CheshireTom

Agree with Cenn3 about making sure you get an outside facing room. Both the snooker and pool tables are free for guests. The laundry is a bit more expensive (not excessively so) than outside but I always used it for convenience.

"Standby" tickets are normally available for airline employees and agents. On a broader level, Touchdown Travel caters for those in the travel business and ancilliary services. Different booking conditions exist for the different airlines involved, as does the eligibility for travel.

Their schedule shows them doing BKK-AUH double daily (morning and evening flights) from 5 Jun. There certainly was an issue with the timings at the commencement of their MAN schedule that meant a long layover in AUH. If I was in your position, I'd get onto ATOL and get them to exert some pressure on the airline and/or agent to offer more alternatives or a quicker refund. A lot depends whether the tickets have already been issued etc. If you paid by credit card it also leaves the option to claim the cash back from your credit card provider and let them do the donkey work with the airline/agent. FWIW there are three days a week up to 4 June when the schedule is double daily, on the other 4 days it is the morning flight only. ATOL Consumer Advice Helpline Tel: 020 7453 6424 Fax: 020 7453 6431 Consumer Advice ATOL Consumer Protection Group Civil Aviation Authority CAA House 45-59 Kingsway London WC2B 6TE

Flights onwards from Dubai and Doha are likely to be heavily booked during the period 15-20 December due to the end of the Asian Games around that time and there will likely be a knock-on effect towards Xmas week. Etihad is currently priced at around 700 quid during the week before Xmas ..... a price I would be inclined to take if my dates were guaranteed.

terry, It depends on your class of travel and membership status. I am a gold card holder with Qatar and earn 40,000 miles for each paid trip I make between UK-LOS or 20,000 between Qatar and either UK or LOS. Simply by using my credit card when booking earns another 1,500+ miles and taking out the credit card in the first place earned 20,000 miles. At 80,000 miles for a biz class upgrade round trip UK-LOS it effectively reduces the average price of a biz class return to well under 1,000 quid. Chuck in the value of the free limo service to and from the UK airport and it soon mounts up. Tom

FBF, Keep an eye of the "Pearl" class prices offered by Etihad from MAN. Their flatbed seats are 180 degrees recliners rather than the 170 offered by some of the other carriers and are better than a lot of airlines 1st class seats. Tom

carpediem, I'm actually in Qatar which, all things considered, is pretty good and means that LOS is just a 6-7 hour flight away. Flight prices from here, however, are enough to make you cry.

carpediem, I spoke to Qatar today and it is generally 0-50 pounds for flights ex-UK but the amount varies , not only between ticket classes but between routes. Also, any change must be to an identical ticket class and within the validity period of the orginal ticket - even if the aircraft is half-empty. Probably best to check with your agent as a ticket that costs, for example, 30 quid more may have less onerous charges/restrictions to change the return date than the cheaper ticket.

The mytravel prices quoted are flight only. Book a package and the price becomes really silly.

You mean mytravel from Gatwick and Manchester. They are direct(ish) if you discard the refuelling stop in the middle east (Bahrain?). However, given their prices I can't see many folk joining the queue to fly with them ........ based on two people flying ............ ADULT BASIC PRICE£1068.00 FUEL CHARGE LH£110.00 APD (NON-EU)£40.00 ACCOM SUPP£0.00 FUEL CHARGE LH£0.00 EXCLUSIVE ONLINE DISCOUNT£-20.00 Your quote £1194 or UKP 597 per person on a charter aircraft (max 30 inch seat pitch).............. and then you have got to fork out 15 quid for a meal; and as for drinks ............. Personally, if I was only travelling to Phuket I'd avoid BKK altogether and go via SIN or KL or get an open-jaw ticket with either Qatar or Emirates and fly into SIN or KL and back from BKK and use one of the low cost carriers to get to/from Phuket.

pattayamad, When are you travelling? I'll keep my ear to the ground. Tom

pattayamad, Travelmood (flynow.com) normally advertises them in its HOT DEALS section. Usually they are biz class fares but I can recall them also doing economy with EVA. Currently, all they have for BKK is China Eastern in biz class. http://flynow.com/site/hotoffers/flights/default_asia.asp

carpediem, That's what I paid in Feb and I was on the cheapest of the cheap tickets. I'll get the exact conditions for the different booking classes when we are back at work on Sunday and post them here. Fri/Sat is the weekend here and no time off on Easter Sun/Mon.

It depends on the ticket booking class. It will range between zero and 50 USD (2,000 baht) payable at the check-in and needs to be done after you have made the outward trip. To change before will be treated as a cancellation and be charged as such. Just give their BKK office a call (02 259 2701-5) after you arrive and the whole process should take less than 5 minutes.

If you are not a regular traveller and cannot use your miles on a regular basis beware of some Airlines such as Thai that have very limited periods of validity before the miles expire.

Fuck ......... I'm paying 50 quid more than that to fly on the 15th. And I'm only flying Doha-Bangkok!

What a complete load of bollocks. The only advantage BPH has over PIH is that it is accredited to settle direct with BUPA for those folk who are on BUPA insurance. There is no "certification", nor "non-certification" as regards the medical facilities on offer and PIH will deal direct with your insurers as required. Read the thread on Moulie's illness or orientaltaffy's(?) saga to get an insight into some of the practices on offer at BPH. Most Thais go to the Memorial Hospital just off Pattaya Klang, not BPH ........ they couldn't afford to do otherwise. PIH, or PIC as it was, has existed in Soi 4 for years before Soi 2-6 became a touristy area ........ the tourist facilities sprung up around the hospital, not vice versa.

Etihad have started taking delivery of new A330s fitted out in a two-class configuration which are the aircraft that are slotted to be used on the MAN route. There were (still are?) teething problems due to some delays with the seat suppliers but that should sort itself over the next 4-8 weeks. From a quality point of view they should be comparable to either Qatar or Emirates and, if I recall correctly, they will have internet access in both classes. Just waiting on one of you guys doing a "live" trip report. Tom

dodgy, Thanks for organising this ........... I'll drop my cash off with Pie when I'm over for the big event in June. Tom

The kiss of death for these four ........... Luke Donald and Mike Weir Billy Mayfair and Thongchai Jaidee Tom

monkeyman, I would imagine so ...... there is quite a lot of accounting for all sorts of items to be done by the FAs ...... meals are one but the amenity packs, better quality earphones, pyjamas, blankets etc all need to be accounted for and justified. I'm not too sure about the need to wear a suit or even a shirt and tie to be upgraded. I pay (or use miles) to travel in biz class and normally wear a rugby shirt, jeans and trainers. It seems pretty silly trying to sleep in one of the advertised, lie-flat seats if you are worrying about the state of your shirts and slacks IMHO. Tom

You should bear in mind that airlines make their money from premium passengers and freight, not Joe Bloggs who has scratched around for the cheapest of the cheap tickets in economy so most decent airlines will only upgrade full economy fare passengers or folk that have attained the higher levels of their frequent flyer programme. I do know that on Singapore, for example, even the station manager at Manchester cannot authorise upgrades without reference to the company. In my experience the theory about all airlines heavily overbooking economy is more applicable to short-haul business routes rather than long-haul leisure routes (which LON-BKK is) where the number of "no-shows" is considerably less. It's also worth noting that the airline would normally need to have no-shows in Biz class before they upgrade anyone as the quantity of meals delivered to the aircraft is quite tightly controlled nowadays.

If you are going to supply CC details only phone them through to the reservations department after ascertaining who you should be speaking to at the other end. Sending your CC details by e-mail or fax is just asking for trouble and I doubt your CC issuer would honour any liability for any resultant fraudulant transactions. Tom

Ventolin/Salbutemol is the same thing (ventolin is a trade name and salbutemol is the generic). Available in Boots and most other pharmacies at around 250 Baht (200 x 100 microgram hits) give or take a few Baht either way - it doesn't matter one iota if you're Thai or farang.

Don't know about Pattaya ...... however, the Westin Grande in BKK has non-smoking rooms but you can request an ashtray.