Thai Airlines Seating

[HansumRob 3]

Well I have manipulated another trip. Its not until April, but its nice to know its on the books. I am tired of the Delta: Tampa to Atlanta to Seoul to BKK route arriving at midnight.

 

I am going to do the Tampa to JFK to BKK direct route and arrive around lunch.

 

My question is: has anyone experienced the different levels of economy on Thai airlines? If so, is it worth the $400 difference for Economy Best to Premium Economy?

 

Before you ridicule my math skills the prices below are pre-taxes and after taxes rise to $1260 for best and $1648 FOR Premium.

 

 

 

ECONOMY BEST Special offer fare,Flexible flight/date with change fee and Refundable $1,015.00

 

ECONOMY VALUE Value fare with CABIN CLASS COMBINABLE, Flexible flight/date with change fee and Refundable $1,070.00

 

ECONOMY FLEX Economy fare with CABIN CLASS COMBINABLE, Flexible flight/date with change fee and Refundable $1,178.00

 

PREMIUM ECONOMY Premium economy value fare with CABIN CLASS COMBINABLE, Flexible flight/date with change fee and Refundable $1,368.00

 

Any first hand knowledge would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

HR

[js007 795]

I've tried both the premium economy and the economy on the BKK to JFK route. The premium economy is better and worth the money, I think.

 

J

[Indiana_Jack 0]

Dear Rob,

 

I'm surprised to find this here. Usually a post on this subject is in the airline section.

Anyway I took this route last year and I liked it. Nonstop JFK to BKK is the only way to go for me from now on. I was in coach, but the seat pitch was 4 or 5 inches more than other airlines, so the trip was delightful. I'm enclosing two links for you. One is a very good trip report.

 

http://www.seatexpert.com/_TG_3452.html

 

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/trip_...ead.main/66638/

 

Have a good trip,

Jack

[HansumRob 3]

Jack,

 

Great info. That is really helpful. The seating chart is money! I think it will be worth it for the few extra bucks to have that one less chair in the row. For a flight that long you just have to be comfortable.

 

HR

[BillWilson 10]

I have only made 32 trips from California/LAX to BKK on Thai Air

(another 6 on other airlines)

 

so i may be wrong...

 

first off:

1) i am not a fat ass, and fit in a regular seat

2) i can afford to buy the ticket

 

 

next:

Seat location is key for me

 

economy vs prem economy

 

the seat IS wider

YES more leg room

 

However:

the seat does NOT go back much farther

there is NO leg rest

it is NOT a lie down sleeper

 

for me, i will take a economy emergency row

over prem economy any day

rolling suitcase on floor in front of you

feet up, VIOLA! lie down sleeper

cant do that in prem economy

 

how to get one:

arrive 4 hours early, schmooze and have a TG gold card

OR

get lucky

 

JMHO

[BigusDicus 9,875]

Bill brings up several very good points.

 

Another consideration is the armrests on each side of the seat in economy fold up. On those (increasingly rare) occasions when you have an empty seat or two next to you you can fold the arms up and stretch out across the seats. The armrests in the premium economy are fixed I believe(?). I have never flown premium, several of my friends who have flown with me have. I believe it is the same basic food, drinks, etc..

 

Not worth an extra $400 to me (must be the frugal Scottish side of me showing).

 

I am not a large person, do not feel particularly uncomfortable in the economy seats. I typically get on the plane, let them feed me, have a glass of red wine, pop an Ambien. I usually sleep 6 hours or so, wake up, let them feed me, another glass of red wine, another Ambien and a movie. Sleep another 5 hours or so. Like Bill I am flying LAX/BKK. I wake up an hour or 2 before we land at 06:30. Usually in good shape when we land. Hop in a car, ride down to Pattaya, check into my hotel. Unpack, shower and walk around the corner to TQ to begin my Pattaya Adventure.

 

Since Thai began their LAX/BKK non-stop they are the only way to fly.

 

Generally Thai Air non-stop is $200-300 more than an airline tha connects in Japan, Taiwan, or wherever.

 

17 hours versus 22-23. $250 extra is worth it to me (must be the practical English side of me).

 

Not much longer till November!!!

[friendlyric6411 0]

dont mind the seating its the outside toilets

[HansumRob 3]

Bill

 

Thanks for the input. I am also not a fat ass, only 5'8" 175 lbs. So seat size is not the issue, just want to be as comfortable as possible (at a reasonable price) for that long ass flight.

 

Sounds like I just need to be able to get that exit row and I'm good to go.

 

 

HR

[jasongreen1970 0]

Hi I am new here so I will chime in on things now and again.

 

The JFK BKK is a great ride. No need to pay $400 extra for premium economy. There is and extra 4 or so inches of leg room in regular economy. The flight is almost never full but streching out will probably be unlikely unless you are in super low seasons and fly on tue wed thu. The meal would need to be biz class for me to pony up $400. It IS a long ride though so I just plan to stay up the whole time and watch portable DVD movies. The entertainment system is kick ass though and they don't edit the movies like AA and others if I remember correctly. You will run out of entertainment at the 11 hour or so mark unless you are really into different genres so I bring the DVD along.

 

I just bought a ticket for early Jan for $1260.

 

Making a connection with another airline or thai thru NRT or such is MORE money coming from JFK. Thank god for Thai and this flight. The meal, even in economy is really good compared to say like NW or UA. Jeez I mean the asian carriers have some real plusses. I just left NW as a frequent flier.

 

Tip - when exiting Soo wanna poom on the bottom taxi level look to your left and there will be an eatery mall all the way to the far left wall. You buy your tickets and you go around and shop at the different mall style eateries. I was the only foreigner in there and I had a great Thai meal for about 40 baht. The Thais looked at me like "huh". He figured it out...

 

Green

[sailingbill 1,025]

I had planned Thai Air for Feb but was able to book Emergency exit seats on both overseas legs.

Nippon out of Dulles 1,000 us. Agree if you can grab exit seats its like a upgrade to business.The Kirin is the same in both cabins.

[stevoman 2]

I had planned Thai Air for Feb but was able to book Emergency exit seats on both overseas legs.

Nippon out of Dulles 1,000 us. Agree if you can grab exit seats its like a upgrade to business.The Kirin is the same in both cabins.

 

I fly out of Auckland (NZ) twice a year having "Silver card" but NEVER have been permitted to pre-book "Exit" row,always get there early and aquire same on check-in!

[marleyboy 140]

I fly out of Auckland (NZ) twice a year having "Silver card" but NEVER have been permitted to pre-book "Exit" row,always get there early and aquire same on check-in!

Ditto here too! I had silver with Thai for years, and got bugger all of them! never had an upgrade and never got a decent seat either? lol!

Edited November 9, 2007 by marleyboy

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

I've flown both premium economy and regular economy on the JFK-BKK non-stops. I agree that the PE seats themselves aren't that much of an advantage if you aren't a passenger of size. However, there are other advantages to flying PE that justify a few hundred extra dollars (but not sure if $400 is worth it). I paid $250 extra to fly PE out of JFK in 10 days, but that was a special promotional price.

 

If you are in PE, there's a better chance to get upgraded to biz class. It works this way - Thai Air has standby tickets that are only available to Thai citizens, it's what is called a "non-published fare." Thais can fly standby for half the price or less. Often the biz class on the JFK-BKK isn't full, so they will move PE passengers to biz and economy passengers who've paid full economy fare or have elite FF status to PE. This frees up seats in the economy cabin that can then be used by those with the standby tickets. There's virtually no extra cost for the airline to do this, it fills the plane and creates goodwill with those who are upgraded.

 

Of course, it doesn't always work that way. Nevertheless, there are less howling, puking children in PE than economy and that is something in itself. Also, you check-in and get on and off the aircraft faster if you're in PE. And PE gives 10% more FF miles than economy, so that defers some of the extra cost compared with economy tickets.

 

Evil

 

Edited November 9, 2007 by Evil Penevil

[Lovolt 0]

I am a tall fat bastard thats taking PE next week, I'll post on this subject when I arrive.

[N3RGT 118]

Dear Rob,

 

I'm surprised to find this here. Usually a post on this subject is in the airline section.

Anyway I took this route last year and I liked it. Nonstop JFK to BKK is the only way to go for me from now on. I was in coach, but the seat pitch was 4 or 5 inches more than other airlines, so the trip was delightful. I'm enclosing two links for you. One is a very good trip report.

 

http://www.seatexpert.com/_TG_3452.html

 

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/trip_...ead.main/66638/

 

Have a good trip,

Jack

 

Hey Indiana,

thanks very much for the two excellent web sites.Very interesting and informative.

Richard

[onelilley 6]

Hey Indiana,

thanks very much for the two excellent web sites.Very interesting and informative.

Richard

 

 

I agree with Richard, two very very useful sites no matter where in the world you are flying.

 

Thanks for the links.

 

 

onelilley.