jacob_m

Thanks a lot for the comments!

Indeed there hasn't been much coverage of it as most people prefer to go via Frankfurt instead.
A bit of a shame really as the MUC F-lounge was a very pleasant experience! Far better service than in the FCT/FCL in FRA.

I think we're up to 4 or 5 brands now that have been consumed...

jacob_m

After a short but nice and intensive stay in Tokyo it’s time to hit the road again. Back to more first class flying (and more brands of champagne... ).

To the airport

I had a morning departure from Narita airport so the location of the hotel next to Tokyo Station/Narita Express was much appreciated.

My alarm clock went off at 6.15 am and I caught the 7.15 am departure from Tokyo Station.
The station was already busy at 7 am with plenty of stressed Japanese businessman arriving on the commuter trains from the suburbs and nearby cities.



It takes nearly an hour to get from central to Tokyo to Narita airport.
Although large international airports shouldn’t be too close to a city centre for noise and environmental reasons the location of Narita airport really went to excess, it's located a massive 60 km from downtown Tokyo.
Fortunately they have now opened up Haneda airport for a limited number of international flights which should be a major advantage for frequent flyers.
Haneda airport is just a few km from central Tokyo and can even be reached easily by underground.

On the positive side the train ride to Narita is in fact quite pleasant as the train passes through some nice landscapes and Japanese villages.



Upon arrival at Narita airport I was a bit surprised to have my passport checked when getting off the train. I didn’t expect that in a country like Japan.
I followed the signs for the South Wing departure lobby of terminal 1.



Check-in at Narita airport

The South Wing of terminal 1 is used by nearly all Star Alliance carriers and was specifically constructed to cater for Star Alliance when it opened in 2006.

In contrast to nearly all other airports I have visited in the world the South Wing check-in area is divided by class of travel instead of airline.
There is a special area for first class, a special area for business class, a special area for Star Gold and finally several economy class aisles.
Each area has all the relevant check-in desks for all the relevant airlines operating at the airport for the specified class of travel.



There was no wait whatsoever for the single Thai Airways Royal First check-in desk in the dedicated first class check-in area.
Quite nicely there was a red carpet in front of the check-in desk and a friendly young woman was working behind the desk.




The check-in process was very friendly and efficient but still done with the expected Japanese thoroughness.
A Star Alliance priority tag and a Thai Airways Royal First tag were attached and I later noticed the check-in agent had for whatever reason also added a Fragile-tag to my bag.

I received a boarding pass with my pre-assigned seat for the flight as well as a lounge guide with the location of the lounges at the airport.

All-in-all a good start of the day!

Lounge hopping

Security was surprisingly quick and the staff were in fact very friendly and respectful.
Japan should be a forefront example to the rest of the world to show that it is in fact possible to both have friendly security staff and a proper and reliable security screening.

Passport control was equally quick and I was standing in the transit hall within less than five minutes after having left the check-in desk.



At check-in I was given a small lounge guide of all lounges at terminal 1 and the location of each of them.
The check-in agent mentioned that Thai Airways uses the United Airlines lounge which is located in the main tax-free area in the transit hall.
However there are also two ANA lounges available. As I had quite a bit of time before departure (still over two hours) I headed for the ANA lounge located in the pier used by most foreign airlines at the 40-gates.
There would be sufficient time for a visit to the UA lounge later.


Now what’s this?

ANA Suite Lounge, Tokyo/Narita (40-gates)

The ANA first class lounges are nowadays called “ANA Suite Lounge”.
In the 40-pier the first class/suite lounge is located on the upper floor whereas the regular ANA lounge used by business/Star Gold passengers is located on the ground floor.

I was warmly greeted at the reception and after the barcode on my boarding pass had been scanned I was invited inside.
Not a word about using the wrong lounge...



There were quite a lot of staff in the lounge and each and every one greeted me with a friendly “Irashimashite” (welcome) as I arrived. You certainly felt very welcome!!



The first class lounge was quite stylish with the interior in white and black colours and comfortable black armchairs to sit in.
The lounge also has a rather nice view of the apron and some of the adjacent gates.
Right next to the lounge an Airbus A380 from Singapore Airlines was preparing for departure.

Other than some seating areas and a self-service buffet the lounge also had a business centre as well as a fair amount of newspapers and magazines.



I had a seat just by the window and a moment later one of the friendly lounge attendants arrived at my seat and offered to take my jacket, I don't think that has ever happened to me before in a lounge.
She also handed me a hot towel and asked me if I wanted anything to drink. I asked for a glass of orange juice which was delivered to my seat within a minute.



There were some nice snacks to eat in the first class lounge, but in contrast to most other first class lounges I have visited there was very little substantial to eat.
The food offerings consisted of some tiny sandwiches, some sushi, pastries and some small but rather nice-looking glasses with different contents (mainly cold cuts). During the morning they also had yoghurt and cereals.
I believe they also had noodles available in the lounge.

Everything was very fresh though and looked really appetising, full marks for the presentation! ^
The self-service buffet was absolutely spotless, incredibly well-maintained, but anyone looking to have a proper meal before the flight would probably better visit a restaurant.



The drinks selection was also OK but not spectacular. Some wine, spirits and soft drinks were available as well as Japanese beer from a beer machine.
There were also several bottles of sake available.



Verdict

The lounge itself was fine, tidy and well-maintained, but the food offerings were a little underwhelming, especially considering this was a first class lounge.
The staff were really friendly though. I don't think anyone has ever proactively asked to take my jacket in a lounge before, and I don't think I have ever received a hot towel upon arrival in any other lounge (only exception I can think of is SQ The Private Room in SIN)

Although the offerings in the lounge were a bit below what the competitors offer I think the service made up for quite a bit of it.

Moomba

The also check your passport on entering the airport grounds on the limo bus from the city. The bus stops and officers come on board and check everyone's passport.


Excellent report. Eagerly awaiting the remaining posts.

jacob_m

Thanks!

More instalments are absolutely to be expected. Just takes quite bit of time to prepare and write everything, and having just started a new job both time and energy are lacking for the moment.

But spare with me!

jacob_m

As I was heading for the ANA lounge I noticed they were preparing for some kind of event in the pier, actually I didn’t think much about it at the time
It wasn’t until I left the lounge around 25 minutes later, and noticed more people had gathered, that I really decided to check what was going on.

And gosh, had I chosen the right date and time to travel or what? And of course not to forget, the right lounge (I was supposed to use the UA lounge, in another part of the terminal).

They were going to celebrate two things:
-The 150th anniversary of signing the first German-Japanese treaty of friendship (on the exact date)
-The 50th anniversary of the first Lufthansa flight to Japan (on the exact date)

To celebrate this Lufthansa was to name their fourth and latest A380 aircraft (D-AIMD) after the city of Tokyo, and this name ceremony would take place at Narita airport, in less than an hour...

I had no idea who would participate in the ceremony, but given the large number of journalists and TV-teams waiting it wasn’t hard to figure out some high profiles were expected.


The press is waiting with anticipation

Just before 9 am the Lufthansa Airbus A380 arrived at gate 45 and given the number of ground staff at the gate there were obviously some important people onboard.


The Lufthansa Airbus A380, soon to be named “Tokyo”, arrives at Narita

As the aircraft had parked some security people also showed up and began making sure all spectators were standing where they were supposed to stand, at a safe distance from the stage.
I managed to secure an excellent spot.


The guests have arrived...

Then the important guests finally arrived...

After they had shaken hands and taken their seats a Japanese woman welcomed us to the ceremony, in English and Japanese, and also gave a short presentation of the participating guests.

The most interesting guest for me as a FlyerTalker was Mr Christoph Franz, the new CEO of the Lufthansa Group, who had just three weeks earlier taken over from the old CEO Mr Wolfgang Mayrhuber (who I actually got to meet during the FT Do 2009 in Frankfurt).
This was in fact Christoph Franz very first official engagement as the new CEO.

There were also in particular two more important guests participating in the ceremony: Mr Shintaro Ishihara, the Governor of Tokyo, and Mr Volker Stanzel, Germany’s Ambassador to Japan.

The other guests included (I may have got some of this wrong) the Minister of Land, Infrastructure & Transport in Japan, the Lufthansa Director in Japan, the Lufthansa Sales Director of Asia, and the Representative Director of Narita International Airport.


Everybody is here and ready for the ceremony

The Lufthansa CEO held the opening speech talking about the importance of Japan as a destination during the past 50 years and the current importance of Lufthansa as an airline to the Japanese people, offering a strategic link and gateway to Europe.
The first Lufthansa aircraft landed in Tokyo on January 24th 1961 (exactly 50 years earlier, on the date). The aircraft was a Boeing 707 which needed 25 hours and up to seven stops to make the 15,000 km distance from Frankfurt to Tokyo.
Nowadays the Lufthansa Group (LH, LX, OS) offers 82 flights per week between Japan and Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Vienna.


Opening speech by the new CEO of the Lufthansa Group, Mr Christoph Franz

Next Germany’s Ambassador to Japan held a speech talking about the bilateral friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
The speech was held in German and translated into Japanese by a German interpreter, a very talented woman.


The German Ambassador to Japan, Mr Volker Stanzel

Next the Governor of Tokyo held a speech, also talking about the importance of the friendship and trade relations between the countries.

He held his speech in Japanese and someone was expected to interpret in English.
Well something there went completely wrong, either they had forgot to decide who was to translate at the airport, alternatively they had forgotten to forward the Governor’s speech to whomever was to do the translation in order for him/her to do some necessary preparations.

Eventually a young Japanese man said some sentences in English, what he said did not make sense and was obviously just a tiny part of what the Governor had just said in Japanese.

The Governor was incredibly annoyed and said something not particularly pleasant to the guy.
The whole situation was extremely embarrassing, for all of us. I really understood the meaning of when one person loses his/her face, then everybody loses their faces. It was a very strange and unpleasant situation.
I believe the Governor of Tokyo is a rather important person in Japan and a person who is not used to these kinds of mishappenings.


The Governor of Tokyo, Mr Shintaro Ishihara

Eventually the interpreter of the German ambassador rushed into action.
She made some very quick notes of what the Governor had just said and translated this from Japanese into a flawless English with a perfect British accent.

She had no idea what the Governor was going to talk about, she had previously translated from German to Japanese, and now she was translating from Japanese to English, and did it wonderfully.
It was incredibly impressive and the Governor himself was extremely pleased (just like most Japanese people around). She completely saved the situation.
The Governor kept smiling for the rest of her translation and even openly praised her in front of everybody, which I would guess is quite rare in Japan.
I’m sure someone has a very good chance of a promotion...


The very talented interpreter is saving the face of the Governor...


...who is extremely pleased!

Finally two agreements were signed, one of them a renewed friendship agreement between the two countries.


An agreement is signed between Lufthansa and Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transport


A renewed friendship treaty is signed between Germany and Japan

The last part of the ceremony was the traditional ribbon cutting.
Before that the Lufthansa crew of the A380 was invited to join on stage and the Lufthansa CEO took the opportunity to greet and shake hands with all of them.
They seemed delighted to be able to participate in the event.


The Lufthansa CEO is shaking hand with the crew of the Airbus A380

Then all guests were invited on the stage, each one was given a white glove and of course a scissor.


The Lufthansa CEO is the first person to receive a white glove and a scissor


Almost everybody is ready…

When everyone was ready a short photo session followed.

Finally the Japanese presenter introduced the ribbon cutting ceremony, and the magic word “Dozo” (basically meaning “please” in Japanese).


When I say “Dozo”…


Dozo!

The last part of the ceremony, the actual baptism of the aircraft, took place on the apron and only a few invited were able to join that part.
Instead of baptising the aircraft with champagne, as is the usual tradition, the aircraft was baptised with Japanese Sake.
The Governor, the Lufthansa CEO and the German Ambassador broke open a barrel of Sake with a wooden hammer to baptise the new A380.

The ceremony was quite long, nearly an hour in length, and ended very conveniently just in time for the boarding of my flight.
A really fantastic event with some great speeches, episodes and pariticpating guests! The Japanese really know how to create good ceremonies.

I never made it to the United Airlines lounge, but I honestly couldn’t be less bothered.

Just how lucky can one get?
Choosing to pass through Narita on that very day, at that time of the day, and by a pure coincidence deciding to use the “wrong lounge” (otherwise I would never have made it to that part of the terminal and hence would never have noticed the event).

Such a wonderful experience!

Vaclav

Post #50 - an unexpected bonus for all, the author of this great TR and the readers. Keep it coming, Jacob! ^

Thanks-merci

Pingtung

great trip report so far and what an unbelievable coincidence in catching the ceremony. Thanks for the detailed report on the ceremony, sounds like it was a wonderful event ^

HanseatHB

What a lovely coincidence! You are a lucky man! Btw, I just had the pleasure to fly this A380 'Tokio' from FRA to JNB. So nice to read about it's history now

SASDC8

Wow!! What a great report by you again jacob_m ^ ^

I really enjoy your reviews of the LH lounges in FRA and MUC. I too will use some of my Eurobonus points on a trip in LH first (FRA-NYC) in June and I have to say that after reading your report, I look even more forward to that trip

The way you write and your pictures are truly excellent and I hope you will continue feeding us with more great reports from your globe spanning adventures ^

Cheers
Stein

jacob_m

Well you know the itinerary, and the best flights are indeed on the return.
Can't wait to get there...

Yes it was a wonderful event. I mean how often do they baptise new A380 aircrafts?
I'm incredibly happy and fortunate to have seen it. Since it took place in the transit area, in a secluded part of it, very few people even got the chance.

jacob_m

Boarding

After the very nice and totally unexpected Lufthansa inauguration ceremony I made it to the gate just in time for boarding to start.

At the gate passengers had already begun to form lines, with some help from the ground staff.
There was an economy class line as well as a dedicated premium (business/Star Gold) line.
As I joined the premium line one of the gate agents noticed my gold Thai first class boarding pass and immediately asked me to step aside and wait just by the podium.

At 10.15 am, 30 mins before scheduled departure, boarding started.
Having already been identified as a first class passenger at the gate they were very careful to let me board first, before the others.
Really nice! And always an advantage if you want to take cabin photos...

Settling in onboard



First and business class used the forward passenger bridge leading to door 1L
I was warmly greeted at the door and escorted to my seat 02K.
My jacket was taken, I was offered a hot towel and the FA also asked me if I wanted anything to drink before departure.
They had orange juice and champagne to choose between, not a particularly difficult question...
I asked which champagne brand they had onboard and was told they served the rather nice Dom Pérignon 2002.

A few moments later the female purser also arrived at my seat, greeted me by name, warmly welcomed me onboard and told me I should not hesitate to let her know if there was anything she could do for me.

So far a pretty good start of the flight!



Newspapers and magazines were available at the small table in the middle of the cabin.
I was also given excellent noise-cancelling headphones (in a nice Thai Airways box), slippers and an amenity kit (a nice Rimowa one!).

I was also offered a refill of the champagne, which I happily accepted.



Boarding was completed surprisingly quickly, they managed to board a reasonably full Boeing 747 in less than 20 minutes. The doors were closed already at 10.37 am, eight minutes ahead of timetable.
The standard safety demonstration video was shown on the monitors with the serious Thai captain who ensures the passengers “your safety is our priority, please watch the safety demonstration from our flight attendants carefully”.
I always get a smile on my lips when I watch it.

The load in first class was very light, only three seats were occupied (out of 10 in total).

The flight time to Bangkok was expected to be nearly 7 hours.

Tokyo/Narita-Bangkok, flight TG 641 operated by Thai Airways
Departure: 10:45
Arrival: 15:45
Aircraft: Boeing 747-700
Class: First Class
Seat: 02K



The crew worked hard until the very end collecting empty glasses and securing the cabin for departure.
They barely made it to their seats as we were immediately cleared for take-off when reaching the runway threshold.
We finally took off at 10.50 am from runway 34L.

The Lufthansa A380, which had been baptised during the morning, was scheduled to leave at 10.25 am but was still standing at the gate when we took off.
I think the ceremony took far more time than they had expected.

The menu

After take-off hot towels were offered in first class as well as a post-departure drink, naturally another glass of Dom for me.



The menu and drink list were also handed out and here is what was on offer on the flight to Bangkok:

The meal service

I was offered another refill of the Dom and then the amuse bouche was handed out, two nice skewers. The one with Japanese yakitori in particular was really tasty.
The FA also passed my seat to take my meal order and I decided to have the full meal onboard.



In the meantime the crew prepared the table in the middle of the cabin with the drinks, including champagne, wine, beer, soft drinks and some of the spirits available.
It didn’t take me much time to notice the bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label on display, which the crew happily promoted to me. Although whisky is something I prefer to have after the meal...



The table was prepared for the meal service with a white table cloth.
The table in first class on the Boeing 747 is really massive, half of it would have been enough.

The table setting in first class is quite elegant with nice wine and drinks glasses and a china which work well with the table setting in general.

The first course was then handed out, a rather tasty salmon terrine. I was also offered breads from a nice bread basket and went for some slices of garlic bread.
After a last refill of my Dom I asked for some white wine with the appetizer and decided to try the M de Malle 2007, which was quite nice and complemented the salmon terrine very well.

As we encountered some pretty bad turbulence the FA only filled half of my glass, which was probably a good thing.
Some of my champagne (a rather full glass) ended up on the table and even some of the glasses on the drinks table fell to the floor.



I was also offered some Japanese green tea, which is always nice.

Next the soup arrived, the lentil and sausage cream soup. It was nice but rather filling!

As the turbulence has nearly stopped I was also offered a full refill of my wine glass. I liked the white wine!



There were three choices of main course and I decided to have the chicken in curry “Mussaman”.
It wasn’t very hot, but there were several spices to add in a small bowl, which I did. I like spicy food.

Rather nicely the rice was delivered on a plate, while the chicken curry was served in a separate bowl. Very nice! Just like in a proper restaurant!
I was later also offered more rice.

I asked for some red wine with the main course and went for the Château Cantemerle 2006. Quite nice! I was quite impressed with the drinks list (and the wine list) in Thai Airways First.
I was also offered some more Japanese green tea.



A fruit and cheese cart then passed through the cabin. The Japanese man in 01A ate a little quicker than me so the cart ended up parked in front of the cabin until I was ready.



I asked for some camembert and Appenzell cheese and some fresh fruits. I also accepted a glass of the nice port wine.



Eventually the meal service was coming to an end and the dessert was offered, a nougat cake with vanilla and chocolate sauce. It was delivious!
I also got a well-needed cup of black coffee.

The FA asked me if I wanted some cognac with the coffee, they had the Otard 1795 Extra Cognac onboard, which is far from the cheapest one around.
However having seen the JW Blue on the drinks table it was not particularly difficult to make that my first choice.



The service

The meal service on the whole was very good. Great food and a very nice drink list with plenty of excellent wines, champagne and spirits.

However I thought the meal service felt a little bit rushed. The flight time to Bangkok was nearly 7 hours and there just wasn’t any need to rush through the meal.
I would have preferred it to be slightly slower, especially to have a bit more time to relax between the different courses.
There were only three persons in F, and one person didn’t choose to have the full meal, so the FAs were definitely not overworked (but maybe that made them bored instead).

Otherwise the service itself was really nice, especially the leading stewardess was lovely and really entertaining, struggling to keep my glasses refilled and promoting the nice brands of spirit they had onboard.
She was Japanese (or at least fluent in Japanese) and had a bit of the Japanese mindset to service, which is never a disadvantage.

I was incredibly full when the meal service was over, but otherwise very satisfied.

The seat



The seat in first class has been around for some time now but is still very comfortable and quite competitive in the industry.
The legroom and personal space is massive and there is plenty of storage at the seat.
Each seat also has an ottoman which can be used as a visitor’s seat, a footrest, or part of the bed when the seat is fully reclined (the seat can be made fully horizontal)

The seat pitch in first class is rather good at 78”.



The seat and all the lights are controlled from a seat panel next to the seat.



I found the seat to be really comfortable, both for sleeping/resting, and to sit in at other times.
No complaints whatsoever!



Inflight entertainment

Thai Airways had full AVOD onboard. The selection of movies and TV-series was OK but not spectacular.
I also found the IFE to be slightly tricky to navigate, the menus were not always very logic, and the IFE was also rather slow at times.



I watched an episode of The Simpsons after the meal service, otherwise I did not make much use of it during the flight.

jacob_m

I was pretty tired (and full) after the meal service so I decided to recline the seat to get a bit of rest onboard.
The window shades were lowered and the FA also got me a nice yellow duvet.

The seat was quite comfortable for a nice rest, however I have to say it is not particularly private, especially in comparison to some of the newer first class products available.



Pre-landing snack

Around two hours before landing ice cream was offered in the cabin, lovely Häagen Dazs, two different flavours to choose between.
I asked for a cup of coffee and also another glass of JW Blue.



I was also offered some fresh fruits.



A slight disadvantage onboard was that they had no small water bottles in first class. Most airlines have this in first and business class and the leading stewardess actually apologised for it.
Hence if you would have liked some water during the flight you would have had to call for the crew so they could bring you some water in a glass.
However by a coincidence I had bought a bottle of water from a vending machine at Narita airport and the FA offered to refill it for me (which was actually done a second time later during the flight). A great and much appreciated initiative!

Arrival in Bangkok

I kept myself entertained listening to some music during the remaining hour of the flight.
Landing cards for Thailand were also distributed.



Despite the early departure from Narita we had quite a bit of head wind during the flight which meant a rather punctual arrival in Bangkok.

We made most of our descent from the north and as the weather was very sunny without a single cloud I easily spotted Suvarnabhumi airport during the descent.
Never happened to me before in Bangkok, the terminal building looks quite interesting from the air.



After a 180 degrees turn we landed at 3.35 pm on runway 01R.
The weather in Bangkok was just wonderful, 32 degrees Celsius and not a single cloud.

Before landing the leading stewardess passed my seat to say goodbye and to make sure I had enjoyed the flight.
She returned my jacket and also asked me about my plans in Thailand. Given a temperature of 32 degrees Celsius (announced by the captain) we quickly concluded I would not get much use of my jacket in Thailand.

Before landing a fourth person also joined us in first class.
The old man in 2E, who actually walked with a stick, seemed to travel with a relative (I would guess a grandchild) who was seated in business class.
In the later part of the flight the man made sure his relative got a glass of whisky sent to his seat and during the descent the crew invited him to move to first class.
He was obviously delighted and had a seat in 03A.



Thai Airways Royal First Arrival Service

After landing the FAs discreetly blocked the aisle between first class and business class so the first class passengers could get off first.
It’s such a nice feeling (and a real boost for the ego) when you stand there waiting to get off while all the others are held back, and once the doors open you can leisurely get off without people pushing behind you.
I was once again thanked for flying Thai as I left the aircraft.

Inside the passenger bridge I was met by a member of the ground staff holding a sign with the names of the three passengers travelling in first class.
I pointed at my name on the sign and she asked me to follow her.



At the gate two golf carts were parked. I took a seat on one of them and eventually shared it with the Japanese businessman from seat 01A.



We left the gate as the first business passengers emerged from the passenger bridge.
The economy class passengers were probably still gathering their belongings onboard.

There had been plenty of subsequent arrivals around 3 pm so there were plenty of people in the terminal. The golf cart had no horn (or bell or whatever) which made it slightly tricky for the female ground agent to drive and navigate through the masses.
Still we made it quicker to the immigration than even the best runner.



Immigration was absolutely packed, I don’t think I have ever seen it this crowded.
There were lines and people absolutely everywhere and I won’t even guess how long it took for the last people joining the line before they were processed.

However no need for us to wait! The nice agent escorted us to two desks located at the far end of the immigration area, they were actually rather secluded.
There was one desk marked “first class” with just one passenger in front and I was processed within a minute.



On the other side of the counter the female ground agent was waiting for me.
She asked me if I had a pre-arranged airport transfer at the airport, I told her no and said I needed a regular taxi to get to downtown Bangkok and the hotel.
She called for a porter and explained to him the necessary travel arrangements.

We went to the baggage reclaim a short walk away and the first bags arrived virtually at the same moment as we got there.
The first class bags were the first to arrive, just like they should, and my suitcase was the second one to appear on the belt.

The porter loaded my suitcase on a trolley and then escorted me through immigration and down to the taxi stand where there was no line.
He helped me load my suitcase in the taxi and I was whisked away from the airport.

And what about the time?
Well the aircraft touched down on the runway at 3.35 pm. I was sitting in the taxi on my way from the airport at 4 pm.
So 25 minutes to land and taxi, get from the gate to immigration in the really massive terminal, clear immigration, pick up the checked luggage, clear customs, and get to the taxi stand.
In 25 minutes!! Just incredible!! Very well done Thai Airways!! ^ ^

Verdict

Thai Airways Royal First on the whole was a nice experience.

The ground services in Narita were very nice. Nice and friendly check-in process and I ended up being the first person to board.
The ground service in Bangkok was obviously even more impressive. Touchdown to taxi in just 25 minutes. That surely requires some coordination.

The cabin was rather nice as well, there are surely newer cabins around, but this one was definitely adequate to ensure a comfortable flight.
I though the seat was very comfortable with loads of personal space and storage. Possibly not very private though.

Food and drinks were top-notch, the drink list in particular.
The service was very friendly and attentive, enhanced by the lovely leading stewardess, but I did find the main meal service a bit too rushed.
I would have given the meal service a better rating if they had just slowed it down a little bit so I would have had more time to actually enjoy it.

Still all-in-all a rather nice experience!

LN-FHU

Brilliant again jacob_m, must say that I really enjoy your TR's. Still haven't tried TG's Royal First, but maybe someday..... This TR is also continuesly remining me of my upcoming F to HKG with LX and LH, via FRA/ZRH outbond and MUC inbound

Top notch writing :-: :-: :-: :-: :-:'s from me ^ ^

jacob_m

After some consideration of what would be the best choice of accommodation in Bangkok I eventually decided to try the brand new Radisson hotel - Radisson Suites Bangkok Sukhumvit.

The hotel opened in November 2010, and because of this they had a very good opening offer which included complimentary breakfast, free internet access/WIFI, 20% off on food at the main restaurant and late check-out until 3 pm.



The taxi driver has some problems finding the hotel as he had only been there once before, it is located in a smaller street, but not too far from the larger Sukhumvit Road.
There were also several (mostly local) restaurants in the area.

The service upon arrival was very friendly. I was met as the taxi arrived at the hotel and my luggage was taken by the bell boy.
After a quick but very pleasant check-in process I was escorted to the room where the reception girl showed me all the facilities and amenities available and made sure I was happy with the room.
Already at that point I was asked about the check-out time and as I knew I had a late afternoon flight from Suvarnabhumi airport I asked for a late check-out at 3 pm which was instantly approved.

Since this was a completely new hotel they were obviously very careful to make sure their new guests were satisfied, and would hopefully return some other time or recommend the hotel to others.



The room was rather nice and spacious and everything looked very new and fresh.
Internet was indeed free of charge, either through WIFI, through a cable connection, or through the TV by using the keyboard provided.



The bathroom was also very well-appointed with a walk-in shower and plenty of amenities.



Other hotel facilities

There was a main restaurant on the ground floor where the breakfast was also served.
Quite a funky place with nice staff working, but honestly I thought the breakfast was a little underwhelming (although to be honest I think I have been very spoiled by some other hotels in Asia).


The rooftop terrace and swimming pool, unfortunately I forgot to take a photo during daytime

The hotel also had a really nice rooftop terrace and swimming pool with a rather nice view of some parts of Bangkok. And I quickly figured out the free WIFI worked even up there.
Great place to relax next to the pool will surfing the net.

Next to it was a well-equipped fitness centre, a welcome find after all the extensive first class meals...


The view from the rooftop terrace

Verdict

Very good hotel and excellent value for money, would definitely not mind staying there again. Let’s hope they keep the standard!

I also checked the trip advisor page for this hotel and most other guests seem to agree.

jacob_m

The next stop during the trip was going to be southern Thailand.
The main reason for going there was to visit a friend who had moved to Thailand during five months to study Thai.

Getting to Krabi in southern Thailand meant about an hour of flying on a Thai Airways domestic flight, there are three daily flights in each direction on the route.
In retroperspective I could have tried to book the flights as part of the award ticket, but the problem was that I had not yet finalised the plans for Thailand when I made the award booking.
Also I’m not sure if the woman at Eurobonus member service would have been too happy to book another two flights. I had already stretched the rules, limits and number of segments to excess.

Anyway, the ticket was booked on the Thai Airways webpage, at the very last minute.
I couldn’t be bothered to book business class on the flights as the difference in service is quite small (and the flights are dry). I would get lounge access and priority check-in/baggage anyway as Star Gold.

The cheapest ticket available (Saver) booked in booking class V, which according to the SAS webpage would give me no points at all. Well that didn’t sound too fun! After all I am a mileage junkie.
I checked the second cheapest ticket (Saver Plus). The fare difference between Saver and Saver Plus was about 500 Bath (15 USD).
To my delight I found out that Saver Plus booked in booking class Q, giving 100% points.
Easy choice for that small fare difference!

I tried to pre-book seats for the flights, but did not manage on any of the webpages.

Check-in in Bangkok

I checked out of the hotel at 2.30 pm, just about two and a half hour before scheduled departure time of my flight.
Given the quick ride to get from the airport to the hotel upon arrival I figured this would be enough.

Unfortunately the traffic in central Bangkok was jammed and it took absolutely forever to move just a few meters. I was seriously questioning if I had been too optimistic in the planning.
The taxi driver also chose to drive a different routing to get back to the airport, which in my opinion felt much longer, but what do I know?! We had negotiated a fixed price for the ride, so there was nothing to be gained in that sense.
After nearly half an hour of navigating the jammed streets of Bangkok we finally arrived at the entrance to the motorway. I was relived, to say the least.
From that point the driver kept a very good speed (although not necessarily within the limits) and we drove the last part to Suvarnabhumi in just 20 minutes.



Quite a lot of people inside the huge terminal. Thai Airways has a separate check-in area for domestic flights located in check-in islands B and C.

There were four premium check-in desks open for business class (Royal Silk) and Star Alliance Gold.
I was checked in immediately at one of the desks by a friendly young man.

A red priority tag was attached to my luggage and I was given a window seat for the flight as requested, in case there would be a nice view during the descent in southern Thailand.

No line whatsoever at security control, I was through in a minute, however it was quite a long walk to get from check-in/security to the lounge.
Even though I kept a good speed using the moving walkways it still took a few minutes to get there.

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge, Bangkok (Domestic area)

In spite of the lengthy walk I was at least happy to find out that the lounge was located right opposite the departure gate to Krabi.
After a quick look at my gold card and scanning of my boarding pass at the reception I was invited inside.



The lounge was rather crowded with lots of passengers waiting for the late afternoon and evening departures to airports around Thailand.
Many of the passengers were connecting from international flights, there are for example many arrivals from Europe in the mid-afternoon around 3 pm.
Still no problem to find a seat.

The lounge was very tidy and well-maintained, but otherwise a little boring and uninspiring.
An OK place to kill an hour before boarding of the flight, having some snacks and checking the e-mails, but not a place I would arrive hours in advance to visit.



The self-service buffet had some very nice freshly squeezed juices to drink.
There were also coffee and tea as well as different types of soft drinks and sodas.
However there was no alcohol, the domestic lounge was completely dry (in contrast to the international lounges).



The selection of food and snacks was quite all right though.
On offer they had finger sandwiches, fresh fruits, dim sum as well as warm pies and pastries, they had a rather nice chicken pie for example.

As I had not eaten any lunch (just a rather extensive breakfast) I was quite happy to find some more substantial food in the lounge and made myself a rather proper afternoon snack.



The lounge also had free WIFI as well as two internet computers to use.

Boarding

I left the lounge around half an hour and went to the gate almost right opposite the lounge.

Boarding started 25 minutes before departure with priority boarding for business class/Royal Silk and Star Gold.
One of the gate agents held up a sign where these two were written in large capital letters and invited relevant passengers to board.
Sitting close to the podium I was the very first passenger to board the aircraft.

Nice! This is the way it should work! ^
The gate area was quite packed so it was much appreciated as I got to have a seat and store my hand luggage before the masses boarded.

There were newspapers available at the entrance to the aircraft and I had a Bangkok Post to read on the flight.
They were available in very small quantities so surely only the first passengers even got the chance to grab a paper.



The aircraft used for the flight to Krabi was a very old Airbus A300. I don’t even want to think of when these aircrafts were taken into service.
The interior itself was reasonably well-maintained, as was probably the aircraft in general, but all the features available in a modern aircraft were lacking.

All passengers entered the aircraft through door 1L.
I had been given seat 32K for the flight, this didn’t really sound like a big hit at first, but in fact I was completely wrong on that one.
The six or seven rows of business class stretched rather randomly from row 11 until row 24.
The first row of economy class started at row 31 (and went on to row 68). Seat 32K thus meant the check-in agent had secured a seat on the second row of economy class for me.
Nice!



The flight was almost completely full in economy class, there was hardly a single spare seat onboard.
The majority of the passengers were holidaymakers (Scandinavia being well represented onboard). A happy bunch of people, but honestly some of them were a bit too leisurely dressed in my opinion.
Even when travelling behind the curtain I don’t think it’s appropriate to dress like you have just arrived from a long day on the beach. But that’s just me...

Bangkok-Krabi, flight TG 249 operated by Thai Airways
Departure: 16:50
Arrival: 18:10
Aircraft: Airbus A300
Class: Economy Class
Seat: 32K

Pushback right on time at 4.50 pm and the standard Thai safety demonstration video was shown on the screens in the cabin.

The captain welcomed us onboard and announced a flight time of 1 hour and 5 minutes.

During the taxi we passed most of the terminal building and one of the more unusual airlines I spotted was a Boeing 767-300 from Air Madagascar.
I just love flying unusual and exotic airlines and would definitely not mind giving an airline like Air Madagascar a try (in that sense travelling TG is a bit boring).



We finally took off at 5.05 pm from runway 01L with the massive terminal building in sight during line-up and take-off.



Meal service

Immediately after take-off the meal service started, or rather the snack service.

A Thai Airways paper box was handed out to all passengers in economy class.
Interestingly it was actually possible to order a special meal for the flight, so some passengers were given a “vegetarian box” or a “gluten-free box”.
That’s quite ambitious for economy class on a rather short domestic flight.



The regular box included a sandwich with turkey and some kind of meat stew, a fruit cake and a fruit juice.
The crew passed through the cabin offering coffee, tea and water.

The snack was unspectacular but perfectly adequate for the flight and much better than one would have got on a similar flight in Europe or the US.



I dozed off for the remaining part of the flight while listening to some music.

Arrival in Krabi



There had been quite a lot of rain in the Krabi/Phuket area so the weather during the descent was quite grey and cloudy but was clearing up.
Still a rather nice view with all the small islands located along the coast, I would love to land there some other time on a clear day.

After a sharp left turn we landed at 6.10 pm on runway 32.



The rain had just stopped but when getting off the aircraft there was a woman standing right below the stairs with some umbrellas, however fortunately they weren’t needed.

Sitting on the second row of economy I was one of the first persons to get off.
Rather strangely when entering the terminal building (after a short walk on the apron from the aircraft) all passengers had to take an escalator up one floor to some kind of arrivals level, only to walk a few meters and then take another escalator one floor down again.
It didn’t really make much sense...

However a new terminal building is being constructed at the moment, located right beside the current one.



The baggage was delivered on two belts, one for domestic passengers (who started their journey in Thailand) and one for international passengers (who started their journey in another country).
Baggage delivery started almost at the same moment as I arrived and my suitcase was one of the first to appear.

I bought a taxi voucher from one of the desks in the arrivals hall (fixed prices to most destinations in the area) and was on my way from the airport within minutes of landing.
A completely hassle-free arrival!

Verdict

A short and uneventful domestic flight so not much too comment about really.
I really hope the Airbus A300s are soon to be retired for something more modern, they are getting really old.
The snack in economy, although not spectacular, was still better than what would be served in most other parts of the world on a similar flight.