CheshireTom

highlander, They use a 747-400. Seating plan is at: http://www.klm.com/generic/download/timeta...raftSeating.pdf Regards, Tom

Sammy, Apologies if the Bella Prima has changed to a hotel within 6 weeks of opening. I guess they must have changed their business cards as well ......... Tom

Turk, I read the second review and obviously the guy had some issues, however, he didn't seem to appreciate that the Bella Villa Prima is serviced apartments not a hotel and that there are differences, albeit small, between the two. All his negative comments seemed to be generated by his lack of appreciation between the two. He seemed to rant on forever about topsheets - the beds have European style duvets and duvet covers and therefore no top sheets. A lot of his review reminded me of the guy ranting in McDonalds, Bangkok because they didn't do hash browns on their breakfast menu.

JohnnyK, I seem to recall reading somewhere that he had moved to the shopping centre on the right just before the dolphin roundabout (coming from Big C area). He was running his electricity from a mobile generator in mid-November after the Sabai folk cut his power to encourage him to vacate his premises. I was a regular at his internet cafe/travel agent and always found him to be a genuine and helpful guy. Tom

BigDUSA, No, ripoff is is when a business associate of a hotel owner posts an erroneous description of that hotel, recommends the hotel to other boardies and states that his review is accurate and that the hotel represents excellent value. I wonder how many boardies booked into these shabby rooms based on your recommendation? Perhaps the no-shows were people who got wind of the fact that the place wasn't as described. As for wiring a 200USD deposit for a 10USD hotel, even in Pattaya that has got to be some sort of joke. Tom p.s. I'll still buy you a drink at the Flamingo

JohnnyK, Sunny was on Soi 2 and I believe his premises have recently been flattened along with the Zebra Bar to make way for the expansion at the Sabai Lodge. Tom

kerbushar, I don't know of any company that goes direct, however, Bangkok Airways does go via Bangkok. http://www.bangkokair.com/index.htm There is a multitude of new low-cost airlines recently started up in the region (or about to). These include Thai Orient (dodgy and not connected to Thai International), Tiger Air (Singapore/Ryan) and Air Asia (Malaysian/Shin Corp.) http://www.airasia.com/general.php?p=pmain&l=en Thai is due to announce its low-cost partner in the next few weeks and has been in talks with, among others, Branson's Virgin Group. What is sure is t

duffab, Iraq? What has Camp X-Ray got to do with Iraq? Best have that cup of tea, mate! Tom

stevens365, The standard rooms in the Sabai Inn, Soi 2 have showers easily big enough for 1+3 (superior rooms have a bathtub and shower combined). Make sure you arrange with the maid for extra towels! Prices are 700 Baht in low season (1 May-31 Oct) and 800 Baht in high season. Prices are without ABF - add 90 Baht per person if brekkie is a must. Regards, Tom

Gazzeel, I would check your tickets. GBP749 is the price for their economy deluxe not Dynasty (business) class. I am in town from 26 Feb through until 10 Mar staying in North Pattaya (Soi 2). Regards, Tom

nidnoyham, If you arrive at LHR ex BKK for onward domestic connections you clear immigration at the Flight Connections Centre, not the main Arrivals area. It is normally very quiet at the non-UK/EU desk. BA/bmi arrivals at MAN go into T3 (BA/bmi Domestic) so there is normally no Customs to be seen, unlike T1/T2 where the training takes place. That said, when my Mrs arrived on a visitors visa at LHR (early a.m. with TG) it took us 4 hours to get her through immigration at T3 including separate individual grillings in the immigration back offices. :-/ Tom p.s. Are you the same

Some links/contacts for UK guys planning trips: General Airline Meals http://www.airlinemeals.net/ Airline Seating Plan Index http://www.uk-air.net/seatplan.htm Airline Seat Pitches http://www.uk-air.net/seatpitch.htm Airport Parking 0870 013 4580 http://www.bcponline.co.uk/ Buying Tickets FAQ http://www.uk-air.net/tickets.htm Couriers IAATC 0800 0746 481 or 01291 625656 http://www.aircourier.co.uk/index.htm DVT FAQ http://www.uk-air.net/dvt.htm Exchange Rates http://www.x-rates.com/ Jet Lag FAQ http://www.uk-air.net/jetlag.htm Online

monkeyman, If you are going Evergreen Deluxe and booking through Trailfinders or Travelbag be sure to use their First/Biz Class telephone numbers. Tom

monkeyman, OK to book EVA through any of the main agents. You will accumulate airmiles at 100% in Economy and 125% in Evergreen Deluxe. Even when using airmiles to upgrade you will still accumulate at the rate of the original booking i.e. if you use airmiles to upgrade from Economy to Evergreen Deluxe you will accumulate miles on that journey at 100% rather than 125%. This does not apply to certain group bookings e.g. booking a package through Kuoni when you are not issued with an individual EVA booking reference at the time of booking. Regards, Tom

patk, Cheapest, with general availability at the moment, is Finnair at circa GBP480 incl taxes. Book through any of the major agents. Qatar is due to go daily from MAN commencing on 5 Apr but the additional flights don't appear to have found their way onto the systems yet. When they do, you could reasonably expect some offers from them. Likewise, Emirates is expected to announce a third daily service from MAN which could commence as early as Apr. However, they don't seem to have any problem filling their aircraft and that is reflected in their current price availability. As ro

Bad news all round for Thai Airways. First of all, no Airbus (read no direct US-BKK flights) and then United tells them to take a hike on the agreement to buy their Boeing 747s. Tom

Gus, I have flown EVA about a dozen times and cannot recall it ever being late. More often than not, it gets in around 15-30 mins early. Keep a daily check on teletext flight arrivals for a while to get some idea of the actual times. daveuk, I spoke to EVA this morning and the Tue/Thu/Sat flights are all operating in a 368 seat configuration which rules out the good seats in rows 24-27 in Evergreen Deluxe found on the combi. The actual seat map is below: http://www.evaair.com/image/global/chinese...47-400-368a.jpg Tom

daveuk, Just booked my next trip in Feb on EVA from Manchester. Couple of pointers for you: Do your online search based on London - add on 20 GBP for the Manchester feeder (total price should be 480-490 GBP incl taxes). Some of the search engines will not pick up availability on the MAN-LON-MAN legs so the flights show as not available - they are, so phone the agent to make the booking. When searching enter the EVA code (BR) as your preferred airline to pull their flights only. If you use the Airline Network search engine you have the option to show "full farelist and availab

MONKEY01, Tescos (seriously!) on Sukhumvit Road has an in-house opticians. Excellent prices and service. Computer testing done on site or bring your own script from UK. Regards, Tom

MH, There is a link on the hotel's website ................. http://www.sanook.to/baybreeze/about.htm Tom

Crackpot, What's all this "reconfirmation invoice" and "reconfirmation receipt" stuff? Is it an invoice or a receipt? Personally, I've never heard of them. What are they and what are they for? Do airlines issue them or the guy in the travel agents, or what? :-/ Tom

Emil, I am sure I can recall that there was a restaurant review section at one time (in the last 18 months or so). I gave up reading it when I realised that Burger King had a higher average rating than Bruno's. :-/ Different strokes for different folks and all that...... Regards, Tom

Crackpot, I've never heard of any such thing as a "reconfirmation invoice" so I wouldn't have a clue what Thai are up to in Bangkok. :-/ That said, I always reconfirm regardless - at least if things do go wrong I've got the name of someone to point a finger at. Tom

Crackpot, From the Thai website FAQs: "THAI no longer requires that you reconfirm your flight but please contact THAI to cancel your reservation if your travel plans change. Many airlines still require reconfirmation. If your journey includes a portion on another airline you may have to reconfirm onward journeys at least 72 hours before departure." Tom p.s. Don't know if you picked up on this "Mile High Pub" article and the associated website. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/13/...1125710589.html .................. and the worlds worst paint-job. http://www.

If I was prepared to spend that sort of cash on a room it would have to be at The Sugar Hut. http://www.sugarhut.co.th/ Tom