Kingfisher From London To Bangkok

[Chivas]

Particular interested in seat pitch in economy.

Seatguru and others contradict each other.

Any other thought on this airline ? (am not bothered about the transit issues raised previously)

[nong38]

I came out on Kingfisher last July, planes are ok and had no problems with seats, seemed ok to me, but we are all different what I like may not suit you.

[rocketmanbkk]

my mate just flew to BKK with them last week.

On speaking with him he sad the staff were good and planes OK, he didn';t lik ethe stop over but he knew about it.

Lots of Indians he said, bit smelly but covered in previous topic. he said i was OK, but the return will be his last time with them!

I's rather pa fewextra quid to fly direct or middle eastern.

each to their own me thinks.

Hope it may help you.

[Chivas]

my mate just flew to BKK with them last week.

On speaking with him he sad the staff were good and planes OK, he didn';t lik ethe stop over but he knew about it.

Lots of Indians he said, bit smelly but covered in previous topic. he said i was OK, but the return will be his last time with them!

I's rather pa fewextra quid to fly direct or middle eastern.

each to their own me thinks.

Hope it may help you.

Yes agree with your choice of Middle East carriers, etihad qatar etc but for a 3 month ticket at the time I want to go, they are £200 more than Jet and Kingfisher.

[champken]

All the Indian airlines are as bad as one another and of course you have got to put up with all that crap at Indian airports, having said that, they serve the purpose of getting you to where you want to go and usually at a cheaper price than other airlines, just grin and bare it and think what you can do with the money you are saving. good luck

[roamer]

In regard to seat pitch , this was what I posted on here after flying the route last year. It was certainly a factor for me and its not something that normally causes me problems.

"Posted 2010-08-25 18:52:25

Just flew this route. IMHO the bad outweighs the good. The Mumbai London sector not bad at all, Airbus A330, nice flight attendants, pretty good food though not always sure the air quality is improved by a couple of hundred folk eating curry. AVOD, well if you like listening to music make sure you have an mp3 player or get ready to listen to the 3 somewhat obscure Euro CD,s. Films somewhat better but mainly old classics with a few later releases. Not a patch on Qatar with over 300 Cd's and tons of good movies. Still, that alone wouldn't be a big put-off for me. What will deter me flying this route again is the Bangkok- Mumbai sector. Its an A319 with pretty cramped narrow seating, I'm not the tallest bloke in the world but even so 4 hours or more with my knees against the seat in front is not my idea of fun. The Mumbai security checks are a repetitive nightmare. Tip, if you do decide to fly this route the Kingfisher rep that meets you in transit will give you labels to tie to your hand baggage before you go through security. Whatever you do make sure the label gets stamped. If not then when you try to board your flight they check it again, if no stamp you have to go all the way back again, get it stamped and return. Happened to at least 4 passengers on my flight. Second tip stay VERY close to the rep who meets the plane, he will take you off along a long corridor, turn a corner and sit down at a desk and then go through the rigmarole of checking boarding cards, crossing you off a list etc. Ok if your at the front but your in for a pretty long wait if your near the back of the queue.

It's a mystery to me how this airline got a 5* rating for its economy flights, it ain't bad but airlines like Qatar or Singapore are streets ahead. Tea served with creamer instead of milk was another oddity ! As I say, its manageable but unless it comes in exceptionally cheap and your watching your cash then there are certainly better options out there. "

[miksguevara]

In regard to seat pitch , this was what I posted on here after flying the route last year. It was certainly a factor for me and its not something that normally causes me problems.

"Posted 2010-08-25 18:52:25

Just flew this route. IMHO the bad outweighs the good. The Mumbai London sector not bad at all, Airbus A330, nice flight attendants, pretty good food though not always sure the air quality is improved by a couple of hundred folk eating curry. AVOD, well if you like listening to music make sure you have an mp3 player or get ready to listen to the 3 somewhat obscure Euro CD,s. Films somewhat better but mainly old classics with a few later releases. Not a patch on Qatar with over 300 Cd's and tons of good movies. Still, that alone wouldn't be a big put-off for me. What will deter me flying this route again is the Bangkok- Mumbai sector. Its an A319 with pretty cramped narrow seating, I'm not the tallest bloke in the world but even so 4 hours or more with my knees against the seat in front is not my idea of fun. The Mumbai security checks are a repetitive nightmare. Tip, if you do decide to fly this route the Kingfisher rep that meets you in transit will give you labels to tie to your hand baggage before you go through security. Whatever you do make sure the label gets stamped. If not then when you try to board your flight they check it again, if no stamp you have to go all the way back again, get it stamped and return. Happened to at least 4 passengers on my flight. Second tip stay VERY close to the rep who meets the plane, he will take you off along a long corridor, turn a corner and sit down at a desk and then go through the rigmarole of checking boarding cards, crossing you off a list etc. Ok if your at the front but your in for a pretty long wait if your near the back of the queue.

It's a mystery to me how this airline got a 5* rating for its economy flights, it ain't bad but airlines like Qatar or Singapore are streets ahead. Tea served with creamer instead of milk was another oddity ! As I say, its manageable but unless it comes in exceptionally cheap and your watching your cash then there are certainly better options out there. "

[miksguevara]

I flew with kingfisher two weeks ago , if you are looking for a cheap flight then it would probably do but I will be flying direct next time. emirates and qatar planes were in better nick and it is tru what people say about the india to bangkok leg ( small air craft) and the security checks, also some of the staff in delhi weren't really that polite..

[devdrinker]

Kingfisher is okay and that's about it. As are Jet airways, infact I'd rate Jet Airways higher - nicer cabin style and better staff - but Jet airways is a 3 and Kingfisher a 5 star - go figure

From LHR to BOM the planes are reasonable 2.5 star out of 5. Food weak. Some IFEs not working. How they managed a 4/5 star is beyond me. Etihad/Emirates a 4. Singapore a 5. (in terms what you realistically expect from economy)

From BOM to BKK its AirAsia style leg room for 4.5 hours. Same jet airways and air india

Kingfisher were late departing from BOM by 2 hrs so I missed by connecting flight with Bangkok Airways at 9pm. I informed the staff who said they'll sort it out, arrived BKK and after a lot of confusion they put me in a hotel and told me to come airport 5am (pick up hotel 4.30am) for first flight to Samui. Arrived airport 4.50am and BKK checkin had no notice of this flight rearrangement, was told that Kingfisher air won't be opening their checkin counter till 6am (i.e. i'd have missed the flight) and despite the best efforts of BKK air to contact their supervisor they were obviously still in bed or on the way to work. Not wanting to deal with the incompetence of Kingfisher i paid the rearrangement fees/penalties myself and boarded the 6am flight to Samui.

Complaint to Kingfisher, acknowledge but went under answered. Complaints/review to skytrax never posted - never trust that site, its a con.

So 2.5/5. Id avoid it in future. I think theres a lot of pride from Indians about Kingfisher, on the LHR-BOM the guy next to me just raved about how great Kingfisher air are, and then said better ask for two beers on first drink round and they won't come again, and my broken IFE didnt deter his loyalty to Kingfisher. On all 4 legs of the Kingfisher flight fellow passengers were rude 3 indians, and 1 Israeli (probably to be expected), just grunting at staff, so if that pisses you off too I skip it

Edited April 30, 2011 by devdrinker

[devdrinker]

To answer your original question though seat pitch on LHR to BOM and vice versa it is relatively standard affair e.g. Etihad/Jet Airways/Emirates no difference.

Tea served with creamer instead of milk was another oddity

I noticed that too.. Very five star

If its the cheapest flight and you know the score fine. But if Qatar/Etihad/Emirates are within 50 quid or Singapore Airlines within 100 quid I go with them. I just took Skytrax review on face value.

You can generally avoid the security queues, when you get off the plane reps will be on the sky bridge asking for any passenger to BKK, he'll ask you to wait until other 20-50 passenger disembarked and simply point you in the direction of transfer, just walk past him and ignore him and follow the signs yourself (generally turning right after the sky bridge with both KF and Jet airways) and voila first or second in the queue. Coupled with a lounge pass (15 quid if I remember correctly) it can be a relatively nice transfer (if things line up - no queue at security and both planes at gate rather than busing - and 2 hours in lounge), splashed with a few kingfisher beers airport wise i never had a problem at BOM

Edited April 30, 2011 by devdrinker

[Chivas]

To answer your original question though seat pitch on LHR to BOM and vice versa it is relatively standard affair e.g. Etihad/Jet Airways/Emirates no difference.

Tea served with creamer instead of milk was another oddity

I noticed that too.. Very five star

If its the cheapest flight and you know the score fine. But if Qatar/Etihad/Emirates are within 50 quid or Singapore Airlines within 100 quid I go with them. I just took Skytrax review on face value.

You can generally avoid the security queues, when you get off the plane reps will be on the sky bridge asking for any passenger to BKK, he'll ask you to wait until other 20-50 passenger disembarked and simply point you in the direction of transfer, just walk past him and ignore him and follow the signs yourself (generally turning right after the sky bridge with both KF and Jet airways) and voila first or second in the queue. Coupled with a lounge pass (15 quid if I remember correctly) it can be a relatively nice transfer (if things line up - no queue at security and both planes at gate rather than busing - and 2 hours in lounge), splashed with a few kingfisher beers airport wise i never had a problem at BOM

All in all and as Eva are cheaper than Etihad Emirates or Qatar (when I want to go) I will stick with them I think.

Thanks for all comments.

[fancyking]

True

[mrdome]

Do not expect your flights to arrive on time. If you have a connecting flight on a different airline, I doubt any airline would accept any responsibility for that. Always give your self plenty of a time cushion.

Kingfisher were late departing from BOM by 2 hrs so I missed by connecting flight with Bangkok Airways at 9pm. I informed the staff who said they'll sort it out, arrived BKK and after a lot of confusion they put me in a hotel and told me to come airport 5am (pick up hotel 4.30am) for first flight to Samui. Arrived airport 4.50am and BKK checkin had no notice of this flight rearrangement, was told that Kingfisher air won't be opening their checkin counter till 6am (i.e. i'd have missed the flight) and despite the best efforts of BKK air to contact their supervisor they were obviously still in bed or on the way to work. Not wanting to deal with the incompetence of Kingfisher i paid the rearrangement fees/penalties myself and boarded the 6am flight to Samui.

Complaint to Kingfisher, acknowledge but went under answered. Complaints/review to skytrax never posted - never trust that site, its a con.

[devdrinker]

Do not expect your flights to arrive on time. If you have a connecting flight on a different airline, I doubt any airline would accept any responsibility for that. Always give your self plenty of a time cushion.

It's a fair expectation for my flights to be on time if it in control of the airline. KF did accept responsibility but then failed to honor it, lying/messing me about, they are jokers. KF waited an extra two hours at BOM due to a late arriving KF inbound domestic flight from somewhere begining with K in North india i believe. They delibrately choose to delay 200 passengers to wait for 2 inbound guests. This wouldnt happen any other airline.

[roamer]

Do not expect your flights to arrive on time. If you have a connecting flight on a different airline, I doubt any airline would accept any responsibility for that. Always give your self plenty of a time cushion.

It's a fair expectation for my flights to be on time if it in control of the airline. KF did accept responsibility but then failed to honor it, lying/messing me about, they are jokers. KF waited an extra two hours at BOM due to a late arriving KF inbound domestic flight from somewhere begining with K in North india i believe. They delibrately choose to delay 200 passengers to wait for 2 inbound guests. This wouldnt happen any other airline.

Correct. KF are not a "point to point" airline, as is Air Asia for example who make that distinction clearly in their booking conditions.