mendobrew

Flew China Air once… never again, SFO-TPE-BKK, old 747 with no AVOD, tight 31” pitch with old model seats and the cabin was kept WAY to warm. Service and food were average. If you read the travel section one of the other Pattaya boards, you will find a poster who reminds everyone that China Air has one of the worst safety records in the past 20 years … your still safer than you are in your car driving to work.

Link to the CBS feature: http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-g...aunch-pana.html

The Golf Club, Soi LK Metro. Steak nights every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. Best Steaks (for the price) in town IMHO. They show you the raw steak before and then cook it on the Weber grill out front. http://www.golfclubpattaya.com/site/index....1&Itemid=99

Sure... The SFO, PDX and the morning LAX DL flights to NRT (NRT is DL’s Asian hub)are on original Delta metal 767’s that have not been updated. The afternoon DL LAX flight is a 744 and it also still has the old cradle seats in BE. BE is an abbreviation for DL’s “Business Elite” class; as they have named it. The SEA and SLC flights to NRT are on original Northwest metal 333’s and 332’s. IMHO (and the far majority of posters on FlyerTalk) the A330’s are a much better ride transpac in both BE and Y due to better seats, layout and AVOD. Compared to the competition, the 767’s are an embarrassment to DL… but they realize this and are starting to upgrade their fleet. Unfortunately their plans are, and they have placed these upgraded planes on transatlantic routes first. Hopefully we will see the 330’s return to SFO (they were replaced by the 767 this past June into the bookable future), but PDX is a throwaway route by DL and they will be stuck with those old planes till the end. I have not flown in a new DL Cosmo seat; but the reviews from those who have are very positive. DL's second quarter reports were very promising, their cash flow is ahead of budget; we can only hope that this will speed up their planed upgrade schedules.

Delta’s new Cosmo seats… We won’t see those on CA Asian routes for years… same old beat up 767’s. Until then, its worth a hop up to SEA to catch a A330 for a decent BE seat.

Yep... after a bit of playing with the CX site, I can get that flight. I just had to select individual flights, but that took it out of the current deals. Went from $970 to $1174, still not a bad price for CX. So now do I take CX at $1174 or go Korean at $877 with an 8 hour layover in Seoul?

Interesting, I saw that early flight offered on Kayak via Orbitz for Sunday Oct 17... but the CX site does not offer it... at least not from North America. Wonder why?

CX only has 2 flights a day HKG- SFO (HKG is the transfer for BKK) #'s 870 & 872. The shortest layover in HKG from BKK-SFO to get #870 (11:35 into SFO) is 14+ hours...Thanks, but no thanks.

They land at SFO @ 10:pm…. Last shuttle to Monterey leaves at 10:00. Great prices also... I have read many good things about CX… but their econ seats that slide forward instead of reclining scare me for a 12+ hour flight… have you used those seats?

Only problem with Thai out of LAX is the late return and not being able to get a flight back north the same night. (MRY in my case) I am a big fan of EVA elite, but they just cut back to 8 flights a week and the prices have gone WAY up ($1500+). My favorite, #27 on Thursdays is gone… SQ econ is my second choice, but they have also gone up. Looking at Korean for my next trip and dealing with the 8 hour layover on the way back with a $35 six hour room at the airport hotel in Seoul.

Now that I have made my reservation again for this fall; I need to make a comment on this thread. Good new places like the Armageddon seem to book up fast after people find out about them… I stayed at the Armageddon in the Galaxy room for 16 days last October; it’s a great place! Mark went out of his way to take care of a few small problems when I brought them up and resolved them ASAP (remember the installation of the new drapes Mark… ). As I write this a friend is staying in the Hollywood room and has given it the thumbs up…I have recommended the Armageddon to several of my friends and will continue to do so. The place was a dump when it was Lennies, but step by step Mark has cleaned the place up and made improvements. I’ve seen the time and work he has put into the place and can understand him being defensive about a negative comment that was never brought to his attention. When I was there sheets were changed every other day unless you requested otherwise. Towels were changed daily, the housekeeper mopped and cleaned the room and bathroom daily. Cleanliness was not an issue! The TGs in the bar are mostly freelancers from what I saw, so they tend to come and go; but always a few nice choices around. Soi LK Metro is a great place to stay, and the Armageddon is a nice addition. Mendo

I have used EVA many times from SFO, very good airline, much better than any US based airline. If you are on the 777, G row is the best choice due to the lack of AVOD box (as mentioned above) and because generally you will be not bothered to get up to let the person next to you out as much. An isle seat on the sides has one way out and two other seats to let out to the isle, an isle seat in the center only has one middle seat to let out. The odds are better that if you as a single traveler takes G row that a couple will be seated in the other two seats, and the wife will always crawl over her husband to get out rather than bothering you… not always the case, but better than knowing you will be bothered several times on the side isle seats.

This past September (purchased in June), from SFO on Singapore was $199, without taxes and fees…$679 all in. Still a great price for SQ.

Avast! (the exclamation point is part of the name) has been so good in the free home version that I paid for the professional version for my business. No problems, very fast and self loads updates. Even the new Norton is a system hog, and after you install they will try to get you to pay more for a somewhat faster upgrade. The only thing fast about Norton is their loss of market share in the last 2 years.

I also pulled the trigger on this SQ fare…$679.11 SFO-BKK. I have been a died-in-the-wool EVA elite class flier in the past, but this price and SQ’s reputation got me to switch and give them a try. I have always been a big fan of EVA’s seats and the leg support, but that and a few hours are the only positives I can think of. SQ has the newest design seats, the best AVOD, and great service. The closer for me was Cuban Cigars at SIN are supposedly the cheapest outside of Central America… I gain a 4 hour layover in SIN and a 2 hr flight up to BKK, but the other side is that I get in early enough to catch the Bell Bus. LIGTR… This was was attached to the e-ticket… Airport/Government Taxes Carrier Surcharges Customs User Fee(YC) -USD5.50 Airline Insurance(YQAD) -USD20.00 APHIS User Fee - Passengers(XA) -USD5.00 Airline Fuel Surcharge(YQAC) -USD384.00 Passenger Facility Charge(XF) -USD4.50 Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee (Domestic/International)(AY) -USD2.50 Passenger Service Charge(Domestic/International)(TS) -USD20.41 Transportation Tax (Domestic/International)(US) -USD32.20 Immigration User Fee(XY) -USD7.00 Total Airport/Government Taxes -USD77.11 Total Carrier Surcharges -USD404 Tickets: Adult - USD198.00 (USD198.00 x 1) Airport/Government Taxes: Adult - USD77.11 (USD77.11 x 1) Carrier Surcharges: Adult - USD404.00 (USD404.00 x 1) Total: - USD679.11 Zues… Watch out for CI, those old 747’s have no AVOD In economy and some pretty hard seats, at least EVA and SQ (out of SFO) fly new 777er’s

This is GREAT news

Another trick is to find a flight out of SFO and then look for the cheapest flight into the Bay Area instead of just SFO. Easy transportation can be had from OAK and SJC to SFO, and often there are better bargains to these area airports.

LK Metropole… 3000 day/ 19500 week for a one bedroom suite with the FLB rate. Includes breakfast in the restaurant any time of the day. Very guest friendly. Location is very central and moto taxi stand at the end of the entrance. Excellent gym.

Just booked a return trip to the Metropole with the FLB rate of 19,600ThB per week for a one bed room suite October 20 - 28. Thank you Martin for arranging for the FLB discount rate! Stayed at the Metropole last spring in the same room and was extremely pleased with the amenities, the attention to detail from the housekeeping staff and the wonderful service from the breakfast staff. The location is great and it was only a quick Baht Bus to the FLB. The staff treated my TG with the utmost respect as well as polite acceptance by other guests. One of my favorite memories of my last trip was a conversation with an older English gentleman in the health club steam room one morning, and his amazement that I was up every morning working out in the gym after a long night of “working out”... Looking forward to my next stay! Mendo