glynbuk

Hi, Hope your having fun over there, i went a couple of years ago and didn't really like it compared to Pattaya. Plenty of Atm's in the shopping mall over the road. You should join the full forum if you want to see more of the board, look at the top of the page of this forum area where your post is listed and look at the top which says "Read this before posting" etc, info is in there

Per can ???? Bloody hell, its 8 cans (400g each) for 3 quid in iceland supermarket and tesco's in the uk too are doing 10 cans for 3 quid in the paper today

Very nice pics hammer, cheers for that

I used Kayak.co.uk to track the fares of business and first and they sent me an email daily with the updated prices. Once the price was right i clicked the kayak link and it sent me to the emirates own website and the terms of cancellation was a £100 fee if cancelled up to the day of departure and that was important. Last year (2008) i booked through westeasttravel to fly Thai airways in first class, i paid £3200 and the yellow shirt thing happened and i had to change, westeast caused me a lot of hassle changing and after the charge of £175 and the cost of flying Business on Cathay Pacific to Manila (which cost nearly as much as the first class fair on Thai because i changed so late in the day) then i had to fight to get them to refund the balance of £209, although i got it eventually. Currently on Kayak, the cheapest for business on my dates is Thai at £2267 and emirates is showing at £2648 through Expedia or £3310 direct with Emirates. For first class Thai is about £3613 and Emirates is about £3679, both with Ebookers, Normally with Expedia etc the booking terms are worse in that there can be a no change/use it or lose it situation, so you have to be careful with them. 6 days and one doctors appointment and hopefully he will say its ok to fly and i am away.

I treated myself for the trip which starts in 7 days time, i booked Emirates in First Class when the price dipped in May of this year and got what i believe to be a fair price of £2560 ($4147) for a round trip, two legs of which are on the A380 and 3 of the legs of the journey i am in what is described as a First Class Suite. Plus i can get a Chauffeur driven Limo to and from the airport all in the price. Never flown first before, always business class on my long trips and paid not far away from the above first class price. Time will tell whether it was worth it.

# I think by the above you mean "booking classes" that has nothing to do with seat pitch, that just tells you whether you can change flight days without charge etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel_class#...omy_class_codes

Never heard of that, the UK regulations for Economy state a minimum pitch of 26 - 27 inches http://www.uk-air.net/seatpitch.htm BA for example have 31 inch for short haul and long haul flights in Economy Thai is about the best for the Bangkok trip from the UK at (I believe) 34 inch pitch as against - say - Emirates at 32 inch. Seatguru.com will give you plenty of info on what pitch most airlines give for each type of plane. I have never flown long haul in economy but have flown short haul on Thomas Cook at 27 inch pitch and it was horrendous for a 3 hour flight. 11 days to wheels up for my 86 inch pitch

i use AVG 9 free version and i have not had a problem, keep it up to date and it works fine http://free.avg.com/us-en/download-avg-ant...us-free-edition

Interesting stuff, might give it a go when i arrive at Xmas

Great stuff Hammer, just over 3 weeks and i will be in for a few beers

Yes, i think you could be right, wait till jan/feb for your prices to maybe drop. Try Kayak.co.uk and get them to email you daily / weekly with the prices on your dates and routes, works quite well.

last time i was there for new year, they had live bands etc on stage and the end of walking street with many stalls and stuff selling all sorts of food and bugs etc

Hey Brown1950, have you not thought of joining the full forum ??? click here http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5880

The fleet of A380's is getting bigger by the month so i would assume lots more places will see them http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405...0096941262.html Roll on, 4 weeks today i am on the 777-300ER to Dubai and then the A380 on to Bangkok

Worth a try i guess, if its cold i shall not bother though

Always remember, after typing the PM, before you hit the send button to look just above the send button and you will see two (tick)boxes Click the "add a copy of this message and it will save it to your sent folder.

I stayed at the Metropole a couple of years ago and it was a nice hotel, only problem i had was the water pressure in my shower was poor. Tim's is supposed to be good but can be pricey http://www.scandibar.com/hotel/tim-boutique/ Tim's have a special on superior rooms for up to end of October http://www.timboutiquehotel.com/ I think its up this side road off Second road (sure its this side road) http://www.pattayaphotoguide.com/?udvRUpmqkc2B

Thanks for the report and pics Zaphod, looks good

I have been searching long and hard for info and found this http://www.businesstraveller.com/tried-and...-lounges,-dubai So i am ok in T3 then

Some good ones

And pictures @crowsnest So the Ban Chang trip, what transport do you use ???

Sounds good

I fully understand what your saying, i tried 3 different sites and only one showed that joiners, but with those compulsory meals that kicks it out, i am not paying nearly 100 pounds for a meal which i don't want and don't enjoy, i had that at the LK Metropole 2 years ago and they played bingo during the meal, seconds later i walked out. I have the Sandy spring booked and i will stick with that Cheers for your efforts in posting, appreciated.

Hotelthailand.net says Joiners fee 600 baht per night without breakfast they also say( i am going at Xmas) I don't think i will bother

Thanks for the review, looks good, is it guest friendly ???