Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus - BKK-DPS (TG 431 and TG 432)

Does anyone have pics or detailed information on the A330 that runs from BKK to Denpasar (DPS) on Thai Air TG 431/432?

I'd heard that some of these planes are using old business class seats and interiors.

Links to pics of the biz cabin would also be great.

check this TR out

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1296231-thai-syd-bkk-dps-j-virgin-aus-dps-syd-j.html

I flew TG 432 DPS-BKK on December 30, 2011, on HS-TEA, the first A330 to join TG's fleet (judging by the "A" in the reg number, that is). The J cabin could have used a refresh, with somewhat faded upholstery and definitely old IFE PTV screens. But it was still a decent regional/intra-Asia product, not the equivalent of domestic "First" in the US.

Thanks for the information. Too bad that biz class is old-school style.

I won't be using miles for this trip so is there another airline I should check out? I want to fly direct from BKK to DPS and I cannot and will not fly small planes, so 330 or larger.

Thanks!

The only other nonstop on the route is AirAsia flying A320s.

You could fly SQ BKK-SIN-DPS, but they don't fly their premium metal to DPS, either- I flew them on SIN-DPS last year and while the soft product was perfectly fine, the hard product was of similar vintage to TG's A330s- small screens in the armrest, non-AVOD IFE and so on (though it is an B772).

The other option I guess would be CX going BKK-HKG-DPS. They fly A747s on HKG-DPS, though their intra-Asia product on BKK-HKG isn't going to be a lot better than SQ's or TG's on a 2-3 hour flight- a lot of the planes CX flies regionally don't have AVOD, are just recliners, etc.

You have to have realistic expectations: Bali is primarily a leisure destination, and airlines like TG and SQ are carrying connecting traffic on these routes (read: less expensive fares). You're not going to see a bunch of high-powered executives dropping major coin on business-class travel there like you would on JFK-LHR. Thus you see the older planes on those routes (similar to how UA flies their "ghetto" 763s/777s to HNL/OGG). On the other hand, you're going to Bali- who cares if the seat you'll be in has AVOD if in a few hours you will be in a tropical paradise? The seats are plenty comfortable, if older.

That being said, if you absolutely MUST have a fancy airplane seat with all the bells and whistles for your trip, plus a big jet, and cost and time are not a factor, I'd do this:

- buy EK BKK-HKG-BKK in C or F (their F fares are ~$800 on that route last I checked; they fly it as a 5th Freedom tag, EK 384/385) and fly their A388. Drink some Dom and take a shower. ;)
- overnight in HKG. That EK flight is really late a lot of the time and the only flight that you could connect to in HKG is a HX one, which is on an A333, but it's a tight connection. I wouldn't chance it. On the return (see below), you'll need another overnight too (not really enough time to connect).
- buy CX HKG-DPS-HKG in C. You'd be flying UD 747 (and they might even put you in F if you had high oneworld status like Emerald- they don't sell F on the route, but sometimes they will put elites and people on F tickets in that cabin- they will get C soft product but F hard product).

Thank you! Great information.

I'm going to look at these options.

My backup plan(e) is the TG A330 flight with the older interior plus my incoming flight from CNX which is by 747 - (yep, TG flies a 747 1-2x daily from BKK to Chiang Mai at 1 hour 15 minutes each way -- and a 777 and A330 1x daily).

An old 330 and a 340-500.

We have booked BKK-DPS-BKK in TG C, aircraft listed as 772, but from reading this forum, equipment may change at any time. How are the C seats on the 772?

Since we're arriving BKK on TG F, we should have access to the F lounge during our transit, right?

We have booked BKK-DPS-BKK in TG C, aircraft listed as 772, but from reading this forum, equipment may change at any time. How are the C seats on the 772?

Since we're arriving BKK on TG F, we should have access to the F lounge during our transit, right?

The 777-200 I have enjoyed on this route has always been excellent, pic here http://www.flickr.com/photos/26197523@N00/3784572629/

Understand you do get F Lounge access in BKK

The 777-200 I have enjoyed on this route has always been excellent, pic here http://www.flickr.com/photos/26197523@N00/3784572629/

Understand you do get F Lounge access in BKK

When Mr. Megatop and I flew this route again in mid-May, we too had a long-haul configuration 777-200, as seen in these pics. Pretty good stuff, certainly better than the regional A330 last December.

We have booked BKK-DPS-BKK in TG C, aircraft listed as 772, but from reading this forum, equipment may change at any time. How are the C seats on the 772?

They are perfectly fine for a ~4 hour daytime flight.

They are perfectly fine for a ~4 hour daytime flight.
Thanks, looking forward to it :D