Keeps

But you still stayed for 6 months?

The pianist quite rightly stated "we are not in China now" and he was the one admonished by the British Transport Police. Unbelievable!

I see that the value of Bitcoin has declined by around 20% in less than two weeks. I should have listened to your sage advice to invest........555

I see that you failed miserably with your new year resolution. Only joking of course..............

Can't believe you have had only 2 ha-ha's for that and one of them was mine! Suppose you have to know who Sophie Ellis-Bextor is.....

I have been to farmers markets when on holiday, mainly Cephalonia and Skiathos. Fantastic tomatoes, cheese and olives. Even with the perfect ingredients, I can never make a Greek salad taste anything like you get in the most basic taverna. Are you growing your own Oregano yet? I've never tried but assume it would thrive in the Thai climate.

They certainly look good but more importantly, how do they taste? I have had some excellent tomatoes when holidaying in Greece over the years. Has the Thai climate been conducive to growing this type of tomato to the level you would expect in Greece or thereabouts?

I renewed my passport in the UK last month. I used the standard online service. Applied on a Monday, sent my old passport off on the Tuesday and had my new passport delivered on the Friday. Very surprised and impressed by the quick turnaround.

You probably did when you were 1 year old and it will be out of your control if/when you make 101 years old.

Your 101st birthday will be very similar to your 1st birthday. Unable to speak, having to be looked after and fed and rolling around in your own pi$$ and $hit.

In my 20's my birthday pi$$-ups were legendary. Now I am in my 50's I do not view them as anything to celebrate. I just see them now as being 1 year nearer to death.

I assume he meant security, not customs. They do check your ID and boarding pass at security.

I flew London - Bangkok 4 times during 2023 and was asked to present my boarding pass at Suvarnabhumi on every occasion. I cannot remember a single time when I haven't been asked for it since they did away with the TM6.

I've already posted the process the OP needs to go through directly copied from the Thai Airways site. I can't see what the problem is unless this information contradicts the actual process on the website?

OP is booking from the UK plus he doesn't have 85,000 miles on his account to redeem for an award ticket. He is looking to redeem miles (circa 40,000) against the fare.

The above cash + miles option looks correct to me. Very similar to an EVA Air round trip economy price (£880) plus the money off similar to EVA point redemption also (last time I looked, 25,000 points = £120 saving)

Trying to answer quickly as you are trying to make the booking. Doesn't look like cash + miles to me as £409.79 charge says taxes and surcharges only. No mention of fare. Also, 85,000 seems more like the amount required for an AWARDS TICKET. I'm not be any means certain of this though. Below link says you can only redeem between 2,500 and 50,000 points. Also dependent on what fare class you are booking (which I can't see from above). You need to check whether you are definitely booking via the cash + miles option https://www.thaiairways.com/en_TH/rop/Redeeming/CashPlusMiles_onTHAI.page?

I think Thai Air Awards is the overall name of the program. Cash plus miles is an element of the overall program. From the link below, it would seem that the lowest redeemable amount of points from London is 72,000 for an upgrade. I believe you have around 40,000? If you are keen to offload them now it would seem that Cash plus miles is the only current option. If the current miles have a long expiration date and you will be taking future trips (plus the current planned trip) you will probably accumulate enough miles for an upgrade. Be mindful though of Richard's comments above stating how difficult it is to redeem the points with Thai Air. Also, if it is the same as EVA, not all fare types allow you to redeem points to upgrade. Seems like you might be best to redeem the points for the saving in ticket price. https://www.thaiairways.com/en_TH/rop/Redeeming/Redeeming_Award_UpgradeAwards_onTHAI2.page?

Sorry, I was responding to a message from spidermike007 regarding EVA Air, not Thai Air. Seems that it is far more difficult to use Air Miles with Thai then it is with EVA. Also, I always use mine for upgrades on booked flights as opposed to rewards ticket which also seems much easier.

The mileage doesn't expire for 3 or 4 years which is more than adequate for someone who uses the airline fairly frequently. I had already stated that not all fare class/types allow an upgrade. It is still good value to pay an extra couple of hundred pounds for a ticket that does allow an upgrade. In my recent experience, the next class up usually costs in excess of £500 extra one way. The upgrade option is financially more beneficial than offsetting the points against the fare. I only need to do two round trips London - Bangkok to earn more than enough points to upgrade one leg either economy to premium economy or premium economy to Royal Laurel.

From the link you provided it does look pretty straightforward. Looks like you select the Cash + Miles at the payment stage:- It is a great way and great deal to redeem a small or large amount of miles, it’s up to you. Simply follow the online booking process and after selecting the secure online payment option proceed as follows: • Select the Cash + Miles option • A prompt allows you to log into your Royal Orchid Plus account using your membership number and PIN • Choose from a range of miles according to the destination and class of service of the travel itinerary • The cash portion for travel is then recalculated and online payment can be completed in either local currency or U.S. dollars • You will then receive your booking confirmation and confirmation of miles used separately by email. When using the Cash + Mile option it’s doubly rewarding. Redeeming miles reduces the cost of ticketed travel, while Royal Orchid Plus miles are earned on all eligible fares. Make the most of your miles with Cash + Miles at thaiairways.com

That saving does sound about right. I use EVA Air who are also part of Star Alliance. I think last time I looked the saving was around £120 for 25,000 points so comparable. However, with EVA there is the option to redeem points for upgrades which I prefer to do. Not sure if the same option is available on Thai? Eva have economy, premium economy and Royal Laurel so the upgrades are anything from around 25,000 points to 60,000 points depending on booked class and which class you are upgrading to. I believe Thai only have economy and business so not sure this is an option? Also have to be careful when using this option as not all ticket types/fares allow an upgrade. On the EVA website the option to redeem the points against fare is at the payment stage. There is a "slider" to pick how many points you wish to redeem. You do have to pick the "Cash and Miles" option right at the outset when booking if I recall correctly.

This one. It's the liberal sprinkling of fag ash that really makes it delicious.....

Aussies.

They look very tasty I suppose though that you have the benefit of a good spud being in Oz? Hard to make a good homemade chip with most of the potatoes in Thailand.