MilesDependent
Sep 23, 01, 7:42 am
Quick trip over to NZ to see my lovely lady who is in the middle of a six month transfer to Auckland. Normally, I wouldn’t bother doing a report on such a short trip, but I thought you may be interested in what things are like after the NY event, down this end of the world.
------------------------------------
SAT SEP 22
TG 991; 777-300 (HS-TKD)
0725/1230
------------------------------------
I was told by TG to check in for this flight 2.5 hours prior to departure. However, as that would have involved arriving at the airport at 4:55am, I decided to risk it, and rocked up about 6:15am – still way too early for a Saturday in my book.
TG were x-raying bags prior to check-in. I have not travelled TG out of SYD for some time, so I can’t tell you if this is a new security measure. However, I only had cabin baggage, and they did not require that to be x-rayed.
Y class check-in was pretty chaotic, I would say about a 30 minutes wait. However, the *G/Royal Executive counter was empty. Gotta love *G http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Interestingly, as I was walking up to the counter I was approached by a very large gentleman. I thought he might have been undercover security, as he asked me if I was travelling today, and if I had any check-in baggage. I said “yes” and “no”. He then told me he was travelling, but his bag was over-weight, and he was wondering if I could check in his bag. C’mon!!! How stupid would you have to be to do that.
I felt like I should say something to the check-in staff about this, as there could have been anything in those bags, and he may have eventually succeeded in getting somebody to do this. However, I said nothing.
I didn’t have my *G card (as I am only a new *G), but it was not required.
It was quite late by this stage, so unfortunately I didn’t have time to go to the lounge. I ended up going straight to the gate at about 7:05, yet boarding did begin until about 7:25 (which was the scheduled departure time). Did a bit of plane spotting: 2 SQ 744s (SMY and SPB), CX 330, GA 330 and several QF 767s and 744s. Interestingly, I was watching a KE (Korean Air) 744 landing, yet it seemed to be coming in a little high and fast. It ended up doing a go-round which I hadn’t seen before. It was very strange to see it coming into land, then go back up again! It actually veered hard left and was coming straight for the terminal. Needless to say I was a little concerned, given recent events. I never actually saw that plane land in the next 20 minutes, but I assume it got down in the end http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
I was looking forward to using my “early boarding” privileges, however to my surprise, they boarded “transit” passengers before anybody, including those flying in C. I should explain, the flight I was on was continuing on from BKK. Is pre-boarding of transit passengers a common practise among airlines?
Interestingly, they were examining people’s passports prior to boarding the aircraft.
I had an emergency exit aisle pre-booked, which was just awesome. So much room. However, I really do feel exposed in these seats, and would not be able to sleep. I also don’t like the fact that there isn’t a seat pocket for storage.
The aircraft I was on was very new, delivered in December 1999. The 777 is such a nice plane inside – so spacious. And Thai’s fit-out is quite nice as well, although I feel the SQ layout is a little lighter and just generally a little more appealing. We ended up taking off to the north at about 7:50am.
Breakfast was served at about 8:45am. I had pre-ordered a vegetarian lacto-ovo meal. Very disappointing to say the least. It was an omelette with no taste, together with some stale danishes. One hot towel was served on the flight, and that was after the meal.
Thai really are no where near as good an airline as SQ (who I normally fly). The FAs are not friendly and their English ability is not up to scratch. The whole airline just felt very “cheap”, and quite poorly run. I might add, the jacket on one of the male FAs was just terrible, completely wrinkled with huge grease marks on the back.
Another factor which didn’t impress me was the lack of PTVs in economy class. Just the main screen at the front of the cabin. How can TG even hope to compete with CX, MH & SQ without this basic feature.
We began our descent into AKL at 12:25 and landed at 12:51. Little rough coming into AKL due to some quite heavy rain clouds.
Immigration at AKL is a little strange as there is such a huge focus on quarantine. I must have been asked 10 times if I had any food in my bag. Although this could have been because one of the sniffer dogs attacked my bag. The sniffer-dog-guy asked me if there was food in there and I said “no”. He asked me if there had been food in there and I said I often take my lunch to work in the bag. He said “that must be it”, and that was the end of that. With the dog going crazy, I would have thought they would have at least opened it up!! They also make you x-ray your bag when you arrive – apparently they are looking for fruit. Honestly it wouldn’t surprise me if the penalty for importing 1 kg of cocaine was 5 years, and the penalty for importing a big green apple was 10 years. Although I do understand the importance of quarantine regulations in a country so dependent on agriculture, there really didn’t seem to be any emphasis on the importation of narcotics, which surprised me. Singapore, for instance, has huge DEATH warnings on the front of their immigration form. Taiwan has signs up saying “EXECUTION FOR DRUG SMUGGLERS”. New Zealand has “EXECUTION FOR BANANNA SMUGGLERS” signs http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
My girlfriend picked me up at the airport and we headed for the Sheraton. She’s living in a flat with 2 other girls – so we didn’t really want to hang out there. I was using my Starwood points for a free night – only 2,000 pts. They gave me a crappy room on the 3rd floor (lowest possible) facing the freeway. I enquired why I didn’t get upgraded and they said “no upgrades for free nights”. As we were only staying 1 night I didn’t pursue this – but – they still should have given me a better room according to the T&C of the program. Can’t say I was too impressed with the hotel – very old and in desperate need of a renovation. I felt like I was back in the 70s after entering the room. Even the TV looked like it was from 1978. The lobby was quite nice however and staff were professional and courteous. The room was amazingly noisy though, I thoroughly recommend that people should request a room away from the freeway, preferably on a higher floor. Ask for a city-facing room, and that should solve matters.
------------------------------------
SUN SEP 23
TG 992; AKL-SYD
777-300 (HS-TKF)
------------------------------------
We slept in until about 11 on Sunday which was quite scary as the flight left at 1:45 and they advised that we needed to be at the airport at 10:45. We ended up getting there at 12:30, and went to a deserted *G check-in counter. Y class queues were horrific – goodness only knows how long it would have taken to get through.
Security at AKL airport seemed a bit tougher than SYD. They made you x-ray all bags before entering the check-in areas. The person at the check-in counter asked me the usual questions, then asked me about knives, and aerosol cans. I confessed to having a spray-on deodorant and he said I should declare it when going through security and spray it to prove that is not mace or pepper spray. Interesting.
We had a look around AKL airport. There is a fantastic separate check-in area for *G/C/F NZ passengers. It looked like the lobby of a 5 star hotel in there.
They are doing some major renovations at the airport and it looked a bit like a war zone. There is a pretty good observation deck on about the 4th floor where you get an unobstructed view of the gate areas and runway. My g/f is not too into plane spotting though se we didn’t stay there too long. Spotted a SQ 744 (SMG), MH 744, NZ 744, 2 QF 763s. Weird seeing QFNZ with all those 733s flying round the place.
Security after immigration was a bit of a non-event. I didn’t declare my evil deodorant and they didn’t notice it or worry about it from the x-ray machines. There are big signs up everywhere saying that knives are not allowed onboard. They were going through quite a few people’s bags – but I just breezed straight through.
I ended up heading straight to the gate, as I didn’t have time to use the lounge again. They immediately began pre-boarding, and they were examining people’s passports again.
The pre-boarding announcement said Business Class and Royal Orchid Gold Plus members may board early – no mention of Star Gold. I gave the guy my boarding pass and he just gave it back to me and said “not yet”. I then said that Star Gold have pre-boarding privileges, and he said “no, only Thai Star Gold”. I then pulled out my trusty “Guide to Star Gold Membership” from my back pocket, and showed him. He reluctantly let me through after giving my passport the third degree. As I was about to walk through the bridge they made another announcement this time referring to Star Gold – not sure if that was because of me. Has anyone else had trouble pre-boarding with Star Gold? This was my first trip as *G, and I can’t say I’m too impressed. In SYD they don’t do any pre-boarding except for transit passengers, and in AKL they restrict it to Thai *G.
I was seated in 50K today as I wanted a window. The plane was only about 6 months old, and was shining all over. Beautiful plane. However, the pitch seemed absolutely terrible – I guess that could have been because I had an emergency row on the way over. But I’m sure it is less than on the SQ 773s. Take off was about 20 minutes late at AKL as they had to get someone’s bags off who hadn’t boarded the aircraft.
We took off from 23L over the water. The plane was 100% full, mostly NZ people holidaying in Phuket. I think that place might be becoming like Bali – must keep away, as I can’t stand package tourists!!
Lunch was served about 45 mins after take off. I was pleased to get a hot towel before AND after lunch on this flight. I had pre-ordered a veg lacto/ovo again. I couldn’t even eat the main portion – some soggy rice, beans and sauce. The dessert was not much better – an apricot danish/tart - tasted like one of those frozen Sara Lee desserts http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif The chick pea salad entrée was quite nice – but I smothered it with Kraft Italian dressing and that was all I could taste.
The flight was probably the smoothest I have ever had – not a bump the entire way. Once again, the FAs were not particularly friendly. Their English was ordinary. The pilot said virtually nothing. I can’t say it was a bad flight – just nothing special.
Began our descent into SYD at 14:45 and landed on 34L at 15:05. Came in directly towards the city, made a left turn and followed the coast before turning right and coming into land.
I was hassled marginally at SYD, as they had a look in my bag. I think it was because I hesitated when asked by immigration what countries I had visited in the last 3 months. I kind of looked at him blankly for a second, then he looked at me, wrote something on my card and that was that. I think he thought I was acting nervous by not knowing what countries I had visited. When I handed my form in at Customs I was dragged away to the tables where they had a look in my bag for about 15 seconds then said OK.
All in all – Thai is not a bad airline. I am sure they are a lot better than many airlines like PR, KE, OZ, and CA. But I am judging them fair and square against SQ, which is probably unfair, as SQ is (probably) the best airline in the world. But I would not fly TG long-haul simply and purely because they don’t have PTVs in Y, whereas SQ do.
Happy to receive any comments and field any questions that you may have.
Best Regards
MD
------------------------------------
SAT SEP 22
TG 991; 777-300 (HS-TKD)
0725/1230
------------------------------------
I was told by TG to check in for this flight 2.5 hours prior to departure. However, as that would have involved arriving at the airport at 4:55am, I decided to risk it, and rocked up about 6:15am – still way too early for a Saturday in my book.
TG were x-raying bags prior to check-in. I have not travelled TG out of SYD for some time, so I can’t tell you if this is a new security measure. However, I only had cabin baggage, and they did not require that to be x-rayed.
Y class check-in was pretty chaotic, I would say about a 30 minutes wait. However, the *G/Royal Executive counter was empty. Gotta love *G http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Interestingly, as I was walking up to the counter I was approached by a very large gentleman. I thought he might have been undercover security, as he asked me if I was travelling today, and if I had any check-in baggage. I said “yes” and “no”. He then told me he was travelling, but his bag was over-weight, and he was wondering if I could check in his bag. C’mon!!! How stupid would you have to be to do that.
I felt like I should say something to the check-in staff about this, as there could have been anything in those bags, and he may have eventually succeeded in getting somebody to do this. However, I said nothing.
I didn’t have my *G card (as I am only a new *G), but it was not required.
It was quite late by this stage, so unfortunately I didn’t have time to go to the lounge. I ended up going straight to the gate at about 7:05, yet boarding did begin until about 7:25 (which was the scheduled departure time). Did a bit of plane spotting: 2 SQ 744s (SMY and SPB), CX 330, GA 330 and several QF 767s and 744s. Interestingly, I was watching a KE (Korean Air) 744 landing, yet it seemed to be coming in a little high and fast. It ended up doing a go-round which I hadn’t seen before. It was very strange to see it coming into land, then go back up again! It actually veered hard left and was coming straight for the terminal. Needless to say I was a little concerned, given recent events. I never actually saw that plane land in the next 20 minutes, but I assume it got down in the end http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
I was looking forward to using my “early boarding” privileges, however to my surprise, they boarded “transit” passengers before anybody, including those flying in C. I should explain, the flight I was on was continuing on from BKK. Is pre-boarding of transit passengers a common practise among airlines?
Interestingly, they were examining people’s passports prior to boarding the aircraft.
I had an emergency exit aisle pre-booked, which was just awesome. So much room. However, I really do feel exposed in these seats, and would not be able to sleep. I also don’t like the fact that there isn’t a seat pocket for storage.
The aircraft I was on was very new, delivered in December 1999. The 777 is such a nice plane inside – so spacious. And Thai’s fit-out is quite nice as well, although I feel the SQ layout is a little lighter and just generally a little more appealing. We ended up taking off to the north at about 7:50am.
Breakfast was served at about 8:45am. I had pre-ordered a vegetarian lacto-ovo meal. Very disappointing to say the least. It was an omelette with no taste, together with some stale danishes. One hot towel was served on the flight, and that was after the meal.
Thai really are no where near as good an airline as SQ (who I normally fly). The FAs are not friendly and their English ability is not up to scratch. The whole airline just felt very “cheap”, and quite poorly run. I might add, the jacket on one of the male FAs was just terrible, completely wrinkled with huge grease marks on the back.
Another factor which didn’t impress me was the lack of PTVs in economy class. Just the main screen at the front of the cabin. How can TG even hope to compete with CX, MH & SQ without this basic feature.
We began our descent into AKL at 12:25 and landed at 12:51. Little rough coming into AKL due to some quite heavy rain clouds.
Immigration at AKL is a little strange as there is such a huge focus on quarantine. I must have been asked 10 times if I had any food in my bag. Although this could have been because one of the sniffer dogs attacked my bag. The sniffer-dog-guy asked me if there was food in there and I said “no”. He asked me if there had been food in there and I said I often take my lunch to work in the bag. He said “that must be it”, and that was the end of that. With the dog going crazy, I would have thought they would have at least opened it up!! They also make you x-ray your bag when you arrive – apparently they are looking for fruit. Honestly it wouldn’t surprise me if the penalty for importing 1 kg of cocaine was 5 years, and the penalty for importing a big green apple was 10 years. Although I do understand the importance of quarantine regulations in a country so dependent on agriculture, there really didn’t seem to be any emphasis on the importation of narcotics, which surprised me. Singapore, for instance, has huge DEATH warnings on the front of their immigration form. Taiwan has signs up saying “EXECUTION FOR DRUG SMUGGLERS”. New Zealand has “EXECUTION FOR BANANNA SMUGGLERS” signs http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
My girlfriend picked me up at the airport and we headed for the Sheraton. She’s living in a flat with 2 other girls – so we didn’t really want to hang out there. I was using my Starwood points for a free night – only 2,000 pts. They gave me a crappy room on the 3rd floor (lowest possible) facing the freeway. I enquired why I didn’t get upgraded and they said “no upgrades for free nights”. As we were only staying 1 night I didn’t pursue this – but – they still should have given me a better room according to the T&C of the program. Can’t say I was too impressed with the hotel – very old and in desperate need of a renovation. I felt like I was back in the 70s after entering the room. Even the TV looked like it was from 1978. The lobby was quite nice however and staff were professional and courteous. The room was amazingly noisy though, I thoroughly recommend that people should request a room away from the freeway, preferably on a higher floor. Ask for a city-facing room, and that should solve matters.
------------------------------------
SUN SEP 23
TG 992; AKL-SYD
777-300 (HS-TKF)
------------------------------------
We slept in until about 11 on Sunday which was quite scary as the flight left at 1:45 and they advised that we needed to be at the airport at 10:45. We ended up getting there at 12:30, and went to a deserted *G check-in counter. Y class queues were horrific – goodness only knows how long it would have taken to get through.
Security at AKL airport seemed a bit tougher than SYD. They made you x-ray all bags before entering the check-in areas. The person at the check-in counter asked me the usual questions, then asked me about knives, and aerosol cans. I confessed to having a spray-on deodorant and he said I should declare it when going through security and spray it to prove that is not mace or pepper spray. Interesting.
We had a look around AKL airport. There is a fantastic separate check-in area for *G/C/F NZ passengers. It looked like the lobby of a 5 star hotel in there.
They are doing some major renovations at the airport and it looked a bit like a war zone. There is a pretty good observation deck on about the 4th floor where you get an unobstructed view of the gate areas and runway. My g/f is not too into plane spotting though se we didn’t stay there too long. Spotted a SQ 744 (SMG), MH 744, NZ 744, 2 QF 763s. Weird seeing QFNZ with all those 733s flying round the place.
Security after immigration was a bit of a non-event. I didn’t declare my evil deodorant and they didn’t notice it or worry about it from the x-ray machines. There are big signs up everywhere saying that knives are not allowed onboard. They were going through quite a few people’s bags – but I just breezed straight through.
I ended up heading straight to the gate, as I didn’t have time to use the lounge again. They immediately began pre-boarding, and they were examining people’s passports again.
The pre-boarding announcement said Business Class and Royal Orchid Gold Plus members may board early – no mention of Star Gold. I gave the guy my boarding pass and he just gave it back to me and said “not yet”. I then said that Star Gold have pre-boarding privileges, and he said “no, only Thai Star Gold”. I then pulled out my trusty “Guide to Star Gold Membership” from my back pocket, and showed him. He reluctantly let me through after giving my passport the third degree. As I was about to walk through the bridge they made another announcement this time referring to Star Gold – not sure if that was because of me. Has anyone else had trouble pre-boarding with Star Gold? This was my first trip as *G, and I can’t say I’m too impressed. In SYD they don’t do any pre-boarding except for transit passengers, and in AKL they restrict it to Thai *G.
I was seated in 50K today as I wanted a window. The plane was only about 6 months old, and was shining all over. Beautiful plane. However, the pitch seemed absolutely terrible – I guess that could have been because I had an emergency row on the way over. But I’m sure it is less than on the SQ 773s. Take off was about 20 minutes late at AKL as they had to get someone’s bags off who hadn’t boarded the aircraft.
We took off from 23L over the water. The plane was 100% full, mostly NZ people holidaying in Phuket. I think that place might be becoming like Bali – must keep away, as I can’t stand package tourists!!
Lunch was served about 45 mins after take off. I was pleased to get a hot towel before AND after lunch on this flight. I had pre-ordered a veg lacto/ovo again. I couldn’t even eat the main portion – some soggy rice, beans and sauce. The dessert was not much better – an apricot danish/tart - tasted like one of those frozen Sara Lee desserts http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif The chick pea salad entrée was quite nice – but I smothered it with Kraft Italian dressing and that was all I could taste.
The flight was probably the smoothest I have ever had – not a bump the entire way. Once again, the FAs were not particularly friendly. Their English was ordinary. The pilot said virtually nothing. I can’t say it was a bad flight – just nothing special.
Began our descent into SYD at 14:45 and landed on 34L at 15:05. Came in directly towards the city, made a left turn and followed the coast before turning right and coming into land.
I was hassled marginally at SYD, as they had a look in my bag. I think it was because I hesitated when asked by immigration what countries I had visited in the last 3 months. I kind of looked at him blankly for a second, then he looked at me, wrote something on my card and that was that. I think he thought I was acting nervous by not knowing what countries I had visited. When I handed my form in at Customs I was dragged away to the tables where they had a look in my bag for about 15 seconds then said OK.
All in all – Thai is not a bad airline. I am sure they are a lot better than many airlines like PR, KE, OZ, and CA. But I am judging them fair and square against SQ, which is probably unfair, as SQ is (probably) the best airline in the world. But I would not fly TG long-haul simply and purely because they don’t have PTVs in Y, whereas SQ do.
Happy to receive any comments and field any questions that you may have.
Best Regards
MD