DaveT_FL

Well I decided to take the plung and do Nana hotel upon arrival in BKK. I feel a little easier about it being my 2nd trip. Like has been said here "right of passage". The 11:45pm arrival of Korean Air help my decision too, lol.

Some friends of mine are visiting the PI while I'm in LOS and want to hook up in Pattaya. What airlines other than Thai, Phillipine Airlines, Cathy Pacific and Singapore should I try looking at for fares? The travel sites here all will not let you do a booking or inquire without starting in the US for a departure. Looking for good price. They only are going to be here for around 5 or 6 days before returning to the PI.

As far as the "fat" passengers go. Most airlines classify them as "POS", Passenger of Size. A PC term for being not fitting in the seat and we aren't going to make some other poor bastard share half of his seat with you. Sorry a little sensitive to that, lol. Did a coast to coast that way once, not fun. Anyway for POS they are required by certain airlines to buy a second ticket and use two adjoing seats. DaveT_FL

In my surfing I came across this interesting website http://www.seatguru.com/. Lot of useful info for planning your trip and air carrier. What are the "bad seats", do they have power outlets, etc. Just thought it might be helpful. DaveT_FL

Capthy Pacific is runnig this special for Bangkok. http://www.cathay-usa.com/specialfare/specials.asp This plus they are still having the "Asia Pass" fare for multiple cities in SE Asia. Damn and I have already booked with someone else. Looks like a good deal for flying to LOS from the US. Thought someone might want to take advantage of this.

Got tickets in today's mail . Finally got Thai on the phone for a pre assigned seat for that NRT - BKK leg. Did I read somewhere in the thread that you have to clear customs when making connections in NRT enroute to BKK? Whats with that?

Well since I delayed in booking my flights, the lower priced fares for the weekend I planned on going were gone . The flights I wanted would be an extra $350 if I wanted them. So now leaving JAX early on a Monday (0530 ) to ATL. There was a 7 am to connect with the same flight in ATL but from my experience, leaving in the AM this time of year, tells me to take the earlier flight with the 7 am as backup. Gives me the time to make the 10 am flight ATL-NRT non-stop (Delta, both legs). After booking I discovered I have enough FF miles for a class upgrade for this long leg. Waiting for Delta to get back to me. Connecting with a Thai flight NRT - BKK arriving 2215. All in for $969 round trip . Coming back starting with a 0125 departure from BKK - ICN on Korean connecting with another Korean flight to JFK, then final connections JFK-JAX. The Korean policy of not pre assigning seats for coach sucks . However, I was given a pre assigned aisle seat on the Korean flight from ICN to JFK anyway once the Delta reservation went through. Just have to get an assigned seat at the airport for the BKK - ICN leg. Delta tells me that I have to wait for the paper ticket to be processed so Thai can see my reservations and I can asked for a preassigned seating there for the NRT - BKK arrival leg. Oh well, Choose Delta because of 1) price, 2) available flights 3) earliest possible arrival time in BKK and returning to JAX 4) have 33K FF miles with them. A United flight pairing was a close second. Looked at pricing out flights via west coast. Price was about a wash but the other factors made the difference. Besides I rather just take the pain all in one big slug rather than breaking it up. After this first time experience I will probably re-evaluate that decision. But for now 10 weeks and counting DaveT_FL

pissed = (UK being drunk) (US being mad or upset)

Right now I'm researching to book my first trip. From my home in Florida Delta is the most cost effective. However they want me to connect on the share partner Korean Air from Atlanta to Souel then connecting on another Korean Air to BKK. I've heard and read very good reviews of Korean Air. It has a 0010 arrival time though. Through some research I found a Delta Flight that I can connect with out of Atlanta to Tokyo, then connect with a Thai International Airways flight to BKK arriving around 2215. Flight times from Atlanta about the same, uhghhh 15 + hrs. Any feedback or recommendation would be appreciated.