slick

I like China Air, except that their older 747-400s SFO-TPE have no personal TV screens.

If you have a super long TPE layover, do a free tour for transit pax: http://www.taiwanholidays.com.au/free-half...for-transit-pax

I've flown them on domestic China routes and they were decent: on-time and attractive FAs too.

I had a China Airlines flight from Taipei-HKG that was cancelled. The airline didn't contact me, but my travel agent emailed me that they put me on the flight after. Luckily, there are flights almost every hour TPE-HKG and I happened to check my email that morning.

I flew China Airlines last year and they had some really nice looking gals. Since it was also a Vietnam Air code-share, there was also a Vietnamese FA and she was hot. Upon arriving at SFO, a Phillipine Airlines flight landed just ahead of mine and I must say the Filipinas who worked that flight garnered a lot of stares.

And there will be 200 more people on board, which will make baggage claim look like a giant convention.

I'd hate to be at baggage claim with 400+ other folks when a A380 lands @ BKK.

I think it's a lot better now as compared to a decade ago. I flew with China Air last year on 5 seperate flights and all got me to my destination in one piece. But I'd rather put my hands in China Air over some unknown Ukranian airline.

Thai Airways' website still shows LAX-BKK flights on Airbus A340. When did they discontinue these flights?

FYI... I booked my last Asia trip thru gatewaylax.com and took China Airlines to Taipei and then to other cities. I noticed that China Air had some of the lowest taxes/surcharges so try that airline and see what net fares you get.

I flew this same route with Cathay 4 years ago and was quite pleased with the service. All legs of the flights were on time. SFO-HKG is a 747-400 and I believe I took a A330 to BKK.

Yes, they should redesign their website. Some of the English phrases they use are quite odd. I was going to book my multi-leg flights on their site but it doesn't offer that option, only round trip flights. So I ended up booking it thru a travel agent instead. For Asian airlines, I think Cathay and Singapore websites are good.

I looked into the All-Asia Pass and they now have an additional $100 Fuel Surcharge. I also read on other forums that many travel agents hate this deal since it requires alot of work for a small commission and many charge a service fee for their troubles. As I posted earlier, I used gatewaylax.com for my Asia trip next month and managed to make most of my legs non-stop (which is way better than having to connect in HKG every time with the All-Asia Pass) and was actually cheaper too.

I inquired in an earlier post about gatewaylax.com and I decided to book my tickets thru them. I managed to get a good deal on a multi-leg journey (although not to LOS but to three other Asian cities) all on China Airlines (CI). I checked on CI's and I am confirmed and can even select my seats with my confirmation number. Looks like this particular gateway is based in LA and caters mostly to trips to Japan (seems most of the people answering the phones are Japanese women). Anyways, I thought I'd recommend them since they had the lowest fares I could find online and the agent I spoke with helped me choose a better flight time on one leg of the trip (at no cost) that was not coming up on their online flight search engine. Good luck, gentlemen.

Have any of you bought tix from this website? http://gatewaylax.com/

Might be cheaper to do Cathay's All-Asia Pass for $1199 and visit some other cities too: http://www.cathayusa.com/offers/allasiapass/subdefault.asp

They used to allow more cities within the 21 day period also instead of just two for the base price, and now they've got a $300 surcharge to cities in China. I can't figure that one out.

Fly to Hong Kong from the US, then 2 other Asian cities for $1099. Add other cities for $300. http://www.cathayusa.com/offers/AllAsiaPass/offer.asp

I'm still waiting for the SFO-BKK non-stop flight!

How much was the fare and on what airline? And when are you flying?

Looks legit. Anyone use them yet? :)

So anymore reviews of Alex? I may need a driver next month. OTOH, I may just book one from my hotel in BKK. Anyone know what are the going rates ?

Fellas, Thanks for the info. Perhaps my wording makes me sound like a cheap bastard, but that's far from it. I posted on another board asking how much the postage would be for sending out postcards from LOS and it's like 12-15B. One reply said I should save money for food instead if I couldn't afford the 15B. :-[ So my questions are strictly for purposes of knowing how much to pay and not how to be a "cheap Charlie."

I've been reading about these baht buses that cruise up and down the main roads, and that the cost is 10 to 20 Baht. How do you know what to pay when you get off?

Has anyone on this board stayed at the President Solitaire in the Sukhumvit area? It looks pretty luxurious and the prices aren't really that high considering what you're getting and the other high-end hotels in the area. BTW, what exactly is the big difference btwn a hotel and a serviced apartment? http://www.presidentsolitaire.com/hotels/p...ire/default.asp