Eneukman

Derek, I can't comment on the on-line booking but when i travelled to Bangkok last November I was on the QANTAS flight. My knees seize up on long flights so I always insist on aisle seats, which as i check in at Edinburgh isn't normally a problem. This time, however, i was amazed when checking in at Edinburgh some 7 hours before the Bangkok flight was due to leave Heathrow, I was told that there were no aisle seats available! It seems that seats on QANTAS flights can be reserved 24 hours in advance and I would suggest therefore that you check in as early as possible and kick up a fuss at the gate if you can't get a decent seat. I kicked up a fuss when i got to the gate and managed to get a free upgrade to Business Class, which was just as well as, after boarding took place on time, the plane eventually took off 2 hours late. The return flight was with BA and as I had booked through one of their travel shops, i had my aisle seat pre-booked. Another reason I prefer BA to QANTAS. Alan

I've booked tickets 2 or 3 times through Travelocity (www.travelocity.com) and have received my tickets more or less by return. I don't know what their view is if you have to change your travel dates and this would have to be checked out before booking. By the way, if you're trying them out and are leaving from somewhere like Edinburgh, it may well be cheaper to book each leg cheaper rather than doing a search for flights between Edinburgh and Bangkok. Alan

I've flown with both BA and QANTAS and I very much prefer BA. Alan

The Dusit also has in-room safes though it's a hit or miss if you get a room with an electronic safe or one with a safe that you open with a key. Alan

I think the words "Bangladeshi Airlines" would have put me off from the start. I think the motto here is, if you have never heard of the airline before, ........ caveat emptor. Alan

Not quite, Doolish, According to my info from a girl whose brother works for BA QANTAS stands for "Queers And Nancies Training As Stewards" ;D ;D ;D Having said that the last time I flew with QANTAS, I had a very nice Thai stewardess - so perhaps the above only applies to the male stewards? Alan

Tom, You're not alone in despising call centres. I do as well, particularly those that take you through 50 options with the option you want being the last one and then having to repeat the whole process 10 times before finding out that the area you want to speak to closed for the weekend 2 minutes ago. I have booked tickets through Travelocity before, http://www.travelocity.com/ though only within Europe. This site promises to search various airlines for the best price to destinations all over the world though EVA and many of the budget airlines are conspicuous by their absence. One tip though, particularly if you have to fly from one of the provincial airports, is to make 2 searches i.e. edinburgh to heathrow and heathrow to bangkok as this could work out a hell of a lot cheaper than edinburgh to bangkok. Even at the BA Travel Shop it worked out a lot cheaper that way! Travelocity have been very fast getting tickets to me. I booked tickets to Brusells from Edinburgh (flying in June) at about 8.00 on Christmas Eve over the internet and the tickets arrived on 28 December. Alan

Thanks for the link, Tom. As I'm not tall - a mere 5ft 6in, seat pitch isn't of that great importance to me PROVIDED I can get an aisle seat as my knees tend to seize up quite easily and I need to get up and walk about on a regular basis. Getting an aisle seat is normally not a problem as checking in at Edinburgh means I beat all the queues at Heathrow. Also by buying my ticket at BA's travel shop in Edinburgh allows me to reserve an aisle seat there and then. Additionally, as i don't sleep particularly well on long haul flights, I do like to have a decent in-flight entertainment system. One thing that does puzzle me a bit is that when flying down to Heathrow from Edinburgh, BA uses 757's (or 737's) and the seats on the 757's seem to be more comfortable and spacious than those on the 747. Just an illusion, I know! Given a choice, I would fly Business Class all the rime but unless the lottery comes up, I can't afford that - unless it's a free upgrade. Alan

"I need a nice friendly Thai night nurse to rub my chest and other bits" Don't we all, Ray? ;D ;D ;D ;D Alan

Heiner, My Vodafone mobile works in LOS though it's bloody expensive to phone home - around £2 a minute. The power supply is similar to the UK as far as I remember but you will need an adapter to plug it into the wall socket. I bought my adapter in BHS but they should be widely available in any electrical store in the UK. Also, i believe you can buy adapters in Pattaya but those who live there can confirm that for you. If I'm wrong on anything here, someone please correct me. Alan

Haven't tried that before but I'll look at that for my next trip. Fatboy. So long as there isn't too long a wait between flights, I won't mind too much. One bonus I get with BA though is that as a shareholder, I get a 10% discount on my flight and holidays in the BA brochure. The discounts I've had over the last 5 or 6 years since i bought the shares now amount to more than the shares themselves are worth these days. ;D ;D ;D Alan

Adrian, I'm afraid in my book that if a plane pushes back from the stand without ensuring that there is enough water on board for the whole flight, then that is down to incompetence. It should have been checked well beforehand. This actually happened at Heathrow rather than Bangkok. To be fair to QANTAS, the flight was good and I did enjoy the luxury of the free upgrade to Business Class. The previous time I flew QANTAS they were a bit late pushing back from the stand (not by much by airline standards) and the captain came on the intercom to apologise for this blaming congestion at the gate. The real reason they were late pushing back was that they were very late starting to board the plane and there was no way any airline could have boarded a full 747 in the time available in the time available. Virtually all of the time was made up in the air and I think they did land more or less on time. That time, they did not have seat back tv's though I am pleased to learn that they have now been installed for the Bangkok flights. I also find the BA flights a bit more convenient for me than other airlines such as EVA as I live in Edinburgh and flying BA (or QANTAS for that matter) avoids the hassle of having to check in a second time. Personally, I prefer BA to QANTAS but that's only my opinion. ;D ;D ;D Alan

If you have a safe with a combination lock in your room, just make sure that no-one is looking over your shoulder when keying the number in. Having said that, I've never had a problem of anything being pinched by girls I've taken back to my room regardless of what type of safe the room has. Alan

Have to agree Baz .................. no way i'm going to overnight in Heathrow before flying back up to Edinburgh unless there are no alternatives. Living in Edinburgh, I can be home less than 4 hours after arriving back in the UK depending on connecting flights. Alan

It seems that I'm in the minority here in that I don't mind flying with BA. I like the seat back TV's they have particularly as I'm not that great a sleeper on long haul flights. Plus I get a 10% discount as a shareholder on flights and holidays from their own brochure. Last time I flew cattle class with QANTAS (to Bangkok) they didn't have seat back TV's though they did have them in Business Class in November. Business Class is definitely the way to travel but the only way I can afford to do that is to get a free upgrade ;D I have yet to experience the delights of EVA Air and it seems unlikely that I will do so in the near future as their flight back to Heathrow from Bangkok doesn't give me enough time to make the last flight to Edinburgh on a Sunday night. So it seems I'm stuck with BA - at least I can pre-book an aisle seat with them well in advance unlike with QANTAS. By the way, anyone care to hazard a guess at what QANTAS really stands for? And no, I don't mean Queensland and Northern Territories Airlines or whatever ;D ;D ;D Alan

Ruu-dak I once had luggage delayed on my way back to Edinburgh from Bali. I'm not sure where it got delayed about as my journey back involved no fewer than four flights - Bali - Jakarta - Singapore - Heathrow - Edinburgh. I can't be certain, but I suspect the delay may have been in Singapore and that was with at least 2 1/2 hours between the flights. The other possibility is that it got delayed at Heathrow where the connection time was nearer 1 1/2 hours. By the way, I found the airport at Singapore to be a great place to hang out between flights - much better than Heathrow or Amsterdam. Alan

I have never flown with EVA but have flown with QANTAS who are a bunch of total incompetants. (I did manage to swing a free upgrade to business class with QANTAS on my flight to Bangkok last November but that's another story!). They had pushed back from the gate when the pilot came on and announced that they did not have enough water to get them to Bangkok so they were deciding whether to go back to the gate or stop somewhere en route. He decided to go back to the gate which meant they were 2 hours late taking off!!!! Their reward for this would have been few penalties for noise breaches and for taking off "after hours". One of the stewardesses in Business Class was a nice Thai girl though. ;D ;D ;D From what I've heard about EVA, go with them - unfortunately their flight schedules didn't suit me otherwise I would have tried them in November. Alan

I recall coming back home from Turkey a few years ago when all the passengers had to identify their case before it went onto the plane. Fine if it's dry but not much fun when it's freezing cold and pissing with rain as is often the case here in edinburgh at this time of year. Alan

What happens if your flight departs from outwith the US but you have to change planes in the US to travel on to another country? Is it scanned in the US? This seems to be a case of overkill. If they want to scan it, do what they do in Thailand, scan it in front of you though as they no longer put a "tie" round your case, there is nothing to stop you adding things to your case afterwards. Also my case has a number of outer compartments into which i could put things after it has been scanned. If they really want to open your case, they can simply request that you go to a dedicated desk in the terminal where the case can be opened in front of you. If you don't go to the desk, your case won't go on the plane!Simple! Or is that too obvious? Alan

which is why i didn't tell mine I was going to Pattaya ;D ;D ;D Alan

Steve, I'm not aware of any restriction as to how many days supply of prescription drugs doctors can prescribe. My doc gives me a prescription for an 8 week supply of the pills I take to keep my blood pressure under control. Alan

I'm on 2 lots of pills to counteract high blood pressure. When I was in Thailand last month, I brought a month's supply of both pills in with me with no problems. The pills were also left on the bedside cabinet in full view of the cleaners at the hotel - more to remind me to take them in the morning than for any other reason. I think the Thais are more likely to be on the lookout for illicit drugs rather than worrying about drugs obtained on prescription. Alan

Anyone wanting to share a limo to Pattaya from Bangkok Airport on 17 November please get in touch. I'm due to land at around 4.00 in the afternoon and intend making my way straight to Residence Gardens in Pattaya as soon as I can clear customs. My e-mail address is Eneukman@aol.com Thanks, Alan

A small padlock is certainly better than nothing but having said that I recently bought 3 small padlocks and then discovered that one key opened all of them! Also on holiday with 2 friends many years ago, my suitcase key unlocked their cases as well. Alan

Triplegee, On my previous visits to Thailand, I've arrived at Bangkok Airport at around 4.00 in the afternoon and the queues at Immigration have been horrendous. It's usually taken the best part of an hour to get from the plane to the meeting area. What sort of time is it likely to take now going to the correct queues and not the Asean line as I have seen westerners directed away from these lines? Alan