Seeking any information/suggestions on traveling to and from BKK. Can use partner airlines of Alaska Airlines/ID90. I'm flexible with when I can go and seeking the best time of year to non-rev into/out of BKK. My biggest concern is getting stranded at BKK. Could go out of/into any West Coast city if it would give me an advantage. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.
Im flying to BKK in october.
I don't really know how to get to thw US west coast, but I have done a research for my back ups and it seems that the best option would be to fly to Hong Kong, because many airlines fly there... Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Qantas, British, Continental... I think that Northwest also flies there...
Other good option would be flying to Japan and then to the US...
As a recommendation I have to tell you that many colleages have flown to Thailand many times, and they told me to have a big bunch of back up passes because they say it is a Black Hole when you want to get out of there....
I have bought so many ZED tickets that I have to organise them in different envelopes.... i have even bought one to Qatar, which seems extrange, but it would help if I can get to Doha, because there are many flight from DOH to Europe...
The worst part is that Thai does not give us any discount ticket, my airline (Iberia) has temporarely suspended the interline agreement, and all I can do is to ask for an ID90 from my interline department, which is not cheap at all....
Hope to help...
If you need further information I will be happy to assist.
JOHN.
I may be a bit bias as I'm in HK
I think your best bet is via HKG as there are plenty of BKK flights out of HKG. Quite a few of the middle eastern/ europe airlines transit there. Not sure how's the SEA-HKG would be thou. Do beware of long weekends as HK people tend travel during those days and there are always some holiday in every month
I haven't done out of BKK before but I would assume that the ground staff there maybe less experienced with dealing with ID tickets as in some "less international" ports that I've been. They always give me that funny look like "Are you allowed to fly with us with this ticket?!?!" before asking their supervisor. Non-rev out of HKG is cake, if the load is light, they will check you in straight, if not you go to the standby counter depending on which airline you are flying with
We took DL ATL/ICN but had back-up plan for NRT.
Used frequent flyer miles to BKK on KE.
You can do the same route with ID's if you have full skyteam priv. Our last option was !D on Thai. We live CVG and have good seniority, so we got biz all DL legs and used 30K FF miles for biz RT each on Korean (which, BTW, was hardly "excellent" food/service/comfort)
Northwest would be good option as they have connect service thru NRT (unless you're trying during peak times)
We went end Oct and the weather was great, loads were decent and Airport Town by Incheon is easy in/out w/free hotel shuttles. We didn't have to overnight the first one but it was easier after 15 hr flight to sleep then take 7 hrs to BKK next day. We didn't want to get there all wiped out.
I don't know why BKK is "black hole for NR--there were so many carriers available. We had many options, but not all were reasonable on ID.
mrs767er - NonRev Correspondent - Specialty Travel
Wherever you go, there you are
I can advise you what to do based on what we did... For our honeymoon in October (several years ago) we went on DL from ATL to SFO. SFO to NRT on UA(husband's dad worked for UA). We could have gone to NRT direct from ATL but thought we had a better change of FC on UA. What we didn't understand is that we were not allowed to travel in FC, with 3 classes of service. There were seats in FC (we were actually assigned two lovely FC seats and the boarding passes were ripped up by a supervisor). No seats in BC so we sat in the middle, in the back -husband actually tried to deplane, not a great start to a honeymoon! Totally our fault for not knowing the rules.
In NRT, got stuck, we were told we wouldn't get out for 4-5 days on UA, told it is always full, so we bought tickets on NW and got to BKK. Came back through BKK to NRT, then to ORD, then to ATL (got stuck in ORD but that could happen anytime).
Weather was great in mid October. I've been in mid December and the weather was great then as well but as I recall, parts of the region have their monsoon season at that time but I think it's the east coast??
we're also going this Oct to Bali and most likely thru ICN same way w/FF miles to DPS.
I would never want to chance OAL on zed/ID90 for the long haul--you'll probably get coach. I guess it all depends on your seniority and point of view and flexibility. I'd take a look at dates for special events in the connecting cities as well as BKK before I starting planning. Consider--iffy standby when it's full moon party time in Thailand--or the biggest trade show weeks in Seoul, cherry blossom time in Japan...
There's also that issue of red-eyes and bizarre connection times in Asia. That can mean at least one more overnight in a city.
mrs767er - NonRev Correspondent - Specialty Travel
Wherever you go, there you are
Just curious Mrs767, how did you use only 30K miles on KE? Was that once in Asia? I have a ton of FF miles so curious.
BTW- Thai Air as well as Air Malaysia have great BC service (as well as coach) and can be very reasonable fares. I paid less than $50US for BC to fly around SE Asia per leg once we were there. Also, there is an All Asia pass that Cathay Pacific and Air Malaysia have offered in recent years that is a great deal. It's usually 22 cities if you start in the US (usually from LA) and the fare was around $750. A GREAT deal if you want to city hop and have confirmed space. That is the coach fare but the business fare would have been cheaper than our tickets we ended up buying last minute in NRT to BKK. These deals have been offered for October travel in the past.
that was ICN or NRT to BKK (last yr) or DPS (this yr)
coach tkts are 25K, so the extra 5 meant being able to use the great KE lounge @ICN and the convenience of the one in BKK (which was just about as exciting as KE biz class)
I've had very poor experiences on Cathay Pacific coach (reminds me of migflanker's post about middle seat pax--I had the aisle but I also had Mr. Stinky Pinky Toes (bare feet up next to my seat--ick ick ick) I even asked the FA for a kit with socks to give him and he didn't understand until I actually pinched my nose and made that "p u" sound. I think the FA could have said something--I didn't have any Asian language skills so I really needed the help. On the retunr, a pax stumbled in the aisle, fell flat on his foreheas and split it open right at the bulkhead entry and most of the FA's spent their 2 hours cleaning the carpets by hand instead of serving the coach pax. It was surreal!That was a reg fare paid ticket when I used to be a reg rev pax like the rest of the real world!!
I swear the seat configs are for small people on many Asian carriers.I'd love to fly either Thai or Singapore, but I prefer the nearly free flights. I'm a shrinking 5'12" but my legs do not like 7 hrs in any coach seat and I don't have enuff fat on my tush to make up the diff on the new thin cushions...
But I digress--this is not a blog, no?
Back to the issue--my husband loves to say that he's hardly ever had to "buy" a seat in over 20 yrs and it's my job to find a way to keep it so!
mrs767er - NonRev Correspondent - Specialty Travel
Wherever you go, there you are
Hi,
I'm curious how your flight out of BKK was? I will be on the same boat coming in March 2010. I'm an AS employee myself. I will be starting my trip from SEA to Singapore via TPE on Eva Air. However, coming back, we will be flying from BKK and instead of SEA, to LAX as there's more flights bound for LAX.
How's everyone's experience with Thai Air? I'd appreciate any input. Thanks!
Rowena
I can add that there is a very friendly spa in the city (not really very far unless it's traffic time) called Ruen Orchid. You cna book on the wesbite or email for packages. Tell them you are airline. Husband and I spent 4+hours and total bill was $110(?) for scrubs, full massages, man/ped tips inclusive. It's just a lovely house off a main embassy street. They will arrange driver, too.
There is a driver we liked, Named Roong (based in Hua Hin but he does BKK too. Roong-SAYAM@hotmail.com
081-1915017 mobile Good rates good cars--it's the way to go outside the city. If you need a lcoal guide I have one--as well as licensed guide for temples etc.
If you've never been to BKK, prepare for serious stinky smog. Accor hotels have great discounts for airline under Delta codes.
mrs767er - NonRev Correspondent - Specialty Travel
Wherever you go, there you are
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