Thread: BKK nonreving on Thai Airways

Yes TG might be government owned but they pack those planes up to the gills. Plan with caution as BKK along with SIN are known as a black wholes for nonrevs, at least the LAX-BKK is usually full and intra asia flights on TG have very healthy loads as well. I also know with TG you list through FLYZED.com, I would recommend following up with a phone call thorugh treir rez center to vrify you are listed as somestimes listings through that website can fall through.
Since you are DL and you guys have such a big hub in NRT i would recommend connecting through Tokyo. There you have options on NH, DL, UAL, JL and TG.

THanks for the info! We are in BKK for a few weeks, so that tough nonreving is behind us (LAX-NRT-BKK)! We got on in first, but I saw several retirees and buddys left behind in both cities. THey are more like "enemy passes". It was sad! Even two years ago, NRT-BKK was PACKED!

Flyzed shows that THAI airways takes a 747 from BKK to CNX (chiang mai). That seems HUGE! It still shows a smiley face, so that's good. were they big about the dress code? We are backpacking, so I didn't bring my nicest clothes LOL...

Originally Posted by mrs767er

We're doing it in April to get to Bali. I've done cnx thru NRT several times (ICN is another backup w/KE cnx if needed)
Where are you going in Thailand? I just went this past spring--just Bangkok and Hua Hin and Ampawa.

We're flying MSP or ATL (777 flat beds) or 744 DTW (almost flat) thru NRT to BKK.
Then ezeds on Thai (must be bought online thru travelnet, myidtravel) to Bali.
Another option would be DTW/HKG nonstop w/connections to DPS via Cathay or Garuda nonstops.
SIN is also option, but not our first choice since it's unfamiliar to me.

I have 4 buddies going to Thailand in March. They'll be flying to NRT from 2 gateways and meeting on DL flt to BKK. If I can help any way, please ask. We have sev folks here who do the tricky travel (see Siem Reap by Taxi report!)
I have pal who dates FA for TG and he always talks about how full the flights are and how hard it is to NR. he jumpseats often.

Thanks for all this Info! We are in BKK, going to CNX, and then will travel to Laos for a weekend, Vietnam, maybe Hong Kong but I hear the Chinese New Year makes all flights in this reason CRAZY as people go home to China for the holiday Jan 28. I hear Bali is wonderful. ENJOY!

Peak travel for chinese new year will start from this thu/friday 19 Jan and will probably lighten up after 29 Jan. People are not just traveling home, they are taking the long holiday to travel, hence you have most of the asia routes fully booked in all kinds of direction.

I would recommend a set of nice clothes if you are taking asian airlines but they might give you the slack if they see you are back packing. But if you are fighting for seats, then you would hope the dress code makes a diff (though I've experienced otherwise, a guy dressed like a bum got ahead of me maybe because he has other priorities)

I'm not sure where you heard they don't oversell, everyone is overselling these days. Worse case scenario, take the budget airlines out if you are stuck but I hope they have better safety standards now.

Just to be clear, Chinese new year is celebrated throughout most countries in Asia in different forms so not just China

Thank you for that! Yes, Thai Airways had a smiley face 3 days before, but the day of it was PACKED- on a 777!!!
We tried for two flights and didn't make it, so we took NOK airlines, which I read was the low-cost airline UNDER Thai Airways, so I was hoping that would mean the safety standards were the same as Thai. It was a very nice 737, and even though it was $75 one way (at the last minute) versus the $40 ZED, it was a guaranteed seat.

Thank you for sharing about Chinese new year. We might take buses instead. And, we aren't really the grungy backpackers, we just have backpacks. We do dress up as much as possible and are CLEAN before we go to the airport. I agree, many backpackers look like bums!