Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus - LAX-BKK: no premium economy?

First off, I looked and didn't see an answer in any of the threads.

It looks like TG is only selling economy and businees between LAX and BKK, but it's an A345. Is that correct? I assume they didn't reconfigure the plane for that route, so who gets to sit in the former premium economy seats?

Hi. I just came across the same problem and posted it here, --also found PE not available in April and May.

I'm going to guess their web site is having problems, worldwide.

I HOPE that's the problem. :)

Things like this seem to happen annually, around this time prior to THAI loading fares for April-September. Fare amounts too, get screwed up on the THAI website with seemingly outrageous fares displayed.

All seems to get sorted out by end of Feb (?), but is a right pain....

Expert Flyer shows PE availability and an A345. So it's probably just a problem with TG not releasing those fares or some other problem with their site. You might want to try a travel agent and see if they can sell you a ticket.

Bumping this back up.....trying to book a Prem Economy 1-way ticket to LAX....not available via the website.

Bumping this back up.....trying to book a Prem Economy 1-way ticket to LAX....not available via the website.

Assuming you tried multiple dates -- I was looking for a one-way also in June with no premium availability.

That said, the fares for economy AND business (for early June departure) were significantly more than a round-trip fare with similar departure and random returns, so you may just want to book an R/T fare that allows you to change the return date without a fee

Assuming you tried multiple dates -- I was looking for a one-way also in June with no premium availability.

That said, the fares for economy AND business (for early June departure) were significantly more than a round-trip fare with similar departure and random returns, so you may just want to book an R/T fare that allows you to change the return date without a fee

Yes, I checked multiple dates....the seats do not seem to be available when you search for 1-way fare....however they are available on vayama.com but are very expensive. I'll probably check with some travel agents here in BKK.

When I booked a trip over here at the start of the year, I had the same issue...they seemed to open up the seats within 10 days of the flights....and then prem economy was only 50% full when I flew.....

UPDATE: A travel agent here in BKK was able to book a 1-way prem economy for me at a reasonable price. Not sure if it is a glitch or by design that you can't do this via the web.

It's been reported elsewhere that Thai is looking to sell their four A340-500's, or to perhaps restart BKK-JFK service with some of those planes. Since those are the only aircraft they fly that have a premium economy section, they may well be hedging their bets by generally not offering that class of service for sale in the event one of those things happens and they then have to swap in other equipment that won't have premium economy seats.

It's been reported elsewhere that Thai is looking to sell their four A340-500's, or to perhaps restart BKK-JFK service with some of those planes. Since those are the only aircraft they fly that have a premium economy section, they may well be hedging their bets by generally not offering that class of service for sale in the event one of those things happens and they then have to swap in other equipment that won't have premium economy seats.

TG tried (and failed) to rid themselves of the A345. According to a friend on the inside (albeit at a lower level), the LAX route is doing just fine, but there are no plans to revive NYC in the near term (much to my chagrin)

Apparently the only times that JFK really turned a good profit was at the beginning and end of academic semesters, both in Thailand and the US (the US calendar of course coincides with X-mas and New Year's). I asked why they don't just raise premium and business prices (which I think would be justified) to raise yields and she didn't know...

It's been reported elsewhere that Thai is looking to sell their four A340-500's, or to perhaps restart BKK-JFK service with some of those planes. Since those are the only aircraft they fly that have a premium economy section, they may well be hedging their bets by generally not offering that class of service for sale in the event one of those things happens and they then have to swap in other equipment that won't have premium economy seats.

Why would they not sell PE on LAX-BKK if they restarted service to JFK?? Those would be 2 planes out of 4...

The A345s aren't going anywhere anytime soon, nor is the JFK service starting anytime in the forseeable future.

This is a well-documented ticketing glitch that TG has had many problems with on their site.

Glad you were able to resolve the issue, BigMoney

I agree with the previous statements that reinstating service to the NYC area is unlikely at this time. :( THAI had it's best chance to do so now, with Continental Airlines joining Star Alliance and some great link-up and connecting inertia at Newark. But the recent announcements about THAI's summer schedule, which mentioned restarting Johannesburg service, putting the A345's back on the Oslo route, and nothing about NYC pretty much indicates nothing is happening at this time.

I agree with the previous statements that reinstating service to the NYC area is unlikely at this time. :( THAI had it's best chance to do so now, with Continental Airlines joining Star Alliance and some great link-up and connecting inertia at Newark. But the recent announcements about THAI's summer schedule, which mentioned restarting Johannesburg service, putting the A345's back on the Oslo route, and nothing about NYC pretty much indicates nothing is happening at this time.

In fact, the wikipedia article on Thai Airways references an article (in Thai) that suggests that as recently as November they were looking to do just that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_Airways_International#cite_note-9

However, I agree that now it looks like that's probably not happening any time soon.

In fact, the wikipedia article on Thai Airways references an article (in Thai) that suggests that as recently as November they were looking to do just that.

The article was all over the Thai press a few months back--but all it amounted to was the new TG president speculating/posturing about things he'd like to see happening in the future at Thai. No sort of actual plan. And, as noted, nothing has come of it.

With all due respect, Wikipedia is just edited by folks like us--and by no sense of the imagination implies something is fact. Just formalized speculation.

I've been trying their website for LAX-BKK in Premium Economy in May but no luck. It doesn't show availability. Does anyone know when their web problem will be cleared up?

I've been trying their website for LAX-BKK in Premium Economy in May but no luck. It doesn't show availability. Does anyone know when their web problem will be cleared up?

Have you tried different departure / return dates? If one is sold out, the other will not show.

For example, I am eyeing a trip from 3/17-3/30 and do not see any PE (or Biz) availability. However, changing the outbound date to the 18th, I now see both PE and Biz...

The article was all over the Thai press a few months back--but all it amounted to was the new TG president speculating/posturing about things he'd like to see happening in the future at Thai. No sort of actual plan. And, as noted, nothing has come of it.

With all due respect, Wikipedia is just edited by folks like us--and by no sense of the imagination implies something is fact. Just formalized speculation.

Yes, that was an interview with former (chairman?) Wallop. Now there's a guy that's got some baggage! :D

Have you tried different departure / return dates? If one is sold out, the other will not show.

For example, I am eyeing a trip from 3/17-3/30 and do not see any PE (or Biz) availability. However, changing the outbound date to the 18th, I now see both PE and Biz...

I've tried one way on the outbound for my preferred date and several days either side and the site shows no PE availability but both Y and J available. But when I check both seatcounter and the class availability tool they both show U class available.

The TG website is a mess. The flight information (current arrival and departure info) hasn't worked for weeks. It's pretty frustrating when you can't even go online to check if your flight is ontime.

I wouldn't trust booking anything on this site if the flight info doesn't even work.

Thai's webpage is definitely screwed up now. I wanted to book for July (use my miles for upgrade from PE to Business), but the webpage showed no Business seats.. only ECON. and PE. I called reservations, and of course there were plenty of Business Seats left (but no "upgrade" seats available on the week I wanted to go. Amazing how much in advance you have to book to use your miles).