Airline Trip Reports. Let Us Know About Your Flight!

[UbonOz]

Ubon, can I ask what class ticket you got please? We are on discount business (Z class) and UL not paying the overnight in Colombo.

Thanks in advance.

On my eticket under the class column it just says "business seat".

Rather odd as most tickets normally give the class.

Have the airline told you they will not pay the stopover? What about the limo transfer at LHR, if that is where you are going?

[Konini]

Ubon, can I ask what class ticket you got please? We are on discount business (Z class) and UL not paying the overnight in Colombo.

Thanks in advance.

On my eticket under the class column it just says "business seat".

Rather odd as most tickets normally give the class.

Have the airline told you they will not pay the stopover? What about the limo transfer at LHR, if that is where you are going?

Unfortunately yes, they've said it's not included in that class - business class is usually 'J'. We don't need the limo transfer as we're heading straight up north, so didn't try it. It's still a real bargain at 64,000 thb, not complaining there, I just wasn't expecting it, and we did want the connection the following day so we didn't have to overnight in Bangkok.

Glad to hear everything else was satisfactory, it's a lot cheaper than any other business class seat I've seen. Definitely worth w the money for the hotel.

[oldsailor35]

Let's take it a step further and add aircraft registration number.

I travel a lot so I'll post my most recent flight which was to & from Vientiane, Laos.

Airline: Thai Airways

Registration # HS-TDD outbound, HS-TDG inbound. Both Aircraft delivered to Thai Airways in 1992

Ticket Price: 5500 baht

How Purchased (direct, agent, wholesaler, etc): cash at the Thai Airways office headquarters near my home at Vibhavadi Rangsit.

Dates: April 16 - 19

Class of Service: coach

Route: BKK - VTE

Aircraft Type: Boeing 737-400

Seat Configuration (i.e. 3/4/3) 3-3

Stopover City (If any): non-stop

Check-in Location (good or bad?): excellent

Immigration (good or bad?): quick

Excess Bag Fees (if any): none

Lounges Used: not this time but I did drink a lot of beer before the return flight at the airport in Vientiane.

Limo Service Provided: No

In-flight Entertainment: Heineken

In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): Excellent as always

Seat Comfort: Excellent. I always have an empty seat next to me.

Food Quality: a noticeable improvement.

On Time Performance: excellent

Comments: I always fly Thai Airways and their flights have always been cheaper for me than the so-called discount carrier called Air Asia. Most of my flights are last minute so the discount carriers are of no use to me. Thai Airways has always been good to me as I'm a Royal Orchid member and these miles on the short flights add up to get a nice upgrade to Business Class when I make those long-haul flights back to Los Angeles.

Odd that ! after many years of Thai Air i am changing due to their expensive fares.

[GrantSmith]

Airline: Malaysia Airlines

Ticket Price: Used airline miles

How Purchased (direct, agent, wholesaler, etc): via the AA (American Airlines) call centre

Dates: 9th of June and 17/18th June 2013

Class of Service: Business

Route: BKK-KUL-ADL-KUL-BKK

Aircraft Type: 734 / 333 / 333 / 738

Seat Configuration (i.e. 3/4/3) 2-2 for the Boeing flights 2-2-2 on the Airbus flights

Stopover City (If any): Kuala Lumpur - if you have a stop over destination then this is the city, if you don't plan to leave the airport and have lounge access

Check-in Location (good or bad?): Good at all ports even the XKL (KL Airport Ekspres check in counter)

Immigration (good or bad?): Simple, love the bio metric finger print scan at KLIA, no need for arrival departure cards

Excess Bag Fees (if any): None and carried a fair amount, fortunately with the combination of J limits plus status limits we fitted inside the limitations.

Lounges Used: TG Royal Silk and MH Golden Lounges (both regional and satellite lounges)

Limo Service Provided: N/A

In-flight Entertainment: N/A on the Boeing flights - AVOD on the Airbus flights

In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): BKK-KUL quite surly attitude from the female stewardess, otherwise all other crews encountered were excellent.

Seat Comfort: BKK-KUL being an older aircraft, seats weren't nearly as good as the remaining 3 flights.

Food Quality: One word... SATAY!

On Time Performance: All flights arrived 15 minutes early

Comments: First time using MH in a long time - roughly about 8 years - first time in their J section. First flight BKK-KUL was the only let down of the trip. Aircraft swapped from 738 to 734 which meant ultra retro seating. No big deal as it's a short flight.

The airport lounge in the satellite terminal of KUL is one of the best I've visited, it certainly trumps the Royal Silk and Royal Orchid lounges of TG and SQ's SilverKris lounges in SIN. Had a 5 hour layover and the lounge is great for this and one could easily do a 12 hour stint in this lounge if one so desired. Showers and slumberettes are available.

MH's Airbus A330-300 series aircraft are equipped with angled lie flat seats which are for the most part comfortable when in lie flat mode, I had a bit of trouble initially getting to sleep, but once I did I was out until the Inflight Superviser woke myself and my wife up for landing.

The food on offer on MH is excellent and probably on par with their neighbour SQ but where MH trump SQ is with their "signature" dish - Satay! An excellent dish in its own right, served on most flights where a full meal service is offered as an appetizer. If you're lucky (like we were on the KUL-ADL flight) you'll be offered 2nds or even 3rds. Our IFS was a delightful host who took great care of his passengers in J, he even apologised for what he thought was me being startled by him when he asked if I would like a top up.

On the ADL-KUL flight things were fairly similiar to the KUL-ADL flight, the crew were professional and friendly, the IFS Mr Tai introduced himself to all J class passengers but after that, that was pretty much all we saw of him. Our Chief Stewardess Ms Yuen was a professional delight as well, friendly and chatty, and not afraid to top your half full glass up.

With MH's entrance into the oneworld alliance, it makes choosing them over CX and QF an easy thing to do and I'll be using them a lot more often now.

[draftvader]

Airline: Aeroflot
Ticket Price: 2 adults and 1 infant - £1,400 (roughly B66,000)
How Purchased (direct, agent, wholesaler, etc): lastminute.com
Dates: 27/06 - 27/07
Class of Service: Economy
Route: BKK - SVO - LHR
Aircraft Type: A330-300
Seat Configuration (i.e. 3/4/3): 2/4/2
Stopover City (If any): Moscow
Check-in Location (good or bad?): Good
Immigration (good or bad?): Excellent, we were shown through Fast Track as we have our baby girl (20 months) with us. Typically Thai behaviour (and we love it)
Excess Bag Fees (if any): N/A
Lounges Used: No
Limo Service Provided: No
In-flight Entertainment: Seat back or, for us, in arm system. Mine wasn't working, but that didn't matter as you will see.
In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): Excellent
Seat Comfort: Good enough
Food Quality: Boring but clean and palatable.
On Time Performance: We suffered a slight delay in leaving SVO but only ended up arriving 8 minutes late so no big deal.
Comments: Our flight to London (outbound) was greatly improved by our Thai diplomat, aka our 20 month old daughter. We are and British/British couple and our little girl is a blonde haired, brown eyed lump of cuteness. She also speaks English and Thai and wais beautifully when asked (no head pushing required....ever!). We arrived first to check-in (as is advisable with an infant) and she caught the attention of the check-in supervisor. One full set of wai-ing, a long Thai conversation and tonnes of smiling later the supervisor headed off and came back with the passenger list. She checked our names and walked off. Once on board the plane it became clear that they had done us a huge favour. We had one of the 2 configuration bulk-head seats, just behind business class, and the 2 seats behind us were empty (the flight was only about 60% full). I took the seats behind and took my little girl back with me. She slept on the spare seat and my lap whilst my wife got some rest. Moscow is not the greatest run of airports but there was a playroom that was a godsend for our brilliantly behaved (seriously, we were surprised too) but utterly bored daughter. The flight to London was rammed but we had the same seats up front and our daughter (now seriously dispondent about her chances of ever seeing life outside of a plane again) gave up being active and just lay in the space against the bulkhead looking sad.

LHR was it's typically uncommunicative self and we had no idea where our buggy was until I went and asked a surly baggage handler who pointed to the dark conveyor in the far (about 100m away) corner of the baggage reclaim area.

All in all we had an excellent flight. My favourite touch was that, unlike SO many other airlines, there was no reason to beg for water. They came around every 45-60 minutes with water on our long-haul flight. Such a small thing but the biggest contributor to arriving feeling near human.

I shall post again after our return leg where our daughter won't be able to weave her magic with the check-in staff as she's just another white kid round these parts

[SeaVisionBurma]

Several off topic posts have been removed. Please only post trip reports in this thread.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 1 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[nong38]

Out of LHR to BKK with JET.

LHR -BOM 777-300ER.

Left late, arrived late. Seats uncomfortable, everything ok if you like Indian films, music and cuisine, the main meal offered me chicken with rice or rice with no chicken! The crew were good and the landing was excellent.

Security at LHR tightest I have known, had to empty all my cases same at Mumbai ( in flight case was full of model trains ) the officer in Mumbai even asked what they were when I took them out of the boxes!.

BOM-BKK 737-800 cabin luggage taken to the hold on this leg, no back of the seat IFE just a 14" screen every so often with sub titles, this leg was not good for anything apart from the crew who were very pleasant and again a a very smooth landing.

This flight was on the 25th June departing LHR 0930 arriving BKK 0655 ( on time). The times suited me, the price was £655, Emirates were £753, weighing it up Emirates are a lot better, planes, food, drinks, IFE, stop over but times not so good. Luggage 30kg on both + 7kg in cabin ( last year Emirates weighed my cabin baggage, this year JET did not.)

[RabC]

Airline: Thai
Ticket Price: 92,500 miles and 25,XXX baht tax
How Purchased (direct, agent, wholesaler, etc): Thai Office
Dates: 1 Juky-1 September
Class of Service: First
Route:BKK-LHR-BKK
Aircraft Type: 747-400
Seat Configuration (i.e. 3/4/3) 1-2-1
Stopover City (If any): Nil
Check-in Location (good or bad?): Good
Immigration (good or bad?): Dedicated
Excess Bag Fees (if any): Nil
Lounges Used: Thai First + massage Spa
Limo Service Provided: Nil
In-flight Entertainment: AVOD
In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): Excellent
Seat Comfort: Good in new "Cabin" style pods
Food Quality: Good
On Time Performance: Arrived LHR 10 minutes early
Comments: I like the new cabin layout. Also that basically the second meal is treated as dining on demand so that the lights aren't turned up full and everyone woken.

Edited July 5, 2013 by RabC

[smokie36]

Airline: KLM
Ticket Price: £480 plus £120 each way for Premium Comfort seats.
How Purchased (direct, agent, wholesaler, etc): Ebookers
Dates: June-July
Class of Service: Economy, upgraded to Premium Economy for long haul.
Route: EDI-BKK return
Aircraft Type: A330 I think.
Seat Configuration (i.e. 3/4/3) 3/3/3
Stopover City (If any): Amsterdam
Check-in Location (good or bad?): Fine
Immigration (good or bad?): Quick
Excess Bag Fees (if any): Nil
Lounges Used: Used KLM lounge at Schipol for nine hours. Tedious length of time to spend anywhere but decent drinks and OK snacks. Shower was fine.
Limo Service Provided: No.
In-flight Entertainment: Didn't use it on the outbound....return watched Skyfall....small screen but decent selection of films and TV.
In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): Good....frequent drinks runs and snacks always available.
Seat Comfort: Decent. I wouldn't fancy the economy seat long haul though....it looked tight.
Food Quality: OK outbound and surprisingly good on the return ex-BKK.
On Time Performance: On time both directions.
Comments: The front seats of Premium Economy have stacks of legroom. In my opinion as good as business class without the food. For that reason alone I might well fly with them again....oh and of course the price. Much cheaper than any other carrier for Premium Economy.

On the outbound flight someone "lost it" on our descent into BKK and the police were waiting for him at the airbridge. I wonder how his holiday went?

[ToddWeston]

Trip Report/ Border Run

Airline: Lufthansa

Ticket Price: 5300 thb

How booked: LH online

Dates: July

Class of Service: Economy

Route: Bkk KUL Bkk

Aircraft Type: 747

Seat Configuration (i.e. 3/4/3) 3/3/3

Stopover City (If any): none

Check-in Location (good or bad?): Fine

Immigration (good or bad?): Quick

Excess Bag Fees (if any): Nil

Lounges Used: TG my status granted me access

Limo Service Provided: No.

In-flight Entertainment: Didn't use

In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): Good

Seat Comfort: 32 inch pitch

Food Quality: Decent

On Time Performance: On time both directions.

Comments:

I made a same day turn around trip to Kuala Lumpur on Lufthansa. It was quick and painless, except for one minor mishap in Kl.

Departed on time at 1515 for the two hour ride down to Kl. A small boxed meal was presented with a 200ml bottle of water, the box contained a decent meat and cheese sandwich, packaged Thai cake and a kit mat chocolate bar. There was no bar offering or drink run other than the first offering. The service was identical on the return, the passenger in front requested a pop and they said they didn't offer anything on these flights and the galley was empty, he grumbled and they brought him a coke from business class on a tray covered with a serviette - how sneaky heheh

In Bangkok I used the self check in kiosk as I had no bags and was automatically issued the return boarding pass, I secured my seat assignment online.

Arrival headed straight to immigration and not the friendliest Malay asked me how long I would be in KL and when I said just today he looked away sighed and plunked my passport on the counter saying "border run?" I replied something like that. Let me see your return boarding pass- so I presented it. The turn around is 3.5 hours so I decided to head outside for a quick ciggy only to be swarmed by Filipino overseas workers and Pakistani workers all returning home, I sensed they hadn't seen a whitey and they all wanted to chat - it was a bit unnerving.

I went back into the terminal and I don't know what happened to my boarding pass if I dropped it after Mr. Grumpy Immigration or what so I went to LH and what an ordeal 15 minutes and a supervisor had to be called in, when she asked why no luggage today she signaled the police who sit behind the counter to chat with me, after the I love Malaysia crap all smiles and a new boarding pass was issued.

Note to smokers the lounges are disgusting in KL head outside if you can.

Food options very limited and not being a fan of fast food I grabbed a quick sandwich forgetting the return meal so 3 sarny's in one day was enough.

As mentioned same in flight service, same flight crew and we got the best arrival gate as the 747 was heading to Frankfurt, from the time my bum left the seat to the taxi 16 minutes.

Check out Lufthansa and see the base fare is 500 baht and taxes 4800 baht bringing it to a grand total of 5300 baht with 50% mileage accrual. Not bad at all.

[NanLaew]

^ For KL 'border runs', I reckon you may as well get something out of the KUL airport turnaround rather than brisk exercise and the Lufthansa turnaround is a bit tight IMHO... especially if you lose your boarding pass! The Coach seats in LH are abysmal (being 6'4") and I can't imagine doing the long-haul to FRA in those.

I have used Ethiopian for the same-day trip but reckon they spend just a bit too long on the ground but their inflight service is good despite the grubby plane interiors.

The best fit cost and time wise is Egypt Air with newer (and cleaner) planes. Enough time to hit Burger King before I check-in and opportunity to get some cigars before I fly back to BKK.

****Corrected the misspelling of the German airline****

[NanLaew]

Airline: Vietnam Airlines

Ticket Price: Client charge

How Purchased (direct, agent, wholesaler, etc): n/a

Dates: 2 July

Class of Service: Business

Route:BKK-SGN-CRX

Aircraft Type: A320

Seat Configuration (i.e. 3/4/3) 2-2

Stopover City (If any): SGN

Check-in Location (good or bad?): Good

Immigration (good or bad?): Fast track card issued, quick

Excess Bag Fees (if any): n/a

Lounges Used: Louis Tavern on F @ BKK, Vietnam Air @ SGN

Limo Service Provided: n/a

In-flight Entertainment: Didn't use

In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): Efficient

Seat Comfort: Good, only 2 pax in Business on BKK-SGN and 4 pax to CRX.

Food Quality: Good

On Time Performance: On time all sectors

Comments: Louis Tavern lounge on F is smaller than the other couple (on G). Arrived at gate just as boarding commenced, fast boarding, busy flight. Visa on arrival at SGN took 20 minutes and bag was already off the carousel by the time I got downstairs. Five minute walk to Domestic check-in and missed the dedicated Biz class check-in at first. Once located, fast check-in, quick security and upstairs to the lounge. Rather basic with limited choices but comfy with good, free wi-fi and glasses of house red. Meet & greet & Cam Ranh was AWOL so grabbed metered taxi to hotel in Nha Trang, 40 minutes and about $18 equivalent.

Return next month!

[draftvader]

Airline: Aeroflot

Ticket Price: 2 adults and 1 infant - £1,400 (roughly B66,000)

How Purchased (direct, agent, wholesaler, etc): lastminute.com

Dates: 27/06 - 27/07

Class of Service: Economy

Route: BKK - SVO - LHR

Aircraft Type: A330-300

Seat Configuration (i.e. 3/4/3): 2/4/2

Stopover City (If any): Moscow

Check-in Location (good or bad?): Good

Immigration (good or bad?): Excellent, we were shown through Fast Track as we have our baby girl (20 months) with us. Typically Thai behaviour (and we love it)

Excess Bag Fees (if any): N/A

Lounges Used: No

Limo Service Provided: No

In-flight Entertainment: Seat back or, for us, in arm system. Mine wasn't working, but that didn't matter as you will see.

In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): Excellent

Seat Comfort: Good enough

Food Quality: Boring but clean and palatable.

On Time Performance: We suffered a slight delay in leaving SVO but only ended up arriving 8 minutes late so no big deal.

Comments: Our flight to London (outbound) was greatly improved by our Thai diplomat, aka our 20 month old daughter. We are and British/British couple and our little girl is a blonde haired, brown eyed lump of cuteness. She also speaks English and Thai and wais beautifully when asked (no head pushing required....ever!). We arrived first to check-in (as is advisable with an infant) and she caught the attention of the check-in supervisor. One full set of wai-ing, a long Thai conversation and tonnes of smiling later the supervisor headed off and came back with the passenger list. She checked our names and walked off. Once on board the plane it became clear that they had done us a huge favour. We had one of the 2 configuration bulk-head seats, just behind business class, and the 2 seats behind us were empty (the flight was only about 60% full). I took the seats behind and took my little girl back with me. She slept on the spare seat and my lap whilst my wife got some rest. Moscow is not the greatest run of airports but there was a playroom that was a godsend for our brilliantly behaved (seriously, we were surprised too) but utterly bored daughter. The flight to London was rammed but we had the same seats up front and our daughter (now seriously dispondent about her chances of ever seeing life outside of a plane again) gave up being active and just lay in the space against the bulkhead looking sad.

LHR was it's typically uncommunicative self and we had no idea where our buggy was until I went and asked a surly baggage handler who pointed to the dark conveyor in the far (about 100m away) corner of the baggage reclaim area.

All in all we had an excellent flight. My favourite touch was that, unlike SO many other airlines, there was no reason to beg for water. They came around every 45-60 minutes with water on our long-haul flight. Such a small thing but the biggest contributor to arriving feeling near human.

I shall post again after our return leg where our daughter won't be able to weave her magic with the check-in staff as she's just another white kid round these parts

Just wanted to follow up my post with the return leg.

Route: LHR - SVO - BKK

Aircraft Type: A321 then A330-300

Seat Configuration (i.e. 3/4/3): 3/3 then 2/4/2

Stopover City (If any): Moscow

Check-in Location (good or bad?): Messy

Immigration (good or bad?): As good as can be expected in LHR.

Excess Bag Fees (if any): N/A

Lounges Used: No

Limo Service Provided: No

In-flight Entertainment: None on first leg. Seat back or, for us, in arm system.

In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): Poor

Seat Comfort: The first leg had the "Recaro" style seats and they were quite good. On the 2nd leg we endured 10 hours in seats with NOWHERE near enough give for that length of time. I ended up sitting on 2 pillows to stop my bum going numb.

Food Quality: As on the 1st leg, uninspired by good quality.

On Time Performance: Again minor delays to both flights.

Comments: We got 3 seats to ourselves (a nice touch with an infant "in lap") on the first leg. The 2nd leg we had bulkhead and a bassinet for our little girl. Unfortunately we were shoved into the middle 2 of 4. Not SUCH a big deal with bulkhead seats but they were some of the most appalling seats I have ever suffered on a plane. Arriving in Bangkok the Russians on board were more pushy than they were when we landed in Moscow on the outbound (wonder why ).

Not that this mattered as we were shepherded through the Thai channel at immigration (British-British couple) as we were travelling with our little girl. Such a nice policy. Our bags were at the conveyor when we got through and everything was clearly signed. I'm still waiting for a poor performance out of Suvarnabhumi

[Benmart]

Airline: Thai Airways (Thai Smile)

Ticket Price: B18,000 (two pax)

How Purchased (direct, agent, wholesaler, etc): Direct

Dates: RTN: 05/03 - 07/03

Class of Service: Economy

Route: BKK-MFM-BKK

Aircraft Type: A320

Seat Configuration (i.e. 3/4/3) 3/3

Stopover City (If any): N/A

Check-in Location (good or bad?): TG Royal Silk - Slow check in but made up due to express immigation

Immigration (good or bad?): Easy

Excess Bag Fees (if any): N/A 40kgs Allowance (20 from TG + 20 for Star Alliance Gold

Lounges Used: None, although had access if wanted to

Limo Service Provided: N/A

In-flight Entertainment: N/A - BYO (excellent hahah)

In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): BKK-MFM - not sure, I slept most of the flight

MFM-BKK - fantastic, very patient crew considering the clientele

Seat Comfort: Acceptable for a short flight

Food Quality: Basic

On Time Performance: Early both ways

Comments: First time flying TG (Thai Smile), despite the non-TG'ness of the airline (which I guess is the whole idea behind it) the airline itself was pretty good - much better than Air Asia (and its varients).

The BKKMFM flight is pretty much a non-event as I was more than likely still inebriated from the night before add in an hours sleep and you can see why I was out from pushback until the top of descent. The only thing I will say is that unless you have the row to yourself or are in an EMEX row, things are going to be a bit cramped.

MFMBKK - having had suitable sleep levels the night before, I was wide awake for this flight. And all I can say is that the cabin crew on this flight (and quite possibly all flights ex-MFM) should be nominated for sainthood! Having to deal with the mainland chinese in a professional and thai manner was nothing short of miraculous!

Having taken our seats, my wife proceeded to place her hand luggage in the overhead bin (as is required for EMEX seating) after sitting back down she then went to place her handbag in the overhead bin and to her shock noticed that our hand luggage had been moved, we both stood up (I smacked my head on the overhead bin - thus causing me more annoyance) and my wife saw a mainland chinese man moving our bag - now what transpired in Thai after that I have little knowledge of but suffice to say the wife was less than pleased by this and the swift response from the cabin crew was amazing.

Now, said mainland chinese man appeared inebriated as well (bright red cheeks, glazed eyes etc) and began apologising - to which I and my wife were not having a bar of! A few choice english words were conveyed - followed by an elbow to the ribs from my wife for using such choice words - and the wife then began to search through the bag to ensure nothing was removed - fortunately (I guess for both us and the mainland chinese gentleman) nothing was removed - cabin crew then went to the flight deck to inform the Captain of the situation and requested said gentleman to be removed from the flight and handed over to the authorities in MFM.

The Captain advised that as nobody had seen the passenger remove anything from the bag they have no reason to remove him (I respect the Captain's decision on this, however he does have the right to remove any passenger that has caused a disturbance to his aircraft - he is probably aware of this and possibly determined that the delay caused by having to remove the passenger (calling authorities, physically removing passenger and then removing passengers luggage) was not worth it. As such the passenger was moved to the back of the plane with the cabin crew and was watched over by them. I must say that despite this, the cabin crew were amazingly friendly to both my wife and myself!

The rest of the flight was rather uneventful, plane went up - leveled out for a bit - plane went down. Now arriving at swampy we stopped on the taxiway for maybe a minute - the usual arrival announcement was made but as soon as the plane stopped moving, this appeared to give all the mainland passengers (now call this racial profiling, but I did not observe any other passengers apart from the mainlanders do this) carte blanche to get up and start moving towards the front of the plane. The Captain quickly came on the PA and lambasted the passengers and told them in no uncertain terms to sit down until the seatbelt sign was switched off. A short time later we were at the remote stand (parking bay not using aerobridge) and deboarded onto a bus to be taken to the main terminal.

Would I fly TG (Thai Smile) again? I probably would as they are rather convenient and the cabin crew were very professional and friendly.

Great report. I too have witnessed similar unsafe conduct. Once taking off from Taipei, I watched in amazement as a lady struggled up the aisle to the toilets. Disregard that we had just taken off and were climbing to our crushing altitude! The flight attendants were buckled in and were yelling at her to get back to her seat, to no avail.

Then another time a Chinese soccer team decided to play musical chairs as we picked up speed and were about to lift off. Lots of crew and intercom yelling going on to get them to sit down and buckle up.

[khrab]

Here my review of my most recent flights with my preferred airline :

Airline: Oman Air

Ticket Price: Baht 89.360,- Airline website

Dates: 08.12.2012 return 13.12.2012

Class of Service: Business

Route: Bangkok – Muscat – Frankfurt return

Stopover City (If any): Muscat (Seeb airport)

Check-in Location (good or bad?): Bangkok very good / Frankfurt bad

Immigration (good or bad?): Bangkok fast track provided by airline very good / Frankfurt (Terminal 2) shambolic

Excess Bag Fees (if any): n.a.

Lounges Used: Oman lounge in Bangkok smallish but cozy and with all the trimmings and super friendly staff. – Oman lounge Muscat relaxing, good food and drinks. – Lounge in Frankfurt did not bother because dismal. Prefer a bar right next to the smoking cubicles on concourse E

Limo Service Provided: No

In-flight Entertainment: More than adequate !

In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): Excellent !!! can not be faulted.

Seat Comfort: The best in the business : 1-2-1 configuration with broad flatbed seats and ample storage space. The middle rows have no overhead bins which makes for a roomy atmosphere.

Food Quality: better than good and a very nice Chardonnay to boost.

On Time Performance: Bangkok and Muscat on time. Frankfurt because of extreme weather (?) all flights delayed. German efficiency is not what it used to be, which was evident with all the shouting that was going on. Frankfurt is getting worse than Paris CDG. BTW security staff very rude !!!!!

Comments: Excellent airline with outstanding service all around. I have Gold status which meant free meet and greet in Muscat (works a treat), personalized service everywhere including change of schedule for my return.

All it took was one phone call to the Frankfurt office and 10 minutes later I had my new itinerary in my mailbox including preferred seats. If only they flew to Brussels or Amsterdam. Have I mentioned that Oman is my favorite airline ?

Yermanee

Let me add my 0.02 € here:

WY is a small airline with sparse flight frequencies. Only 7 A330. If you are flexible with you travel dates, no problem. I call them the Flying Orient Express.

Being a wheelchair passenger (WCHS if this says something to you) I have of course a slightly different perspective of travelling in some aspects. Furthermore my home airport is CNX and I get to/from BKK by TG.

Looking at the bright side of life when you have no choice, using a w/c at airports has its perks. Any place, any airline.

TG and WY have no real interline agreement, but they check the luggage thru for you. Arriving at BKK from CNX on TG, I am p/up and taken to the main check-in hall. By now, I have a pretty amount of staff running around me and taking care. Someone takes my PP and tkts and returns soon with the BPs, lounge invitations (BKK, MCT) and fast-track-pass.

Very soon I end up in the WY BKK lounge. Can only echo the comment. Of course for me it is not self-service.

BTW: I was told by the staff, if you want to take a shower, they can arrange to use the facilities at the nearby Louis Tavern lounge.

Well, now comes the dark spot: MCT. After arrival it takes endless time until the high lift comes to pick me up. Finally in the terminal, I am parked somewhere in the arrival area, left on my own devices. (In the meantime I have a solution for this problem, but the details would burst this post).

Arriving in the lounge after a short stop at the duty-free shop. When you arrive at peak times it is hell, when the load is average, it is more than ok. But the handicaped shower is a joke. I better use a regulare one.

Arriving at FRA. Luggage is always late. First no priority bags on the carousel. The premium luggage always arrives almost last. MCT seems not to know how to load passenger luggage correctly.

But now my expericences with FRA C/I:

Love it, love them. By the way, the girls are from IB wearing WY uniforms.

They are funny but professional. Relaxed and friendly. Having always TOO MUCH luggage going FRA-CNX, "miraculously" the scales show at least 30% less. (and I have 55kg allowance). This is very smart, so chances are I get away with it on the last leg BKK-CNX on TG....and always did.

Never flew during bad wheather periods and always on the late flight (WY116??), Terminal 2 almost empty every time. All counters manned (better womanned), no waiting at all. Security/PPC easy, not much business at this time.

Lounge is JAL. First crowded but when the Narita flight starts boarding ok.

Well, the rest is already told by Yermanee.

Thank you for reading Khrab.

[Benmart]

Airline: Cathay Pacific

Ticket Price: $3200.00 one-way

How Purchased: Agent

Dates: August 2013

Class of Service: First/Business

Route: SFO/HKG/BKK

Aircraft Type: 777-300ER and A330

Seat Configuration: 6 cabins First Class/Biz 2/4/2

Stopover City: HKG

Check-in Location: Great

Immigration: Good

Excess Bag Fees: None and I was overweight on checked bags

Lounges Used: Cathay in SFO and HKG

Limo Service Provided: No

In-flight Entertainment: AVOD 17 inch TV - exceptional

In-flight Cabin Service: Exceptional

Seat Comfort: Exceptional

Food Quality: Marvelous

On Time Performance: 20 minutes late in BKK due to traffic delay on takeoff

Comments: This was my retirement gift to myself as I never have flown 1st Class, Trans-Pacific. The product Cathay delivers is indeed first class.

Check in at SFO was friendly, attentive and very personal. The best I've ever experienced in 45 years of flying.

The cabin crew were exceptional, the food and beverage service was superb. The lie flat bed with mattress, duvet and pajamas was fantastic. I slept for six hours and didn't want to get dressed. In fact, I didn't want to leave the plane and transfer to the short haul Biz class trip from HKG to BKK.

The Cathay Lounge at SFO is remote and so-so. In HKG, the Cathay Lounge I chose was called the Cabin and was wonderful. Plenty of food service, a large bar, good Internet, and attentive staff.

Worth every penny and then some.

Edited August 24, 2013 by Benmart

[RAZZELL]

Congratulations and enjoy your retirement!

RAZZ

[Benmart]

Congratulations and enjoy your retirement!

RAZZ

RAZZ, thank you for the well wishes. I have been coming to Thailand for the last 20 years or so and love the people, culture, weather, food, cost of living and great airline connections. Thats why i decided to retire here.

Cathay Pacific is a top-notch airlines. I've flow in all three classes with them and service is always well above average.

Shopping around for a good buy is worth the time and they will get my business again on my next long or medium range trip. I will also try their short haul product, Dragonair.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Benmart

[ANDY2463]

Hi Advice needed,i have read some good advice in this thread,

I am bringing my Mum over to see us (never met my Thai Family before) in September, Mum has never flown before. Mum lives in the UK midlands, so looking at Manchester airport, only about 1 half hours away from her home, she is 74,we have been the doctor and he has given her the go ahead health wise.

I am just a little worried, I have checked some airlines to see if they do a meet and great service, I will do a check list for her myself. She is ok and has all her marbles and is still sharp.

I have looked through some of the flights from MAN, to BKK the best one for me at the moment islooking like the KLM, Man, AMS,BKK I will fly her business, I have done this route in the past and found it ok (a little long on the second leg but she should be ok in Business) timings work well for us also. This was a few years ago (6) but should not have change much, good lounge in Man and Amsterdam

Did look at one option for LHR but don’t relay want to expose mum to the massive upheaval in Heathrow.

Just wondered has any one done a similar thing and can think of anything I could add to make her Journey clear and enjoyable even recommendations for other airlines routes. Many thanks in advance

[yermanee]

Hi Advice needed,i have read some good advice in this thread,

I am bringing my Mum over to see us (never met my Thai Family before) in September, Mum has never flown before. Mum lives in the UK midlands, so looking at Manchester airport, only about 1 half hours away from her home, she is 74,we have been the doctor and he has given her the go ahead health wise.

I am just a little worried, I have checked some airlines to see if they do a meet and great service, I will do a check list for her myself. She is ok and has all her marbles and is still sharp.

I have looked through some of the flights from MAN, to BKK the best one for me at the moment islooking like the KLM, Man, AMS,BKK I will fly her business, I have done this route in the past and found it ok (a little long on the second leg but she should be ok in Business) timings work well for us also. This was a few years ago (6) but should not have change much, good lounge in Man and Amsterdam

Did look at one option for LHR but don’t relay want to expose mum to the massive upheaval in Heathrow.

Just wondered has any one done a similar thing and can think of anything I could add to make her Journey clear and enjoyable even recommendations for other airlines routes. Many thanks in advance

Have a look at the KLM Brochure here : http://www.klm.com/travel/gb_en/images/Carefree%20travel_eng_05_13_LR_tcm638-221283.pdf

Inform the airline at least 48 Hrs before departure that she needs assistance.

Yermanee

[UbonOz]

Hi Advice needed,i have read some good advice in this thread,

I am bringing my Mum over to see us (never met my Thai Family before) in September, Mum has never flown before. Mum lives in the UK midlands, so looking at Manchester airport, only about 1 half hours away from her home, she is 74,we have been the doctor and he has given her the go ahead health wise.

I am just a little worried, I have checked some airlines to see if they do a meet and great service, I will do a check list for her myself. She is ok and has all her marbles and is still sharp.

I have looked through some of the flights from MAN, to BKK the best one for me at the moment islooking like the KLM, Man, AMS,BKK I will fly her business, I have done this route in the past and found it ok (a little long on the second leg but she should be ok in Business) timings work well for us also. This was a few years ago (6) but should not have change much, good lounge in Man and Amsterdam

Did look at one option for LHR but don’t relay want to expose mum to the massive upheaval in Heathrow.

Just wondered has any one done a similar thing and can think of anything I could add to make her Journey clear and enjoyable even recommendations for other airlines routes. Many thanks in advance

Emirates fly from Manchester and Birmingham, better than KLM

[Ricardo]

Emirates fly from Manchester and Birmingham, better than KLM

And the two flights would be more-even lengths than via AMS, if that's a concern.

Etihad & Qatar Airways might also be worth looking-at ?

Hope she has a good flight !

[RabC]

Personally forget Emirates unless someone will look after her in the Dubai cattle market they call a terminal.

Amsterdam is quite large and can be a hike to the lounge from UK arrival gate. These days Heathrow really isn't a bad experience especially if flying Business with fast track access. Not sure what the difference in cost is but I wouldn't rule our EVA with their direct flights and new Business cabins, would prevent your Mum having to make any transfers. I have an aged friend who uses EVA all the time and he is looked after from check-in through to boarding and met again at BKK by EVA staff.

[smokie36]

Yes I would suggest EVA or BA from London if you are concerned.....or Qatar who are truly five star in all respects in biz class.

Best of luck for her trip.

[ANDY2463]

Yes I would suggest EVA or BA from London if you are concerned.....or Qatar who are truly five star in all respects in biz class.

Best of luck for her trip.

Just like to say thank you or the replys ,recived on here ,will sit down toninght and make a choice, Regards Andy, I will then post a trip report on this thread about the journey

[denby45]

Did anyone fly BKK - Clark return recently on Tiger Air. I had a bad experience when I flew earlier in the year with delayed flights in both directions. 8 hours delay on the way out and 10 hours on the way back. Aparently talking to others on the flights it was a normal state of affairs for this route. Waiting around in airports is not my cuppa tea I'm afraid.

Has the service improved at all or is it just the same. If so I will certainly stay in Pattaya rather than put up with it.

Cheers

Den

Edited August 28, 2013 by denby45

[RabC]

Yes I would suggest EVA or BA from London if you are concerned.....or Qatar who are truly five star in all respects in biz class.

Best of luck for her trip.

Just like to say thank you or the replys ,recived on here ,will sit down toninght and make a choice, Regards Andy, I will then post a trip report on this thread about the journey

Andy just as a side note you know you can pay for a meet and greet at Swampy, they will meet your mother at the airbridge and escort her all the way until you meet her outside customs.

[yermanee]

Yes I would suggest EVA or BA from London if you are concerned.....or Qatar who are truly five star in all respects in biz class.

Best of luck for her trip.

Just like to say thank you or the replys ,recived on here ,will sit down toninght and make a choice, Regards Andy, I will then post a trip report on this thread about the journey

Andy just as a side note you know you can pay for a meet and greet at Swampy, they will meet your mother at the airbridge and escort her all the way until you meet her outside customs.

Indeed, forgot to mention that, thanks for reminding me.

I always use these guys for arriving friends and/or family.

http://www.bangkokflightservices.com/PremiumAirportServices.php

Good luck

Yermanee

[ANDY2463]

Yes I would suggest EVA or BA from London if you are concerned.....or Qatar who are truly five star in all respects in biz class.

Best of luck for her trip.

Just like to say thank you or the replys ,recived on here ,will sit down toninght and make a choice, Regards Andy, I will then post a trip report on this thread about the journey

Andy just as a side note you know you can pay for a meet and greet at Swampy, they will meet your mother at the airbridge and escort her all the way until you meet her outside customs.

Indeed, forgot to mention that, thanks for reminding me.

I always use these guys for arriving friends and/or family.

http://www.bangkokflightservices.com/PremiumAirportServices.php

Good luck

Yermanee

Thanks Guys i have used this service in the past and will use it for my Mum , although i did feel a bit strange when i got in the buggy at the air gate, but this will add to the experience i want mum to have,

Putting the list of things needed is ever growing ,difficult when someone has never flown before how much to tell them, can get confusing for them, like mentioned at Dubai , it is like a cattle market going through security again ,and hard to understand more than one terminal

,I am thinking booking Qatar even though the timings are not that good, because I have flown Business with them before and they take you to Business lounge if requested.Regards Andy

[madmitch]

I recently did a return trip to London biz class with Sri Lankan Airways. Probably the best value business class in the air but I did sit next to an employee on one leg and he believes that once the entire fleet is upgraded and the Colombo lounge is renovated, the prices will rise.

My main gripe was that they rescheduled the BKK-CMB leg shortly before my departure. They offered me totally unreasonable alternatives but with a search of flights, I came up with much better options, one involving an overnight stay (free) at Negombo Beach near Colombo Airport. They agreed to my request with no problems.

Airline: Sri Lankan
Ticket Price: 63,000 baht return
How Purchased (direct, agent, wholesaler, etc): Sri Lankan Airways website
Dates:30/7 - 19/8 2013
Class of Service:Business
Route:BKK-LHR via CMB
Aircraft Type:A320-200
Seat Configuration (i.e. 3/4/3)2-2-2
Stopover City (If any):Colombo
Check-in Location (good or bad?): Only me in the queue
Immigration (good or bad?): Good. Fast track on all legs
Excess Bag Fees (if any): N/A. 40kg baggage allowance was plenty
Lounges Used: St Louis Tavern Gold @ Bkk, temporary loung at CMB, Gulf Air lounge at LHR (which was better than expected, following a previous poster on here moaning about the lack of alcohol, which was not true).
Limo Service Provided: Yes, both ways in London (within 50 miles of LHR)
In-flight Entertainment: Large seatback screen, limited movie selection and very average games.
In-flight Cabin Service (good or bad?): Excellent. Attentive service, decent wine, port and Camus XO brandy plus an amenity kit on the CMB-LHR legs.
Seat Comfort: Good. Lie flat beds on all legs except the first, BKK-CMB. But that is the chance you take. The unrenovated cabin was a bit tatty.
Food Quality: Reasonable if not the best I have had.
On Time Performance: Minor delays on a couple of legs but time made up in the air.
Comments: Very good value and highly recommended while the price remains low. Apparently all but one of the A330-200s have now been refitted. If you book and select seats, if there are three rows in business then you get the lie-flat beds, 2 rows you get the cradle seats. NB this does not apply to the A340. Limo service excellent, as was the taxi to and from the transit hotel.

One minor moan is that CMB baggage handlers don't seem to recognise the priority baggage tags as both at LHR and BKK, my bags, and other transiting business class passengers, were just about the last off the plane.

I would use them again, provided the price doesn't go up too much.

Edited August 30, 2013 by madmitch