MarkyM3

Hang on....since when does American Airlines have anything to do with the discussion? Me and two other posters have mentioned AA already and we were clearly talking about AirAsia. Yes, American are a legacy carrier and that's their flight code but so what? I know what different airline flight codes are and have flown all the ones you mention and many more. I wasn't aware of the circumstances in 2022 but lots of airlines hit trouble in C19 and AirAsia have recovered well if so. I didn't fly them during that period. Did so before and after C19. Thai Lion Air - look into the number of short notice cancellations they do and get back to me. I did following my experience. FYI, the weather was fine in Bangkok and at ZhengZhou, there were no airspace restrictions either in Thailand or in China and they had plenty of time to find a replacement aircraft. Presumably they don't have enough of them or they had crewing issues. I had to delay my departure by a day thanks to them, paid to go in an airport hotel and rebook an indirect flight which added several hours to my journey. I've flown AirAsia many times and they provide a good low cost experience imo. It's about expectations. As per my previous posts in this thread, I recommended paying for an exit row seat. If you're too tight to pay a bit extra for that, well that's on you. The regular seats in the plane are no more cramped than someone like Bangkok Airways ime and the interiors are a lot newer. No issue for 2 or even 3 hours flying. They aren't spacious for sure, but get an exit row seat if you need it. I mentioned earlier I wouldn't want to do 6 or 7 hours in one to the Middle East but did transatlantic in a 757 some years back and it wasn't a disaster. Would want an aisle seat for sure. Not sure where you have flown to but most your complaints about the smell of the food are somewhat bizarre. You're in Asia, what do you expect?! Not something I've had an issue with. I flew them several times over the winter - internally in Thailand, to Vietnam and to China and encountered an experience in line with a decent low-cost airline each time. Been to several other places pre-C19 and same applies. Yeah, the crowd may be cheap and cheerful but so what? It is on legacy carriers in economy as well. People don't cause me an issue as long as they respect my space. The flight attendants generally have a good attitude and smile ime. App and website - didn't cause an issue. The meals I ordered came as expected. Laptop - if your battery doesn't last for more than 3 hours then bring a tablet surely. In my previous post I also mentioned I generally fly between UK and BKK in EVA business. Also done so on Qatar and Gulf Air. This winter, flew BKK to Hanoi in Vietnam Airlines business. So I know what the difference in service level between different cabins and carriers is. Doesn't change my opinion of AirAsia at all. Your comment about AirAsia and "the clientele it attracts" comes across as being snobbish in the extreme. Do you only mix with J class travellers in day to day life as well?

Abhorrent....dramatic much?! You could pay a whopping 15-20 quid and sit in the exit row and have great legroom and usually a free seat next to you. You sound like the passenger from hell tbh with that attitude.... It's loser, not looser btw 😄

AA have been going for years and not showing any signs of going anywhere. Their pilots also get well paid. Meanwhile, Thai Lion have a dubious rep and they cancelled my flight to China at 11.30pm the night before it was due to depart, not unknown apparently. Never had AA do that. As for lack of IFE, take a laptop or tablet if not's up to snuff. I never use it. Food you can buy onboard or take yourself. You don't get much in economy anyways. The AA flights are not direct to the EU, they will stop in the Middle East. 6 or 7 hours isn't much fun in a single aisle aircraft, granted, but it isn't much more fun in a 10 row economy layout either in something like an old 777 or 787. These are brand new aircraft. I flew UK-Newark-UK in a 757 years back which is a similar flight time to the Middle East and no great shakes. If they can meaningfully undercut the legacy carriers I predict they will do well. People flying legacy in economy are just as much "Cheap Charlies" by your yardstick and plenty aren't backpackers etc. Never had any issues with the AA website or app.

Wouldn't disagree the Russian girls are hot but their stolen aircraft are worthless now, they haven't been serviced properly and are cannibalising parts to keep them flying. No thanks 😄

I've had positive experiences with AA flying domestically in Thailand and to Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. The aircraft are new and the flight attendants generally have a good attitude. Some of the full service carriers could learn a trick or two from them. Bangkok Airways' aircraft look tired out compared to AA's. Btw - always worth paying for the exit row ime because you invariably have a spare seat beside you because most punters don't want to pay for it and the staff always eject them if they try sit there. Would I want to fly in a single aisle aircraft from Europe to Asia with a stop en-route? Not really. Also, you need to factor in luggage, buying meals and drinks etc. But for budget-conscious travellers it could be just the ticket. Personally, I prefer direct flights now and try to go business with EVA. But a return is nearly £3k a pop in that. Even the economy is pushing £1k now and I am sure AA will undercut that by a good margin, even factoring in the above costs.

Not sure where you got your stats from but different parts of the UK get very different weather. So that may be true for some places but not where I live (South East England i.e. near London, where this girl comes from). Following the driest spring on record, it's been wall to wall sunshine for weeks here, 33c last 2 weekends, it's completely clear skies as I type this. I returned from winter in Thailand in early May and have seen virtually no rain here. There's a water shortage brewing in some places already. So yeah, she should have known better but as you say, the sun in Samui is intense, even compared to Spain etc. It's easy to burn even with cream on in my experience. No pollution layer either to mask it. As for the most vocal critics on this thread, I wonder if they knew it all at that age.....probably hadn't even been abroad or popped their cherry in some cases. 😄

Magictoad....not everyone has a Thai bank account. Unless you're a retiree or working in Thailand it's near impossible to get one. My UK bank cards are free of ATM fees in most countries and use the Mastercard rate but I can't escape the Thai ATM fee. It used to be free of charge up to 2009 so we are being had, basically. I pull out 20k baht at a time which minimises the impact (I would take more but that's the daily limit on UK cards) but the fee is still not justified, I can pull out money fee-free in Vietnam or Malaysia. Meanwhile, the Thai authorities moan about lower tourism while their banking oligopoly pulls these stunts.

You might not like it but that's the reality. Saw the same thing in lower Suk a number of times when I dropped by there earlier this year - groups of Indian guys trying to bargain with street hookers for a g**gbang. They didn't get anywhere, the women clearly didn't wish to lower themselves to that indignity. And...I've heard plenty of women say they won't go with Indian or Middle Eastern guys due to their questionable behaviour towards women. It's hardly a secret. Your average Western or East Asian punter may not be a paragon of virtue at times but we are the preferred option. Penny pinching - over egged perhaps but there's plenty of truth in it too. Indians are brought up to barter. You don't know them very well obviously. You'll be back on this forum soon enough, I'm sure😄

Musk is right on the money here. You don't have to be a "leftie" (and I am definitely not) to see that pumping up already huge amounts of govt debt and passing it down the next generation to fund tax cuts for the super wealthy totally contradicts what they were trying to do with DOGE etc. The leftie characterisation doesn't quite work when Musk calls it out as bs 😄 Also, the fact Trump's private organisation is explicitly pushing billions into crypto while he pushes to relax legislation on it is surely a conflict of interest as well. A shyster all the way.

I tried that journey this year one way for a change. Taxi Lamai to Nathon, ferry to Donsak, bus to Surat airport, flight to DMK. One checked bag. That took about 8.5 hours door to door. OK, saved maybe £60-70 versus Bangok Airways but I didn't feel it worth all the hassle.

A lot of these guys will get married off via arranged marriage by their late 20s so are having their fun before that in most cases. As for the group mentality - sharing and frugality does seem to be a feature of Indian culture, hence the various stories about the coke with 5 straws in it, cliched or otherwise 😄 Obviously extends to saving money for bedroom activities too. In the past, most bars around NEP and the area didn't allow Indians in but that has definitely changed it seems. As for the various groups of guys I saw, they were out on the street pestering the girls standing around looking to pick up a punter. I didn't see any go off with them tho!

Visited soi4 a couple of times this year for beers, both times seeing several different groups of Indian guys trying to hire a single girl. Thankfully even the brasses didn't wish to lower themselves to that to earn a crust. Never used to see these guys there in the past - grim.

Indeed, and the pr!ck can't even spell properly.

If you knew anything about the effects of weed, it mellows people out. And he was trying to buy e-cigs, not weed, if you bothered to read the story. Moreover, the bloke was confirmed to be p!ssed, not stoned. I think you'll find there's a lot more violence from alcohol than cannabis misuse. Seem to recall you spouting similar garbage on a story I read yesterday And yeah, I don't particularly like the proliferation of weed shops nor the smell of it but I do know what causes more aggro....

Met one off Tinder. Late 30s, runs a nail salon in HCMC, had flown in on the aforementioned tourist visa. Had a great attitude and lot of fun. One or two Viet girls contacted me on ThaiFriendly but one look at the numbers on lower Sukhumvit will tell you this story is total BS 😄 More African than Viet girls.