ChristianTroy Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 The Airport is smooth as silk now! Flew out last Friday and everything was fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kojis Posted April 28, 2007 Report Share Posted April 28, 2007 " In off season I book economy, get automatically upgraded to business and buy for 600 USD an upgrade from business to first (one way)! The dollar is so low recently I am paying about EUR 2000,- for a first class ticket round trip " Have been thinking about that post all along and did did the standby ugrade thing yesterday... for some reason I thought it was 750USD from J to F but 650 from Paris to BKK seems to be the going rate. At the Air France counter where they issue the UGs, they insisted I could only pay in Euros... and with IATA rates that came to 512 euros instead of 477 following the day's exchange rate... than the three ladies at the counter realised it was from J to F and no Y to J... "So it's more expensive... and we don't have a fixed rate" their computer was apparently broken, all counters just reopened after Police neutralised an abandonned suitcase and blocked much of the departure hall for ten good minutes... and the girls couldn't get hold neither of a calculator nor of the rate to apply... and they still wouldn't take my US$ in cash Anyway it was a bit frantic at the counter and the more expensive upgrade, which was still 650 US$ BTW... came out after much agitation... to 479 euros ... go figure... the only part missing is "TIT"... but those were french gals... talk about the quality of local labour... Premiere welcome and lounge staff are great though, and on a very consistent basis, :thumbup: So it was a pretty good deal but had to wait for flight closing as F was fully booked as it's often the case friday and saturday... than in BKK went to buy an upgrade to HKG but there was a queue at the counter and I got a 195US$ quote which is no longer a good deal considering the F tickets one can buy on the this route. Biz section to HKG sucked big time though but F was OK except again there was no caviar in sight and we did finish all Dom Pe and La Grande Dame bottles on the flight.. I personnally drank the very last glass but didn't complain and passed on the Lanson they were about to open as breakfast was already coming along ethylic coma... Basically a cheaper deal to use the standby upgrades butit takes away some comfort from the TG F experience. And again, what other trick can one can advice to uprade from eco to F, considering using miles is a poor deal and operationnal ugrades arefar and few between ? It seemed possible to buy the double upgrade in Paris for 1300US$ . It would still be a better deal than regular F tix but heard it's not possible in BKK, plus there is the psychological barrier to fork out 1300US$ to get a better seat on a flight one has already access. blablablah... GF came in while I was typing this post and her family driver is picking us up in a few minutes to meet up for dinner... and the good news from Shenzhen is... I've been encouraged to hook up with the brother in law, who apparently owns a large Nightclub/karaoke/hostess bar in the suburbs... will try and report from there, discreetly :grin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristianTroy Posted April 28, 2007 Report Share Posted April 28, 2007 I don't get it Kojis! Air France is not even Star Alliance, it is Flying Blue or how this crap is called. How they issue tickets for TG???? Makes no sense! However, Air France is one of the crappiest Shit Airlines I was forced to fly with, they range right behind all the American Airlines. lame lounges without food, a terrible business class from 600 years ago and the typical "I don't give a shit what you want" service all the way! You can't compare that in any way to TG. I don't know why you think that much about that quote of mine, if you are a Thai Gold Member and you are about to board an empty airplane they will be generously upgrading you, the difference between Germany and France is that there are 5 TG operated planes leaving Germany into the direction of BKK. To be booked it needs round about 1700 people per day, which is not very likely in off season! I have quite some miles with TG, I have Gold Status and the staff at the counter is always the same thai people. They pay me back for being a loyal customer and not using a miles and more card from Lufthansa as a German citizen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted April 28, 2007 Report Share Posted April 28, 2007 I like Star Alliance. I have a pile of miles with them and very often, they upgrade me, free! I pay a little more for the tickets but the service and the lounges are worth it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kojis Posted April 28, 2007 Report Share Posted April 28, 2007 CT, Air France seems to run the show in CDG, they issued the upgrades, I don't think there's a TG sales office there. TG seems to be renting the lounges to Air France also, there's a fee per passenger to be paid,although I'm not quite sure it's given to Air France or other CDG contractors. "if you are a Thai Gold Member and you are about to board an empty airplane they will be generously upgrading you," This is the part that bugs me actually, it's definetely not the experience I had, only got OP upgraded on very heavy loaded flights. "I have Gold Status and the staff at the counter is always the same thai people. They pay me back for being a loyal customer and not using a miles and more card from Lufthansa as a German citizen." I wonder actually if it's any helpful to meet always the same staff.If they know you (or myself for that matter) are willing to pay for the upgrade, would they have much incentive to hand it out for free? What happens ex BKK where you meet different staff? I'm just trying to figure out a way F for 2000euros as that's very cheap indeed. I wasn't hesitating between TG and AF. Especially as long as AF won't fly F to BKK and the business is good enough to buy F tickets there's no competition on the CDG-BKK route, at least on direct flights, which I favour. Otherwise it's cool to be back in Shenzhen, although we can't exchange more than 5 words in a common language . Coming in the restaurant, mother in law handed us 2 Ampaos which ended up containing 10 000 RMB each for our pocket money in China and my new wife tried to keep both enveloppes upon reaching the hotel! Tricky thieving chinese ho :grin: Kojis, family building Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristianTroy Posted April 28, 2007 Report Share Posted April 28, 2007 Kojis, no offence, if AF handles the upgrades for you what do you expect? In Frankfurt things are different, the staff are just humans and maybe happy to see a familar friendly (fat) face I fly first class in High Season and book an flexible eco fare in low season, to be honest with you, if I wouldn't get the free upgrade I wouldn't fly with Thai Airways, everyone needs to do something to stand out from the competition. Thai does that, it doesn't cost them more than 10 Euros to upgrade me. The plane will burn the same amount of fuel, I have access to the same lounge because of my card and the business upgrade doesn't come with complimentary extras except of the biotherm bag which is 100% sponsored. The food is a little bit more expensive and you get a class of champagne! 10 Euros what they invest into my happyness! I think that is a great deal for them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magician Posted April 29, 2007 Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 Lot of bitching in this thread. I try hard to exclusively fly via Thai Air, and the reason for that is because the experience is very, very smooth. The last time that I flew, back in November, Thai was still no longer offering a residential pick up, but I have a limo driver that I have used over the years, so I just call him. If you lack that sort of resource, you could just call any major hotel, ask for the concierge, and then book a car to pick you up. This is obviously not for the budget conscious. But it is nice to walk out your door and be greeted by your car and driver, ready to ferry you to Suvarnabhumi. The first class experience begins as we roll up to the terminal. We are greeted curbside by a manager who facilitates you to the counter, your baggage is handled, and it is all quite cordial and relaxed. At the counter, you get to sit down, while the unfailingly polite and professional ticket agent takes care of the niceties. If you fly first class, you are seated on nice couches, and the ticketing agent comes to you. It is quite civilized. After about three minutes, you are handed your tickets with baggage tags affixed, then escorted to pay the airport tax before transiting customs. I have had to wait about five minutes at customs departures each of the five times that I left Suvarnabhumi between September, 2006 and November, 2006. No big deal. Then, down the escalator to the business class lounge, and life is sweet. You do need to walk a distance to the gate, and signage was initially poor. AOT has addressed this issue, and as I now know my way around the airport quite well, it is no longer a problem. Returning to Suvarnabhumi, the experience was smooth as silk. I also went to the diplomatic customs check-in line, went right through, then waited about five minutes at the baggage claim carousel, nicely situated right behind the customs desks. I learned to make my limo reservations at the booth adjacent to the luggage carousel, as this gets you escorted and facilitated directly to your car. I wheel my suitcase about fifteen feet. From there, the AOT limo folks handle it. In my case, they always give me a very lush BMW. Maybe I am on someone's Happy List. Or maybe everyone gets a nice car like that. Whatever. In sum, transiting Suvarnabhumi has been a very relaxed, very calm, very smooth experience, both coming and going. For me. Factors? 1. Flying Thai Air. 2. Flying business class, or better. I was at the airport again a few weeks ago to pick up some friends, and I was delighted to see that the airport authorities had confined the touts and hotel pick up drivers behind barriers. It was now possible to walk from baggage claim into the terminal departures area without running a gauntlet. Far superior to the old chaos. I have not traveled as much as some of the folks posting on this thread, but for me, Suvarnabhumi has been a delight. FWIW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kojis Posted April 29, 2007 Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 Magician, I don't think many here complained about the treatment given to TG F passengers in Suvanboomboom... I'm glad nowadays to reach the airport 3 or 4 hours ahead... and good news the Spa opened recently, it looks pretty good on the following pics but I didn't take the time to visit it while transiting yesterday: http://hflight.net/forum/b-TGInternationalonly/m-1177427923/s-all Other lounges are also worth a wisit, amazing what you get now ex BKK when flying UL in J. Had me wonder wether it's share with EK F. I shall prolly be flying with UL rather than TG to Colombo next week BTW.Better schedule, better lounge in CMB, arguably better lounge in BKK (TG not flying F to CMB) and if lucky better flight. As a follow up for the members fascinated by the topic and sending us nthusiastic PMs by the thousand, I can positively declare that GF is very glad to reunite with China and local food, she ordered the impressive amount of 15 dishes this lunch... it filled the whole table only for the two of us... Gosh why does an upcoming heir have to bring so much extra weight to the pregnant mother?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristianTroy Posted April 29, 2007 Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 the airport tax is included now! even more smooth as silk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 the airport tax is included now! even more smooth as silk! Yes, this is soooooo much appreciated! I had forgot about this and when I flew out on the 20th, was looking for the 500 Baht tax/pay booths...then it clicked, no more! Nice!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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