Thai Air- NYC RT $1590

[windsors420 1]

I procrastinated and did not buy a Korean Air ticket for $1313 from NYC (Summer). Now prices just sky-rocketed with fuel surcharges. I decided to buy a direct flight Thai airways for $1590. Is this airline any good? or will my fat ass be squeezed into a shoebox and given the usual Thai third world service.

[Hub 203]

It will definitely be better than taking a western carrier like NWA. They treated my 73 YO mother very good on that route last year and she was impressed, and she travels extensively.

 

Just curious, did you know about this website?

 

http://www.angeltravel.com/Airfare/Thai_Airways/economy.htm

[too_mutt 10]

Seatguru.com shows a seat pitch of 36'' for economy on the A345 (JFK-BKK). The width is pretty standard, but at least you will have a little more leg room. Thai would be my choice after SQ and CX.

[sgf1218 0]

Thai airlines in excellent. Nice planes and lots of adorable, hot help. I would definitely fly them if I didn't get a much cheaper ticket... lol. But seriously, you will hate the flight a lot less than I do.

[pieman108 0]

I can't comment on the price but I have flown Thai Airlines from or to Narita in Japan many many times and I have always had excellent service. The seats in economy were comfortable even for my fat ass but then the flight was only about 6 hours long. The flight attendants were always friendly and courteous. I hope you will have a good time.

See you in Pattaya

[Tengotodo 52]

Thai from JFK is the only non-stop available and at 17 hours, it's a doozy. But you save maybe 10 hours each way in connection time, so for $200 bucks or so you get what amounts to an extra day of vacation. The service on Thai? No problems for me. Plenty of extra food available for the price of a quick walk to the galley. Helpful and pretty staff (But I think China airlines has hotter attendants). As for comfort, I am 6' and 225 lbs and had no trouble in my aisle seat. The "bump up" to premium econcomy for a few hundred may be worth considering if you don't have an aisle seat. Business class has the lay-flat (or nearly) seats, which for more than 4X the cost of economy is a luxury I can't rationalize.

 

All in all, I think you did the right thing. Prices will likely only increase from here and you had to pull the trigger at some point. Now just remember to not look back and enjoy your trip! All you have left to do is dream and wait

 

BTW: I just check the price from June 28 - July 12 and it was $1,451 on Thai, which is actually LESS than it was a month ago. I don't understand!!

Edited April 2, 2007 by Tengotodo

[onelilley 6]

I have flown Thai many times from Australia and have always found them good value for money. My trip is just over 9 hours and economy is more than comfotable enough for that amount of time.

 

I would recommend joining their frequent flyer program "Royal Orchid Plus", costs nothing and you have a better chance of getting the seat you want when you book in. Also you can choose your seat if you book through their website, although i have found cheaper fares through discount websites at various times.

 

onelilley.

[bangkapiboy 5]

If I'm not mistaken, you can also get United Airlines miles by flying THAI.

[Floyd 0]

If I'm not mistaken, you can also get United Airlines miles by flying THAI.

Correct they are star alliance partners.

I see Varig has pulled out of Star Alliance

[Tengotodo 52]

I procrastinated and did not buy a Korean Air ticket for $1313 from NYC (Summer). Now prices just sky-rocketed with fuel surcharges. I decided to buy a direct flight Thai airways for $1590. Is this airline any good? or will my fat ass be squeezed into a shoebox and given the usual Thai third world service.

 

 

The price for Late June - Mid July is now $1452. You can go on ebay and buy 60K US Airways miles for around $900. Just check to see if they have award availability during your vacation dates and then have them courtesy "hold" the reservation for 3 days. Meanwhile, you can have the ebay guy make the reservatin using your award ticket confirmation number. Works for me and you save over $600.

[sergestorm 0]

cathay pacific has a spcial from the US less than 800$

[Jimmybb 0]

For what it's worth, although I am an EVA flyer and like their Evergreen Deluxe class, current price for the same ticket that I bought for my holiday to LOS two months ago now costs twice that. My friend at EVA says that this price will come down-but I am not sure at current prices of fuel and the increased volume of flyers these days that that will happen. Therefore, I have looked into the JFK-BKK non stop on Thai . However, I recall reading an article in the BKK Post a couple of months ago stating that this route has not been even close to being profitable and, accordingly to the article Thai was trying to get rid of 4 or 5 of their new Airbus 340 long haul planes. Accordingly, I would hate to buy a ticket on this route only to have it cancelled leaving me with a scramble to re-book suitable passage for my next trip this coming Nov.

 

Therefore, I called Thai and inquired if they have already sold, or are still trying to peddle the planes. The lady with whom I chatted did not come out and say that this route was ready to be axed, but she did not say that the planes were not still for sale either. She did inform me that even if this route were cancelled, that the plane would still depart for LOS but simply make a connection in Asia. This is not acceptable for me as the only reason I would buy a ticket on Thai is to get the non-stop into BKK. Given that no definitive answer is available, I did not book the flight on Thai and have to wait until EVA tickets go on sale if that indeed happens.

 

If any BM have any news re Thai plans for this non-stop route I would be interested in hearing it.

 

Rgds, Jimmy

[jimmac 66]

There's a Thai section on flyertalk.com that will include much info on the questions being asked in this thread.