Why Fly Thai Intl?

[britmaveric]

Never had an issue with TG staff - complete pleasure and had some good chats with them in the past. Very accommodating and the birds not bad on the eye either.

[crowbait]

Used to fly from Heathrow and have flown BA (oh dear!!), Thai (not too good) and EVA (good).

These days I fly from Birmingham (BHX) 'coz I really don't like the hassle of getting to Heathrow and then the crowds within the airport.

The downside is that nobody flies direct. However, I have flown KLM (not too good), China airlines (nice) Emirates (pretty good) and Swiss (fabulous).

The Swiss flight was punctual (as you would expect), well-appointed, cabin staff were friendly and attentive and the food was well above average (you get swiss chocolate too).

Unfortunately, every time I have tried to book since Swiss have come out too dear.....................ho hum, back to Emirates!!

[lioness]

Someone said Royal Brunei was a dry flight. Yes, but they are ok with you drinking your duty free, they will provide the glass, ice and mixers. LoveRoyal Brunei the service and the food are great. I will never fly Thai airlines again, crappy food and no leg room. Cathay Pacific or Singapore airlines are good.

[tw25rw]

For me, the advantage Thai have over EVA is that I can book a ticket LHR-Syd. EVA fly to Brisbane, but you can't book it as a single trip. I also managed to get a relatively cheap business class seat for my April trip.

If I was flying LHR-BKK in economy, I would choose EVA, or my usual premium economy, it would have to be EVA as TG don't have it (nor do Singapore - big mistake.

Edited March 31, 2008 by tw25rw

[ClaytonSeymour]

Someone said Royal Brunei was a dry flight. Yes, but they are ok with you drinking your duty free, they will provide the glass, ice and mixers. LoveRoyal Brunei the service and the food are great. I will never fly Thai airlines again, crappy food and no leg room. For all their other failings the seat pitch in TG economy class is not one of them - 34" which is actually more than CX or SQ. I've certainly seen more complaints re: CX's legroom as opposed to TG. I'm over 6ft & I've never had problems with TG's legroom - it's the rest of the product. Cathay Pacific or Singapore airlines are good.

You can check airline seat pitches here: http://www.airlinequality.com/Product/seat_intro.htm

Whilst seat pitch doesn't necessarily dictate the amount of legroom; it's a pretty good indicator. A poor seat pitch will more often than not result in poor legroom.

[merijn]

I was flying with Thai between BKK and FRA on an almost a weekly basis from 1990 until 2005. ( economy class )

The equipment never changed over the whole period.

Always the same old 747 economy class without PTV and so on.

They only upgraded there business and first class sections.

The newer planes should be better but i think it is an hit and miss situation.

From 2005 i fly monthly BKK to Dubai in business class and some times it is nice and other times it is the same old story.

Also the service went down over the years, i remember in the beginning i had a lot of upgrades to business class between BKK and FRA and after a few years not one upgrade any more. I know you can't expect it off course but it was always a nice gesture from them to their loyal costumers.

The last few years i changed to Emirates and i have to say they are much better but not as good as some people believe.

Edited April 1, 2008 by merijn

[Shrubbery]

Someone said Royal Brunei was a dry flight. Yes, but they are ok with you drinking your duty free, they will provide the glass, ice and mixers. LoveRoyal Brunei the service and the food are great. I will never fly Thai airlines again, crappy food and no leg room. Cathay Pacific or Singapore airlines are good.

Please tell me you are joking about Royal Brunei.

I fly with them regularly, not by choice I hasten to add. They are the only airline that flies from BWN to BKK.

The food is terrible, Cabin crew are very poor, IFE is lousy, if it works.

Expat staff (pilots) are all pretty hacked off with the airline management.

Interesting reading from the pprune site: http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=280985

If you are transiting through Brunei, they will confiscate your duty free drinks because of the LAG' regulations.

And additionally, they have had their base maintenace licence(s) suspended by the DCA.

[TheDon]

Thai Airways and Singapore are great, I also love my cabin ladies size 6-8 and not 16-18

[lioness]

shrubbery

Well your experiences are in direct contrast to mine, I fly from Perth usually, stopover in Brunei. I have never had my duty free confiscated. I always fly Business class with them as it is relatively cheap by other airline pricing, maybe that makes a difference regards the food and service. The meals have always been excellent and the staff just lovely and they are attentive to your needs. No problems getting a glass of ice and a mixer to go with my Brandy.

Bit of a worry about the base maintenance license being suspended, I will have to check that out.

[adammike]

I fly from Amsterdam the only direct flights are KLM,China and EVA, all fly the same 747s

so the screen can be 10mtrs away the sound is crap and it vibrates hopeless.

Cost 748euro last new year with KLM and have just booked for january with EVA

total with all the bits they add on 801euro.

Flew with swiss one year via Zurich a small plane to Zurich then a big Thai airbus

now that had the entertainment centre for each seat and was great but the downside

was a six hour wait in Zurich on the return leg.

I will suffer for a non stop flight.

[tartempion]

Stop over time with Qatar and Etihad is 2hrs, allows you to have a walk and as frequent flyer relax in business lounge.

China Airlines has new 747/400 with IFE since 2007 on Amsterdam route, but I don't like their 02.30 departure time out of BKK.

[Goshawk]

Thai Airways International are impeccable compared with the crate that i flew direct with, a couple of years ago...

This battered old KLM in retirement storage at Schipol....

....later transformed itself into this equally grubby looking 9R

It was the only time i've ever been errm.. 'concerned' upon entering a (25 year old) aircraft. Not long after, the EU banned this bird and it's siblings from flying to Europe.

The only IFE on this lumbering goose was counting how many creaks per minute you could hear coming from the airframe. A number of times i thought, if we hit some really strong turbulance, we've f*cked it ! No TV's, radio's whatsoever on this one..

Phuket now leases this old can to Saudi Arabian Airlines, although i do believe it's once again 'in storage'

[adammike]

China is fine have used them often but they are about 200euro more than EVA

so unless there is a big safety issue or a big difference in the aircraft I will go

for the cheapest and the timing.

whats IFE by the way

[game4shame]

China is fine have used them often but they are about 200euro more than EVA

so unless there is a big safety issue or a big difference in the aircraft I will go

for the cheapest and the timing.

whats IFE by the way

In Flight Entertainment.

[game4shame]

Stop over time with Qatar and Etihad is 2hrs, allows you to have a walk and as frequent flyer relax in business lounge.

China Airlines has new 747/400 with IFE since 2007 on Amsterdam route, but I don't like their 02.30 departure time out of BKK.

agreed. I flew china airlines once and they were fine apart from the flight times.

the mid afternoon AMS departure is a killer - iirc they dim the lights to help you sleep but it's too early. the result is landing in BKK early morning with (in my case) next to no sleep.

the time I flew with them I checked into my hotel in BKK then crashed out through total exhaustion - I woke up to my mobile ringing at 8pm. my sleep patterns were totally messed up for a few days.

I prefer flying late at night or early morning.

[technocracy]

On the note of flight times that is one of the very big plus points of Thai out of Heathrow - they have there 9:30pm flight. Perfect time - get on board get your meal and a few drinks down your neck it'll be about 11pm . . get 6 or 7 hours sleep wake up for breakfast and arrive in BKK 3.30pm - relatively refreshed more so if flying Biz or 1st.

I've never really been that arsed about the lack of personal screens, I am more likely to get some sleep without one!

I have to give a positive comment on Malaysia airlines - flew with them for the first time the other week KL to J'burg and I have to say pretty much everything was spot on. Well all except the econ food on the way out .. .. not the very tasty to say the least!

However coming back I got myself into Business Class (I wasn't prepared to sit Econ .. totally full!) and I've got say the food and service is fantastic - equal to and better than Thai Business class in such aspects. Although they didn't give you any toiletries like Thai do in Biz class which is a nice touch on the part of Thai.

The only thing that let down the Business class service was that Malaysia Air share Lounges with BA at J'Burg and the lounge was shocking but then again J'Burg airport is woeful in general!

[CbrLad]

the advantage of thai air that they are flying directly - so you pay for a convenience.

just in february my partner fly Bkk-Lhr return open ticket with BA for 39k baht - booked diretcly on their website. Agents were offering this same flight for a 2k more. Advantage of flying with BA that on international flights they give 32kg hold baggage allowance

Since when? Hold allowance on flights that use the weight system (Ie non US) is 23kg, not 32kg. Flying to the US it is 2 bags, max bag weight 23kg, so max in total 46kg.

PS. It has been this for a long time that I know of, before the 23kg limit it was 20kg. Qantas is still 20kg on such flights.

Refer to: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagch...ic/en_gb#europe

What is good, depending upon how you look at it is with BA you can also take 1 bag weighing 23kg into the CABIN:

Refer to: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagcabin/public/en_gb

The problem with BA at the moment of course is that it may be a long time before you're reunited with your 32Kg of baggage at Heathrow

BA flights to BKK are still leaving from T4 where there is no apparent issue. In fact when BA vacates T4 their flights to Australia (and hence BKK and SIN) will be moving to T3 along with Qantas.

[technocracy]

the advantage of thai air that they are flying directly - so you pay for a convenience.

just in february my partner fly Bkk-Lhr return open ticket with BA for 39k baht - booked diretcly on their website. Agents were offering this same flight for a 2k more. Advantage of flying with BA that on international flights they give 32kg hold baggage allowance

Since when? Hold allowance on flights that use the weight system (Ie non US) is 23kg, not 32kg. Flying to the US it is 2 bags, max bag weight 23kg, so max in total 46kg.

PS. It has been this for a long time that I know of, before the 23kg limit it was 20kg. Qantas is still 20kg on such flights.

Refer to: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagch...ic/en_gb#europe

What is good, depending upon how you look at it is with BA you can also take 1 bag weighing 23kg into the CABIN:

Refer to: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagcabin/public/en_gb

The problem with BA at the moment of course is that it may be a long time before you're reunited with your 32Kg of baggage at Heathrow

BA flights to BKK are still leaving from T4 where there is no apparent issue. In fact when BA vacates T4 their flights to Australia (and hence BKK and SIN) will be moving to T3 along with Qantas.

Well I've recently booked Thai Air tickets for my parents coming over in May and Thai Air Economy now has a 30Kg allowance opposed to the previous 20Kg.

[Spee]

I will not book with Thai air for an intl flight again. I will even do a stopover to avoid flying with them. If they were the cheapest, or nearly the cheapest I could understand why the plane was such a crate. They are not!

Just a little funny bit to finish on. The lady in the sit next to me had requested vegetarian food. The Camp steward said that there was'nt any left. He asked her if she could eat normal food? Priceless! She got a tray of fruit for dinner.

I only fly with Thai,my reasons are that they fly direct and both flights leave at night,( eva dont have a night flight to the uk ). i pop a horse strength sleeping pill and sleep for 9-10 hours, so the surroundings/food etc matter not to me,ba/quantas dont come into my equation as they are always too much money,.

Couldn't agree more, Mike. The BA/Quantas flight prices have gone through the roof with the fuel surcharges, other surcharges and increased taxes. I'v taken them many times when they were more economical, but now they are 25-35% higher than everyone else.

As far as going via the Middle East, what's the point? Sure the flight is cheaper, but there is also a lengthy layover instead of a covenient non-stop. Then there is also the dreaded BO factor. I can stand 3 hours of turbulence, but not a second of stinky body aroma.

I also like the overnight flight on the outbound leg to Bkk. After a full day of work, a nice full meal and several Jack & water cocktails, it is almost a guarantee to get a good night's sleep and arrive rested and ready with no jet lag. I prefer the day time return trip, because I can stay up for a long day, get some work done on the flight, and I am ready to sleep by the time I arrive so no jet lag there either.

I can't figure out why people whinge so much about Thai Airways or other major carriers. For the price of a ticket, you are entitled to a seat in the cabin of your choice, security, a safe take-off and landing, care for your checked baggage and not much else. If your expectations are higher, then I think you are kidding yourself.

As for the food, why would anyone want to eat anything offered in economy class anyway? It much easier to eat what you want before you get on the plane, and bring a few snacks to tide you over during the flight. When I fly in coach, all I want or need is some clean drinking water and the opportunity to walk around the cabin to stretch my legs.

As for the in-flight entertainment expectations, all I can say is laptop, personal DVD player, personal MP3 player, noise-cancelling headphones. In these days of affordable technology, these are all relatively inexpensive must-haves for frequent long haul travelers. If you have your own, then you will never be disappointed with what an airline may or may not offer.

With respect to Thai Air itself, I've always been happy with the surroundings and service. You're not paying for a brand new airplane. You're paying for a seat on a safe, reliable airplane. As I am planning to spend more and more time in Thailand and eventually retire there with my partner and spend a good bit of the year there, it is in my long term interests to see the primary national airline prosper. Giving my business to them when I can now, will help keep operating costs down in the future. Then there's the frequent flyer miles and the long term benefits of them.

To boot, I just priced out a multi-city itinerary for a trip than I'm planning later in the year. The price for the intinerary on Thai Air was about 30% less than I could find anywhere else. It these days of high fuel surcharges and other "fees", price is as important as ever. As I am flying cattle class regardless of carrier, price rules over just about everything.

[technocracy]

Spee - Amen to that! Agree with everything you've said!

People really seem to have this strange idea that when they buy an Econ ticket they should be treated like royalty and be provided with everything they could ask for.

[ClaytonSeymour]

I will not book with Thai air for an intl flight again. I will even do a stopover to avoid flying with them. If they were the cheapest, or nearly the cheapest I could understand why the plane was such a crate. They are not!

Just a little funny bit to finish on. The lady in the sit next to me had requested vegetarian food. The Camp steward said that there was'nt any left. He asked her if she could eat normal food? Priceless! She got a tray of fruit for dinner.

I only fly with Thai,my reasons are that they fly direct and both flights leave at night,( eva dont have a night flight to the uk ). i pop a horse strength sleeping pill and sleep for 9-10 hours, so the surroundings/food etc matter not to me,ba/quantas dont come into my equation as they are always too much money,.

Couldn't agree more, Mike. The BA/Quantas flight prices have gone through the roof with the fuel surcharges, other surcharges and increased taxes. I'v taken them many times when they were more economical, but now they are 25-35% higher than everyone else. Correct.

As far as going via the Middle East, what's the point? Sure the flight is cheaper, but there is also a lengthy layover instead of a covenient non-stop. Then there is also the dreaded BO factor. I can stand 3 hours of turbulence, but not a second of stinky body aroma. Several points as follows: 1) If you don't live near Heathrow the time difference between a non-stop from Heathrow and say MAN via DXB is negligble. Cost also increases, either from getting there and/or staying at a hotel in Heathrow. A cheap fligjht from LHR very often proves to be false economy once you've finished paying for the add ons. 2) Some people actually prefer to get off on stretch their legs - from a personal point of view I like to do a proper stopover on the return leg. 3) Only time I can really say I've noticed the BO factor was on TG (MCT>KHI>BKK).

I also like the overnight flight on the outbound leg to Bkk. After a full day of work, a nice full meal and several Jack & water cocktails, it is almost a guarantee to get a good night's sleep and arrive rested and ready with no jet lag. I prefer the day time return trip, because I can stay up for a long day, get some work done on the flight, and I am ready to sleep by the time I arrive so no jet lag there either. I dislike overnight flights, as I mentioned in an earlier post, if I take TG I always use the lunch time flights. I struggle to sleep in Y class and would rather get on the aircraft fresh and in a position to enjoy the free hospitality.

I can't figure out why people whinge so much about Thai Airways or other major carriers. For the price of a ticket, you are entitled to a seat in the cabin of your choice, security, a safe take-off and landing, care for your checked baggage and not much else. If your expectations are higher, then I think you are kidding yourself. I think your the one that's kidding yourself - look at what the competitors offer as opposed to TG

As for the food, why would anyone want to eat anything offered in economy class anyway? It much easier to eat what you want before you get on the plane, and bring a few snacks to tide you over during the flight. When I fly in coach, all I want or need is some clean drinking water and the opportunity to walk around the cabin to stretch my legs. Well I eat economy food and some airlines are better than others - I've never rated TG's & have had several flights where the meal choice has been unpalatable. Food helps to absorb the free alcohol.

As for the in-flight entertainment expectations, all I can say is laptop, personal DVD player, personal MP3 player, noise-cancelling headphones. In these days of affordable technology, these are all relatively inexpensive must-haves for frequent long haul travelers. If you have your own, then you will never be disappointed with what an airline may or may not offer. I have may own & guess what ? I use the inflight entertainment - unless I'm on TG of course. I actually enjoy playing the inflight quiz whilst I sip my chosen beverage.

With respect to Thai Air itself, I've always been happy with the surroundings and service. You're not paying for a brand new airplane. You're paying for a seat on a safe, reliable airplane. As I am planning to spend more and more time in Thailand and eventually retire there with my partner and spend a good bit of the year there, it is in my long term interests to see the primary national airline prosper. Giving my business to them when I can now, will help keep operating costs down in the future. Then there's the frequent flyer miles and the long term benefits of them. If you think your going to benefit then think again - TG's run by government cronies. Your also dreaming if you think your business is going to keep operating costs down & as for frequent fler programmes - there are far better one than TG's.

To boot, I just priced out a multi-city itinerary for a trip than I'm planning later in the year. The price for the intinerary on Thai Air was about 30% less than I could find anywhere else. It these days of high fuel surcharges and other "fees", price is as important as ever. As I am flying cattle class regardless of carrier, price rules over just about everything. Send me your itnerary and I'll wager that I can find you a cheaper option than TG.

Each to their own I suppose & if you're happy with TG's service that's fine. Personally, I know there are better options out there & I'll avoid TG whenever possible (LHR>BKK>LHR) - certainly until new aircraft are deployed on the route.

[Gazza62]

I have just booked BA/Quantas for end of april,760 euro out of dublin..phoned airline was told 20kg. not too worried about on the way from uk but nice to fill case on way back.. Flown many airlanes and so far Etithad and Quatar come out tops.never flown BA before so if they are not on strike ill know soon enough..

[CbrLad]

Who are Quantas, never heard of them. Are they some rip off of Qantas, you know the Australian National airline, that stands for Queensland and Northern Territory Areial Service?

Ohh just went to the Quantas website and guess what it redirects to the Qantas website.

[tartempion]

Quantas is Spanish for Tao Rai

Flying Qantas is travelling with old, farting, sour looking stewardesses.

[jackspratt]

Who are Quantas, never heard of them. Are they some rip off of Qantas, you know the Australian National airline, that stands for Queensland and Northern Territory Areial Service?

Ohh just went to the Quantas website and guess what it redirects to the Qantas website.

And what exactly is an "Areial" service.

Ohh, just looked it up on Dictionary.com, and it redirects to "aerial"

[game4shame]

it's ''kwantis''.

[Farma]

I fly Thai international as it’s cheap on the sectors I chose. Sometimes you strike it lucky and get inflight entertainment in the seat, other times you don’t. I’ve never had a problem with the cabin crew and find them generally friendly and helpful.

Looking back at some of the airlines I’ve flown on international routes, Qantas, BA, Air France, Singapore, Malaysian, Cathay, Emirates, Gulf Air and Saudia one thing has stood out. Apart from my one and only return flight on Air France, Thai International is the only other airline I’ve flown where I haven’t experienced delays.

I know all airlines have delays, I guess I’ve been lucky but just jinxed my next flight with them by writing this.

Edited April 3, 2008 by Farma

[Zpete]

I fly Thai international as it’s cheap on the sectors I chose. Sometimes you strike it lucky and get inflight entertainment in the seat, other times you don’t. I’ve never had a problem with the cabin crew and find them generally friendly and helpful.

Looking back at some of the airlines I’ve flown on international routes, Qantas, BA, Air France, Singapore, Malaysian, Cathay, Emirates, Gulf Air and Saudia one thing has stood out. Apart from my one and only return flight on Air France, Thai International is the only other airline I’ve flown where I haven’t experienced delays.

I know all airlines have delays, I guess I’ve been lucky but just jinxed my next flight with them by writing this.

I agree with the above post. I have not flown as many airlines, but as a regular tripper from NZ, THAI has been best value, best times and good service evrytime. I have used Emirates, QANTAS, BA and Royal Brunei.

My next booking AKL - BKK - BKK - AKL in late june, returning a month later is $NZ918.00 plus airport taxes,

totalling about $NZ60.00, inc BKK.

A360 aircraft, all nice and new, individual inflite entertainment. Mind you, they are very slow updating it all. I know that because I do 2 - 3 trips annually. Could be a bit more for farangs included.

Next cheapest is $NZ1050.00, Royal Brunei, possible crappy plane and via BNE and BWN..... NO BOOZE either......LOL

Most others are at least, 3 or 4 hundred bucks more, and via Australia.

LOVE THAI AIRWAYS

Edited April 3, 2008 by Zpete

[tw25rw]

A360 aircraft, all nice and new, individual inflite entertainment.

A360?

See, not only are they comfortable, but they have mastered time travel and use as yet non-existant aircraft as well!

[Zpete]

tw25r

Sorry mate,

Airbus 340-600

I made an error..........LOL

Damned nice plane too.

If you Google, images Airbus A360, you get lots of pix of A360s.