Fireman Sam

The same documentary was showing on Emirates on-board entertainment system a few months ago, not sure if it's still on. Have flown on Emirates A380 about 4-5 times now, great aircraft, if you are in Y go for seat 68A,68K,81A or 81K, unlimited legroom siting in these seats. Still to fly business class on it, nearly impossible to upgrade using your miles. I'm also booked on it again in September from Dubai to Bangkok, and again in November. Best Regards Fireman Sam

Most of those on benefit live there don't they ?? Best Regards Fireman Sam

Good to see BA getting the recognition they deserve !!!!!!!!!!!! Best Regards Fireman Sam

Jacko, Been on Emirates A380'S about four times now, never managed to get upstairs to business class yet. If you have to slum it in cattle class then 68A,68K or 81A,81K are the best seats to go for IMHO, unlimited legroom great seat. Unless of course I'm on the same flight!! Best Regards Fireman Sam

Hi folks, If anybody is looking for a decent serviced apartment to stay in whilst in Bangkok, I will join Cheshire Tom's and Torrenova's recommendation for this place. Spent three nights there at the end of March and was highly impressed with the place. Not sure if they are girl friendly or not as was there with my Thai wife and stepdaughter. I thought the location was great Tom, no problems getting to or from the apartments. Best Regards Fireman Sam

I think nus01, has answered for me. There is not a lot to choose location wise from any of their properties. I feel for a little extra cash the Resort feels classier somehow. Found them always good to deal with directly or via a booking company. I am booked into a Ruen Thai Villa for the end of March for a few days. Best Regards Fireman Sam

Have you looked at the Sabai Resort. My preferred choice from the group of properties. Special deal on just now http://www.sabairesortpty.com/index1.html Best Regards Fireman Sam

Sabai Resort (same group) is worth a look, better than the lodge IMHO. Always stay there when in Pattaya, booked in from 28th March - 31st March. Best Regards Fireman Sam

Thanks Tom, Look forward to seeing real photographs rather than the enhanced efforts on most websites these days. How far down soi 16 are the apartments approximately ? Will look out for the Foodland store. Best Regards Fireman sam

Hi, First off, I did a search of the forum and the results are mostly a few years old at least. I have booked a two bed-roomed apartment Deluxe Tower B for three days at the end of March. I am travelling with my Thai wife and 13 year old step-daughter. Got a rate of 3300 baht per night through Agoda, which I thought was okay for Bangkok. Has anybody stayed here recently, there are reviews on Agoda which are mostly positive. Just thought I would ask any boardies for any personal experiences. Best Regards Fireman Sam

villa 'wrote' Agree with you there villa, but better than giving the robbing c##ts at apple 99 pence for a 30 second clip when the whole original song only costs 79 pence. Works for me every time and I ain't to quick with this pc stuff. On another note, when I received my i-phone from orange in the UK the guy said it was unlocked already, will try see if this is the case next week with my Thai sim. Best Regards Fireman Sam

MIGHTYONE 'wrote' Here's how I do it, nicked of the net some place. long winded but it works for me. Right click on the song in i-Tunes and select "get info" Go to the "options" tab Type in start and end point i.e (0:00-0:30) the ringtone can't be any longer than 30 seconds then click OK Now the song will only play that section in i-tunes, now go up to the top of i-tunes and select the "advance" tab and "convert selection to ACC" this will now create a new file under the original song of the ringtone clip that you want. Drag that new clip (30 secs) onto your desktop and then delete it from the i-tunes library (this is really important) select remove to recycle bin. Now go to the clip you have dragged onto your desktop and change the file extension (on the top line) from "ringtone.m4a" to "ringtone.m4r" you will notice the file will change and now it will be a ringtone clip. Double-click on the file and it will automatically appear in the ringtones tab in i-tunes. To be able to use multiple tracks on the i-phone you must now right click on the ringtone in the ringtone tab and select "get info" and clear all information in the "info" and "sorting" tabs, only leave the ringtone name, get rid of all the track numbers etc and also remember to set genre to none. You can now add as many custom ringtones onto your i-phone as you wish. All you need to do is remember to reset the time in the original song you used or it will only play that 30 sec clip. You should be able to change file extensions by just highlighting over whatever file extension it is and replacing it with the one you want. To do this just right click on the file, and click on the properties on the pop-up menu. Then where you see the name of the file just highlight and change the file extension which is the .xxx on the end. Windows does however hide the file extension by default so if you can't see the file extension on the end of the name then you need to change your settings. Go into control panel> folder options>view> and under the advanced settings, clear the 'hide extensions for known file types' check box, and click OK. This then allows you to display file extensions, and can therefore be changed as described above. If I can do it then anybody can. Best Regards Fireman Sam

Brown1950 'wrote' Read today that it is confirmed from the 1st September. The above info is tentative and subject to change for operational reasons and subject to delivery of aircraft from Airbus on time. It is not yet clear where the freed up B77Ws from these routes will be deployed. The new A380 flights haven't been loaded into reservation systems yet as this is still a provisional plan. By January 2011 Emirates will have 15 A380s inshallah. These aircraft will fly from DXB to JFK, YYZ, MAN, LHR, CDG, SYD, AKL, ICN, PVG, PEK, BKK and JED. Best Regards Fireman Sam

I used to be a gold member of their FF scheme and flew on the Amsterdam route with them all the time. They are still using an old 747 on the Amsterdam route. The on-board entertainment is the movie projected onto the bulkhead and relayed round all the other small screens in the plane, very 1980's. The food was okay nothing special and enough drink service. The timings are good, arriving early morning into Bangkok. I stopped using them a couple of years ago when they started to cut the mileage they gave you with the cheap tickets. I now use Emirates via Dubai and actually enjoy the break during the journey now. Best Regards Fireman Sam

moby69, Why not depart from MAN or BHX on the evening flights with Emirates, then catch the A380 the next morning from Dubai, that's what I do from ABZ, if I can. Well worth it IMHO, great aircraft, try and get seat 68A if flying economy. Best Regards Fireman Sam

Brown1950 'wrote' Also read that EK384/385 DXB-BKK-HKG will be upgrading to a A380 as well. Not sure when but apparently it is in the operating plan. Will give 2 times daily A380's to BKK from DXB, make for easier connections to make the whole journey on A380's. Best Regards Fireman Sam

Travelled on Emirates A380 in September from Dubai to Bangkok, great plane feels very spacious and quiet, no sensation of speed when taking off. If your are travelling on Emirates (economy) try and get seats 68A,68K,81A or 81K unlimited legroom with no seat in front of you, unless of course I'm on the same flight. Far better than their 777's. Back on it again on 28th November. Best Regards Fireman Sam

If your are going down the PC route and can wait, the release of the new windows operating system Windows 7 is due on 22nd October. Maybe just a point to consider. Best Regards Fireman Sam

eycplUK 'wrote' Hi eycplUK, Think you maybe mixing me up with another board member. I have never stayed in the RG, in fact I am very rarely in Pattaya these days, I am a Nakhon Phanom resident 99% of my time in Thailand now. Will certainly let you know what I think of the aircraft, just hope that it is not substituted for an 777 as happen either yesterday or today. Best Regards Fireman Sam

First shot on it next week flying 9th September BXB-BKK. Looks good, have managed to get seat 68A which has plenty of legroom apparently. Best Regards Fireman Sam

Emirates fly from BHX but with a change in Dubai. Not sure about any deals this late. I normally use BHX, but in September I am booked out of MAN, paid £430 a few months ago. Best Regards Fireman Sam

Why is this posted in the secure forum. Best Regards Fireman Sam

I have both cards, the cash card was used yesterday the 28th may, all the Thai banks in Nakhon Phanom were charging 150 baht for using it. You can withdraw £300.00 UK everyday, just multiply the baht rate to get equivalent baht. I thought you had to have a flex account to get the cash only card, well learn something new everyday. Best Regards Fireman Sam

I have used it in Thailand no problem at all. If you have a flex account card (blue one) which I think you must have if you have the cash only card, use this one as you get slightly better exchange rates. Something to do with visa and cirrus rates. Remember that there is now 150 baht charge for using it in a Thai ATM machine. Best Regards Fireman Sam

I also use Emirates all the time now, I have a gold card with them. I always book 7C or 7H on their 777er's when travelling in Y, they are the furthest forward aisle seat of the row of three. The bulkhead only comes across the first two seats allowing unlimited legroom. You also get served first with the grub and is cleaned away first, will nearly always get you choice as well. For the 777-300 the same seats are 16C-16H or some aircraft configuration 17C-17H. It also gives you a head start for the race to the immigration queue, although not nearly as bad nowadays. The only drawback with these seats are they are beside the bassinet seats, so you risk having some ankle biter playing up all flight. The bassinet seats are not bookable online, so if you keep checking the manage your booking on their website and the blue seat is taken, then you are guaranteed to have an ankle biter beside you, up to you then if you want to change seat. The seats are quite narrow and you sometimes get people bumping into your shoulder when you are seated. Toilets are also beside these seats. The seat maps nearly always show a nearly empty aircraft but are always very busy. I think a lot of people from the Asian sub continent don't book their seat in advance. They are allocated their seat at the airport. Just my take on things, I know a lot of people swear by the aft seats. Best Regards Fireman Sam