Around September my (Thai) wife and I are planning to visit the USA and as this could be my last trip there so  thought  we would try business or economy deluxe.  We will be flying Bkk to Dulles     Price will be a big consideration  and any airline is ok.    I have checked Kayak .    Any suggestions appreciated.

If you are not rich than basic economy,

 

I have considered the same flying to and from Canada and even tho I can afford it (sometimes the business class would even be paid by points) I could not justify the price of a business class. 

 

You still have to tolerate 19 to 24 hour flight, your chance of getting infected on a plane is the same and for the price difference I would rather book a nice hotel for a week with executive lounge than spend it on a 1 day flight that will still be unpleasant. Sure less unpleasant than economy, but still unpleasant. 

I've been flying a very long time*, in recent years usually up the front. For me, the key thing about Business class to any destination is the lounge, the priority check-ins and the fast-track immigration in most places. They make the ar$eache of travelling tolerable and are way more important than the overhyped food on board.

AFAIK, premium economy (which I presume is what you mean) doesn't give you any of those things.

 

*"my arms are tired........"

Edited February 10, 20206 yr by spinner2020

Premium economy is just a bigger seat. The meals are the same. Some of the US airlines offer free beer and wine again but good luck getting more than two or three. The witches of Newark will be too busy chatting in the galley stuffing their open maws with business class leftovers to serve you.

 

There is no comparison between business Class and premium economy. Business class has lie flat seats with thick blankets, pillows completely different meals, larger entertainment screens with noise cancelling headsets, pre-departure lounge access and free flow premium alcohol.

Fly JAL in business as they don’t have first class, but their business as good as first class. Food was excellent and sleeping was great laying down with a sleeping pill and some great sleep. Only way to travel. Only downside was no showers in lounge in Kyoto. But had a twelve. Hour layover and got to see some of the city.

Business for the flat bed and not getting all cramped up like an accordion in economy. 

5 minutes ago, Mansell said:

Fly JAL in business as they don’t have first class, but their business as good as first class. Food was excellent and sleeping was great laying down with a sleeping pill and some great sleep. Only way to travel. Only downside was no showers in lounge in Kyoto. But had a twelve. Hour layover and got to see some of the city.

Right. No surprise as there is no commercial airport in Kyoto.

1 minute ago, Captain Monday said:

Right. No surprise as there is no commercial airport in Kyoto.

Oops! I meant Osaka.

My wife and I fly back to the US annually to visit family and friends. We normally fly business class for the reasons already mentioned.  Based on your planned travel dates you should be booking now.  Don’t rely on search engines only. Some airlines have web specials for business class tickets that the search engine will not list. Flying East to West we have gotten good fares in the past with Qatar Air and Turkish Air.  Good luck.

Took my wife to Paris from BKK at Christmas on Emirates BC.  Prices were reasonable, lounges were great (BKK, Dubai, CDG).  Onboard service and sleep was perfect, Emirates Mercedes limousine service to and fro, included.  Booked a 4 day stopover in Dubai, on the way back (2 days of the hotel included as a promotion). 

 

The will be some smoking deals because of the drop in global tourism....

10 minutes ago, CanuckThai said:

Took my wife to Paris from BKK at Christmas on Emirates BC.  Prices were reasonable, lounges were great (BKK, Dubai, CDG).  Onboard service and sleep was perfect, Emirates Mercedes limousine service to and fro, included.  Booked a 4 day stopover in Dubai, on the way back (2 days of the hotel included as a promotion). 

 

The will be some smoking deals because of the drop in global tourism....

Incidentally, does Emirates BC give you access to the Immigration Fast-track service at Suvarnibhumi Airport?

46 minutes ago, spinner2020 said:

I've been flying a very long time*, in recent years usually up the front. For me, the key thing about Business class to any destination is the lounge, the priority check-ins and the fast-track immigration in most places. They make the ar$eache of travelling tolerable and are way more important than the overhyped food on board.

Same for me, I rarely eat or drink on flights and want to get through the 'formalities" as quickly as possible & not be bothered by anyone, main reason I like to use Thai flying when transiting Bangkok SUV.

3 minutes ago, mark5335 said:

Incidentally, does Emirates BC give you access to the Immigration Fast-track service at Suvarnibhumi Airport?

Yes, ..........

Ive  flown with Emirates, Sri Lankan, Air France ,  Delta, Turkish all business  class, check what plane you will be on that makes a BIG difference. Out of them all Emirates A380 was the best overall but service was <deleted>, Sri  Lankan was the nicest and you get a free  room if you stop  more than 7  hours at Colombo which is really  nice.

Premium economy is a  joke don't waste your time, Delta was the worst of the lot, old  planes <deleted> service.

All  had lie  flat beds, don't accept some which offer a recliner instead.

Turkish have very comfy old style wide seats with LOADS of  leg room.

There are some good  bargains even in business if  you take  your time and shop  about and be very flexible  on dates.

13 minutes ago, CGW said:

Yes, ..........

And emirates also picks you up at home, brings you to airport and drives you home from destination airport at most locations.

for your route, BKK-IAD, i'd go with emirates or korean in business class.  see which itinerary works best for you.  i saw 116,000thb for emirates and 104,000thb for korean, not a huge difference.

 

your route doesn't seem to have carriers (with one stop) that offer premium economy at a reasonable price.  i've flown EVA with a friend in premium economy and the seating is 2-4-2.  so we got the 2 seats by the window.  not bad but not close to business class.  i wouldn't pay more than $1,800 usd for it.  i've paid btwn $3,000 and $3,600 for my business class flights bkk-usa (usually west coast).

1 hour ago, mark5335 said:

Incidentally, does Emirates BC give you access to the Immigration Fast-track service at Suvarnibhumi Airport?

Yip...departure and arrival is ....as it should be, quick and painless

Edited February 10, 20206 yr by CanuckThai

As noted above Korean is offering some great Business Class flights now. My best Thai friend recently booked BKK to Boston for 106K Thai Baht. Not many airlines even offer premium economy BKK to Dulles and as you stated you searched Kayak which I find great. The best airlines for premium economy are Japan and Cathay and you definitely want only ONE stop with less than 3 hour layover so your choices are VERY limited. Cathay and JAL have seats that recline a lot more with encased seats ( they don’t bump the seat in back) about 38-40 inch pinch , usually priory boarding and often priority check in ( or go to Business check in and they usual don’t care) if you have priority pass card you get into many lounges already. Some premium economy have better meals and better blankets as well. Lots of incorrect info in this thread. But bottom line I think for you is what airlines fly to Dulles with only one layover and I think it’s very few. So maybe Business class it is for you. Also I don’t  think JAL has planes between  BKK and Tokyo that have premium economy ( keep that in mind ). 
****Hey mister. Super easy search and if you want to spend 25 hours or less traveling ( and if you want to spend more I think you are insane ) you have VERY few choices. I just checked Mid Sept and returning Mid October. The ONLY choice for premium is Cathay at about $2670 and for Business Emirates $3725 this is a no brainer fly Business with Emirates. Kayak has advanced searches you click on and then “ duration then flight leg and just push the dot to about 25 hours Or less in each direction. You never even mentioned your budget as well. So if price IS a concern and if flying under 25 hours each way is preferred looks like you may be flying ECONOMY on Cathay or Emirates or Air China.  For economy you have Air China $696, Korean $848 and Emirates $934. All this info is a click away. I find KAYAK to always have any sale fairs available as well. 

Edited February 12, 20206 yr by alex8912

Business if money isn’t an issue. I still cringe at paying 4x economy fare but I do it anyway. Emirates overall are best IMO for frills and chauffeur service. I always make sure I’m on A380 flights. Lounges are better than others too.. I find lounge food better than on board.

On 2/10/2020 at 5:24 PM, mark5335 said:

Incidentally, does Emirates BC give you access to the Immigration Fast-track service at Suvarnibhumi Airport?

Yes. All Business/First class tickets can use fast track lane in and out.

On 2/10/2020 at 5:07 PM, Zuman said:

My wife and I fly back to the US annually to visit family and friends. We normally fly business class for the reasons already mentioned.  Based on your planned travel dates you should be booking now.  Don’t rely on search engines only. Some airlines have web specials for business class tickets that the search engine will not list. Flying East to West we have gotten good fares in the past with Qatar Air and Turkish Air.  Good luck.

Good to remember that all "business classes" are not created equal, varies dramatically by Airline. And even by the particular flight route and also plane model within a particular airline. That being said, I made my first BC flight from Dulles to BKK in 2014 and said then that as long as I had the financial means it would be my "only way to travel". ???? Everyone has different priorities and preferences, for me the biggest benefits include expedited check-in, lounge access,  lie flat seats, bigger and far less crowded/noisy seating area in a non sardine can environment, on board rest rooms that are used by many less people and fast track access on arrival at BKK. I always get one way between IAD&BKK tickets in either direction of this route for about 1750 from a consolidator. My favorite airlines include Thai, ANA, Etihad, SAS, Lufthansa.

27 minutes ago, tf6122 said:

My favorite airlines include Thai, ANA, Etihad, SAS, Lufthansa.

Etihad planes out of BKK are ancient relics and for that reason I will never use them again despite their 380s being fantastic into Europe.

33 minutes ago, tf6122 said:

Good to remember that all "business classes" are not created equal, varies dramatically by Airline. And even by the particular flight route and also plane model within a particular airline. That being said, I made my first BC flight from Dulles to BKK in 2014 and said then that as long as I had the financial means it would be my "only way to travel". ???? Everyone has different priorities and preferences, for me the biggest benefits include expedited check-in, lounge access,  lie flat seats, bigger and far less crowded/noisy seating area in a non sardine can environment, on board rest rooms that are used by many less people and fast track access on arrival at BKK. I always get one way between IAD&BKK tickets in either direction of this route for about 1750 from a consolidator. My favorite airlines include Thai, ANA, Etihad, SAS, Lufthansa.

How do I find this consolidator?

flights.google.com is an excellent way to start.

there are lots of 'consolidators' who will find good deals in BC or FC and will do some of the concierge business for you.
do a web search for discount business fares and there will be a ton of them.

 

BC makes a horrible flight tolerable.
my rule of thumb is that any flight over 4 hours is BC.

 

Edited February 12, 20206 yr by LittleLew
typo

If you fly BC then avoid TG. Poor service, cheapest possible meals and - depending on the aircraft - not comfortable compared to other carriers.

the only reason for me to fly TG is there's no other nonstop flight to my home town.

You should also check into flights out of neighboring cities. Although I live in Phuket, I am taking a cheap flight down to Kuala Lumpur and will fly ANA (Japan's largest carrier) round trip in business class to Chicago for about THB100,000 this summer. Great carrier with new planes and flat beds.

On 2/10/2020 at 4:38 PM, spinner2020 said:

I've been flying a very long time*, in recent years usually up the front. For me, the key thing about Business class to any destination is the lounge, the priority check-ins and the fast-track immigration in most places. They make the ar$eache of travelling tolerable and are way more important than the overhyped food on board.

AFAIK, premium economy (which I presume is what you mean) doesn't give you any of those things.

 

*"my arms are tired........"

 

 

Agree on most of it but you can't beat traveling in a good business class such as Qatar for the whole experience. I am just looking at biz flights now for Manchester at around 68,000 baht.

 

With my Qatar membership I already get access to lounges, premium check in. bigger luggage allowance. Unfortunately, there is no premium economy so its business or economy but I always get an exit row seat.

 

 

If I really want the express immigration, I can get that too by paying I think 1,000 baht thereabouts to one of the companies that serve Suvarnabhumi. Qatar has stopped giving premium lane immigration unless you are actually in business class itself.

 

I tried economy premium or de luxe with British Airways and definitely not worth the money but I have heard great reviews about Cathay Pacific, so people need to do their research.

On 2/10/2020 at 5:27 PM, Spaniel said:

Around September my (Thai) wife and I are planning to visit the USA and as this could be my last trip there so  thought  we would try business or economy deluxe.  We will be flying Bkk to Dulles     Price will be a big consideration  and any airline is ok.    I have checked Kayak .    Any suggestions appreciated.

use matrix.itasoftware.com, it allows you to search for a range of durations (e.g. 14-21 days) over a 1 month period & search nearby airports at the same time. 

 

 

33 minutes ago, Fairynuff said:

Etihad planes out of BKK are ancient relics and for that reason I will never use them again despite their 380s being fantastic into Europe.

 Horses for courses, I am a Qatar regular but have flown Emirates business and Etihad economy. I had no complaints about the planes whatsoever.

 

We were delayed going into Abu Dhabi with Etihad and missed connection to Manchester due to late departure from Bangkok ( plane technical error and waited for new part) but they gave us hotel and food.

5 minutes ago, Scouse123 said:

Agree on most of it but you can't beat traveling in a good business class such as Qatar for the whole experience. I am just looking at biz flights now for Manchester at around 68,000 baht.

Same here, lowest price I've seen has been 65,550 (again via matrix.itasoftware.com)

 

Finnair (not as good) were showing 60,350 a few days back but is now at 72,500...