Steptoe

For the last two years I have been offered a business class upgrade for about £280 on the return flight from Swampy to Schipol when checking in online. Both times I have accepted partly because of the 'first class' progress through check-in, security, etc as well as the use of the lounge, even though this is a daytime flight so I didn't really need the lay-flat facility of the seats. This year I've had a email offering the 'opportunity' to participate in an online auction to bid for an upgrade on the outward journey (which is a nightflght so the sleeping arrangement will be of real ben

I have used the Bell Travel bus in the past as 'Cheap Charlie' transportation from Suvarnabhumi to Pattaya (and yes I know many members prefer taxis!). I have just sent my usual chatty email to book the bus for next week only to receive an automated reply directing me to their new website where one has to register etc, etc, and book online This is progress & a result of business picking up I suppose, but under the old order I always felt a little frisson of excitement hoping that it was a sweet little Thai cutie personally responding to my enquiry. Now it's just as inpersonal as bo

This was a slogan used in some advertising campaign to promote bus travel over air travel between cities, but in this instance it is a reference to the freebie National Express airport bus tickets that Eva offer 'from selected points' (presumably those towns served by the company) much as China Airlines used to offer freebie connecting flights to their Amsterdam departures (do they still do this BTW?) In my case with an evening departure and a approx 4 hour journey it is a good way of getting to Heathrow, but to answer your question, it is just a bus trip, no luggage check-in.

I tried to book Evergreen from Amsterdam but my usual source (West/East) wouldn't book it, in fact other on-line agencies similarly said they would only book tickets with a UK departure point. The Eva website quoted me 999 euros economy return for my dates, but wouldn't quote for Evergreen as this was fully booked. Booking a through departure from my local airport via Amsterdam was ridiculously expensive, almost twice the price of the direct Heathrow, nor was Eva offered as a carrier, so in the end once again, I booked from Heathrow for £470 with a free 'fly the bus' connection. Agree

When I called into the Thai offices on 3rd Rd to book a bus ticket, I was disappointed to be told that their bus is no longer running :crying Not too bad for Pty-Bkk as there is always the minibuses, though these are not my favourite option, but for Bkk-Pty the only public transport options now are the A3/Ekkamai/Pty or the metertaxi/MoChit/Pty routes, both arkward if one has bulky luggage. If this info has already been posted, apologies, I'm enjoying my time so much I haven't been keeping up with the board

If you are flying economy, Thai give you 34" to Eva's 32", however Eva offer Evergreen ( see other posts for details if interested ) Furthermore Thai fly daily, whilst Eva fly 3/4 (?) times a week. They also have an office in Pattaya which can be useful. Against this my personal exerience is that the Thai cabin crew often seem less organised & slick than Eva's, which matters if you are unable to sleep for most of the trip.

Why suffer a stopover when you can go direct for a budget price? http://www.leestravel.com/offers.htm show Thai at £380 + taxes ( restrictions apply ) and http://www.westeasttravel.com quoted me £407 for Thai, taxes included. Must be booked by 15th Feb so be quick. Westeast also had EVA Evergreen for £600 in March ( this is the one that I went for! )

Woody, yes you are correct, all those restrictions applied, a ticket with three month validity and flexible return date would have cost £567 for that same period. Do you or Tom know whether it is really necessary to reconfirm these restricted date tickets? I always do, just in case, but it seems a bit pointless, being as you have to fly on that date or not at all.

Tom, re. your query on Thai, flew out 20/1, returned 18/2, don't think there was a spare seat, ( in economy ) however I only paid £497 incl. for class Q, whereas a couple of mates paid £480 on Gulf for roughly the same period so I think they are fairly competitive. I am hoping to travel again in May but will hang on before booking to take advantage of any slack, who knows Evergreen may be available!

Agree with Woody re Westeast's efficient service ( Once when using another agency, who better be nameless, as I've forgotten their name anyway, I didn't get my tickets delivered until Iwas queuing at check-in...a nightmare! ) I think Westeast was one of Tom's many useful tips on the airline industry, used them twice now for Thai, they've always found me a seat on my preferred date. I try never to countdown like some board members, but I'm afraid the whole point of this post was to be able to mention that that I will be checking out Ricky's allegations this evening....Sorry ;D

When I went two years ago it was necessary to apply in advance for a visa, ie send passport & application form off to Vietnamese embassy in your home country with your required dates ( I month for tourist ) The passport comes back endorsed with visa. I was told it was not possible to get a visa on arrival but the rules may have changed since then. Km11.com has a vietnamese section & someone there may have the latest info

Thai Airways doesn't seem to get mentioned much, but after many trips with China & Eva, I've tried them twice and am quite impressed. The timings suit me very well, and at 34", the seat pitch in economy is among the best. Price used to be an issue but this year I paid £500 for a month with fixed dates and £537 for a 3 month open return ( Beach Road ticket office is very handy for any queries or alterations ) As Tom says, it's nice to travel with Thai cabin crew, and I'm always hopeful of an upgrade...

They have a web site which is being ' reconstructed ', it does, however, give a phone number; 0870 220 1001 and fax; 0870 220 1039 to contact them They had a seat available on Thai for my prefered departure date @ £537 inc taxes, they apologised for it being so expensive, but the cheaper seats had sold out, this one being for a maximim of three months stay, with a flexible return date. I was also tempted by Lee's Travel offer of £440 + £45 tax on Singapore Airlines with an option of a stopover in Singapore but in the end I took the non-stop option as the seat pitch of 34" on Thai su

Tom & Captain C. Thanks for your very helpful suggestions. Priceline sounds great but I would like to see a list of airlines that they use as I would think that by default you will end up with the less popular ones. The internet was supposed to usher in an age of last minute availability and booking and this site seems to hit the mark. I would guess for a flight in the next couple of days it would work well and you could end up with a bargain. As I only live a few miles from Norwich I used to be a regular on Air UK ( as it was then ) and CI 066 before I visited airsafe.com.....hmmm,

to give hope to financially challenged non-industry types on one glorious occasion I got an upgrade to biz from evergreen, even better it was on the way home, so the usual miserable trip passed in comfort....if I hadn't been so eager to sit down it would have been first as that is where the passenger whose boarding card had the same seat number was put! unfortunately, next month, due to the stockmarket doldrums, I will have to go to the bottom of the class and look for a circa £350/£400 trip....so if Tom or Colin have any suggestions for the best of the cheapies I will be for ever grateful

Hi Woody, I don't know how they squared it with the airline, but when I explained I was traveling alone and, in any case, wanted to get straight down to Pattaya, they gave me an accommodation voucher for a ficticious hotel, or at least, one I had never heard of, on the understanding that I wouldn't use it, and didn't charge me the single supplement of £50 quoted in the advert. I therefore got the headline price as Flight Only ( FO ).

Hi Woody, booked similar deal in March this year, it was with a consolidator ( Travel House ) rather than Thai directly, usual stuff re. two sharing included accommodation, but travel agent got round this so I paid the advertised price for FO. Steve, I'm also planning two trips in the next few months, did you get a discount by booking both together? Thx

Hi Sprinter, Sorry, but I seem to have mislaid their business card, never saw a computer so I guess you won't find them on the web. They only have about 10 rooms and some are permanently let so pre-booking advisable. Last time I phoned a TG who booked me a room, maybe another boardie who's passing might pick up the phone number. It's the first place on left past Henry J Bean's just as you hit Beach road after coming down hill from Dolphin roundabout. Cheers, Steptoe

Do you mean BJ's next door to Henry J Bean's, north end of Beach road? If so, yes, and can recommend it highly. American owner, Thai wife, very friendly efficient staff. Good restaurant, open to sea view, great value b/f. Stayed there twice, paid about 10,000 for month, if I hadn't got apartment I'd be still there. If you can, try to get one of the seaview room with a balconey.

I realise that the topics are listed in order of the most recent post to them, but on the old board the topics were listed in chronological order with the replies tacked on to them whenever they came in, maybe a day or two afterwards and IMHO this made it simpler to revisit any particular topic and to distinguish the new ones. Other members may disagree, and of course this may be a built-in feature of the new formatt which cannot be changed, but there is an option to view the ten most recent posts,if this is what is required. A problem is a solution waiting to be found

top of the members forum instead of the apparently random insertion into the middle of the existing posts. As my browser has got the sulks over the new board and insists on marking most, but not all, of the topics as ' New ' regardless of how many times I've read them, this means scrolling through all the pages checking the dates and/or trying to memorise the topic titles....not too much of a problem now, but as the number of posts increase :'( BTW, somebody mentioned flashing text, well I've no trouble with anything flashing but sometimes I get a jittering cursor, but only when the ami

Not a problem I hope :-/, but a benefit! When logging in via bookmark in Windows XP, I am land in the middle of the members section with a ' Hello Steptoe ", no guest screen, no login, but straight into the action. When TRYING to log-in via Windows ME, well 'nuff said >, basically I can't! Wondered if anyone else uses XP & if they get same result A problem is a solution waiting to be found

Firstly sorry for starting new topic but when I tried to contribute to Keefies thread I couldn't get in ???, oh well, if all else fails, read the instructions > Anyway I wondered if there is anyway to preview the profile pics before choosing one & putting it up, the wrong choice might cause a little embarrassment. If you see this Pete, thanks for giving up on sleep & sanuck for the benefit of the board