Thai Air

[nana kid]

I am planning a trip to Paris in the spring.  Business Class.  Thai is the only direct flight, which is only minimally important but

without a full trip review is Thai B class any good,  Anybody with experience?

Type of plane

Food

Bed

 

Thanks in advance

[proton]

I would never fly with them again

 

 

[soi3eddie]

Left BKK 2 days ago and saw Air France there at the gate. They are currently flying direct non-stop from Bangkok to Paris. On their website they are showing same flight - AF165 - still running in April (spring). 

 

As for Thai airways, I would not pay for their business class. I often "enjoy" it as a free upgrade or mileage redemption. It is not what it was pre-pandemic. The linked video above is over 1 year old and cabin/meal service has improved since then (I flew Biz LHR to BKK on 30/10/2023). On the London route, they are using one of the new 777s though same seat design as the older ones. I miss the A380, though it seems they will never bring that back. FWIW; service in economy on Thai this week was perfectly fine. Food from BKK to LHR was as good as it gets in economy altough they served the second full meal way too early at just 5 hours after the first, with still another 6.5 hours to fly!

 

Second full meal service...

Edited December 14, 2023 by soi3eddie

[RayWright]

Have flown short-haul a few times, BKK-SIN and BKK-HKG and found the experience pleasant. Pods are spacious, dedicated 240V UK style electrical socket, so able to keep laptop powered all flight and work and provide my own movie / TV entertainment. I'm 1.9m so sufficient legroom to stretch out / lie down. Pods are off-set, so if lying down you don't crush the person behind, saves on the mid-air agro, hence fewer window seats, so book early.

Can't comment on food, as never eat airline food unless sealed, so the bread rolls, bottled water and Laurent-Perrier are all highly recommend. Customer experience is excellent as always addressed by your name.

Would consider long-haul, ie BKK-LHR or CDG but my Scottish genes make me fly sardine class but book the aisle seat on the front row of any section for the legroom and cost saving.

Bon voyage. 

[Sheryl]

I  flew TG Business class to and from London about a year ago and have no complaints. Comfortable pods which is my main priority going business class, adequate in-flight entertainment.  I have no particular recollection about the food one way or the other so must have been OK; meal quality is not a big priority for me when flying.

 

Would fly them again, no problem

[impulse]

Acknowledging that I don't have a dog in the Euro fight, my question would be, how much extra would Business Class be worth if the choice is Business or Coach?

 

Flying the other way to the USA, the incremental cost of Business per hour is rarely worth it for my cheap self.

 

[treetops]

44 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

Left BKK 2 days ago and saw Air France there at the gate. They are currently flying direct non-stop from Bangkok to Paris. On their website they are showing same flight - AF165 - still running in April (spring).

 

Yes, Air France also have direct flights from BKK-CDG and I'm on one next March.  Not the flight number you are quoting but AF153.  AF165 looks like it's stopped, at least for the winter months, but if you can see it next April it sounds like it will return.  It's not a daily flight (or wasn't this year when running) so the OP might not see it depending on what date he searches.

[treetops]

3 minutes ago, impulse said:

Acknowledging that I don't have a dog in the Euro fight, my question would be, how much extra would Business Class be worth if the choice is Business or Coach?

 

For some it's priceless, for others like yourself, less so.  I'm somewhere in the middle and made my recent purchase as the price became acceptable to me.  YMMV.

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

Acknowledging that I don't have a dog in the Euro fight, my question would be, how much extra would Business Class be worth if the choice is Business or Coach?

 

Flying the other way to the USA, the incremental cost of Business per hour is rarely worth it for my cheap self.

 

For a lengthy flight and for those of us with aged spines, not just worth it but essential. Depending in flight length sometimes premium economy or equivalent will do but the days when I could tolerate sitting in an economy seat for more than 5-06 hours is long past for me.

 

For younger people it is of course different.

[impulse]

1 hour ago, treetops said:

 

For some it's priceless, for others like yourself, less so.  I'm somewhere in the middle and made my recent purchase as the price became acceptable to me.  YMMV.

 I freely admit that I'm a cheap bastard.  And when it comes to airfare, I have a hard time ponying up $100 more an hour for a better seat when I remember scooping up dog poop for $2 an hour when I was a kid.  It just doesn't seem right to me.  (Unless I'm on the company dime and even then I feel a little guilty).

 

 

[Sheryl]

2 minutes ago, impulse said:

 I freely admit that I'm a cheap bastard.  And when it comes to airfare, I have a hard time ponying up $100 more an hour for a better seat when I remember scooping up dog poop for $2 an hour when I was a kid.  It just doesn't seem right to me.  (Unless I'm on the company dime and even then I feel a little guilty).

 

 

Again it depends on age and condition of one's spine etc.

 

For me cost of the added business class is a lot less than I'd rack up in medical bills  and massages etc as a result of the effects on my spine of a long trip in economy. When I go business class, I recline at least 120 degrees virtually the whole way.

 

I flew NY to Seattle last summer in "Delta Comfort" which is sort of their equivalent to Premium economy  class. Long delay in take off meant a total of 7 hours in that seat. Took me over a month of constant pain to recover. (Unfortunately their "first class", from the looks of it, would not have been much better at double the price -- , still doesn't recline far).

[impulse]

7 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Again it depends on age and condition of one's spine etc.

 

For me cost of the added business class is a lot less than I'd rack up in medical bills  and massages etc as a result of the effects on my spine of a long trip in economy. When I go business class, I recline at least 120 degrees virtually the whole way.

 

I flew NY to Seattle last summer in "Delta Comfort" which is sort of their equivalent to Premium economy  class. Long delay in take off meant a total of 7 hours in that seat. Took me over a month of constant pain to recover. (Unfortunately their "first class", from the looks of it, would not have been much better at double the price -- , still doesn't recline far).

 

Pain mitigation is a great reason to pay whatever the upgrade costs. Knock wood, that's not something I need to worry about.  Yet.

 

[ThailandNinja]

It always works fine for me.
Never a problem and very friendly staff.

[nana kid]

Thank you all for your info...............I am OLD+ so B class is necessary.  Thai .right now , is the cheapest; 

But Emirates, which is not too much more, is probably 2 grades up.  but 2 shorter flights with a layover 

vs, direct     eat/sleep/eat is the choice to make

[josephbloggs]

On 12/14/2023 at 1:58 PM, nana kid said:

Thank you all for your info...............I am OLD+ so B class is necessary.  Thai .right now , is the cheapest; 

But Emirates, which is not too much more, is probably 2 grades up.  but 2 shorter flights with a layover 

vs, direct     eat/sleep/eat is the choice to make

I'm not a TG basher - I don't mind them generally. But Emirates business class is soooo much better. Much better service on board, better aircraft (assuming you're on the A380 - their older 777s are not recommended), infinitely better lounges. Plus you get picked up and dropped off at each end of your journey.

 

Personally I prefer doing the two shorter flights with a short break in-between, but for others flying direct is important.

[Robin]

Flew LON-BKK last year on TG business class.  I regularly use Business class on this route, but have not flown TG for years.  I can't remember details, but lasting impression was that THI were desperately short of money and economising on everything; Food, IFE, Drinks, etc..  Sleeper sets were OK as was Service, but I would prefer other airlines, that I know give a better impression.

Poor old THAI need all the help they can get.... but I would not chose them again over Qatar or Emirates.