CheshireTom

H, If you are getting a ticket that allows you to change the outward journey for only 25 quid then i would say you have got a bargain. Normally the return can be changed for a fixed fee or no charge but changes to outbound travel, effectively cancellations, are normally expressed in % terms (typically 25-100% of the ticket price). I am sure there are many cheaper EVA deals about but i would suspect most would not allow changes to the outbound date of travel without incurring cancellation fees. Regards, Tom

Taffy, You can't do it from U-Tapoa at the moment. There was a thread on the subject a couple of weeks ago: Bangkok - Korat - 9 Baht Tom

Qatar is being offered (and is available) at GBP370-375 incl tax MAN-BKK via Doha departing late May. The layover in Doha is typically 3 hours on the outbound and 1 hour on the return. All aircraft throughout the journey are brand new A330-200 with individual screens and telephones in economy and video/audio on demand. Available from all of the main agents. Tom

Soi 7, The link to the BKK Tonight thread is here: Bangkok Tonight - Swiss Grottino Residence Note the comments on page 3 and 4 of the thread re booking by e-mail. Regards, Tom

I always book one week before some better offer hits the streets! Tom

peter, She done a turn at the Pattaya Music Festival last year. Tom

Since Thai's direct competitor on the route, EVA, affords all its silver and above cardholders lounge access at both LHR and BKK the Thai offer seems pretty insignificant, particularly since it only requires two return journeys in Deluxe to attain silver status on EVA. Tom p.s. I know BA/Qantas go direct but their product (personal IFE but poor legroom) isn't directly comparable to Thai/EVA (no personal IFE but good legroom).

Alan, The "taxes" are actually made up by various taxes, fees and charges, namely: Air Passenger Duty This is an excise duty (known sometimes as the Departure Tax) levied by the UK Government and collected from airlines by Customs and Excise. Details concerning the Air Passenger Duty (APD) can be found on the HM Customs and Excise website. On “paper” tickets it is usually shown in the "tax/fee/charge" box* with the code GB. A journey in economy class to LOS attracts GBP20 in APD. UK Passenger Service Charge In 1999 most airlines decided to separate from the fare the per-passenger element that they pay to UK airports for the use of the airport's passenger facilities. This is known as the UK Passenger Service Charge. On “paper” tickets it is usually shown in the "tax/fee/charge" box* with the code UB. It is not a government-imposed tax. Insurance and security surcharges Many airlines levy a charge per passenger to cover increased costs of insurance and security. On “paper” tickets it is usually shown in the "tax/fee/charge" box* with the code YQ or YR. Such surcharges are not a government-imposed tax. Other taxes, fees and charges On international flights passengers are also likely to incur taxes, fees and charges levied by other States as well as Passenger Service Charges relating to the destination airport. These will vary by destination and are too numerous to list. * Where the number of taxes, fees and charges exceeds the number of boxes on a "paper" ticket, some will be shown collectively with the code "XT". A breakdown of the taxes, fees and charges making up this XT total should appear in the fare calculation box on the ticket. Tom

Taffy, I believe Thai sent the upgrade/lounge voucher to all their members as well as the members of any other FF programme who were invited to join ROP at the same level they held with their current FF programmes. I would suspect therefore that the chances of getting an upgrade on a Sat in July would be pretty slim. My own experience with Thai ROP was that both myself and other family members used Thai for many years but when it came to getting an upgrade it could only be done a couple of weeks (3?) before the flight. The reality was that upgrades were available on Mon-Thu flights but Fri-Sun was a no-go. In the end we had to convert all of our mileage to hotel vouchers before the accumulated mileage started to expire. That said, it is good news that Thai are upgrading their business class product over the next year or so because, other than EVA at present, it lags a long way behind all of the other main operators on the UK-BKK routes. IMHO. Regards, Tom

Judy Tzuke's "Stay With Me Till Dawn" pretty much somes up Beer Bar life ...... Is this a game you're playing? Playing with my heart Oh stop playing with my heart And I'll show you a sunset if you'll stay with me till dawn.

taffy, Thai is GBP 570.80 incl tax with flights4less on the overnight flight outbound (choose day or night flight for return). Flights4less Tom

Dougie, Now you know how all these guys you see in Bundesrepublik Naklua nursing their bottle of mekhong and two sodas actually manage to get there in the first place. Tom

Nightcrawler, Without hanging around for any offers after the Whitsun holiday, Flights4less.co.uk (part of lastminute.com), currently has Etihad at GBP366 incl tax (example dates used were 5-16 Sep). Etihad is the new state airline of the UAE and goes via Abu Dhabi. All flights on LON-BKK routes are brand new Airbus A330-200 with individual videos in economy. The booking site and airline site are below: Flights4Less Etihad Airways Tom

ting tong, Read the rules: "No photos or special characters in your signature line please." You are wasting bandwith that Pete has to pay for. Tom

Jodyn, Jeez, another wannabe moderator. Actually, the thread is about an American guy wanting to travel RTW from Chicago via London and Bangkok. If you post a request for the specific information you are after I am sure the muppets will give it to you. Tom

nidnoyham, Why don't you just buy children's clothes and save on the VAT. Tom

Roland, The price is GBP 405 plus tax up to 31 Oct. The price over Xmas is only GBP 450 plus tax which I think is pretty good for the guys down your way. Thanks to the guys at WorldPlus travel for the info. WorldPlus Travel Regards, Tom

Crackpot, The list on my post are all those that may have eligibility for some/most all of the deals - sorry if it was misleading. Thai's normal elegibility (pulled from the "Am I Eligible?" page is normally quite extensive but seems to be restricted for this particular offer. I had previously used them about seven years ago when the eligibility was more limited but their staff always seemed very helpful. Tom

Thanks to Gus for the link. Anyone remotely working in the travel/hotel industry is eligible for cheap flights to Thailand. Deals at the moment are return flights with Phuket Air and Thai Airways for GBP 139 and GBP 179 (incl tax) respectively. A list of employees eligible to travel with Thai is as follows: Tour operators (ATOL Licensed) Tour operators (unlicensed) Travel agents(ABTA &/or IATA) Airline staff Certified Air Operators (passenger) Aviance Handling agents Servisair Swissport Aircraft cleaners Airport Authorities Airport Fuelling (airside) Aviation Airport Services BAA Britanny ferries C.R.S./G.D.S Car hire Cargo agents Cargo Airlines Catering Cruise & Ferry operators Customs Duty free EGATS Engineering support Foreign based airline/t agent staff GATCO Helicopters (not able to produce IATA788) Hotel Reservation companies Hotel staff /hoteliers Hoverspeed IATA IATCA IATETS ISU (travel club members only) M.A.A. NATS Parents of staff PCS (Immigration staff) Retired airline staff Securicor Aviation/Initial Aviation Security SITA/ARINC Tourist Boards Trainers in the travel industry Travel Recruitment Ukatets Ukatts Bookings and full details of eligibility are at: Touchdown Travel Regards, Tom

Roland, Still trying to find out and will post as soon as I get prices/agents or any other info. ThaiJet, another LCC, are currently doing Frankfurt-Bangkok (via somewhere in the middle east, I think) for 300 Euros return so it's anybody's guess where Phuket Air will pitch themselves. Regards, Tom

Crackpot, Supersonic 200s it would appear It's nice to see we agree on something ...... But lets not get off-topic, eh! Tom

For the cheap charlies out there Phuket Air has got around to publishing its Gatwick-Bangkok schedule which is effective from 2 June (the return times look a bit dodgy - it should be a 06:15 arrival methinks: London - Bangkok Flight No: 9R 617 Days of Operation: Wed Fri Sat Departure: 14:00 Arrival: 07:55 Type of Aircraft: B747-200 Bangkok – London Flight No: 9R 618 Days of Operation: Tue Thu Fri Departure: 23:45 Arrival: 03:15 Type of Aircraft: B747-200 Phuket Airlines Once you are in country there is now a host of low-cost carriers flying all over the place ....... Bangkok Airways Nok Air OneTwo-Go Orient Thai Air Asia PB Air Air Andaman Tom

So you've done your homework, got your flight ticket for a bargain price and the airline has allocated your favourite window seat. On the aircraft everything is looking good, your just settling into your seat and you see him/her waddling up the aisle! Twenty five stones of pure blubber and you know, you just know, they are going to be sitting next to you! What do you do? What are your options other than arriving in Bangkok 12 hours later looking like a sardine and riddled with DVT as Big Daddy squashes you against the aircraft fuselage? Quite a bit it seems (the airline owes you a duty of care), but it comes back to the question of if the airline charges for overweight baggage should fatties pay for two seats or should the seats be bigger but more expensive. Here is a BBC article on the subject. Should fatties pay more ............... Tom

sinbinjack, When you are appointed a moderator to this forum please feel free to dictate what constitutes reasonable content of anyone's posts. Until then, STFU. But just to show we are all nice guys really I'll start a thread that you may add some enlightened comments to. Tom

Crackhead, As Roland says, Qantas are the only other major player that has done a direct (same flight number) service from Manchester. BA put a stop to that with the advent of OneWorld and the preference, understandably, for the LHR hub. Qantas, as things stand at the moment, cannot do a non-stop service because all their agreed weekly slots are taken up at LHR. Both Qatar and Emirates operate indirect connecting services through Doha and Dubai and are doing quite nicely. Tom