BigDUSA

I booked with UA 6 May, PHL-BKK for $1,114. two stops ORD and NRT return 27 May.

I arrive on UA 853 and looking to share a ride to Pattaya.

John Cairncross was the fifth man.

I worked for the US Postal Service and one day they offered early retirement to almost all the employees. They offered six months salary to walk out the door, medical benefits for my family and a reduced pension. I took a 20% hit but I'm indexed for inflation. I walked out the door when I was 44 and that was 17 years ago.

Start your topic and see what happens.

LMAOAY You want to take a passing comment about how nice it would be and turn it into mole hill and then a mountain. Weird and silly.

What are you talking about?

I write a nice comment congratulating SQ on receiving their third delivery and you write a nasty response concerning load factor of their 747 as if I'm supposed to know the inner workings of SQ. Get real and how lame can you get.

I'm glad to see SQ add service with the 380. I'm waiting for then to start service between JFK-SIN. I'd give them a go to see what the 380 is like.

CHICAGO - Boeing Co. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit rose 4 percent on higher commercial airplane deliveries and strong growth in defense earnings, beating Wall Street's expectations despite ongoing concerns over delays in its 787 Dreamliner program. The world's second-largest commercial airplane maker said it continues to address problems in assembling the first 787s and slightly reduced its estimate for both 2008 revenue and deliveries because of the previously announced glitches. It said it remains on the revised schedule announced earlier this month. Boeing shares, which have fallen this year over 787-related concerns, rose 21 cents to $81.17 in morning trading after trading as low as $79.69 earlier in the session. Net income for the last three months of 2007 was $1.03 billion, or $1.36 per share, up from $989 million, or $1.29 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2006. That was 4 cents per share better than the consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Revenue was $17.5 billion, flat with a year earlier but slightly above analysts' forecast of $17.3 billion. The company increased its guidance for 2008 earnings per share to between $5.70 and $5.85 from an earlier range of $5.55 to $5.75, still short of the Wall Street consensus estimate of $5.95. It also lowered its estimate of 2008 revenue by $500 million, to a range of $67 billion to $68 billion, due to the 787 delay. Boeing's continued resurgence in the quarter was led by its Seattle-based commercial airplane manufacturing business, where operating earnings increased 46 percent to $973 million and revenue jumped 17 percent to $8.9 billion. Deliveries rose 9 percent to 112 and the record backlog grew 46 percent to $255 billion, reflecting strong demand for the 787 and other planes. The Chicago-based company closed the gap on Airbus in aircraft deliveries but still ended the year trailing its European rival for a fifth straight year, 453 to 441, while outpacing it in orders. It scaled back its estimate of 2008 deliveries to between 475 and 480, down from 480 to 490, to reflect the rescheduling of initial 787 deliveries into 2009. The unit's continued success depends on how quickly Boeing can untangle snags in the 787 program. Boeing said Jan. 16 it would push back the 787's inaugural flight until the end of the second quarter due to supply chain problems and slow progress on the assembly line, with the first delivery not expected until early 2009. Chief Executive Jim McNerney alluded to the unresolved 787 issues but did not elaborate in the company's earnings statement. "Despite some development program challenges, we are a strong company growing stronger and we expect continued improvement in our financial results in 2008 and beyond," he said. The company's St. Louis-based military contracting business saw earnings from operations decline 5 percent to $978 million and revenue fall 14 percent to $8.6 billion. The revenue drop was largely because results from a year earlier included two months of revenue from its Delta IV family of rockets, which are now part of United Launch Alliance, a joint venture with Lockheed Martin Corp. Boeing had full-year earnings of $4.1 billion, or $5.28 per share, up 84 percent from $2.2 billion, or $2.85 per share, in 2006. Revenue climbed 8 percent to $66.4 billion from $61.5 billion. Once again how sweet it is to see Boeing doing well.

I agree this is a good location and the hotels are fine. I've stayed at the Sabai Lodge years ago and I liked it. Good value for the money.

From the comments guys have made and pictures on the website this looks like good value for the money. I plan on checking it out as I like soi 2-3.

Cheap Charley always buys the cheapest non refundable ticket available. Sometimes I have to buy a more expensive ticket when I want to upgrade to business using frequent flyer miles. Next time you buy a ticket in the US check the fare rules regarding refunds due to a medical problem.

Guy mentioned in another topic he was to sick to fly and the airline didn't refund his money. If you fly on a US airline and you get sick the airline has to refund your money. YOU MUST CALL and cancel your flight before it takes off. Get note from your local MD and send it to the airlines along with a copy of your ticket receipt. Call customer service and get the address of the ticket refund office. Make copies of all documentation. You will get a refund. I'm speaking from personal experience on this. My wife and daughter came down with a nasty cold on the day we were to travel to LOS for a vacation.

sinbinjack, If they change the filters on a routine basis then yes it's safe. I would want to look inside to see how many filter cartridges they use. For me at least two is the minimum needed.

I've stayed at the Royal Orchid many times. Great hotel on the river. Every room faces the river. The view is fantastic. Rooms are well appointed and the bed is the equal of the Westin heavenly bed. Large selection of pillows to choose from. Hotel is away from the nite life but the Sky-Train is not far about a 15 minute walk or you can take a tut tut or water taxi to the station.

Remember when we went shopping for a filtration system before you moved into your condo? I recommended a three stage system then and I still stand by that recommendation. You can buy filters that are good for 3,000 gallons. That's well over a year for filter replacement.

I like the Majestic Suites on Sukumvit (s) around the corner from the Nana Hotel. Easy access to the Sky-Train station.

I stayed there for two nights and it's a good 5 star hotel with all the amenities you'd expect. One thing I lub about the Westin is the heavenly bed and selection of pillows. Good location near Soi cowboy. They mix a good drink at the bar but it's way over priced. When I was the bar there was a couple of unaccompanied Thai women in the bar. Board member Growler was surprised that a cheap Charley would stay at the Westin when he paid me a visit during my stay. He thought the room was well appointed with quality furniture.

I've flown with Thai JFK-BKK non stop that flies over Europe. I liked shaving hours off my journey. Only hassle is taking a ground shuttle from PHL to JFK. Adds two hours to the trip.

Boeing rolled out another delay yesterday in the first flight of its hot-selling 787 Dreamliner, and company executives left vague the latest goal for the first jet delivery to increasingly impatient airline customers. It could easily be more than three months into 2009 before the first buyer gets its Dreamliner. In a conference call Wednesday morning, executives outlined a revised timetable that postpones the 787's first flight a further three months, until June — fully 10 months behind the original schedule. But Boeing isn't ready yet to commit to a new schedule for 787 deliveries, said Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Scott Carson, because "we don't want to be in a position where we do this with you all again." So this time, Boeing is taking pains to avoid over-promising and won't unveil a new timetable for flight testing and delivery of the first plane until "the end of the quarter," meaning March 31, Carson said. In the meantime it will hold detailed discussions with its supplier partners, which Boeing blames for much of the Dreamliner delays, to ensure they can deliver on their commitments. "We have resisted the temptation this time to make a broad and sweeping generalization about where we are" on the program, Carson said. Despite the uncertainty, Carson insisted the mess on the 787 production line does not signify outsourcing gone bad. The new jet's global manufacturing plan is going to produce the game-changing aircraft Boeing has promised and airlines have ordered in record numbers, he said. "Everything that we're seeing in terms of the health of the technology and what it's going to deliver continues to give us high confidence in this program," Carson said. He got support from Henry Hubschman, CEO of airplane-leasing giant GECAS, which has not yet ordered any 787s. "It's more important to get it done right," Hubschman said in an interview. "The worst thing that can happen to an airline is that you deliver [an airplane] and then you have problems with it. ... That's a disaster." GECAS is still considering buying some Dreamliners, he said. Airlines unhappy Still, individual airlines will be hit. The Dreamliner's launch customer, All Nippon Airways of Japan, called the new delay "extremely regrettable," and an official told Bloomberg News in Tokyo that it may seek compensation. Geoff Dixon, CEO of Australian airline Qantas, said the company will discuss damages with Boeing in the coming weeks because its low-cost carrier Jetstar has 15 787s on order, most of them set for delivery in the first year of production. Adam Pilarksi, an aviation economist with consulting firm Avitas, said it could cost an airline $500,000 a month per airplane to substitute a leased wide-body jet for a Dreamliner it was expecting. Boeing will have little option but to pay up. But aviation consultant Michael Boyd of the Boyd Group said the delays won't affect the fuel-efficient jet's long-term prospects. "It's a whole new airplane we're going to need with $3-a-gallon jet juice." Boeing may also have to make advance payments to its major supplier partners, who will be squeezed for cash because they don't get paid until planes are delivered. "The company most vulnerable to this is Spirit [AeroSystems of Wichita, Kan.], which has about $5.5 million per airplane that is delayed," said Paul Nisbet, an analyst with JSA Partners. But Boeing has deep pockets. It doesn't expect a significant hit to the 2008 profit forecast, and 2009 profits should still be strong, executives said Wednesday. Getting first plane done The Boeing teleconference with media and Wall Street analysts gave details of the assembly delays on the first Dreamliner, which has turned into a fiasco. There was some good news: 787 program chief Pat Shanahan said parts shortage are no longer holding up the first jet. However, many of the parts are still sitting beside the assembly line. Mechanics can't install them because the work is all out of sequence. "About a month ago, we had on airplane No. 1 over 10,000 fastener shortages," Shanahan said. "We're down to hundreds." And out of several thousand system components that go into activating the airplane — including flap actuators, pumps, computers, and generators — only 27 are still missing. "By Monday, we'll have all 27 of those parts," Shanahan said. "So if the airplane were available on Monday, with the wiring, the tubing and the ducting, we would be able to install all of those system components." The next step on the jet would be to switch on the power and begin testing to ensure the systems work. That had been scheduled to start in late January. Unfortunately, the airplane won't be available Monday because the wiring, tubing and ducting aren't fully installed. Shanahan said he expects the airplane's power won't be turned on until March. The big issue now is out-of-sequence work, tasks the major partners were to do on the first airplane. Boeing underestimated how long it would take its employees to complete that work, Shanahan said, and it has clogged an Everett production system designed to efficiently perform only final-stage assembly work and system tests. Big headaches Simply reconciling the engineering records from supplier partners with the reality of the assembled sections received has been "very onerous and time consuming," he said. "We thought late December we would really turn the corner so we could start installing the systems racks and the wiring," Shanahan said. "We have not been able to finish that assembly work." The critical task now, he said, "is getting all the partner supplier factories doing the work they were supposed to be doing and so we're doing the work we were supposed to be doing." That's what will determine if the follow-on airplanes can be built much more quickly than the first one. After the first 787 flies, five others must be swiftly rolled out to do full flight tests and certify the jet before delivery can start. "I can see a path forward based on how much work we've completed," said Shanahan. "I'm confident that we've got the right plan and it's really about focus and execution." Carson acknowledged Boeing had offered similar assurances last fall. "I know our credibility is also being tested on this program," said Carson, "It is up to us to deliver."

LMAOAY and will continue to laugh at you.

Let's see who has more orders Airbus or Boeing??????????????? Laughs on you.

Once again if you only knew what your talking about. You'd be almost dangerous. Guess whose kicking Euro butt?????????????????????????????? Not Airbus. Did I read BOEING rules the order books?????? Damn straight I did.

Once again when your arguments lose traction you start with the personal attacks. Lame. I take it you don't know much about the transportation business. Airlines work together every day especially in the repair area. They loan or trade parts frequently. On the operational side they will on occasion do a 'favor' for another carrier because they know in the future they may need one.