you have security all over again after a 7 hour 30 minute flight from Bangkok to Doha.
Second, one of the few perks was to join the business class line and then the premium line at Suvarnabhumi, this has now been stopped and we can check in but the premium lane no longer is allowed at Immigration. Yes, I know Suvarnabhumi immigration has stopped this ( unless you pay Immigration through an agent ) but it is a further eradication of the benefits of Silver membership.
The final perk of being a silver member, was to get to the airport early and request an exit row seat as I have done for the last ten years.
I just booked a trip to go at the end of this month and then because of the COVID-19, booked another flight straight away for June, two flights in total. I then looked online and found that if you wanted exit row seat it could be done immediately by paying 40GBP for each leg of my journey, thus increasing each flight costs by 160 GBP almost for an exit row seat.
Qatar is already the most expensive out of the three Middle Eastern airlines with both Etihad and Emirates now offering better deals.
I am awaiting the new Economy premium class being made available by Finnair later this year, if it is timely for the roll out as previously stated, and then I will move to Finnair for my Bangkok-Europe direct flights with a lot of the above unnecessary hassle removed..
I do not think I will be alone.
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A lot are blaming media hype for all the panic but I ask the question:-
Would Western governments and the Chinese in possession of the full facts be in a panic for no reason? Do they know something far more sinister that we don't?
Regards the Stock market crashes etc, they have been way overbought for years and an excuse such as Corona virus has given them an excuse and an opportunity to bail out of a market that was so over inflated, it was toxic.
Travel plans affected? Certainly not.
I am booked on business to Cambodia next week and to the UK at the end of the month and I got a couple of cheap deals with Qatar air as a consequence. Shame the airline panic hadn't spread to the sale of business class seats!
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So the Chinese and Koreans are coming on holiday for maybe a week and they want then to self isolate in their hotels for the total duration?
A question to the Health ministry and that is , Why do they think under these conditions that people would come at all?
The mind boggles at the scale of stupidity sometimes.
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15 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that location was 'Immigration Office'.
You mean it wasn't down to super-sleuths or brilliant detective work?
Not a smart car either?
Standards are slipping by the boys in brown.
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5 hours ago, POMRAKSIAM said:Wake up call for folks using visa agents to phoney bank records. I recently renewed retirement visa and told I will need to show bank book with 800k every 90 days!!!!
Well no you don't actually, because after three months of grant of your extension you can withdraw 400,000 baht from the 800, 000 until two months before you apply for renewal.
Even that in my view is not good, if you must report with 800K every year as long as it is there on time for your next renewal, you should be able to use the money as you wish throughout the year and not have it sitting there useless in a Thai bank just to keep certain clowns happy.
The whole point of the 65K a month or 800K a year is to show you can support yourself throughout the year until your next renewal.
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21 hours ago, Mister T said:
This has been going for a while now. Local cops have been told that they must know what foreigners are in their jurisdiction in case something happens to them. Naturally they have to have pics to prove to the boss that they have contacted you. Nothing sinister at all, smile and be friendly, it may help in the future.
Yes totally right,
Also, whether people like it or not, the local police are sometimes contacted by Immigration to visit on their behalf and gather the relevant information required that a foreigner is living there as in photos etc. especially if the Immigration office is some distance away.
Photos etc, This is done to prove they are doing their jobs as much as it is for checking on foreigners.
One or two say here in the board to treat them with contempt, I don't think that is ever a good idea.
I neither greet them with contempt but nor do I make them feel overly welcome. I answer the questions and leave it at that. The less interaction I have with them the better and I keep my paperwork in order.
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On 3/3/2020 at 10:51 AM, DeeMoney said:
Hi Scouse123, if you already have a mobile banking application on your mobile phone (for any Thai bank), there is an option to make payments via QR. In the case of SCBEasy, the option is called "Scan bill / QR payment".
If this option turns on your camera, there is a button on your screen to allow for it to scan a QR code saved in your phone's gallery instead.
Alternatively, if you are able to travel to on our branches, we can process the transaction for you in person.
Hope that helped.
DeeMoney,
Followed your instructions and now understand how to do it and actually how easy and user friendly it really is. I will be using this method plenty.
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3 hours ago, DeeMoney said:
Hi Scouse123, if you already have a mobile banking application on your mobile phone (for any Thai bank), there is an option to make payments via QR. In the case of SCBEasy, the option is called "Scan bill / QR payment".
If this option turns on your camera, there is a button on your screen to allow for it to scan a QR code saved in your phone's gallery instead.
Alternatively, if you are able to travel to on our branches, we can process the transaction for you in person.
Hope that helped.
Thanks,
I will try as I use Krung Thai bank and I have mobile banking app.
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1 hour ago, Pib said:
Paying by QR or bar code using your Thai bank mbanking app is very easy. Just scan/import the QR code within your Thai bank's mbanking app, select the acct to pay from, and then approve/submit the payment. Payment is instant.
The first transfers I did with DeeMoney using the QR payment method I did the transfer on my laptop and when the QR payment code appeared on my laptop screen I then used my Thai bank mbanking app to to a QR payment....that is, used the phone app to scan the QR code on my computer screen and accomplish the payment.
Later on when just using the DeeMoney phone app to initiate the transfer versus using DeeMoney on my computer once DeeMoney displays the QR code on your phone you do a screenshot of the QR code. OK, the screenshot has now been saved to the pictures gallery on my phone. I can close or keep the DeeMoney app open at this time while you open your Thai bank's mbanking app, select their QR/Bar Code payment menu, and then import/scan that saved QR code with my mbanking app. Done...payment is instant.
If you go back to your DeeMoney app now you will see the status of your transfer has changed to payment received/funded.
Once you get one QR/bar code payment under you belt using your mbanking app you'll think to yourself, Durn, that was easy.....should have been doing this years ago.
It's really easy but a person does need to "understand how QR/bar code payment works with their mbanking app" regardless of what QR/bar code they are scanning/paying. Be it a QR/bar code on a utility bill that showed up in your mailbox or a DeeMoney QR code. Since bills may come with both a bar code and a QR code you will need to determine which one the biller has setup for payment....and that is basically determined by seeing if your mbanking displays the payment info when you scan the code....you might scan the QR code and you can't make the payment....but scan the bar code and you can make the payment.
Heck, I use my Thai bank QR/bar code scanning function to pay all my reoccurring utility bills that show up on a bill like my electric and water bills, mobile phone bills, internet bill, etc. Can make a payment in approx 30 seconds which counts the time where you open up your mbanking app, scan the bar code/QR code on the bill, select which acct to pay from, double check the payment info, and press submit.
Done....finished....paid....fast....easy....didn't have to use my more cumbersome ibanking a person normally used via their computer or make a trip to 7-11 to pay the bill.
Thank you so much.
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1 hour ago, twocatsmac said:This just about sums up the arabs in Israel.
They don’t really want to be ruled by or accountable to arabs but to constantly challenge the Israelis.
+1.
Spot on. They know full well they won't get a fraction of their demands under Arab rule.
Talk about wanting their cake and eat it.
Totally different situation though when the Muslims are in the majority, then there is no minorities to be considered.
22 minutes ago, nemo38 said:They would naturally prefer the previous situation in Palestine where they were a super majority with just a small, friendly, Jewish population. Whichever ruler they had didn't make their everyday existence miserable. It was a better situation for them.
They are forced to choose from among bad options. It shows you how the Israel lobby is able to dominate US politics.
The Palestinians neither want compromise nor a workable solution. They never did and never will.
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Guys,
After seeing in Thai visa I signed up to Dee money and did this process easy ad efficiently with help from Dee money staff to register. So far, so good.
I decided to give it a test and to check it out today. Firstly, the rate advertised is very near within a couple of pips what Krung Thai bank offers which is nowhere near as good as Super Rich or similar. Therefore, I thought the only advantage was on the fee charges.
They are offering a flat fee of 125 baht which was great as opposed to paying my bank 1,500 baht for the same transaction. My own bank also limits me to a maximum 100,000 baht a day transfers online and a fee charged each time, unless I want to go into the bank for a larger amount and do an international remittance.
I went through all the procedure till we got to the final page and the options were direct bank ( my preference) K bank, I don't use them nor have ever had any dealings with them, or a QR scan code, which I have never used in banking.
It would not accept my direct bank option and when I phoned they told me they were having problems and to use the QR code option. I pointed out I have never done this and we ended up in a mess as I could not understand what she wanted me to do, she was asking me to save the QR code and then enter it into my usual bank online, but it certainly did not seem straightforward.
I think for amounts up to 10,000 GBP, I will just go early to the airport and seek out Super Rich and carry it with me, no fuss no fees and a better rate.
Has any TV members had easy experience with Dee Money as I am struggling.
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Guys,
Can anybody help. When I log into Thai visa website I get the page loading at the top of my screen which stays as such. Sometimes I also get a jittery screen when I am using Firefox. I don't seem to be having problems with Firefox with other websites. I also looked into my programmes as I was going to delete Firefox and reinstall again, but when I looked at the programme it was saying it was installed on February 26th 2020.
I have not previously uninstalled so I am thinking this must be an update as I did do a refresh on Firefox wondering if it is my browser that is the problem.
When I go to Chrome, I have different problems with this website.
I don't think I have any viruses and I have Kasperskys Total protection installed.
Any ideas please?
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21 hours ago, CharlieH said:
Wasnt there an article in the press some time back asking people to report this ? and the local Plod got 1000 for taking action too ? I am sure there was something.
Edit:
The following is from June of last year but little seems to have actually been done (no surprise there)
"The Government Lottery Office (GLO) is offering a reward of 1,000 baht for information leading to the arrest and conviction of vendors selling overpriced lottery tickets.
Each person who gives information leading to an arrest will be paid 1,000 baht per case when the case is finalised, while an arresting officer will be eligible for a reward equivalent to the fine imposed but no more than 2,000 baht per case.
The reward scheme was published in the Royal Gazette on Friday."
Yes, but you are meant to read these things and not act upon them. It's called lip service!
It's a bit like when you pay a tip to the immigration officer for his ' lunch ' to get your your retirement extension the same day, when there is a big sign on the wall not give gratuities.
I am quitting with Qatar air.
in Thailand Travel Forum
Posted
+1.
And that will be me from now on, I am going to follow the advice of another poster and use my balance of points with another One world alliance member airline this year, and then follow you and book the cheapest respectable airline with good flying times, preferably direct to Europe.