I have seen several negative comments on here about Thai Airways.

 

What problems do people have with them?

 

I am considering flying with them LHR BKK in December.

 

Thanks.

Never had a problem with Thai airways always but they have become expensive. if Eva or BA are flying direct they would normally be 25% cheaper for same service levels. I could normally fly on Eva or BA premium economy for he same process as Thai economy class. Things may change after covid.

Nothing special about thai airways when i flew with them, i prefer Emirates or Eva but depends on price and stops

they are going bankrupt.

they don't fly daily, so you might to wait for up to a week for the next connection or travel to europe to catch another one.

 

that was my favourite airline, with gold card. But now it's too risky.

Price was not matter, for 20gbp you had 4 seats to lay down, in comparison to always full eva

They cancelled our flights at the begining of the pandemic and we never got any refund. They are going bankrupt apparently, so I would book with another airline .. if they go burst you will not get your money back

Delete

10 minutes ago, internationalism said:

they are going bankrupt.

they don't fly daily, so you might to wait for up to a week for the next connection or travel to europe to catch another one.

They are already bankrupt and are in the recovery phase now.

They are flying a few routes now. I think they will be reliable now.

6 minutes ago, internationalism said:

they are going bankrupt.

they don't fly daily, so you might to wait for up to a week for the next connection or travel to europe to catch another one.

 

that was my favourite airline, with gold card. But now it's too risky.

Price was not matter, for 20gbp you had 4 seats to lay down, in comparison to always full eva

In days past for a brief period, Thai Airways was considered world class carrier matching the quality service and distinction of their numerous award winning Asian sister airlines. That hasn't been the case at least for a couple of decades.......as the usual manner of Thai business corruption, incompetency and dodgy dealings led to it's obvious demise. Their shaky reputation has long been tarnished. Hiding under years of bankruptcy and throwing ill-advised money in the wrong direction doesn't solve the issues - as the problems are still there in a manner of how it operates. 

 

Bit of a shame, actually.

pre- covid were constantly late leaving & arriving.

remember losing GBP 300 for a connecting flight as TA four hours late.

Eva definitely best Direct Bkk to London. Detest BA.

TG: Tomorrow Go

59 minutes ago, JonMac said:

What problems do people have with them?

you  know every day when you go to the  bog for a  dump

Just had a look at TG website, and a lot of the lhr-bkk flights and return go via Hong kong/brussels etc a few seem direct, maybe just me putting in wrong details

Pre covid I used Thai for MUC - BKK only because it was the only nonstop flight available. Their BC is worse than each Middle Eastern airline I know. Fortunatelly they changed their stone old Boeing 747 a few years ago. And they became crazy expansive in the last years. Even LH and Swiss are cheaper now.

Between Thai and Emirates there was a differnce of about 1500€ for a return ticket.

 

I've been looking at their flight stats for a few weeks and LHR BKK seems consistently on time.

 

What is the on board experience like?

A lot better airlines on offer for the money

Best flight on Thai was in 2007.  LAX to BKK and back nonstop on the Airbus 340-500 in Premium Economy.  This was everyday.  It was great and the price was the same as United in Economy(in those days United flew the route LAX-NRT-BKK).  Since then I have flown Thai Smile a few times and only complaint with the low cost version of Thai was no cash refunds for cancelled flights.  During the pandemic both ANA and JAL have operated consistently to and out of BKK.  

I flew with them not long after they were established and they were a fabulous airline, but comfort and to a lesser degree service has dropped off, particularly over the last 10-12 years -- on the cheap tickets seat pitch is now down to 31". More to the point, I wonder about their safety culture and whether or not standards are being maintained. Covid has meant that it's been impossible for me to fly with them for the last year and a half, but they're now preparing to swipe a chunk of my miles on December 31st anyway. And then there's their airfares: pricey and they've made it harder to earn miles. Plus they've put an extra stop in Phuket, whereas it's always been non-stop. I probably will fly with them again, because even when non-stop competition between Australia and Thailand returns, it isn't all that great and Thai's A350 is OK, assuming that's what they'll be using again on the route I fly. 

Thai Airways are a good airline...  Decent planes, decent service... 

Easily on Par with BA and Eva, but trailing behind the Middle Eastern Airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways. 

 

At the moment Thai Airways offers the one thing no other Airline is; Direct Flights between London and Bangkok (Eva and BA are not currently flying those routes direct). 

 

But, the issue with Thai Airways has always been price - Thai Airways is consistently far more expensive than its direct competitors.

 

We (my Family and I) fly Thai Airways with award flights (from ROP Credit Card). Thai Airways also offer competitive pricing on th routes to Japan. 

 

Thai airways also offer a premium service compared to regional Airlines such as Malaysian, Garuda, the Indian Airlines etc.

 

Thai Airways relies heavily on Thailands uber-rich who do not greatly consider the price of a ticket and will not spend time looking on the internet for better deals. These folk just get online, book the flight they want and are done with it (or they get someone to do it for them). 

 

 

Why to foreigners on this forum ‘have a go at Thai Airways all the time’ ??

 

Because we frequently read in the news of how Thai Airways is in major financial trouble.

We recognise how poorly run it is and how it prices itself out of the market leaving seats empty instead of offering better value for money for the customer and filling up flights. 

 

 

 

I haven't received payment for a return trip to Europe that was cancelled in the spring 2019.

Although I've sent numerous mails to Thai Airways they haven't bothered to reply.

I have mostly used Thai the last 15 years because they have direct flights to BKK.

This time I had to fly with Qatar Airways and man did it open my eyes.

Except for a short stop in Qatar the comfort and service was on another level compared to Thai

for a fraction of the price.

Bye, bye Thai Airways, you lost another customer.

yet another reason to shy from TG is that they don't offer covid flexible fares.

Other airlines do offer unlimited changes for up to 2 years.

So if your test turns positive, doesn't arrive on time or thailandpass/coe delay, your ticket is not wasted.

Skyscaner has a new option of selecting flexible

They're OK, but from LHR, Eva normally have bigger seats for the same price. 

Not sure if Eva only fly 3 times a week though. 

14 hours ago, howerde said:

Just had a look at TG website, and a lot of the lhr-bkk flights and return go via Hong kong/brussels etc a few seem direct, maybe just me putting in wrong details

They're only flying the LHR route once or twice a week.  The indirect ones are probably on the off days.

Those expensive fares are probably to make up for the losses on freebie  seats to employees and their families. I know it's been greatly reduced due to their economic crisis, but I doubt totally removed.

If I had a choice of Direct flight from Auckland to Bangers from any other Airline I would use them Thai Air is way to expensive but for a direct flight that is all we can get in N.Z.

Since this thread seems to be about flights to Thailand. Oz folk should check this out.

I just received from Jetstar. So that's 6k return direct flights.

I just choose two dates from start Feb.