Air Miles

[WalsallRobbo]

I just checked my Royal Orchard plus account and to my surprise I had quite a few air miles that I never bothered to check.

Has anyone used them before? It looks like you have to login to your account and then book the flight that way, is that correct?

I reckon I could save half if I use my air miles next time.

[tomazbodner]

Tried to use them, as many of mine expire end of this year - but... nothing available when I tried to search for flights. Maybe only for TG operated direct flights, but no connecting flights.

 

Note that the miles are only for the fare, but you still have to pay for the taxes, surcharges, etc. So in the end a mileage ticket from TG might cost you as much as ticket from another airline without using miles.

 

Good part of it however is that it's valid for a year. So if miles expire end of this year, you can book a flight in December for up to December 2024.

 

And yes - you can book online. Or TG office in Silom (didn't do that since before COVID so not sure that's still option).

 

And you can add up to 5 nominees - you can issue ticket for them in the same way. But if you want to change any name, it'll cost you.

[nauseus]

I'm not sure what it is like now but the THAI ROP scheme was very good to me until I stopped flying frequently, a few years ago. I never applied on-line for a reward but just visited the local THAI office - and they were great! I always managed to get what I asked for.

 

So thankyou, THAI.

[KhunLA]

I used all mine, and when I knew I wouldn't be flying any more, and used them for free hotel stay, and took my account down to damn near -0-.

[WalsallRobbo]

How do you actually use these air miles? I have got 40000 now because of Covid etc.

Do you book the flight as normal and then try to spend them at the end whilst paying for the flight (along with cash) or do you have to login to Orchid Plus and do it through the portal?

[Yellowtail]

1 minute ago, WalsallRobbo said:

How do you actually use these air miles? I have got 40000 now because of Covid etc.

Do you book the flight as normal and then try to spend them at the end whilst paying for the flight (along with cash) or do you have to login to Orchid Plus and do it through the portal?

Why not call them or check the website? I never had any trouble. 

[WalsallRobbo]

I checked the website and it isn't clear to me how it all works, LOL.

Does anyone do this regularly? 

[KhunLA]

2 hours ago, WalsallRobbo said:

How do you actually use these air miles? I have got 40000 now because of Covid etc.

Do you book the flight as normal and then try to spend them at the end whilst paying for the flight (along with cash) or do you have to login to Orchid Plus and do it through the portal?

Log in to Orchid Plus and all will be explained.  I used all mine (TG & UA (Star Alliance) via flights and hotel stay @ BKK.

[WalsallRobbo]

I logged on at Orchid Plus and I still can't figure it out!

I think you must use them right at the end of the booking process as you go to pay for the flight:

Promotion | Fly THAI with Cash + Miles (thaiairways.com)

Rather than logon to the portal and click on 'Air Awards' and book the flight that way?

 

For 40000 miles it looks like I save approximately £200 on a return ticket from London to Bangkok. Does that seem right?

[Keeps]

41 minutes ago, WalsallRobbo said:

I logged on at Orchid Plus and I still can't figure it out!

I think you must use them right at the end of the booking process as you go to pay for the flight:

Promotion | Fly THAI with Cash + Miles (thaiairways.com)

Rather than logon to the portal and click on 'Air Awards' and book the flight that way?

 

For 40000 miles it looks like I save approximately £200 on a return ticket from London to Bangkok. Does that seem right?

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.

[Keeps]

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

[spidermike007]

43 minutes ago, Keeps said:

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.

The issue with EVA is that the mileage expires far earlier than they should. There's no reason why they shouldn't give you many years for miles that you've earned. 

 

Also beware if you're planning on using miles for an upgrade does not apply to the basic fares, which cannot be upgraded, it only applies to the standard fares, which are typically quite a bit higher. 

 

Otherwise EVA's a great airline, I use the most of the time. 

Edited January 16 by spidermike007

[richard_smith237]

Using ROP Airmiles is a nightmare...  they make it as difficult as possible. 

 

We tried to use them last year and in the Summer (booking 6 months in advance)... nothing available. 

 

We managed to use 'get ahead of the game' and use them this year...    They can be used up to 330 days in advance of the intended travel date.

 

Wife called up TG at 8am exactly 330 days before intended travel - All eco reward seats taken, only business left (which we took), not on the flights we wanted either, but at least the same travel day...  We then had to wait a few days to do the same for our return flights, which we managed to secure in Economy Class. 

 

It took numerous calls and most of the reward seats had gone from the very moment they became available - I suspect insider 'favoritism' of course... 

[Yellowtail]

I used ROP points without difficulty a number of times without difficulty. 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

I used ROP points without difficulty a number of times without difficulty. 

 

Please explain where and how...   Wife and I had nearly 300,000 miles that we found extremely difficult to use. 

 

Feb 2023 - Bangkok to Japan - No Airmiles Eco or Business Seats Available (at any time that month) - attempting to book about 6 months in advance. 

June / July 2023 - Bangkok - UK (return) - No Airmiles Eco or Business Seats Available (at any time that month) - attempting to book about 6 months in advance. 

Feb 2024 - Bangkok to Japan - Only Business Available outgoing / Eco return (availability only on specific days / specific flights) - when booking the maximum 330 days before travel date (thus had to make two separate bookings).

 

Conversely - with BA / Qatar / Emirates - its simply a matter of logging on a booking. 

 

The reason - Thai Airways limit the amount of reward seats per flight, whereas other airlines (listed above at least) allow you to book any seat if you have the the miles to use. 

 

 

 

 

[Chelseafan]

I find Thai's website one of the worst to naviagte through and they certainly make it difficult to claim award tickets.

 

[Yellowtail]

19 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Please explain where and how...   Wife and I had nearly 300,000 miles that we found extremely difficult to use. 

 

Feb 2023 - Bangkok to Japan - No Airmiles Eco or Business Seats Available (at any time that month) - attempting to book about 6 months in advance. 

June / July 2023 - Bangkok - UK (return) - No Airmiles Eco or Business Seats Available (at any time that month) - attempting to book about 6 months in advance. 

Feb 2024 - Bangkok to Japan - Only Business Available outgoing / Eco return (availability only on specific days / specific flights) - when booking the maximum 330 days before travel date (thus had to make two separate bookings).

 

Conversely - with BA / Qatar / Emirates - its simply a matter of logging on a booking. 

 

The reason - Thai Airways limit the amount of reward seats per flight, whereas other airlines (listed above at least) allow you to book any seat if you have the the miles to use. 

 

 

 

 

I used it Bangkok to Singapore several times a few years ago, and to upgrade my wife to business a couple times BKK-LAX. 

 

Booked hotels several times as well. 

[WalsallRobbo]

Can you use your air miles to get free tickets if you book at the right time  or is it just to get a reduction on the price of the tickets that you buy? For 40000 miles I expected a little more than saving £200 on a flight.

I don't qualify for an upgrade on the UK to Bangkok flight and I don't want to spend it on hotels or anything else.

I do find the ROP website a mess to navigate around.

 

For 40000 miles does a saving of approximately £200 seem about right? 

[Yellowtail]

14 minutes ago, WalsallRobbo said:

Can you use your air miles to get free tickets if you book at the right time  or is it just to get a reduction on the price of the tickets that you buy? For 40000 miles I expected a little more than saving £200 on a flight.

I don't qualify for an upgrade on the UK to Bangkok flight and I don't want to spend it on hotels or anything else.

I do find the ROP website a mess to navigate around.

 

For 40000 miles does a saving of approximately £200 seem about right? 

yes

[Keeps]

14 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

The issue with EVA is that the mileage expires far earlier than they should. There's no reason why they shouldn't give you many years for miles that you've earned. 

 

Also beware if you're planning on using miles for an upgrade does not apply to the basic fares, which cannot be upgraded, it only applies to the standard fares, which are typically quite a bit higher. 

 

Otherwise EVA's a great airline, I use the most of the time. 

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. 

[richard_smith237]

24 minutes ago, Keeps said:

The mileage doesn't expire for 3 or 4 years which is more than adequate for someone who uses the airline fairly frequently. 

 

It took us nearly that long to be able to 'use' the air-miles because every time we wanted to we couldn't...  

 

We know have another load of Air-miles... and its going to be a PITA to use them again because we have to book so far in advance to get use out of them - Perhaps Air-miles seats are more readily available at non-peak times (but we don't travel at non-peak times so thats useless for us).

 

Another issue we have had - Because they 'sell out' so quickly, we had to book Air-miles tickets 330 days in advance... fine at that point... but we are then locked in to those flights - our timing has changed slightly and we wanted to shift the return date (delaying by 3,4 or 5 days)... 

No can do - there are no 'Air-miles seats' available on those return flights to switch to (even though there are plenty of Eco Class seats on the flights), so its either throw away the Air-miles tickets and just purchase a new Eco ticket, or limit our trip to the original dates.

 

On any other Airline (Emirates for example) we'd just pay the fee's to change the flight date and the Award ticket would transfer across if there were seats available.

 

[Keeps]

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. 

[WalsallRobbo]

what is the difference between Thai Air Awards and Cash plus miles?

It looks like Cash plus miles is the way to go for me as I don't have enough for an upgrade or any reward tickets?

[richard_smith237]

16 minutes ago, Keeps said:

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. 

 

Ah fair enough...  

 

You raise the point about using the miles for upgrades...   of the many numerous phones we (wife) have made to Thai Airways, many options have been investigated....   Our miles were going to expire, so we had to use them... We looked at holidays, weekend trips to HK, Korea etc, flights, hotels etc... 

 

Options we also covered were purchasing Eco Tickets and upgrading to Business with miles...  This was only possible if there were an 'Award-Seat' available on that flight & Thai Airways only allocated very limited numbers of 'Award-Seats' per flight so they were never available, or the upgrades (probably also due to the fact we were travelling at Peak Travel periods (UK Summer & Christmas and Japan in Feb School Holidays - outside of this time I imagine its easier). 

 

Fortunately, because of the issues with being unable to use the Air-miles Thai Airways extended the expiry date of the remaining Air-miles we were holding (and have since added to - credit card use).

[Keeps]

7 minutes ago, WalsallRobbo said:

what is the difference between Thai Air Awards and Cash plus miles?

It looks like Cash plus miles is the way to go for me as I don't have enough for an upgrade or any reward tickets?

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?

[WalsallRobbo]

 

This is what I get when I select Air Awards on the ROP portal. Does this mean I will pay £409.79 for the flights?

I don't want to confirm it as it looks like it is a final request. Also, why does it state 85000 miles as I only have 40000.

 

When I select the same flights and use miles plus cash option it comes to approx £900 and then using all my miles it gets reduced to about £700.

 

Can anyone help?

 

 

[Keeps]

13 minutes ago, WalsallRobbo said:

 

This is what I get when I select Air Awards on the ROP portal. Does this mean I will pay £409.79 for the flights?

I don't want to confirm it as it looks like it is a final request. Also, why does it state 85000 miles as I only have 40000.

 

When I select the same flights and use miles plus cash option it comes to approx £900 and then using all my miles it gets reduced to about £700.

 

Can anyone help?

 

 

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?

[Keeps]

19 minutes ago, WalsallRobbo said:

 

When I select the same flights and use miles plus cash option it comes to approx £900 and then using all my miles it gets reduced to about £700.

 

 

 

 

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)

[richard_smith237]

17 minutes ago, WalsallRobbo said:

 

This is what I get when I select Air Awards on the ROP portal. Does this mean I will pay £409.79 for the flights?

I don't want to confirm it as it looks like it is a final request. Also, why does it state 85000 miles as I only have 40000.

 

When I select the same flights and use miles plus cash option it comes to approx £900 and then using all my miles it gets reduced to about £700.

 

Can anyone help?

 

 

 

What you have selected is a return Award Ticket using 85,000 Air-miles (42,500 each way).

You will pay £409.79 on top of this in fee's and taxes.

 

Booking the exact same flights directly (without Air-miles) is £860 - meaning TG are charing 47% in taxes and fees !!! 

 

 

 

 

[nauseus]

5 minutes ago, Keeps said:

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?

 

It's economy.

 

Looks like you have to pay 409 quid to secure the award ticket. Steep I know. The tax was always payable separately with these things but it looks like THAI have increased the weighting on the tax side a lot!

 

I always found it best to visit a THAI office and then sort it out.