Your Favourite Airline To/from LOS

[BackPackThailand]

I don't think it's running anymore, but a couple of years ago I went with Garuda, primarily because of two things;

1. They fly direct to London GATWICK (1hour from 'home')

2. YOU CAN SMOKE!

I've tried most airlines, top has to be Singapore (I LOVE Changi Airport) followed by British Airways & THAI

[Martin]

I am thinking of trying ETIHAD this September (see 'New Kid on the Block, on this section of this Forum).

About seven years ago, I came LHR-?-BKK with a Middle East airline, whose name I can't remember (may have been GULF, but we didn't change at Abu Dhabi).

New plane, good service, overnight LHR-?, hotel room for the day in a small and rather scruffy town whose name I can't remember, then ?-BKK overnight.

I thought it was quite good, and would have been even better in the reverse direction as BKK-? would have been a daytime flight, then a night in a hotel, and another day flight to LHR.

Does anybody recognise the above route/airline?. If so, please tell me. (It wasn't Qatar).

Not to remember who I have flown with, and to where, must be a classic sign of age!!!

[utapaortnab]

I've made 35 trips to Thailand since 1971. I have flown on Air France, Philippine, Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia, China, EVA, Japan, United, Northwest, Korean, and Asiana Airlines (never Thai Int'l for some reason yet).

I have made ALL the flights in economy or EVA Deluxe class. (although I have been upgraded on a few occasions.)

In my opinion, paying the extra to fly in EVA Deluxe class is the best idea money can buy. It only costs an extra $180-$200, yet you get wider seats (8 accross instead of 10 accross in a 747), separate check in lines, and I believe better service.

I would have to say for those flying in coach however Singapore, followed by Cathay Pacific, followed by Cathay Pacific are flying on the ONLY other acceptable airline offered from the U.S.

None of the others I HAVE flown provided any perks or enough adequate service to EVER fly with them again. Each year, I tell myself that I WILL fly Thai Int'l but their prices are ALWAYS so much higher than EVA, Cathay Pacific or even Singapore, that I just do NOT take their offerings.

Also, I like arriving in Bangkok in the late morning or early afternoon as it offers the best chance for ongoing transportation to Chiayaphum or Pattaya where I spend about 90% of my time in Thailand. (Wife is from Chiayaphum). Those airlines with late evening or after midnite arrivals just do NOT appeal to me.

Just my oppinion, do not take much heed to it, I never do.

Ken Bower

San Antonio Texas USA

[chingy_]

air line company could learn alots from this thread, if only they were here.

[kasi]

I've made three trips on EVA. They are quite pleasant. The flight attendants are in a league of their own, quite delightfull. Food in eco/dlx just adequate nothing to get exited about.

Flights fill early some you must book well in advance.

China airlines sounds nasty.

[350torana]

I usually fly Tg from Melbourne to Bangers in cattle class, and always had good service . Flown Qantas a few times , pretty average.

Visit UAE a few times every year and Emirates really impress me and get my vote for best airline overall. I hear they have a direct flight from Dubai to Perth now, anyone confirm this?

Worst airlines would be Scandinavian. Had to fork out money to buy headsets(7 euroes i think) . It was only from Bkk to Singapore, not sure if it was because it was a short flight. Oh well, they did give my young daughter a stuffed reindeer But as far as kids go, TG is the most helpful with small children this is because Thais love kids I guess:)

[dr_Pat_Pong]

What do you like about TG? I mean, the stewardesses are pretty enough. But the seats, entertainment, and food are all third rate. The biz class is like the biz class in other airlines 15 years ago.

at last we can agree on something. TG needs a major upgrading to bring itself up to speed. Even the relatively new 777 fleet lacks in flight entertainment in Business that SQ has in Economy.

[Flummoxed]

I seem to recall hearing somewhere that Thai are rolling out the headrest TV's in their fleet over the next 12 months or so.

The lack of them has certainly been a real handicap for Thai Air.

Incidentally, I think they've finally got rid of all their old 747-200 series aircraft.

[john b good]

I seem to recall hearing somewhere that Thai are rolling out the headrest TV's in their fleet over the next 12 months or so.

The lack of them has certainly been a real handicap for Thai Air.

Incidentally, I think they've finally got rid of all their old 747-200 series aircraft.

Personaly I am not too concerned whether they have TV's in the seat backs or not.

If someone wants to see a movie there are plenty of movie theatres around.

I don't get on a airplane to watch movies. It is all about getting from A to B in one piece.

There is much more to an airline (a good airline) namely service, fares and safe planes.

The CEO of Thai was quoted in the Bangkok Post a few days back as saying that Thai would lease out spare capacity planes rather than have them in a hangar and carryiny out maintenance on them.

Hopefully if they are leased out the lessors do some maintenance before Thai put them back in the air.

TIT

[Flummoxed]

The cost of installing the TV's is surprisingly low... and at the cost of a ticket to fly on Thai air I expected to see the TV's, especially when you consider the fact that joke airlines like China air have them on their decrepid aircraft.

It's true that getting from point A to point B in one piece the important consideration but on a 12 hr flight, it gets a bit boring just staring at a blank headrest.....

If someone wants to see a movie there are plenty of movie theatres around.

....If you can find one at 40,000 feet, do let me know, won't you.

I'd be interested to know if anyone knows of a website that can fill us in on the maintainance aspect of each airline.

[SeaVisionBurma]

Never fly QANTAS unless there is no alternative - service is rubbish, planes are old, tickets always too expensive, FF club is a joke ( nearly impossible to actually use the miles ) and staff in Oz mostly surly and unhelpful

If I had been asked to write my opinion of QANTAS, I would have written pretty much the same thing - perhaps word perfect.

I never fly them, but have FF points racked up with them from an Australian Visa card I still use.

Every time I go to Oz for a holiday, I get on the net and try to cash in my points, and there is NEVER EVER a flight available.

Contrast this to Thai's ROP program, and not only can you use your miles on pretty much any flight, with great flexibility - BUT you can roll up to the airport or Thai office, and if you're a few miles short for an upgrade or a trip - you can then purchase the extra miles needed for a modest some of money.

Now THAT'S a decent program.

For eye-candy, Singapore far outweighs Thai. There's just something about the Singapore Girl's uniform that turns me into a horrible old pervert when I fly SQ.

Both economy and Raffles class on SQ are superior to Thai also.

However in this poll I have voted Thai, because I now use their Business Class regularly, its cheaper than some other airlines - and the service, comfort, and especially the menu has been improving in leaps and bounds.

My main complaint is the wine choice on Thai is a load of crap. Unpalatable French dribble - give me some bolder Australian/South African/Chilean/USA/New Zealand varieties.

Finally - an earlier poster clarified the QANTAS acronym, but to make a slight correction it is Queensland And Northern Territory AERIAL Service, not AIR. Perdantic, but correct.

[trawler]

Qantas used to mean Queer and Nice Types of Australian Stewards...not sure if its changed......

Fitting Ptv's to all seats in a 744 costs around 1.5 mill Us$ so not cheap as it means putting in a LAN.ciao

[Harry Palmer]

I have to go for the Singapore lot as they have those TV thingies in the headrest ... keeps the kids amused for hours ... in fact the little bugg*rs didn't sleep a wink

[Davidcharles]

I've made three trips on EVA. They are quite pleasant. The flight attendants are in a league of their own, quite delightfull. Food in eco/dlx just adequate nothing to get exited about.

Flights fill early some you must book well in advance.

China airlines sounds nasty.

Quite right! Good deals too.....nice upgrade last time also

But next time I will try Etihad and do an overnight stop in Abu Dhabi.

Should be nicer than a continuous 12 hour flight, and cheap!

[Rinrada]

Etihad sent me a new timetable which showed only a one hour stopover in Abu-Dhabi in both directions.

Worked out about 14 hours in total between London - Bangkok.

but cant find the Bl**dy thing.

Will post it if it surfaces

[Martin]

ETIHAD have e-mailed me a quote of 23,000 baht, excluding tax, for Sept/Oct to London and back.

It shows a 09.15 departure from BKK, one hour in Abu Dhabi, and an 18.25 arrival at LHR.

Return trip is an overnight flight LHR-AUH, all day (including accommodation) in Abu Dhabi, and an overnight flight AUH-BKK.

Looks good. I am hoping to read of peoples' experiences of their flights on ETIHAD.

[Pink Mist]

Only real direct options fom Adelaide are SIA and MAS, MAS you gotta layover in KL and SIA is same day, Sia is good service.

Flew Asia Air to KK and no complaints, seating first in bessed dressed.

[orchis]

bessed dressed?

[Pink Mist]

no seat allocation, so first onboard gets the best seats

[dr_Pat_Pong]

bessed dressed?

He's on the KK hootch in a B I G way. He means BEST DRESSED There's FA VB in KK is there Bronco ?

[Stocky]

I find Emirates the best, they fly from both Birmingham and Manchester, so I can avoid Heathrow, and there's now a flight from Moscow so I can skip the UK entirely on the way back from work.

The service is excellent, comfortable seats with good legroom and your own video in economy, the food is usually very good as is the bar service . I like the chance to stretch my legs halfway so the Dubai stop over isn't an inconvenience. Lastly there's a good frequent flyer programme, so it's easy to build up the miles for upgrades.

I've previously used KLM, BA, Thai, Lufthansa and Air France to make the trip to Bangkok out of those Air France gets my vote for the worst. Poor service, awful food and surely the most surly cabin crews on the planet

[nogutsnoapplepie]

bessed dressed?

He's on the KK hootch in a B I G way. He means BEST DRESSED There's FA VB in KK is there Bronco ?

[Martin]

I am trying ETIHAD from BKK to AUH to LHR in about six weeks time.

They have different flight times on different days. I ended up by putting each flight in the week from BKK across the top of a big sheet of paper, and then underneath what was the connection time to LHR.

They have a flight that leaves BKK at 09:15 on Saturday, and you are only at AUH for one hour exactly (so I guess it may be the same aircraft onwards) and it arrives at LHR at 18:25 on the Saturday.

But that was not good for me as it means paying for a night in BKK in order to leave at 09:15.

When I said I wanted to go on the Monday departure from BKK at 19:40, the reservations lady said they only allowed a night in the hotel at Abu Dhabi on the way back. But, when I persisted a bit, she soon came up with the information that I could have the night in the hotel outbound at a charge of 1200 baht.

I have chosen to come back on their Wednesday 22:35 departure from LHR. This gives a day and a night (at their expense) and a day in Abu Dhabi, and arrival in BKK at 07:35 on the Saturday.

[udon]

LHR-BKK Eva Air

SYD or BNE - BKK Singapore Air

[Darlek]

Gulf Air are absolute <deleted> , guarenteed to break down in both directions , filthy toilets due to ragheads pissing/dumping on the floor , food is swill , cabin crew are idle and illdisciplined , poor maintenance , and baggage ends up at some other destination to where you are going . When planes break down there is no compensatory drink or accomodation and staff give no information to pax.

avoid this airline at all costs ...

[Darlek]

I guess EVA must be the favorite as they have a good price on ticket and favourable

everything else.

Agents tend not to offer BA/Qantus/Thai as they are the most expensive on price.

(bloated companies with fat-cat bosses ,too much waste and shareholders to feed )

ETIHAD gets recomended as they are new and good on price with some very good offers on non busy months .

Phuket airlines from Gatwick are another company agents recomend .

Dont even think about flying GULF AIR !!

(one of their planes crashed into the sea at Bahrain)

[RDN]

Well, I was one of the two voters (at the time of posting) for BA, although I actually used to fly with "BA/QANTAS Partnership" from Heathrow. That's when I lived 30 minutes from Heathrow, and took "holidays" every two or three months in bkk sorting out retirement issues.

When I was working, I flew Thai Airways and Malaysia Airways to Melbourne, stopping over in BKK and KL - both business class. Business class is great - I was upstairs in row 5 or 6 on one trip - just the pilot's cabin in front of me .

I did fly Thai a few times as a tourist, but too damm expensive and difficult to get a seat for the dates I wanted. BA/QANTAS had more seats available - because they had more flights - and booking just two or three weeks in advance was not difficult.

I did fly once from Norwich Airport to Bangkok via Amsterdam, with China Airways as the long haul carrier. Can't remember too much about it - it was my last flight from England and I haven't been back since

[Captain Chaos]

I am regularly summonsed back from BKK for thrashings at Head Office in the UK.

For BKK - LHR direct the clear winner is now QF if you're going business class. They have fully flat beds equivalent to the SQ ones and great food, booze and service (plus some nice young Thai ladies in the crew). Plus, you can use the BA arrivals facilities (shower, brekkie etc) when you get to LHR.

I like TG food & service wise, but the cabins are crappo imho. I would still probably choose them for economy, as the old seats have more legroom than most. If you're tall then that's a major consideration.

BA have a modern fleet but the service is appalling. No way would I choose them unless the others were full.

Also fly on SQ (my personal fave) and CX (try their new A340's....v nice) a lot and agree they are both very good airlines, but obviously you can't go direct on them BKK - LHR.

[cobra]

CI (China Airlines) has been steadily improving,

(of course when you elect to take off from a taxi way, instead of the indicated runway, and your gear plows thru a huge snow berm where the airport has been storing snow from runway clearing, this can be a little unsettling). This happened a few years ago here at the airport in Anchorage, which is a freight hub going over the pole. The incident was in the papers for months, rumors that the CI pilots weren't fluent in English as mandated for International carriers by the FAA, so there was miscommunication, or lack of it, between the tower and CI.

These long hauls are essentially flying gas tanks when they take off, they showed pictures of the tracks left in the snow from the gear, less than fifty feet from the airport perimeter fence.

And then there was the loss of one of their aging 747's that was already sold to another carrier.

I have to use them as it's pretty much the only show in town up here on the top of the world, (Anchorage, Alaska). It is convenient though, as this is just a refueling stop for them, ~10 hrs to Taipei and a few hours after that I'm back in country.

Bangkok Scareways, I mean Airways, also has gotten a lot better. One flight to Samui, where there was some serious over-correction on landing, (you know there's an issue when everyone gets real quiet ... then all h... breaks out), well the pilots managed to keep us on the strip but not before we got a good look at the grass .... I've taken this flight many times and BA has gotten on top of the learning curve. I do think they have the best transit lounge with a few boxes on line to check email or weather and free snacks while your waiting.

[Martin]

As I said before, I booked with ETIHAD (in Economy) this time.

The journey from BKK to AUH and on to London in late August was OK, but on a rather old Airbus (that had probably just been leased by them till they got their new ones).

The flights back at the end of September were both on nice new Airbuses. And I got stretched out across four seats on the Thurs/Fri night from LHR to AUH, and again on the Fri/Sat night from AUH to BKK!!.

Having a 12-hour break in AUH and being taken to a hotel made the journey a lot easier (as well as cheaper) than the non-stop job with TG, that I had been using this past few years.

As long as ETIHAD keep their prices down to their present levels, I reckon they will be the best value-for-money by a good margin (but, obviously, they must be hoping to get well-known quite quickly, and then able to charge more).

The only criticism I have is with regard to their genius of a uniform designer---it must take genius to come up with something that manages to make pleasant, attentive, attractive young women look frumpy.