EVA Economy Deluxe vs Thai LAX non-stop

[ricklev 0]

I am flying to LAX in December and just noticed that Thai is now booking a non-stop flight. I think, but am not positive, that they are using the same plane and seating as the Bangkok-JFK non-stop, which I have never flown.

 

Does anyone know how the Thai economy seats on the non-stops compare to Evergreen Deluxe? I really like the width of Evergreen Deluxe seating as I know I won't be rubbing shoulders with anyone.

 

Which flight might you recommend?

 

Thanks!

[zaphodbeeblebrox 0]

I haven't flown Thai non-stop yet. I have been deterred by the extremely high cost. The cheapest I've seen LAX-BKK is $1400, double the cost of an EVA flight. I've always had good luck with EVA.

[exwannabe 1]

I haven't flown Thai across the Pacific yet, but here's what I gather so far.

 

You are probably flying on the Airbus 340-500 with 2 classes of economy seating. The executive economy looks nice. Its 2-3-2 with 42'' pitch. The plain economy is 2-4-2 with 36'' pitch.

 

To know which ticket you are looking at on thier website, exec econ is fare class Y, while the small seats are flare class B. Sometimes they use "restricted" for plain economy and "unrestricted" for exec. econnomy. You might just call to be safe.

 

From flying Thai elsewhere, I would assume the exec ecoonomy is a better seat/service/ride than EVA's ED, while the plain economy is too small for me. And I do like Thai's hours (though they are only flying a few flights now).

 

That said, unless the price gap narrows a little, I am sticking with EVA ED for now.

[echster 1]

I am flying to LAX in December and just noticed that Thai is now booking a non-stop flight. I think, but am not positive, that they are using the same plane and seating as the Bangkok-JFK non-stop, which I have never flown.

 

Does anyone know how the Thai economy seats on the non-stops compare to Evergreen Deluxe? I really like the width of Evergreen Deluxe seating as I know I won't be rubbing shoulders with anyone.

 

Which flight might you recommend?

 

Thanks!

I made a comparison of this exact situation you describe about 1 month ago. However, I can't even find it so I'll state my opinion again.

 

What this comes down to is: how much do you value your time? Let me explain. An economy seat on Thai's non-stop flight runs roughly $1400. An Evergreen Deluxe/Elite Class ticket on EVA Air from LAX runs roughly $850-1000, depending on the time of year.

 

The Thai non-stop leaves LAX at 2230 and arrives in BKK at 0640. Total time of flight is 17+10 hours. The EVA Air flight leaves at 2355 and arrives in BKK at 1120, or leaves at 1530 and arrives at 0140. Depending upon the EVA Air flight you choose, the time saved going non-stop with Thai is between 2 hours and 3+15 hours.

 

Is $400-550 difference in airfare worth 3 hours of your time?

 

BTW, I was messing around this morning and found Evergreen Deluxe departing LAX early December and return mid-December for $910.

[ricklev 0]

Perhaps I am wrong, but isn't the Thai flight only a single class of executive economy (or whatever they are calling it)? The fares are about the same at $900 or so from Bangkok, which makes the non-stop attractive.

 

However, I hate sharing an armrest and don't want to literally rub shoulders for 17 hours with someone sitting next to me who happens to have no respect for my space.

 

The EVA flight offers business class style seats which offer individual armrests and a slight division between the seats, which generally means just enough space to protect me from the potential discomfort of an idiot in the seat next to me.

 

Does anyone know if this is true of the seating on the Thai flight?

 

Thanks.

[short 215]

I caught a thai flight between bkk and tokyo this september. A340 in cattle class. The seats did rotate a little and leg rests fold down from below the seat in front. But the seats are still small and the padding is thin. It was uncomfortable. If you must sit in a cattle class seat, American is the best way to go.

Edited October 15, 2005 by short

[too_mutt 10]

Depending upon the EVA Air flight you choose, the time saved going non-stop with Thai is between 2 hours and 3+15 hours.

 

Is $400-550 difference in airfare worth 3 hours of your time?

Somehow the idea of getting on the plane in Los Angeles and stepping off in the Land Of Smiles is quite appealing. My question would be: Is the flying experience on Thai at least as good as EVA? I don't know the answer. Arriving at Don Muang at 6:40 AM on Thai Air is great because I can get to Pattaya by 10 AM and have nearly a full day to get situated. Right now I am leaning toward Thai Air. Also, I am reading that the seats on the B777-300ER are somewhat less comfortable than the B744, and I don't know how they compare to the A340-500.

 

Here is the link to the Thai Air A340-500 seat map. The seat pitch looks pretty good, even in cattle class.

 

http://www.thaiair.com/Travel_Destination_...aps/A3452_l.htm

 

 

Regards

Edited October 15, 2005 by SoCalGuy

[cowboy 0]

I have been on thai several times between hkg and bkk or nrt and bkk when using star alliance ff miles. the flight would have sucked had it not been for the fact that every time i have been on thai there were lots of empty seats so it was always possible to either have no one siting next to me or to move to a seat with empty seats next to me. otherwise thai would be the same as typical cattle class in united, ingapore etc. service about the same as united just better looking FA.

all my friend fly eva delux. they say it is a nice wide seat.

[exwannabe 1]

Perhaps I am wrong, but isn't the Thai flight only a single class of executive economy (or whatever they are calling it)?  The fares are about the same at $900 or so from Bangkok, which makes the non-stop attractive.

 

However, I hate sharing an armrest and don't want to literally rub shoulders for 17 hours with someone sitting next to me who happens to have no respect for my space. 

 

The EVA flight offers business class style seats which offer individual armrests and a slight division between the seats, which generally means just enough space to protect me from the potential discomfort of an idiot in the seat next to me. 

 

Does anyone know if this is true of the seating on the Thai flight?

 

Thanks.

I am now very uncertain about this.

 

If you start to book the flight, the legend indicates only premium economy. The website used to come up with a pop-up when booking the NY flight about using "unrestricted" tickets to get the premium economy seats. This is now gone.

 

But it also lists the aircraft as an Airbus 340-500, with 2 economy classes. See :

 

http://www.thaiairways.com/About_Thai/Publ...rcraftFleet.htm

 

Maybe they are reconfiguring jets as we speak?

 

I too would very much like to know the answer here, as I am the same as you on the shoulder-room issue.

[too_mutt 10]

But it also lists the aircraft as an Airbus 340-500, with 2 economy classes. See :

 

http://www.thaiairways.com/About_Thai/Publ...rcraftFleet.htm

 

Maybe they are reconfiguring jets as we speak?

 

I too would very much like to know the answer here, as I am the same as you on the shoulder-room issue.

According to the seat map for the A340-500, there are two classes of economy: regular B-Class, and Premium Y-Class. The link I posted above highlights the seat arrangement. This non-stop from LAX to BKK seems like something to consider. The seat pitch is quite good. They do not fly this route every day of the week however. The odd thing is that they don't seem to have a selection for the Y-Class "Premium economy" on their website when I go to book my reservation. At, least I can't see mto find it yet.

 

Regards

Edited October 16, 2005 by SoCalGuy

[partyanimal 0]

Anyone know if the Thai NYC-BKK non-stop has removable armrests?

Sing does not which is a big minus if there are any empty seats.

[Samsonite 181]

Just FYI, from a story dated 16 October:

 

"Thai Airways International will reduce US service as it is not happy with the performance on these routes. On Dec 1st it will reduce the frequency on its Bangkok to New York route from 6 to 4 flights a week while cutting Bangkok to Los Angeles from 4 to 3 flights a week however that flight will go nonstop instead of via Japan. Thai will also revise its Bangkok-Auckland-Sydney route on the same date into a daily Bangkok-Auckland and daily Bangkok-Sydney service."

[ericg1953 1]

I am booked on Thai Air JFK-BKK nonstop leaving on Nov.1 I got the executive economy(only available thru consolidator) for 1300 RT. I thought it was strange that you couldn't book exec econ thru the airlines direct. First time going this way...I will report back

 

Eric

[ricklev 0]

The Thai office in Bangkok tells me that they are using the same configuration as the BKK-JFK flight with economy and executive economy. The agent had some problem figuring out the pricing on the executive economy seats

 

I would still like to know how executive economy compares to Evergreen Deluxe. Anybody know where there might be a picture?

 

Thanks.

[sanook 0]

[...]  Anybody know where there might be a picture?

 

Thanks.

Ther ist a picture on page 16:

 

http://www.thaiairways.com/About_Thai/Inve...tation_2q05.pdf