CheshireTom

BongoBill, Qatar's fleet of A330s is a mixture of some fitted out in a three class configuration (first, business and economy) and some fitted out in a two class configuration (business and economy). However, some of their routes, e.g. Manchester - Doha - Bangkok are scheduled for two classes but have a three class aircraft allocated to one or more of the flight segments. When I travelled in April I booked business class but was ticketed in first class on the Doha - Bangkok - Doha segments but with a business class service i.e. meals/baggage allowance/lounge access. It may be that your

Hub, I travelled on the A330 (A330/340 are the same fuselage) with Qatar in April of this year and the difference in the cabin comfort as compared to the 747 is huge. The Airbus is in a 2-4-2 configuration in economy as opposed to 3-4-3 and the aisles seem just that bit wider so that you are not continualy being hit by the trolley dollies doing their rounds and the overhead bins seem to tuck away into the roof as opposed to hanging down as on the 747. Although on Cathay the seat pitch is 32", they are new style seats which actually give more legroom than that offered by the likes of EVA

sabaidii2 Is the Siptholek still up and running or did it get caught up in the closure of The Weekender at the end of last/beginning of this month? Tom

Daveuk, Jeez, not even Alf Tupper managed that! Congrats mate - I bet it was a piece of piss really! Tom

Duece, Don't worry things ain't really that bad - just yet! JD was just our passport to high-living and expensive women - we'll just have to move down the food chain a bit, that's all. Tom

Excellent post Duece. Thanks a lot. Hub, Don't worry buddy. I'll stand you a ST with Gai from the Bufallo Bar - after all, she probably takes as many shots in one day as JD managed! :crying Tom p.s. BTW, have you any idea what Aeroflot is like for my next trip.

Trvlr, Evergreen is in a 2-4-2 seat configuration in the main cabin as opposed to 3-4-3 in economy. That said, they have fixed armrests in Evergreen so no great bonus if the seat(s) next to you are empty. Tom

cybers1b, The Vienna routes are now operated using A330 aircraft which only have two classes - economy and premium laurel (uprated biz class). Tom

Barbarian, FWIW. For your first trip I would try to keep things as simple as possible. What you need to buy is a return ticket from UK with either 3 or 6 months validity (depending on the maximum length of your stay) and little or no charges for changing your return journey after you have completed the outward journey. You will need to specify a return date when booking but you can change that once you are in Thailand simply by phoning the airline or getting your hotel or travel agent to do it for you. This is perfectly normal practice and keeps everything above board in relation to

ranger, It is a no brainer. Gulf Air in every respect. Tom

Bloodhound, The blue, yellow and white watches worn by the "fancy dans" can be got in a shop called St Louis. It is located on 2nd Road. If you walk from the lights on South Pattaya Road it is about 60-80 metres on the left (next door to the pharmacy just before Mike's Department store and opposite Pattaya VDO). It is ostensibly an upmarket bag and shoe shop but go in and ask for their watches and they will see you OK. Alternatively, if you are in BKK they are also available at Burapha Watch on the 4th Floor of MBK. Expect to pay 1,500-1,800 Baht for a decent copy. Tom

monkeyman, As of last week, the extension (Ruen Thai Wing + pool) adjacent to Soi 2 is complete. There is an additional 100+ room extension being added at the Soi 1 side of the hotel - the main structure (6 floors) was just about finished but it is planned to be circa the end of Oct/start of Nov before all the work is finished. I understand the Sabai Group is planning to take over the management of The Weekender in the near future (it is currently leased out on a mangement contract) and will totally refurbish the whole complex up to the same standards as the Sabai Inn/Lodge so that ma

Gus, Apparently they are discontinuing the "Premium Economy" product and replacing it with the original Dynasty Class upgrade i.e. Lounge access, Dynasy Class food and service etc. Good news IMHO. See Besty's original post on the subject. China Airlines Dynasty Class Upgrade Regards, Tom

Ste, Both Flights4Less.co.uk (part of Lastminute.com) and CheapestFlights.co.uk (part of the Co-op) have Qatar available during Sep for circa GBP460 incl taxes. The next price up for Qatar is plus GBP25. The dates used to search were 9-30 Sep. Most of the major chains should be able to get similar prices with a little digging around. http://www.flights4less.co.uk/ Tel: 0871 222 3423 http://www.cheapestflights.co.uk/ Tel: 0800 195 3032 Regards, Tom

sinbinjack, See the members offer (pay 3 plus one free) at Bangkok Tonight for the Swiss Grottino on Suk, Soi 19. Brand new and good furnishings and facilities. Ideal for Soi Cowboy and and Asoke skytrain (one stop to Nana) as well as Robinson's Sukhumvit. It looks a seriously good value for money place and all the reviews have been very positive. Grottino Residence Tom

daveuk, It was the bit about live entertainment and dance competitions that caught my eye. I just assumed they had installed half a dozen chrome poles in the pub! Tom

BAA (LHR, GLA, LGW etc) introduced new baggage guidelines from 1 June. Aimed at minimizing the risk of injury to staff, all bags weighing more than 32 kg will have to be re-packed. Flights will not be held while this is being done. Any bags weighing more than 32 kg will NOT be accepted by any airline. Any bag over 23 kg will be required to be labelled as a ‘heavy’ and the actual weight shown clearly on the tag. Most airlines offer economy passengers 20 kg and business class 30 kg. Seems like it will give the airlines good reason to impose "excess baggage" charges at the same time.

Manchester Airport announced yesterday that BackpackerXpress will, despite the protestations of Crackhead, commence twice weekly flights to Delhi, Bangkok and Melbourne commencing on 1 November. Flights will operate from Terminal 1 going out at 23:00 on Mon and Thu and arriving back on Wed and Sun at 04:55. The airline also has a new website which includes a bit more info than the previous one: BackpackerXpress No prices yet but the tickets will be a year-round price and "unrestricted" i.e. changes will be allowed to dates of travel. Representatives from Etihad also visited th

patk, Plenty of info if you do a search: Turkish 1 Turkish 2 Turkish 3 Tom

sinbinjack, It would be a shorter list of those hotels that don't fit your requirements. You are probably best to book any of the hotels the other boardies have recommended for two nights and then have a look around at the others when you get there. For a first-timer I would tend to view the hotels on Soi 7/8 as fitting the bill. The Sabais on Soi 2 are both good but, having read your previous posts, you should be aware that they are at the bottom of a slight incline that you would have to walk up to reach the soapies/Big C etc. Tom

Monkeyman/Babepecker, Nah, not a planespotter. The original pic was in fact a huge .bmp that I had to reduce and convert to .jpg so that it could be posted. The aircraft registration is actually quite clear on the nose section on the original pic. Tom

Hoss, The aircraft registration is B-16462, a 747-Combi. Tom

Babepecker, That sounds very negative ................. I much prefer "the calorifically enhanced"! Tom

Babepecker, It only happened on Saturday evening. Apparently they were trying to simulate a full complement of fatties in the nose section of Evergreen Deluxe. Tom

Gus, Looks like an expensive "mishap" ......... :crying Tom