Comments on flights from the UK to BKK

[stevemcm 1]

I have found the internet very good for getting an idea about the prices and times of flights, but useless at telling the availability and actually booking them. The high street travel agents are mostly owned by either Thompsons or Thomas Cook who are their own consolidators and do not deal with all airlines e.g. China Airlines or EVA Air. Go to an independent travel agent for the best choice and price. Much more useful than the internet are the ITV teletext pages which can be viewed 8 at a time on the internet at www.teletext.co.uk where some good deals can be found.

 

If you are visiting for 2 to 3 weeks, especially in low season, it is often better to get a holiday than a flight only. The holiday companies get airline seats at a price you and I dream of but these tickets cannot be altered in any way, and mostly do not qualify for frequent flyer miles.

 

If visiting for longer, then buy your own ticket these are availabe for durations of 30 days, 6 months or 12 months & naturally the longer durations cost more. A recent Teletext offer with EVA Air for a return LHR-BKK plus 3 days in a BKK hotel was available for 419 GBP with a 30 GBP single supplement. I checked the deal, the hotel stay could be either at the beginning or the end of your trip and the ticket was for 30 days duration, increasing the duration to 6 months was another 50 GBP with a further 50 GBP for a year ticket. In the event after talking with the operator, I bought an Evergreen (enhanced Economy) ticket of 6 months duration with hotel and single supplement for 620 GBP. Before you bombard me with emails this deal is sold out.

 

Two teletext deals remain current, I was going to try and upload a screen dump of the relevant teletext pages but decided I would probably balls it up so I summarise the offers below.

 

1      Thai International 469 GBP + 2 nights accomodation (Single Supplement 30 GBP)

2      Garuda Indonesia 429 GBP flight only

 

Both offers are on teletext page 223 today 19/3/2002 and the UK contact number is 01792 483351. This is the same company I got my Eva Air ticket from and I would expect availability to be similar, i.e. no flight departure for 3 weeks around Easter and none in July or August offer resumes in early September and ends 1st November. Note this is for departures the return can be within the above dates e.g. my ticket is for 4/6/02 - 30/7/02 and I have bought another for 30/10/02 - 18/12/02.

 

Unlike holidays better ticket deals can be obtained by booking well in advance.

 

Now onto Airlines: all economy class unless listed otherwise :-

 

BA - Food fair, service fair, individual TVs I have never had such an uncomfortable flight the seats were so cramped, never again.

 

BA Business Class - Food good, service good, individual TV & video, seat reclines to a bed, best flight ever my employer paid, never again can't afford it.

 

Quantas - Food poor, service abysmal, poor TV, slightly more legroom then BA but can't compete with Asian Airlines, the aircraft was a pretty colour bright red with Aboriginal artwork, never again.

 

Thai - Food good, service very good, poor TV, roomy seat, will fly again if price right.

 

Eva -  Food very good, service very good, poor TV, roomy seat, will fly again if can't afford Evergreen Class.

 

Eva Evergreen Class -  Food very good, service very good, individual TV, very roomy seat both wider and more legroom and much more standing room, from only 60 GBP extra each way my preferred way to travel.

 

Cathay Pacific - Long flight via Hong Kong, Food good, service very good, poor TV on 747 individual TV on Airbus, fair legroom, will fly again if price right and I fancy a few days in Hong Kong.

 

Malaysia - Flight via KL, Food good, service fair, good individual TV includes games, roomy seat, will fly again if price right.

 

Singapore - Flight via Singapore, Food excellent, service very good, individual TV, roomy seat, will fly again if price right.

 

Turkish - Flight via Istanbul on Airbus which I think is more comfortable than B747, Food fair, service fair, poor TV, SMOKING  PERMITTED in 1999, short wait in Istanbul on both legs, will fly again if price good.

 

Emirates - Flight via Dubai, Food very good, service very good, good TV, Airbus to Dubai (good), B777 to BKK (bad),

long waits in Dubai might fly again if very good deal e.g. they do some cheap business class fares otherwise not.

 

China Airline - From Amsterdam so shuttle cost needs adding. Food very good, service very good, poor TV, roomy seat, will fly again. DO NOT CONFUSE WITH AIR CHINA.

 

Thats enough for now.

Stevoh.

[mike100 0]

Excellent and informative post Stevoh.

 

Have you tried Air Lanka yet?

Using them on Sunday and not sure what to expect apart from a stop off at Colombo.

 

Chok dee,

Mike.

[dennismoore 8]

Comment on China Airlines:

 

Indeed good service. European non-stop flights to BKK from Amsterdam (daily), Frankfurt and Paris (?).

 

Amsterdam flight departs from Schiphol Airport at 14.25 hrs., which is good for me. Flight back home at 02.25 hrs, which is also good because you can enjoy whole day/ evening in BKK. No problem to depart in middle of night since we are in "night mode" anyway  

 

Flew CI last year and will fly CI again this year because fare is also very good (€ 575 rt in June). Beats KLM anytime on both fare and service.

[erikaya 0]

To mike

Sri-lankan,perfect flying,superb food,very modern

aircraft(airbus A340) cruises on fl370 ,very relaxt,

good transfer times.all plus.

minuspoints very bad groundservice in GB and a lot of times, delays.UL means usely late.

but inflightservice imho better than sing airlines(SQ)

regards

erikaya  

[mike100 0]

Thanks for the info Erikaya.

Sounds pretty good.

[TURBO 1]

When I was pricing flights Air Lanka always came out the cheapest but what put me off was the long stopover in Colombo ( 6 hours ) and what the guy from www.dialaflight.com told me . He said it is not a good airport for facilities and it is not very safe so the thought of spending 6 hours there put me off . So watch your back , take a good book and let us know what you thought of Colombo and Air Lanka in general when you get back .

 

Derek

[stevemcm 1]

Mike100 I've never flown with Sri Lanka a friend, Coventry Bob, actually wasted his return ticket to avoid the delay and dangers at Colombo. However there is supposd to be a peace agreement between the Sinhalese government and the Tamil Tigers now so don't let it worry you.

 

Stevoh.

[mike100 0]

TURBO & Stevoh,

 

Thanks for your replies, appreciated.

I'll post my views when i get back.

Getting quite excited about my 3 weeks in LOS.

First time by myself, this time, so expecting the traveling to be pretty boring, especialy the Colombo wait and transfer.

Only two more days to go. ;D

 

Cheers,

Mike.

[rober15 0]

try china airlines if you want a cheap business class flight.i paid a total of £800 from aberdeen last november and £850 for next month.i've also booked for this xmas which is £940 and is cheaper than klm and qantas economy class.

[londons_finest 0]

Eva air.....Evergreen Deluxe Class....£593.00..return...direct.............been with these many times.....and no one beats them.......for those of you that don't know......You get a Business Class seat.....but the food is the same.....but far more comfortable.....your own little playstation...on your own screen...passes the time........and curtained off from the economy rabble...hahahahaha..!!!!

 

Try it and see........ www.travelbag.com   is where i purchased mine........Chok dee....see you on the 29/3/2002