Which Airline Ls The Best ?

[mark100]

Personally l think Singapore airlines are the best airline in the world, and certainly the top carrier operating to Thailand, what do you think ?

What is your worst experience flying with the current crop of airlines that fly to Thailand, this could be anything, staff, delays aircraft problems etc??

l had a China airlines flight 4 years ago that lost a tyre landing in a storm at Bangkok, we shot sideways across the runway when we touched down and then back the opposite way, a few people got minor injuries but we survived, just !!

[ercorn]

I was flying BKK-Amsterdam and about 15 mins before landing the plane got hit by lightning.The pilot told us what happened after we landed pretty scary.

[chiang mai]

Cathay Pacific, absolutely no doubt.

[bowthai]

a couple years ago flew from nyc to paris on air india.never again as the plane stank to high heaven and has to wash all my clothes to get rid of the smell.

[elibangkok]

I'm a big fan of Cathay Pacific as well. Unfortunately, have to fly TG most places as I prefer to go direct and it is just easiest out of BKK.

[wileycoyote]

Years ago ,I was on a Canadian Pacific flight from Amsterdam to Vancouver.

After take-off ,one of the stewards asked me to the galley,he said that two of the front wheels had burst on take-off ,and he was informing all men in aisle seats as he would ask them to help disembark womes & children first .

This was quite a shock,as we seemed to be travelling normally,however the next thing the pilot announces the same message and adds that "We would not be landing at Edmonton as they did not have enough "support" facilities ,however he was confident that we could land tail first then edge down the belly at Vancouver.

Needless to say,everyone clapped when we all arrived shoeless (because of possible use of shutes) but safely at Vancouver.

Wiley Coyote

[Creeper]

Personally l think Singapore airlines are the best airline in the world.

Have to agree with you on that one mark, I have flown many different airlines, but Business Class on Singapore Airlines is excellent, economy is also good.

[chinthee]

I'm a big fan of Cathay Pacific as well. Unfortunately, have to fly TG most places as I prefer to go direct and it is just easiest out of BKK.

Yes, i agree completely with CX, and also with SG. I too have to fly TG almost exclusively living in BKK, but do miss my gold Marco Polo membership having been dropped to green now, but have been Thai ROP and star alliance gold my whole life too., then again, I was BA Executive club gold and Air France Frequence Plus, yada yada, another story..

The best and smartest choice for an airline really depends where you live. If you live in Thailand, and especially Bangkok, Thai is the smartest and best choice to most anyplace you go. If you are resisting this, and planning to live long term in Thailand (and travel frequently for business), you are not facing reality, and will face the music sometime, unless you only fly to HK or SG.

Edited August 21, 2007 by chinthee

[mark100]

Cathay Pacific, absolutely no doubt.

Would agree Cathay are good been a few years since l flew with them, do you get the tv's in the back of the seats in economy like you do on Singapore ??

[mark100]

Years ago ,I was on a Canadian Pacific flight from Amsterdam to Vancouver.

After take-off ,one of the stewards asked me to the galley,he said that two of the front wheels had burst on take-off ,and he was informing all men in aisle seats as he would ask them to help disembark womes & children first .

This was quite a shock,as we seemed to be travelling normally,however the next thing the pilot announces the same message and adds that "We would not be landing at Edmonton as they did not have enough "support" facilities ,however he was confident that we could land tail first then edge down the belly at Vancouver.

Needless to say,everyone clapped when we all arrived shoeless (because of possible use of shutes) but safely at Vancouver.

Wiley Coyote

You must have good bodily control function!!

[mark100]

Personally l think Singapore airlines are the best airline in the world.

Have to agree with you on that one mark, I have flown many different airlines, but Business Class on Singapore Airlines is excellent, economy is also good.

My first ever flight with Singapore from London there was a problem with my tv in the back of my seat, so they uprgraded me and my friend to first class!! Found the cabin crew to be fantastic on all my Singapore flights, they put the snooty BA staff to shame.

[chinthee]

I'll add a quick true horror story. I have many more about travel on Aeroflot and others, but just give you a teaser here.

Flying Pan Am to San Paolo (should tell you how old I am approximately- yeah, just old enough for a retirement visa, but young enough not to retire!), 747, one of the engines literally fell off the plane, became dislodged - i saw it with my own beautiful blue eye. First, Captain awakened us, said we had a "minor" problem and would be returning to Rio. We were right over the Amazon at that point, and we all had visions of being chomped up by pools of pirrannha fish down below. We did hobble back to Rio with one engine hanging. No real problems apart from being scared sh!tless we were going down in the Brazilian jungle.

Edited August 21, 2007 by chinthee

[mark100]

I'll add a quick true horror story. I have many more about travel on Aeroflot and others, but just give you a teaser here.

Flying Pan Am to San Paolo (should tell you how old I am approximately- yeah, just old enough for a retirement visa, but young enough not to retire!), 747, one of the engines literally fell off the plane, became dislodged - i saw it. First, Captain awakened us, said we had a "minor" problem and would be returning to Rio. We were right over the Amazon at that point, and we all had visions of being chomped up by pools of pirrannha fish down below. We did hobble back to Rio with one engine hanging. No real problems apart from being scared sh!tless we were going down in the Brazilian jungle.

Scary stuff !! l think parachutes should be mandatory on all Aeroflot flights!

[ercorn]

The first time I flew Cathay pacific was to Indonesia never flewn with them before and they ungraded me to business class.

[GuestHouse]

The test of a good airline is not how good they are when things are going right – but how good they are when things go wrong.

On that measure BA wipe the board clean.

Let’s put it this way, if I had to put my children on any airline to fly internationally alone, the only airline I would consider is BA

[spot]

The test of a good airline is not how good they are when things are going right – but how good they are when things go wrong.

On that measure BA wipe the board clean.

Let’s put it this way, if I had to put my children on any airline to fly internationally alone, the only airline I would consider is BA

I measure an airline on how safe I feel.

On this score Cathay come first, followed by BA, then Quantas.

[Farma]

I like SQ and would fly with them any chance I get. Thai isn’t bad now they’ve put the newer planes on the Oz route.

The worst has to be Saudair, too many horror stories to list.

The scariest was as a back seater in a military jet. The fire warning came on and I heard the words “We may have to eject, prepare to eject. I'll say the word eject 3 times. If you hear me say eject the 3rd time it’s too late as I’ll already be gone”.

Phew, it was only an indication problem.

[farangsay]

The test of a good airline is not how good they are when things are going right – but how good they are when things go wrong.

On that measure BA wipe the board clean.

Let’s put it this way, if I had to put my children on any airline to fly internationally alone, the only airline I would consider is BA

In my experience BA are an appalling airline.

Few years ago I had to fly Paris/London complete with broken foot and crutches.

I was having a bit of difficulty slotting a bag in the overhead while keeping hold of the crutches when I noticed a steward and stewardess shooting the breeze further down the cabin. I glared at them for a few seconds before uttering an expletive.

The "male" trotted up and explained they were not supposed to help passengers with their baggage.

"WELL F*CKING DON'T THEN !" says I.

[sceadugenga]

Yeah, I'll put my hand up for Singapore airlines. (Didn't we do a poll on this recently?)

Surprised Malaysian didn't get a mention, used to fly with them quite regularly once and service was great.

Of course I rarely eat the food on planes these days.

[lazeeboy]

Yeah, I'll put my hand up for Singapore airlines. (Didn't we do a poll on this recently?)

Surprised Malaysian didn't get a mention, used to fly with them quite regularly once and service was great.

Of course I rarely eat the food on planes these days.

any plane im on that lands is great with me .

[sibeymai]

Happened to be in the US when George W decided to invade Iraq. restrictions on checked baggage immediately came into force. I was flying from Charlotte, NC to Sydney with United Airlines routed through Washington DC and Los Angeles. While in the toilet at the departure gate in Charlotte my name was called over the intercom. I went to the gate counter but they started boarding the flight so I never found out why I was paged. On the plane I asked why I was paged and was told it was probably because my checked in baggage was locked and may have been forced open for inspection. The law requiring all checked bags to be unlocked to permit inspection was only new. Naturally I was concerned about the possibility of pilfering, but of more concern was the customs declaration I had to make on arrival in Sydney. I didn't want to arrive to find a few kilos of drugs in my suitcase (ask Schapelle Corby about that).

I told the cabin crew that I had to know if indeed my suitcase had been forced open and if it had I wanted something in writing from the airline explaining this and lastly I wanted to know who was responsible for any damage to the suitcase. After departing the Charlotte terminal building we sat on the taxiway for an hour because the air traffic control system for the north-eastern US crashed and no takeoff clearances were being given so arrival in Washington DC was delayed. Passengers literally had to run to make the LA flight so no time for me to inquire about my baggage. I did ask the cabin crew on this flight but they could not provide any information and told me to ask at LA.

Had about 2-3 hours layover at LA so set about finding some answers from UA staff. First guy I asked couldn't seem to understand why I needed to know about my suitcase even after I explained to him that I had to make a custom's declaration and that the law deemed that the contents of the suitcase belonged to me. He fobbed me off to the airport security staff saying that baggage screening was not UA's responsibility and that thie security guys could give me a document saying my bag had been searched. Off I went on my own to find the security guys who can help me. Eventually having located some of these guys they told me there was no such document they could provide to me so back I went to UA. Couldn't find the first UA guy I spoke with so went to the UA's general information counter in the terminal. Nobody here could help me either...couldn't confirm if my suitcase had been opened (didn't really expect them to know anything in LA since it had happened in Charlotte) so was requesting a document or letter from UA explaining that my suitcase may have travelled unlocked from Charlotte to Sydney due to US airport security procedures. They were sympathetic but not helpful.

Next I went to the UA counter at the boarding gate. It was now about 90 minutes to departure. No help here either and they told me to go back to the UA inquiries counter. While waiting to see the staff again the first UA guy I spoke to on arrival in LA turns up with 2 LAPD officers and accuses me of harassing UA staff. The UA guy asks the LAPD guys to arrest me under some airport security law or something. All through since Charlotte I remained polite with the UA staff and had not been abusive or threatening in any way. The LAPD guys pulled me aside and I explained to them the situation regarding the declaration I had to make in Sydney. They understood my concern immediately and took me back to the airport security guys to see if there was some sort of document I could get since the UA staff still denied their responsibility for anything. I was releived when the LAPD assured me they would not arrest me as I had done nothing wrong. So there remained the problem of the document I needed from UA (the police agreed UA had to provide something).

With my LAPD escort and a by now large gathering of UA staff we summoned UA's terminal manager who turned up promptly. Even with the LAPD supporting my argument the bitch of a manager refused to budge and accommodate my request in any way. UA staff told me I would have no problems on arrival in Sydney because the whole world had been informed of the changes to US airport security procedures. Sure I thought. By now having the terminal manager involved and the LAPD as witness to the events the need for a document from UA wasn't really necessary any more. If there was a kilo of cocaine in my suitcase by the time it arrived in Sydney I could credibly say I had raised the possibility while in the US as a defence. However, due to the callous and indifferent treatment by UA staff I decided to press my case.

It was now about 30 minutes to departure. I told the UA terminal manager that unless I had a document signed by her I was not boarding the flight to Sydney. Of course my suitcase was already loaded on the flight, along with all the other cargo. If I wasn't on the flight my baggage would have to be found and unloaded guaranteeing a delay deoarture of at least an hour. I had the bitch now. Still it took another 10 minutes of arguing before she relented and agreed to give me a handwritten note stating that my suitcase may have been opened in Charlotte (problem was in Charlotte that the check in staff forgot to tell me or check that the suitcase was unlocked) and accepting responsibility if it had been damaged. All this time I was being flanked by the LAPD guys and the whole discussion had taken place amongst the rows of seats and waiting passengers at the departure gate. I can only guess that my fellow passengers must have regarded me as a potential terrorist. Can only wonder how they felt when I boarded the plane.

The flight from LA to sydney was uneventful. I had the letter from UA and the LAPD's business cards so I felt ok. I decided that on arrival, when filling out the customs declaration I would declare "yes" to all the prohibited items...do I have illegal drugs - yes, do I have guns or other weapons - yes, do I have plant and animal products -- yes, do I have protected species and wildlife - yes......just ticked yes to everything (is says if in doubt to tick yes). Once you've ticked "no" there's no going back. Should have seen the look on the immigration officer's face when they read the custom's declaration....at least they could see the funny side of it...she said "have fun with customs" as she stamped me in.

Custom's were more than a little curious about someone ticking yes to everything so I told them the story and asked if they were indeed aware that everyone doing any dometic flights within the US was now flying around with unlocked baggage. She said they had not been told and was in fact very concerned at the prospect (and rightly so). Anyway I explained that since I did not now know what was in my suitcase I wanted it inspected thoroughly by customs. The locks on the suitcase had in fact been damaged when forced open. The customs officer agreed that I had done the right thing all along and that had I not and some contraband was discovered I would have been in jail while the whole mess was sorted out or possibly charged with an offence.

Later I claimed the cost of re[airs to the suitcase from UA. They tried to deny responsibility saying it was the fault of airport security. It wasn't until the company I worked for who used UA for travel world wide intervened that I got my refund from them. Postscript to the story is that exactly 2 weeks later I was again returning from the US on the same flight through LA. I spied the UA terminal manager, walked over and asked "remember me ?" She said yes. I asked if, given all the inconvenience UA had caused me previously and threatening to have me arrested, if she would upgrade me. The cold bitch just stared at me.

[mark100]

The test of a good airline is not how good they are when things are going right – but how good they are when things go wrong.

On that measure BA wipe the board clean.

Let's put it this way, if I had to put my children on any airline to fly internationally alone, the only airline I would consider is BA

In my experience BA are an appalling airline.

Few years ago I had to fly Paris/London complete with broken foot and crutches.

I was having a bit of difficulty slotting a bag in the overhead while keeping hold of the crutches when I noticed a steward and stewardess shooting the breeze further down the cabin. I glared at them for a few seconds before uttering an expletive.

The "male" trotted up and explained they were not supposed to help passengers with their baggage.

"WELL F*CKING DON'T THEN !" says I.

l find BA cabin crew to be very high and mighty, they seem to think working for BA puts them further up the chain than us mere mortals.

[sukanyacondo]

I'll add a quick true horror story. I have many more about travel on Aeroflot and others, but just give you a teaser here.

Flying Pan Am to San Paolo (should tell you how old I am approximately- yeah, just old enough for a retirement visa, but young enough not to retire!), 747, one of the engines literally fell off the plane, became dislodged - i saw it with my own beautiful blue eye. First, Captain awakened us, said we had a "minor" problem and would be returning to Rio. We were right over the Amazon at that point, and we all had visions of being chomped up by pools of pirrannha fish down below. We did hobble back to Rio with one engine hanging. No real problems apart from being scared sh!tless we were going down in the Brazilian jungle.

Did I ever mention the time my friend was almost killed by a 747 engine that narrowely missed him whilst he was canoeing up the Amazon???????

[mrtoad]

I'd say Singapore and Cathay from experience. Emirates are also good.

BA, as far as I am concerned suck, have flown with them 3 times and I have now decided that I will not use them again. I was not impressed either with Quantas the last time I flew with them either.

The worst, thats easy, Biman Bangladesh, anyone who has flown with them will know exactly what I mean.

[sukanyacondo]

I have always used Emirates as it flys direct from Birmingham Uk for me. Sometimes very good other times very bad. I wont complain too much they upgraded me to Business class this time.They are quite lax with overweight bags dont seem to mind too much excess.

[TigerLily]

I love a Croissant from Emirates airline, thatz the reason why i fly with them lol

TigerLily

[kankaroo]

I have always used Emirates as it flys direct from Birmingham Uk for me. Sometimes very good other times very bad. I wont complain too much they upgraded me to Business class this time.They are quite lax with overweight bags dont seem to mind too much excess.

Agree, Emirates all the way for me. I have never flown anything except economy class in my life and really felt the difference when I flew my first Emirates Scotland - Dubai - BKK.

For a start, high quality DVD players with over 100 movies for everyone, unlimited alcohol with no fuss (a perquisite for many a flying Scot !) great staff (apart from one particular incident/person) and really good food.

I mean you are watching the latest DVD whilst eating smoked salmon and asparagus, washed down by your umpteenth glass of wine all for a MUCH cheaper price than any airline I flew with before. Also the stopover in Dubai is only 2 hours. None of the other airlines I flew with had DVD players in economy.

KLM, AIR CHINA, AIR FRANCE =

Emirates =

(PS EMIRATES, GIZ A JOB !!)

Edited August 21, 2007 by kankaroo

[tracer5050]

I flight Cathay as well as UA . Cathay is great from the us if you dont mind going throw HK, But with the econony Plus on UA i usally get a good seat with more leg room and a fraction of the price.

[JimmyCA]

Happened to be in the US when George W decided to invade Iraq. restrictions on checked baggage immediately came into force. I was flying from Charlotte, NC to Sydney with United Airlines routed through Washington DC and Los Angeles. While in the toilet at the departure gate in Charlotte my name was called over the intercom. I went to the gate counter but they started boarding the flight so I never found out why I was paged. On the plane I asked why I was paged and was told it was probably because my checked in baggage was locked and may have been forced open for inspection. The law requiring all checked bags to be unlocked to permit inspection was only new. Naturally I was concerned about the possibility of pilfering, but of more concern was the customs declaration I had to make on arrival in Sydney. I didn't want to arrive to find a few kilos of drugs in my suitcase (ask Schapelle Corby about that).

I told the cabin crew that I had to know if indeed my suitcase had been forced open and if it had I wanted something in writing from the airline explaining this and lastly I wanted to know who was responsible for any damage to the suitcase. After departing the Charlotte terminal building we sat on the taxiway for an hour because the air traffic control system for the north-eastern US crashed and no takeoff clearances were being given so arrival in Washington DC was delayed. Passengers literally had to run to make the LA flight so no time for me to inquire about my baggage. I did ask the cabin crew on this flight but they could not provide any information and told me to ask at LA.

Had about 2-3 hours layover at LA so set about finding some answers from UA staff. First guy I asked couldn't seem to understand why I needed to know about my suitcase even after I explained to him that I had to make a custom's declaration and that the law deemed that the contents of the suitcase belonged to me. He fobbed me off to the airport security staff saying that baggage screening was not UA's responsibility and that thie security guys could give me a document saying my bag had been searched. Off I went on my own to find the security guys who can help me. Eventually having located some of these guys they told me there was no such document they could provide to me so back I went to UA. Couldn't find the first UA guy I spoke with so went to the UA's general information counter in the terminal. Nobody here could help me either...couldn't confirm if my suitcase had been opened (didn't really expect them to know anything in LA since it had happened in Charlotte) so was requesting a document or letter from UA explaining that my suitcase may have travelled unlocked from Charlotte to Sydney due to US airport security procedures. They were sympathetic but not helpful.

Next I went to the UA counter at the boarding gate. It was now about 90 minutes to departure. No help here either and they told me to go back to the UA inquiries counter. While waiting to see the staff again the first UA guy I spoke to on arrival in LA turns up with 2 LAPD officers and accuses me of harassing UA staff. The UA guy asks the LAPD guys to arrest me under some airport security law or something. All through since Charlotte I remained polite with the UA staff and had not been abusive or threatening in any way. The LAPD guys pulled me aside and I explained to them the situation regarding the declaration I had to make in Sydney. They understood my concern immediately and took me back to the airport security guys to see if there was some sort of document I could get since the UA staff still denied their responsibility for anything. I was releived when the LAPD assured me they would not arrest me as I had done nothing wrong. So there remained the problem of the document I needed from UA (the police agreed UA had to provide something).

With my LAPD escort and a by now large gathering of UA staff we summoned UA's terminal manager who turned up promptly. Even with the LAPD supporting my argument the bitch of a manager refused to budge and accommodate my request in any way. UA staff told me I would have no problems on arrival in Sydney because the whole world had been informed of the changes to US airport security procedures. Sure I thought. By now having the terminal manager involved and the LAPD as witness to the events the need for a document from UA wasn't really necessary any more. If there was a kilo of cocaine in my suitcase by the time it arrived in Sydney I could credibly say I had raised the possibility while in the US as a defence. However, due to the callous and indifferent treatment by UA staff I decided to press my case.

It was now about 30 minutes to departure. I told the UA terminal manager that unless I had a document signed by her I was not boarding the flight to Sydney. Of course my suitcase was already loaded on the flight, along with all the other cargo. If I wasn't on the flight my baggage would have to be found and unloaded guaranteeing a delay deoarture of at least an hour. I had the bitch now. Still it took another 10 minutes of arguing before she relented and agreed to give me a handwritten note stating that my suitcase may have been opened in Charlotte (problem was in Charlotte that the check in staff forgot to tell me or check that the suitcase was unlocked) and accepting responsibility if it had been damaged. All this time I was being flanked by the LAPD guys and the whole discussion had taken place amongst the rows of seats and waiting passengers at the departure gate. I can only guess that my fellow passengers must have regarded me as a potential terrorist. Can only wonder how they felt when I boarded the plane.

The flight from LA to sydney was uneventful. I had the letter from UA and the LAPD's business cards so I felt ok. I decided that on arrival, when filling out the customs declaration I would declare "yes" to all the prohibited items...do I have illegal drugs - yes, do I have guns or other weapons - yes, do I have plant and animal products -- yes, do I have protected species and wildlife - yes......just ticked yes to everything (is says if in doubt to tick yes). Once you've ticked "no" there's no going back. Should have seen the look on the immigration officer's face when they read the custom's declaration....at least they could see the funny side of it...she said "have fun with customs" as she stamped me in.

Custom's were more than a little curious about someone ticking yes to everything so I told them the story and asked if they were indeed aware that everyone doing any dometic flights within the US was now flying around with unlocked baggage. She said they had not been told and was in fact very concerned at the prospect (and rightly so). Anyway I explained that since I did not now know what was in my suitcase I wanted it inspected thoroughly by customs. The locks on the suitcase had in fact been damaged when forced open. The customs officer agreed that I had done the right thing all along and that had I not and some contraband was discovered I would have been in jail while the whole mess was sorted out or possibly charged with an offence.

Later I claimed the cost of re[airs to the suitcase from UA. They tried to deny responsibility saying it was the fault of airport security. It wasn't until the company I worked for who used UA for travel world wide intervened that I got my refund from them. Postscript to the story is that exactly 2 weeks later I was again returning from the US on the same flight through LA. I spied the UA terminal manager, walked over and asked "remember me ?" She said yes. I asked if, given all the inconvenience UA had caused me previously and threatening to have me arrested, if she would upgrade me. The cold bitch just stared at me.

A little parinoid are you? What did you do on your secod trip?

[JimmyCA]

EVA Air is as good as any.

Got boinked by a very cute EVA attendant so I have to give it to them.