Tahoe_Bill

Just an afterthought to my last post: If it is more convenient you could fly to JFK and on to BKK with both flights being nonstop for $1088. Your routing would be via Independence Air nonstop between Washington Dulles (IAD) round trip and New York (JFK) with connections with Thai Airways non stop between JFK and BKK round trip. Advantages: a short trip to JFK and then a nonstop flight to BKK (Lot of time for sleep) and once you will arrive in BKK at around 4:00 in the afternoon you should arrive in Pattaya in time for all of the evening activities. Disadvantages: You have to purchase a round trip ticket from each airline. You will have to re-check your bags in New York (although not too much hassle as both airlines operate out of JFK Terminal 4). Proposed itinerary: IAD-JFK Depart: 7:00 AM Arrive 8:30 AM Flight 1072 JFK-BKK Depart: 12:00 PM Arrive 4:10 PM +1(day) Flight 791 BKK-JFK Depart: 12:40 AM Arrive 6:35 AM Flight 790 JFK-IAD Depart: 8:40 AM Arrive 9:54 AM Flight 1099

Roy, I agree with the above posters. In 2004; Korean Air (KE) was rated as a 4 star airline by skytrax, and NWA was rated a 3 star airline. Assuming you are flying in economy you will a couple extra inches of legroom. Unless there has been a major change in the last few months the food and service should be very good. You will actually be flying into the Seoul Incheon Airport(ICN). The airport is located on an semi-manmade island in the East (China) Sea a few miles offshore. The airport is less than 5 years and is quite modern with many shops eateries and other distractions. For transit procedures check the following URL: http://www.airport.or.kr/Eng/guide/change/change.jsp For general INC info check the following URL: http://www.airport.or.kr/Eng/home.jsp I'll be in town in 1st week of June for about 10 days (give or take a day). See ya. Bill

Doorman, I believe you are right. The full moon for November 2005 will be on Nov 15th. I missed Loy Krathong last year by 2 days so that I could spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my mother and siblings. I think that I’ll miss it this year, I’d rather be in LOS for my TGF’s birthday. That said I could be there this year for Loy Krathong and my birthday instead.

Transit at Narita is fairly simple. Once you are off the plane and in the outer terminal follow the signs that say transit. They will take you to the security area. Have your passport and boarding pass ready. They’ll check your boarding pass send your carryon baggage through an x-ray machine and you’ll be sent through a metal detector. From there follow the signs for departures which will take you into main terminal. In the terminal there are shops, restaurants, bars and most importantly shower facilities. They all take US Dollars so no need for currency exchange. As stated previously there's no departure tax.

Thanks to all for the input as to the feasibility of my connection between LGA and JFK. It looks like this won’t be a problem although I do have a question for sick_puppy. Would your opinion change if I told you that I am arriving at LaGuardia on a Saturday morning at 8:30 and the flight doesn’t leave until 12:00? In theory there should be less traffic, but I’m far from an expert on NYC Traffic. I still haven’t purchased my ticket from IND to NYC yet and if necessary I can fly in Friday night and pay the $100+ for a hotel near JFK. LBJ; I had the same question about the flight times. I thought that maybe they flew east with both flights to take advantage of the jet stream, but a friend pointed out that if they fly a (true) polar route it is a much shorter distance. I went home and did a very unscientific measurement on the globe and it seems he was correct. I’ll let you know what I find out after I return. Cheers Bill

Martin Donation sent via PayPal. Thanks for the opportunity to contribute. Om was a very special person, most of all I’ll never forget her contagious smile. Sincerest condolences to her family and friends. Bill

Probably not much help, but if you can travel in June instead of August the Thai nonstop is for $962.65 economy or $1256.65 for premium economy.

Not cheap, but I did find 1 night at the JFK Radison + 14 days parking for $209.00 http://www.radisson.com/reservation/resInf...!-232790144

Thanks to Torrenova for posting the link http://www.thaiair.com/Travel_Destination_...thai_to_nyc.htm. Here is a brief synopsis: Economy: 2-4-2 seating, no leg rest, 36 inch pitch, 135 degree recline, 8.4 inch personal video screen Premium Economy: 2-3-2 seating, leg rest, 42 inch pitch, 135 degree recline, 8.4 inch personal video screen Royal Silk (Business): 2-2-2 seating, 60 inch pitch, 170 degree recline, 10.4 inch personal video screen I plan on booking my May trip sometime this weekend, via TG 791 / TG 790 but I have a small problem. TG 791 leaves JFK at noon and I can’t get a flight from Indy to JFK that arrives early enough for me to make a connection. US Airways has a 5:00 flight to LaGuardia that arrives at 8:30 assuming I can catch the 9:00 shuttle to JFK I think I should be able to get Kennedy by 10:00. I’ve haven’t changed airports in New York before and would like to know if any of the boardies have done this and if my plan is feasible. Thanks and cheers, Bill

Popular with the GIs in the early 80’s; ‘Here’s to you and here’s to me, the best of friends may we always be! But should we ever disagree, fuck you and here’s to me!’

I am scheduled to arrive a little earlier (or later, having done flight tracking for the past couple weeks) than you on the 12th. I currently plan on spending the night in BKK but this is subject to change (after all T.I.T). I’ll PM you if I am going to Pattaya upon arrival. Either way, have a great trip. Cheer , Bill

PB; I’m Assuming that you will be departing for the PI via the airport.. You can cash your TCs for Baht at any exchange while in LOS. Then after you go through immigration at the airport you can exchange the Baht for Pounds (Sterling) at the Bank Exchanges kiosks in the BKK departure area. You’ll be paying commission on both exchanges , but it is a solution. Bill

Emil, As usual you are on the mark. Per Airbus the following orders have been placed; Airline / # planes ordered Emirates 43 Lufthansa 15 Quantas 12 Singapore Airlines 10 Intl Lease Finance 10 Federal Express 10 Air France (Groupe) 10 Virgin Atlantic Airways 6 Thai Airways Int’l 6 Et al … 17

My 2 baht worth. IMHO... This is an amazing aircraft. Singapore Air will take the lead, not a shock because of their consistent ranking as the global #1 or #2 airline. However, I’m not sure why one of the major carriers of the 4 countries that subsidized the “entire 380 project†isn’t getting the 1st plane. It seems that the citizens of the UK, Germany, France or Spain have paid enough of the hard earnings in various taxes to let them have the bragging rights of having the first A380. I can't wait to see an A380 in flight. The obligatory URL: http://www.airbus.com/dynamic/media/index.asp

Guys, Thanks for your input, its really appreciated. If I do stay there it’ll only be one night from about 2:00 am (if my plane arrives on time) until noon. Then off to Pattaya. I understand about the traffic we’ve gone this route through to the Expressway and on to Pattaya on the last 3 trips and even at 1:30 am the traffic is unbelievable. Cheers, Bill Btw if anyone’s interested here’s the URL: http://www.novotel-bangna.bangkok.com

I received an e-mail from Cathay Pacific. They have discounted airfare between LA, SF and NY (seating limited). Travel between Feb 15th and Apr 15th. LAX-BKK or SFO-BKK $563 + taxes. JFK-BKK $613 + taxes.

I’ll be spending the first night of my Feb. trip in BKK. Because of ease of access to the expressway and the close proximity to my TGF’s house I am considering this hotel. I plan to book a double room to avoid a possible joiner fee . Has anyone stayed there (all of the usual questions especially guest/girl friendly) ? Thanks! Bill

Stayed there during parts of my 2 of my trips in 2003. Girl friendly, clean and well maintained. Short walk to Soi2 Bar Complex and the Big C. URL: http://www.sabaiinn.com/

I was looking at the weekly photos earlier this evening. They’ve made quite a bit of progress in the last couple months. Will it open in 260 days? Your guess is as good as mine. I was going to shrink a couple of the pictures and post them. Then I decided that since they are probably copyrighted, it would be better to post the URL. http://www.suvarnabhumiairport.com/demo/en/weekly1en.php I wouldn’t recommend that you look at the full size photos without broadband because at 3 Meg they still take a while to load. Bill

Ouch! That’s insane pricing when you could fly Quantas Business Class nonstop for 2600 GB Pounds on those dates. IMHO, it seems that the closer you get to the departure date the more the ED prices seem to increase, although I’ll defer to the Eva frequent flyers on this point.

I know that there are some UA Mileage Plus members on the board. If you’ve contributed or plan to contribute $50 or more and would like 500 FF miles, you may be interested in the following link: http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,51188,00.html Bill

LIA, Excluding Jetlag which can be overcome if you sleep well on both of your filghts: I'm not sure that this could done be too often, but in about 40 hours you can have a hell of a time in the Banger. Upon arrival maybe a traditional Thai massage would be considered to get you relaxed and prepared for the upcoming mongering. Eden Club, NEP and maybe Lolittas may the best places to spend your time (as it will be short). Maybe a final message will get you relaxed enough for your flight back to Frankfurt. I did a very quick fare search and you are looking at about 1,100 Euros (you can probably find better). If you make this trip a report would be appreciated. Best of luck. Bill

I’ve stayed at Yensabai condominium (condotel) the last 4 trips and think it is a good value. Maybe this link to past Yensabai questions will be helpful. http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.ph...073&hl=yensabai Cheers Bill

I found an old business card and the address is as follows: 110/3 Beach Rd. (Walking Street) South Pattaya Nongprue Banglamung Chonburi 20260 Thailand Pete / Ben please correct this if it is wrong. Bill

FYI: Tickets are now on sale for TG 791 – TG 790 (JFK-BKK-JFK). I’ve checked two pages and you can buy tix for this flight pairing for $3508 on the Thai Air page of for $1253 on Yahoo / Travelocity.