British Airways to Bangkok

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Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 48 total)

  • rferguson
    Participant

    FDOS the training is all ‘to standard’. The problem you have with Mixed Fleet crew is due to the massive volumes of recruitment (basically for every legacy crew member that leaves it pays for two mixed fleet crew) and the high turnover on that new fleet it is the blind leading the blind on board the aircraft. A Mixed Fleet crew member considers themself ‘experienced’ after six months. So it’s often the case that this crew member will me mentoring another on their first flight.

    Compare this to us lot on legacy long haul where the most junior crew member has probably done 12-13 years. Although this doesn’t come without its disadvantages. Many of us say that we need new blood or a breath of fresh air introduced onto our fleet.


    Jackanory
    Participant

    Many thanks Martyn. I’ve managed to price that up quite easily – via HKG (for 24 hours) on the out and KUL on the return (for 20 extra tier points which might come in v handy for gold renewal). Like you often mention, it’s a pretty impressive Avios haul.

    I’m surprised too that the CX Bangkok lounge has gone downhill that quickly. It was very pleasant in there last year!


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    I will be able to provide a view of the BKK CX lounge in a couple of weeks but I would be interested to hear from Gold 2K how the lounge has gone down.

    I agree compared to the HKG CX lounge, the BKK one is the poor relation, however compared to what BA passengers were offered for the past couple of years (QF lounge) I think the CX lounge was a vast improvement (IMHO)..


    Flightlevel
    Participant

    Sensible to use old 772s on this route because competition by lower cost airlines and to keep the route open for a legacy airline (ref.AlexMcW) when a 787 is available its a better choice to compete and maybe 772s will retire or be used on busy short haul?


    donkeyasia
    Participant

    Asian Traveller is quite correct. The CX lounge is the best Business Class lounge in Bangkok. if you fly on a One World carrier that has lounge access, as QR does, CX still let you into the CX lounge. BA is a guest of CX via One World. BA passengers should be grateful they have one.

    Ever been to the Royal Silk lounges.

    TG do not give Fast Track arrival cards to TG FFP or business card holders. Emerald one world passengers get a FT card irrespective of class flown on CX.

    It is my experience (2 occasions) that the TG standby upgrade option offered at the airport is biased toward Thai passengers. Farangs (non-Thai) are asked to wait until the flight is closed, even though there are seats available. Of course if it is genuinely a standby situation, waiting is compulsory.


    traveldoc1
    Participant

    BA equipment on the route is old and tired, and the time keeping is poor – flight is often delayed. Avoid if at all possible. As previous posters have suggested, have a look at EVA Air – direct service, good prices and very good service. I fed THAI too expensive much of time. One other option – FINNAIR via HEL – lovely service, many of the flights are on A350 and the fares are competitive. I’ve already booked my Christmas flights home with them.


    donkeyasia
    Participant

    Stephen London, you are correct about avoiding bangkok. A large % of traffic to Thailand is tourist and leisure, many fly on carriers that fly direct to Phuket. QR, Malaysian, have one-stop to Phuket without transiting in Bangkok. MH flies A380 on the LHR-KUL leg. QR uses a code share with BA to Doha – oh well!!!!!!!!


    IanFromHKG
    Participant

    I am not a fan of AY on the Asian routes any more – not since they switched to the A350 (and I used to fly them quite a bit, albeit from HKG rather than BKK). Although it is a wonderful airframe, the new AY J seat is far too cramped for me (although in fairness I am rather tall at 189cm). Although the HEL transfer is very very slick, it is still then 3-3.5 hours to LHR. If you can be on the A350 for that, all well and good (and I believe some of AY’s flights to LHR do use it). But 3.5 hours on a cramped narrowbody (especially if it is a BA one – remember they codeshare on this route) after a long haul flight is more than I would want.

    BA via KUL is indeed another option, and one I have tried. The flight between KUL and BKK is on an MH regional aircraft (most of which seem to be 737-800s) which definitely offer a much more comfortable option – a proper If somewhat dated) “regional business class” (a bit like US domestic F) with large recliner seats, setback IFE with AVOD (or on some of the older planes, a pre-loaded tablet).

    IME the best of all is CX via HKG if you can get the cheap fare!


    JKL
    Participant

    In case it’s of use to any, Emirates run their A380 between BKK and HKG and sometimes have fairy cheap fares in First. Whether you need First for a three hour flight is another matter of course, but if you wanted to tick the “Had a showet on a plane” box, it might be a cheap way of doing it 😉

    I’ve used MH betwern KUL and BKK many times, and they’re generally excellent. They have one 737 to watch out for though (I wish I’d got its tail number now) in which the J cabin (but not Y) is shamefully tatty. But the newer ones are very comfortable.


    IanFromHKG
    Participant

    I assume that’s the one without the seatback IFE which I mentioned before. And in all honesty, they’re all a bit tatty. But I would far rather spend three hours in a tatty but large 2×2 seat with good legroom and recline, a decent legrest and IFE (e.g. MH KUL-BKK) than a shiny new cramped 3×3 (with the middle seat free, whoop-dee-doo) with no legroom or IFE at all (BA LHR-HEL)!


    JKL
    Participant

    Agreed, Ian. I think this one might have been a particularly special case – there’s the newer 737s with the 2×2 leather seats, then the sligtly older ones with the cloth seats – then this one, which had worn out cloth seats, minimal padding, utterly filthy headrests (so you probably wouldn’t wabt to recline 😉 and broken tray tables. And yes, no IFE (or tablets).

    As an aside – not in a good mood with MAS this morning, having just had an email to say they’ve suspended their chef-on-call service ex-LHR (ironic that they managed that email within 2 days of my CoC request (you have to email in because the online system is broken), but still haven’t responded to a couple of emails I sent in January and March). Also, astonishingly, their online booking system was broken for the whole of last week, at least (it seems) for Safari/Mac and iThingy users. Incredible.


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    Am now satin the BKK, CX lounge. It still smells fresh and new, it’s clean and there are plenty of staff around clearing table. The place is very clean and can quite honestly confirm it has not gone down in service. I will admit though, that the food offering was never its strong point – even though I have just enjoyed a very tasty veggie Pad Thai.

    I will save myself though for the Pier, for some wonderful cocktails and dinner.

    Regarding routing into BKK, I have used both KUL and HKG to transit off BA flights and I favour HKG..

    1. Upstairs on the 380 by the window, your “real estate”, feels and is much wider with no feeling of being trapped in, as with the 777 and 787.

    2. I admit to being a lounge junkie, especially in HKG. The Pier is one of those lounges, you really do want to enjoy. My lounge experience in KUL was not too memorable and as for the showers, they make T5 showers look modern and clean.

    3. The ticket Tim F arranges for me allows for up to 24 hours in HKG for no extra charge (only found this out on this trip). This is a useful benefit for me.

    4. The hard product CX uses for the shortish trip (BKK-HKG), is very nearly the same as BA’s First class seat. Admittedly, not as wide, but as comfortable. CX cabin service in business… the food may have gone south, but the way the cabin crew provide service puts most European airlines to shame.

    So sorry JH, I favour HKG (BA and CX) over KUL (BA and MH).. to get to BKK. Do not use a ME transit either as I would prefer to have the opportunity of a long sleep, rather than being woken half way through a longhaul to change..


    JKL
    Participant

    [quote quote=806507]Am now satin the BKK, CX lounge[/quote]

    I thought BKK was more silk than satin… Sorry. 😉

    [quote quote=806507]Regarding routing into BKK, I have used both KUL and HKG to transit off BA flights and I favour HKG..[/quote]

    Fair enough 🙂 Agreed re upstairs on BA A380 – I favour 53A or K, the only problem there being Galley FM – the crew don’t seem to realise (or maybe don’t care) that one can clearly hear every word… 😉

    Tip for those who do transit KUL: the showers in the MH Platinum (First / OW Emerald) lounge are far better than those in the other lounges. Next step down are the ones in the Regional lounge, and finally the ones in the Satellite (bigger) J lounge (which quite frankly are shocking – amazingly they closed that lounge a couple of years ago for refurbishment yet completely failed to do anything about the showers). The Regional and Domestic lounges are about to be closed for a few months for upgrading works, incidentally. Hopefully this time they will do more than just change the carpets.


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    Now in the Pier….. this is how F lounges ought to be. Nearly on par with the LH F lounge in FRA..

    I would not wish to insult CX by giving a comparison to T5..

    With regards to MH, I cant remember which lounge I went into…allI remember it was up an escalator, food offering was minimal but the showers, were dire….


    IanFromHKG
    Participant

    This is digressing into a discussion of KUL and lounges, but nonetheless this may be helpful to some!!

    All the MH lounges in KUL are below par, frankly. For those who don’t know the airport, they are:
    (1) Domestic lounge (Domestic Terminal). Really poor, although better than being not-in-a-lounge. Basic food offering, poor service, adequate seating, no alcohol (in case that’s important!)
    (2) Regional lounge (Main Terminal). Don’t get confused here. For long-haul travellers, the Main Terminal is not the MAIN terminal. The Main Terminal is used primarily for regional routes and LCCs. There is a single regional MH lounge here (i.e. J and F combined, so don’t think your status will get you a better offering). It is pleasant enough though prone to overcrowding, with an basic and uninspiring food offering. Alcohol is offered, although again the range is basic. There is also a spa offering (paid) massage, reflexology etc. There may be showers but I haven’t checked. The high-stool counters by the windows have individual power points which is handy if you need to work. WiFi is adequate.
    (3) Business lounge (Satellite Terminal). As you may have guessed from paragraph (2), the Satellite Terminal – despite sounding rather secondary – is actually the hub for long-haul flights and is therefore MH’s “flagship” base. The MH J lounge is large, reasonably comfortable, and not too prone to overcrowding (at least at the times I have been there). Food offering can best be described as “adequate” but even that would be a polite description. There is again a paid-for spa. There are showers, but I haven’t tried them. However, it is all rather boring and uninspired and soulless. To give you an idea of the overall quality… CX has a combined F/J lounge in the same terminal, which is a fairly typical outstation regional CX lounge – seating quite close together, basic “box”-shape armchairs, limited range of food and drink, but nonetheless the Memsahib preferred it to the MH J lounge for a lengthy layover last month (read also my penultimate paragraph below)
    (4) First lounge (Satellite Terminal). Spacious, uncrowded, comfortable and relaxed (this last statement, however, also applies to the service). Separate dining-room with (limited) a la carte menu. Pleasant staff although a little unpolished and, as you may have gathered, often somewhat slow. Smoking-room, for those who like that sort of thing. The showers (which I haven’t used but have seen) look to me rather like those you might find in a rather faded elderly 3-star hotel – plenty of space, grouting needs to be redone, as do the tiles, floors, countertops, [insert other visible surface here]…. With a fairly basic refurb they would be great but as it is they just look old and tatty. Lounge overall isn’t great for working as there are no desks or high counters, only low tables. If I have to work (as I usually do) I try to stay at one of the dining tables, but recognising that this is unfair on those who may want a table when the restaurant gets fuller (usually in the hour or two before QANTAS flights!) I will also often move to the CX lounge rather than going to the MH business lounge which is right next door (in fact they have a shared reception)

    Although I have access to the F lounge, and if I am there for a mealtime I would almost certainly use the MH F restaurant, I often wander over to the CX lounge if I have to work since it is better for working than the F lounge (desks available, easier WiFi) and I can help myself to drinks rather than having to wait for service.

    Those travelling regionally or long-haul should bear in mind that there is a shuttle train between the Main and Satellite Terminals, which runs every few minutes and takes only a few minutes. No security stops or immigration checks in-between. It is therefore perfectly easy and simply to switch back and forth between those two terminals (obviously the same doesn’t apply for the Domestic Terminal). So if you are leaving from the Main Terminal on a regional flight and want to upgrade slightly, you can shuttle over to the Satellite Terminal (and the CX lounge or, if you are F/OWE and want a meal, the MH F lounge) and be confident that you can get back to the Main Terminal within ten minutes (including waiting for the shuttle train).

Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 48 total)
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