Thread: Intra-Asia Non-rev'ing to / from Bangkok

Originally Posted by mrs767er

We've done Hua Hin several times--love it! (it was our first trip to Thailand)
We've gone from ICN and SIN to get to BKK. First, using SkyMiles, second, using zeds. I would like to try again from HKG but haven't done it yet.

Thanks mrs767er! How was the non-rev trip to BKK from these airports? Did you get on easily?

Originally Posted by flyingbusman

I fly KUL-HKG almost every week for the last 10 years so they are pretty much like my home base. I also do BKK both ways sometimes. Each has it advantages and really depends who you can fly with. I think KUL might be tough for you to get to from AMS. Anyway drop me a message if you need any help

Also difficult times are during school and public holidays and in 2 weeks there is none so you will be fine

Practically any South-East Asian destination is difficult to get to from Amsterdam; flights to BKK, KUL, SIN and DPS are usually full. We usually try to avoid those direct flights basically because they're so full and it's difficult to get (away from) there. So we usally fly to a destination that has somewhat better availability (we did ICN the last couple of years) and then fly on from there. Last year we've had a positive experience from KUL though.

How is non-rev'ing to / from BKK? Between KUL and BKK I can non-rev on MH and TG. Between HKG and BKK I can non-rev on RJ, UL, CX, EK, KQ, PG and TG. I bet that we will try mainly on CX and TG as these have the largest share of flights between these cities. Do you have any experience on flying non-rev on any of these airlines between BKK and HKG / KUL? How are these flights, are they usually full?

Basically you get more options going from HKG,
CX - local favorite and they do push you into business class if Y is full so dress for it
EK - their 380s with plenty seats gives you high chance of getting out. I got on their 380 once just to get out of HKG right after a typhoon, which typically all flights out of HKG are full because the airport has been shut down for a day will need a few days to digest the loads
TG - nothing particular but they tend to have seats as mostly thai passengers will prefer them
I don't try the other mainly because among these you already have plenty flights. I did consider flying KQ on one of my BKK trips as I have not experienced african airlines :P

From KUL
MH - all 738 aircraft. They are overselling massively these days. Also they are trying to price it to compete with airasia. odds are you will get a seat during the day as there are plenty of flight
TG - 2 flights per day but they are using 773 so you have room at the back.
Airasia does sell their tickets dirt cheap for those odd hours flight but its been a while i fly them due to their 29in pitch. Do scan their website. the only drawback is that its a firm seat and you can't miss it

then there is the local logistics cost, you should know that HK is one of the most expensive cities in Asia so if you are stuck at the airport then the hotel cost might be a little higher.

finally its your AMS, you have to figure that part out

Originally Posted by offroader

Also look at confirmed seats, sometimes less than ZED. Even if a little more than ZED at least it is a confirmed seat. Last year had confirmed seat purchased 2 days out for $120 from BKK to ICN. Look at r/t ICN to BKK confirmed. Have information ready and if the flight has wifi between AMS and ICN then look on the flight for possible purchase. If prices go up then try and ZED. Go to wikipedia and search IATA XXX (XXX is airport code, here is BKK) and you can get a fairly up to date list of airlines that fly to that airport and from where. Also remember Bangkok's other airport DMK.

Thanks, offroader. I will keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by flyingbusman

Basically you get more options going from HKG,
CX - local favorite and they do push you into business class if Y is full so dress for it
EK - their 380s with plenty seats gives you high chance of getting out. I got on their 380 once just to get out of HKG right after a typhoon, which typically all flights out of HKG are full because the airport has been shut down for a day will need a few days to digest the loads
TG - nothing particular but they tend to have seats as mostly thai passengers will prefer them
I don't try the other mainly because among these you already have plenty flights. I did consider flying KQ on one of my BKK trips as I have not experienced african airlines :P

From KUL
MH - all 738 aircraft. They are overselling massively these days. Also they are trying to price it to compete with airasia. odds are you will get a seat during the day as there are plenty of flight
TG - 2 flights per day but they are using 773 so you have room at the back.
Airasia does sell their tickets dirt cheap for those odd hours flight but its been a while i fly them due to their 29in pitch. Do scan their website. the only drawback is that its a firm seat and you can't miss it

then there is the local logistics cost, you should know that HK is one of the most expensive cities in Asia so if you are stuck at the airport then the hotel cost might be a little higher.

finally its your AMS, you have to figure that part out

Thanks for your advice flyingbusman! You basically have a good point; there are indeed more options (on larger aircraft too) from / to HKG. Seems like my chances will be bigger for non-reving from / to HKG instead of KUL. It honestly doesn't sound to promising that MH is massively overselling their flights.

We will definitely figure out the part from AMS .

Having said that, I just did a MH KUL-HKG flight with 2/3 of the econ seats empty. Really beats me to figure out why some days they can overbook 3 flights in a day with no particular holiday etc