Thai or Etihad ?

[TURBO 1]

Turbo, the flight Im looking at takes off at 9 55, still tight but I think its do-able

 

I forgot that some airlines stay on GMT for their schedules , giving you an extra hour during BST . Even so I doubt that connection is feasible . The flybe flight lands at 8.35 , maybe gets to the gate at 8.45 , giving you 10 minutes to collect your bags & check in for the Etihad flight before it closes . If there's any delay you'll miss check-in & have to fork out for another flight to LOS .

 

I for one wouldn't risk a connection that tight . A few years ago I was travelling with Lufthansa Belfast-LHR-Frankfurt-BKK . The BHD-LHR flight was with BMI & it was late meaning I missed my connection in LHR . Luckily all the flights were booked through Lufthansa so they put me on the next flight to Frankfurt without charging me extra .

 

But when I arrived in Frankfurt I discovered that they'd cancelled my reservation from there to BKK . Luckily they had a spare seat left due to a genuine no-show but that experience has left me cautious about leaving tight connections in the UK , especially when using the 'budget' carriers like BMI , flybe & easyjet . Listen to the radio any day & there's sure to be at least one Belfast flight either delayed or cancelled !

 

If you can book your flights all on the one ticket it's not as bad as the airline is required to pay for any flight changes if you miss your connection .

[Carraig 1]

Good advice Turbo

Im now looking at a strong contender for my April campaign, Etiyhad by Manchester £427, Belfast Manchester £53.98, with time to spare for connections

[f308gt 0]

NO CONTEST!

 

£50 / (2 x 4 hours) = £6.25 per hour!!!!!!!

 

Youve already flown once before with Thai - do this one and then only another four trips or so for a free one (the airmiles alone are worth more than this paltry saving).

.

 

 

how do you claim air miles with thai airways

[louis crawley 0]

emirates for me top service all inclusive and really friendly staff 1st choice every time and usually a good rate heres a link check them out.....

 

 

 

 

http://fly.emirates.com/airDspBestFareResu...ndex=1&cid=

[ozijeff 9]

greetings. just another possible option that no-one from the UK seems to have mentioned.

Finnair have a daily service from helsinki to BKK.

i notice they fly from man to hel as well.

i used finnair as part of my trip from Australia to Warsaw.

adl-syd-bkk-hel- waw. was the cheapest option at the time. long story!

and you guys think you have shitty flights? gimme a break ...haha

anyhow, its another airline you might consider.

[michaelday 38]

Just got back from my Christmas/New Year trip. Flew with Etihad from Manchester. Have to say that I wasn't all that impressed. There were problems with entertainment system from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok and Bangkok to Abu Dhabi. Films wouldn't play properly, despite several reboots of the system.

In addition the drinks/meals service was slow, only one girl to a trolley, and the cabin staff were indifferent at best and miserable/surly at worst.

 

Also agree with other posters about the smoke in Abu Dhabi, and the toilets were a disgrace.

 

I'd pay the £50 quid extra for a direct flight anyday.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[chrisbrewer 0]

Another option is Swiss Air.

 

London to Zurich

 

Zurich to Bangkok

 

I used this last October and it was a great service, no problems either way.

 

Cost was then £470.

[weaver93 1]

I've flown direct with EVA,Thai and BA Qantas.

 

Best indirect flight in my opinion, is Emirates - food aok, inflight entertainment is good too.

 

Best direct flight, is Thai for me,as arrival times in Heathrow is paramount.

Food ok, inflight entertainment is average.

 

Etihad flown twice,as they were a cheap price - once was a nightmare,as they were changing their fleet, and we were shuttled onto an Air Iberian airline.

 

As i live in the north of England ,we are very restricted in direct flights due to evening arrivals at Heathrow.

 

However.......... Thai operate 2 daily flights into London, best one is obviously which lands early morning.

 

EVA is ok, but arrival times are a no-no - 19.30.

[monsterman 0]

Etihad are great I use them 3 times a year now, from gatwick, Thai are shite,

 

monsterman

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Agree with the poster re Swiss from MAN.

 

They also do a Thai codeshare so you can get your Star miles with Swiss and fly Thai on the Zurich-Bangkok legs non-stop on their A340s (albeit on a Swiss flight number) rather than the crap 747s used on the LHR routes.

 

Swiss is also the quickest door-to-door option from Manchester.

[Chivas 0]

I prefer Etihad over Thai even taking into account extended flight times.

Food, Inflight entertainment,cabin crew are all superior and the seats on Thai whilst generous on seat pitch leave me with a sore backside within a couple of hours ?

 

Chivas

[glynbuk 29]

Just got back from my Christmas/New Year trip. Flew with Etihad from Manchester. Have to say that I wasn't all that impressed. There were problems with entertainment system from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok and Bangkok to Abu Dhabi. Films wouldn't play properly, despite several reboots of the system.

In addition the drinks/meals service was slow, only one girl to a trolley, and the cabin staff were indifferent at best and miserable/surly at worst.

 

Also agree with other posters about the smoke in Abu Dhabi, and the toilets were a disgrace.

 

I'd pay the £50 quid extra for a direct flight anyday.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

 

 

i flew thai business class at christmas 2005 and flew etihad business this christmas 2006

 

yes the thai from heathrow was direct and the etihad from gatwick was not, but there was no

competition, the thai flight was not good and the etihad was bloody brilliant.

 

the only problem with etihad was too much food and drink, they just never stopped serving food

and drink all the way, and the quality of food was superb.

 

of the 30 odd people in business we had between 4 and 6 stewardess's at all times and they

just kept on coming around, pretty good entertainment on VOD compared to crap on thai.

 

no choice for me, etihad all the way

[pattysteve 34]

Great news Glyn,im flying biz class with Etihad for the first time next sunday.

[Guest Fatboyfat]

the only problem with etihad was too much food and drink, they just never stopped serving food

and drink all the way, and the quality of food was superb.

 

of the 30 odd people in business we had between 4 and 6 stewardess's at all times and they

just kept on coming around, pretty good entertainment on VOD compared to crap on thai.

 

no choice for me, etihad all the way

 

Ditto, best I have flown with (apart from South African & Air New Zealand which were both 1st class) for a few years now: And provided you got the right price , top VALUE, which IMHO is what it is all about.

[marleyboy 140]

I've flown direct with EVA,Thai and BA Qantas.

 

Best indirect flight in my opinion, is Emirates - food aok, inflight entertainment is good too.

 

Best direct flight, is Thai for me,as arrival times in Heathrow is paramount.

Food ok, inflight entertainment is average.

 

Etihad flown twice,as they were a cheap price - once was a nightmare,as they were changing their fleet, and we were shuttled onto an Air Iberian airline.

 

As i live in the north of England ,we are very restricted in direct flights due to evening arrivals at Heathrow.

 

However.......... Thai operate 2 daily flights into London, best one is obviously which lands early morning.

 

EVA is ok, but arrival times are a no-no - 19.30.

Thai do have the best range of flights , definetly! Eva land bangkok at 16.00 ish though and not 19.30.I have mostly flown Thai, this time for March I booked Eva though! Practically the same price, but personally I think Thai are going downhill, I mean the cheaper tickets only get 50% mileage, and their i.f.e. in economy is rubbish! So for those reasons Im going eva this time (far better i.f.e. (travelling with family so will be a big big bonus!) , if all goes ok I will probably use them regularly too!

[highlander 0]

thai prices seem to have jumped this year china are quoting about £70 more for flights in mar, and the best i seem to see with westeast for thai is £478 ex lhr anyone seen better prices for any dates in mar with thai

 

bj

[Carraig 1]

thai prices seem to have jumped this year china are quoting about £70 more for flights in mar, and the best i seem to see with westeast for thai is £478 ex lhr anyone seen better prices for any dates in mar with thai.

 

Highlander, I have just booked with Thai for April at £474.24 (+£5 CCC), I have been going over the prices with loads of the on line companies for days now and they all seem to be around this price, West east wante 480 from me &CCC , also £105 Belfast - Heathrow to add, Thai seem to be the only direct flight I can sequence. Personally if I was you I would grab that price now, as my memories from last year were that the prices for Thai crept upwards closer to my departure date, (I ended up on Etihad but, and v good they were, unfortunatly they have changed their departure times)