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they are excellent for the soapies. you can get a close up of the faces. wouldn't dare walk into a soapie without one.

I thought they just renovated the lobby area at the old Dynasty, not the rooms. Yes/no?

I stayed at the Areca once. I found it a bit of a pain to cross 2nd rd all the time. Dangerous. They should build overcrossings like like have in Bangers.

The hotel provides free transport into town at 10 , 2 , 4 and 8PM. Other times you can take a short walk to the main road where many bahtbusses are waiting or you can hire the hotel bahtbus if it's there for about 80 baht. Return is by hired bahtbus only , about 60-80 baht . Almost all bahtbus drivers know this place now and I found getting to town and back very easy and I much appreciated the peace and quiet and nice big pool.

Bit confused here.....why would your lugguge get wet if it's in an enclosed locked compartment under the bus?

This silly practice is written in the fine print before you buy E-Tickets by some but not all carriers regardless of where you depart. The practice of actually asking for the card at check in seems to be spotty. It is not illegal for someone else to purchase a ticket for me with their credit card or for that matter a credit card is not even required to purchase an airline ticket. If I wanted to I could walk into the EVA air office in San Francisco and fork out a bunch of cash and buy one. Then what do they do at check in? Tell me I didn't use a credit card and make me buy one with a credit

Well. we did read your post, that's why we are responding. Your original post did not say but definately indicated that you were required to purchase a new ticket, at least that's what I thought when I first read it. Apparently you didn't have to purchase one. Is this correct? You were just a bit pissed about EVA air's carry on requirement that you decided to include what the check in agent told you about the credit card vs. the E-ticket. Check in agents are required to quote rules and regulations. If you presented a valid passport and your identity is confirmed it's doubtful EVA air or any

Limitations on carry on baggage has little to do with weight and balance for a particular aircraft. Has more to do with the structural integrity of the overhead compartments. I use Cathay exckusively and even though the website says that the credit card may be required at check in, they have never asked for it at SFO. I've never really understood this requirement that the credit card used to make the purchase must be shown at check in. What happens if your credit card gets stolen after you make the purchase? or for that matter..what happens if your credit card expires after you mak

Many people stay at the Areca , love it and are not bothered by crossing second rd. It it certainly not a 'bitch" to cross, but it can be inconvenient at times depending on how many times you have to cross. All the crosswalk does is show the bahtbus drivers you don't need to be picked up and they just wizz by. Nobody stops for pedestrians which is a general rule in all of Pattaya. As mentioned above, if you're concerned just stay at one of the nearby hotels on Soi 13.....Lek, Dynasty , Sandy Springs.... All good places and easier access to beach road.

Areca is a nice place . Actually , the only think I don't like about the place is having to cross 2nd road everytime you go to walking st. Pain in the arse.

I always use e-tickets and have never had a problem . they are certainly the way to go. Another feature of E-tickets is if you have to change your departure or return dates it's a simple process of a computer entry and sending a new email rather than returning the paper ticket before they will issue a new one.

Good report, thanks. Being an aviation enthuthiast myself I certainly appreciate the pics and the review of EVA. These are great reports and useful information given the travel time to Bangkok from many departure points can be upwards of 18 hours and the flights can play a significant role in one's total holiday experience.

Travellers checks usually do have the best rate of exchange but only if you don't have to pay a fee to get them. If you walk into an American express store here in the US, they will charge you a fee of 1% of the TC amount. If you can get the TC's without a fee as some, but not all banks do, then they are the way to go. Also, American Ex has a new travellers check card that is loaded with an amount of funds before you go and then used at ATM's in the country you travel to. It can be replaced if lost or stolen just like TC's. Currently Bangkok Bank ATM's are the only ones that accept them but

Completely understandable, a lot of men feel a bit uncomfortable walking past reception with a girl or 2. At first they do. After you do it a few times you become desensitized and could care less what they think. The people at reception at all the hotels in Pattaya see men with bar girls walk in and out all night and day long and don't care. My suggestion for you would be to sit in the lobby of any of the popular hotels on Pattaya for awhile and watch how many come in with girls. After a bit you won't care either and as others have posted it really is to your advantage to stop at reception a

Actually that's not quite true as most consolidator tickets are refundable and changeable. I've changed departure dates a few times without problems although I had to pay the 150 change fee. Same fee for a cancellation. I use : http://www.justholiday.com/ based in San Francisco but there are many out there.

Alot of people that I know use : http://www.angeltravel.com/ I think they are somewhere in Chicagoland but just Fedex the tiks to ya. I've really never had a problem with consolidators and I've bought a flock of tickets.

Strange that the Areca is full up 5 months away. I know it's popular but almost any hotel should be available 5 months away, even at Christmas time. Sandy Springs is good, close to Areca, also Dynasty Inn , both on soi 13. Not sure what the contruction will be like on soi 13 then, hopefully it's almost done. Never stayed at the RG but a friend said the hotel had rock hard beds and he had trouble sleeping.

First and business class may make alot of money for airlines but by far the economy seats generate the most revenue for airlines.

You have to have faith in the aircraft designers and engineers. Emergency egress and disembarkation are all carefully considered when designing aircraft. The A380 will carry more passengers but will more than likely have the same emergency door per passenger ratio then any other aircraft. I'm sure some aviation authority whether it be FAA or ICAO have guidelines in place for this as well as additional training for the flight attendants.

Yes, freq flyer miles. No AA freq flyer miles but the e-ticket is still eligible for Asia Miles for which you can use on further Cathay flights or on any airline in the One World alliance except for AA. www.asiamiles.com

They have actually reduced the fare slightly to 3250, probably due to lack of sales. http://www.thaiair.com/About_Thai/Limousine/fares.htm

Thai Limo service is part of Thai airways as you can access their website via the Thai airways website. I wouldn't neccesarily say you have been ripped by as other posters have indicated just by paying considerably more than most people. It's all about values. One could say a person got ripped off if you stay at the Shangri-La instead of the Nana hotel but they are different classes of hotels as there are different classes of transportation services. As you say , you don't worry too much about money and you prefer a very nice vehicle then just pay the extra and go with the Thai Limo service.

Better connection? What kind of connection do you want? Unless you have a buring desire to fly Singapore it would be more convenient just to take Cathay all the way as their schedules/layovers are very good . Arrives HKG 0655 departs for paradise at 0855(from SFO) I've never used them but know many people that have used Angel Travel based somewhere in the midwest and they have some good prices: http://www.angeltravel.com I always use one here in San Francisco: http://www.justholiday.com/ I email them in the morning with my request and by the afternoon I am confirmed.

Yeah...Cathay has always been great to me , I guess since I've flown the same carrier for the last 3 years I'm favoring a change and since I love Thailand so much I thought I might try the national carrier. Also , the Thai flight is a direct flight , it stops at Narita but no worries about connections, you just re-board the same aircraft . I remember one time on Cathay from SFO the headwinds where so great we had to stop in Taipei for fuel and I ended up missing my connection in Hong Kong. Cathay just put me on the next flight to Bangkok 5 hours later but it's stressful when your flight is l

You LA chaps are lucky, I'd love to fly Thai airways but they don't operate from SFO. If you book Thai airways from SFO you'll get a code share flight with United to Narita or a code share with United to LAX first , then Thai . My airline of choice for the last 3 years has been Cathay Pacific. Excellent airport staff, good food, video monitors in every seat, Outstanding Hong Kong lounges, good connection/arrival times and an attractive aircraft staff.