Carfield

Hi all,

Here is my return trip report to Asia for the New Year, and I continued my $3000RT on OZ F, and the routing is similar to inbound, flying American Eagle to LA, and then connecting to Asiana to Incheon, and then SQ to Singapore and then to Bangkok. All airlines score very well, and it is confirmed that amenity kits have discontinued on Asiana, as none is given out again, only the nice set of pajama, but if you ask me, I prefer the really nice amenity kits. Singapore Airlines is excellent, despite of rumors that the airline’s quality is declining, but my ICN-SIN flight is beyond excellent. Sunny and Stephanie really went out of their ways to take care of passengers. SIN-BKK is a bit less impressive, but nonetheless, it is an above average flight with F/As really paying attention to every details, including refilling my iced tea, without me needing to ask.

December 27, 2006
OZ 201 LAX-ICN Lv1210 Arr1840 Boeing 747-400 (Full passenger) HL7428
Photo link:
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Well this day began with a storm over much of California including San Diego, which rarely saw any rain, but being SoCal, the rainstorm was gone by 8am, and my shuttle ride from the Hilton Harbor Island to the commuter terminal was nice. There was no separate premium check in for American Airlines, but wait was minimal and obviously most passengers this morning were continuing onto various Asian bound flights and AA own flight to Tokyo Narita. I chose American Eagle because I noted the EMB-140RJ flight operating at 9:30am, which was much better than EMB-120 and Saab 340. A quick twenty-seven flights brought me to LAX, and Tom Bradley was definitely less chaotic than a week ago, as the Christmas traffic was all gone. Since my bags came from San Diego, I went straight to the Asiana first class line. The wait was a bit long for a line with only two passengers in front of me. These two Korean ladies were taking up some times, as they were going to Canton today. When I saw one of the ladies took out two tubs of peanut butters and placed them at her hand carry. I asked myself, “I wonder if peanut butter counts as liquid or not,” but anyway, it was not a smart move on her part though. However, I later found out that TSA indeed took my two bottles of wines out from my suitcase to inspect, and only one of the bottles were properly sealed back into the extra bubble pack. TSA definitely needs to work on these issues. I don’t mind checking the wines and them inspecting, but had the courtesy to re-wrap the bottle of wine. But I guess I am asking too much.

Lounge invitations were issued, as well as boarding passes. Bags were traced and thankfully, the correct yellow first class tag was added to my tag, which resulted in my bags coming out first. The agent was polite and friendly, and due to the rather short time, I decided to pass the TBIT first class lounge because it was nothing special. The security line was surprisingly short and I actually went through quicker than expected. Then I decided to watch the ANA plane pushing back from its gate, and did some plane spotting. For those who cared, here is a list of plane saw at LAX:
CX 744 B-HOX operating as CX 884/5
HL7721 KE 772 to NRT/ICN
HL7498 KE 744 to LAX
B-6051 MU 346 to Pudong
CC-CIO LA 763 operating as LP605 to Lima
CC-CDP LA 763 operating as LP601 to Lima/Santiago/Buenos Aires
NH 77W JA732A to NRT
JL 744 JA8914 (New paint)
CI 744 B-18215 as CI 5/6
DL 772 N862DA
9V-SPB SQ 11 to NRT/SIN
D-ABVE LH 744
CX 74J B-HOO arriving as CX 882

Boarding began at 11:45am at gate 122 with a separate first/business and economy class line. To my surprise, a full passenger version of Boeing 747-400 was used on my flight and it was actually my first full passenger version OZ 747-400 flight (after all these combi flights), and for the first time, I walked past a main deck Business class cabin. The flight was 100% full in J and Y, but F had only five folks. I had the whole row 1 to myself, and I actually moved from 1K to 1A, as there was something wrong with 1K. Door was closed at 12:12pm and pushed back happened seven minutes later. Pre-takeoff beverage was served with the usual bowl of mixed nuts, and then headsets, slippers, and cabin wear were passed out, and no amenity kit was given, but amenities such as eye-shades, honeycomb eye masks, and earplugs were readily available at the middle console. Due to strong Santa Ana wind and stormy weather off the coast, takeoff clearance was much more slower than normal. We finally took off from R/W25R at 12:52pm and the takeoff run definitely indicated a very full load.

Flying time was thirteen hours and ten minutes, as headwind was pretty strong along the coast, as our ground speed was never over 400mph till we got closer to Gulf of Alaska. The routing was a bit more northern than my past experiences. We crossed over Santa Barbara at 32,000feet, and then past Monterrey and northern part of Oregon, climbing further to 34,000feet before heading towards the Gulf of Alaska, and after we passed Anchorage, we climbed up to 35,000feet, and then after crossing our last US cities of Nome, we entered the Russian airspace at 38,000feet, which was our final cruising attitude, and then onto Sea of Okhotsk, Kamchatka Peninsula, the Sakhalin Islands, and then Dokdo, and then straight into Incheon. For those who cared, the sky was pretty much darkened after entering the Alaska and Russian airspace – like dawn and then sunset again before you knew it, unlike summer.

The menu was posted before, but here was the full wine list and menu again. As someone posted the Business class menu, most of the canapé, appetizers, main courses, and dessert are similar, but first class had additional soup and tossed salad service, and more food was served. I had a few glasses of champagne before switching to mainly hot English breakfast tea with lemon and water routines. The meal was lovely, as everything was individually served, and no tray was used except the Korean Bi Bim Bap, which was served in a Korean lacquered tray.

Wine List
Champagne
1996 Taittinger Cometes de Champagne
Piper-Heidsieck Brut

White Wines
2001 Chablis 1er Cru, Fourchaume
2003 Raymond Napa Valley Reserve Chardonnay
2003 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese

Red Wines
1999 Chateau Leoville Poyferre, 2e Cru Classe, Saint-Julien
2001 Vosne Romanee 1er Cru, Domaine Bertagna
2000 Clos Du Val

Dessert Wines
Port Sandman 20 Years Old Tawny Porto
Blandy’s 10 Years Old Malmsey Madeira
2003 Jackson-Triggs Vida VQA Ice Wine

Liqueurs
Cognac & Liqueurs
Hennessey X.O.
Drambuie
Cointreau
Bailey’s Irish Cream

Lunch
Selection of Canape
Pepper Crusted Tuna
Ham & Cheese Layered
Cream Cheese
The cream cheese was served on a celery stick.

Hors D’Oeuvre
Serrano Ham Wrapped with Asparagus
Lobster Medallion, Salmon Roe
A lovely appetizer as usual, and you can select your own choices from a tray. Most folks chose to have a bit of everything.

Asparagus Cream Soup
Or
Vegetable Minestrone
The Minestrone was disappointing, as it was basically a tomato soup served with diced vegetable and beans on top. Not a clear broth and chunky kind of soup as expected.

Tossed Salad
Served with Cilantro Cream Dressing and Italian Dressing

Main Courses
Beef Fillet served with Bernaise Sauce
Or
“Mixing & Harmonizing”
A Famous Korean Cuisine ‘Bi-Bim-Bab’
Steamed Rice Mixed with Various Kinds of Vegetables, accompanied by Hot pepper paste, Sesame Oil, Assorted Side Dish and Soup
A wonderful Korean dish with two kinds of kimchi on the sides, and seaweed soup was offered as well.
Or
Grilled Seabass served with herb butter

To Complement your meal choice
Almond Croquette, Roasted Red Potato, Steamed Rice
Carrot, Celery, Daikon, Kailan, Broccoli and Mixed Vegetable

Assorted Cheese
Fresh Fruit
Choices of cheese include Boursin, Blue, Camembert, and Emmental, served with a side of dried apricots, walnuts, brown bread and crackers, and carrot and celery sticks.

Dessert
Tiramisu cake
A better version of tiramisu cake, than the one I had on a previous HKG-ICN flight.

Coffee & tea
Assorted Petit Fours

After dinner, F/As immediately offered the duvet service, as they added mattress pad, as well as a larger pillow and a nice duvet blanket. I took a three hours nap, as I had been traveling for the past few days. Then I watched two sitcoms on the small personal television. The mainscreen was strangely dropped in the middle of the flight, and I guess some passengers wanted to watch the Korean movie showing on the mainscreen. The mid-cabin console was set up with packages of deluxe mixed nuts, Korean sweets, polo mints, Petit Fours (Kiwi, strawberry/raspberry, pineapple tarts, as well as a pistachio honey cake), and also amenities like the honeycomb masks, eyeshades, and earplugs, as well as a tea box, and bottled waters. I decided to try the udon noodle soup, as I got pickish around 7pm LA time. The udon noodle was nice, and topped with shrimps, fish cake, and mushrooms, as well as a side of kimchi, pickles, and red pepper powder. After the meal, my footrest decided to break, and once again, showed the need for Asiana to update its first class cabin, or at least decide the future of these first class seats.

Refreshments
Udong
Hot Ramen
Hot Sandwich
Assorted Fresh Fruits
We are happy to offer you a range of refreshments throughout flight upon your request.

Around midnight PST/5pm Seoul local time, lights were turned on again, and snack/supper was being served. Once again, juice and hot towel was offered, and then everything was individually served, and no tray was used once again. The appetizer was really excellent, as well as the seafood main course. The whole meal was similar to Business class, except main course was served from a trolley in first and you can pick your side dishes, and fruit was also served with the dessert course.

Snack
Appetizer
Crab Claw, Sea Scallop and Italian Dressing
Air-dried ham was also served.

Seafood Festival served with hot spicy sauce
Basically shrimp, scallop, and squid…
Or
Beef Brochette served with Teriyaki sauce
Or
Salmon Filet served with White Wine sauce

To complement your meal choice
Fettuccini, Red Potato, Rosemary Potato, Broccoli, Carrot, Yellow Squash

Apple Cheese Souffle
Coffee & Tea
Fruit (cantaloupe, strawberry, and kiwi) was also served, but the fruits were not so sweet. I wonder if the fruit was part of the on demand snack, but the F/As decided to serve them rather than wasting them.

Descent soon began at 6:13pm after passing Dokdo, and we slowly descent into Incheon. Pilot signaled final preparation for landing at 6:45pm, and we landed on R/W33R at 7:02pm. We parked at gate 8 at 7:12pm, and our flight would return to JFK later that evening, but with an hour delay due to our late arrival and possibly fixing the first class seats as well. After passing the empty/deserted immigration counters, bags came out quickly and first class made a difference, but of course, the wait for the Best Western premier Incheon Airport shuttle took away the benefit. Seoul was extremely chilly that evening, and for the first time, I wish I was going to my usual Hyatt spot. Well I rarely wrote about hotels, but finding out Best Western was cheaper by $25-35, I decided to give it a try. I don’t know what you guys think, but I decide that I will pay that extra money for Hyatt next time. Here is my reasoning:
1. Shuttle was offered every 15 minutes at Hyatt, but 30 minutes for Best Western Premier. It does not sound much on paper, but after waiting outside and/or the crowded arrival hall and/after a sixteen hours of travel, that 15 minutes make a big difference.
2. The room was twice as large with Hyatt, and with nicer amenity. My room at the Best Western hotel was painfully small, and the bathroom was a mess. No complimentary Internet on the room, but free at the lobby’s business center.
3. No porter to help with bags. Everything is self-served.
4. Restaurant is not worthy to discuss about. Even the 7-11 type mart was further away.
5. I feel sorry for the CX/JL/TG F/As, who had to stay there. I heard much about the CX F/As complaint and definitely agree with them. Even NW F/As got to stay at the Hyatt.
6. The room at Best Western costs almost $150, and it is definitely not worth it for the small room. I should just pay more to stay at Hyatt… at least it is a Hyatt.

After a peaceful night of rest, I took the 6:25am shuttle back to the airport for my next flight to Singapore.

December 29, 2006
SQ 603 ICN-SIN Lv0900 Arr1435 Boeing 747-400 9V-SPG
Photo link:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...=8QbNHDNy5btf2

The Singapore Airlines desk was conveniently located closed to my shuttle bus drop off point, and to my surprise, Korean Air is SQ’s ground agent, instead of Asiana, its Star Alliance partner. The First class line was not busy, and I was checked in quickly, but due to a problem with the electronic ticket between Asiana and Singapore Airlines, which was unpardonable, as they were Star Alliance partner for more than a year, the agent had to call Asiana to verify the validity of my ticket. The agent was apologetic about the matter, and after getting an okay from her supervisor she tagged my bag (of course with the first class tag), and then gave me the boarding passes.

Immigration and custom were not busy as it was still early at Incheon and a little past the holiday season. I headed directly to the SQ first class lounge, and was the only one there for a while. I was quite hungry that morning especially knowing that only a refreshment would be served after takeoff. I went for the full breakfast spread, which include various fruits, salad, breakfast pastries, pies, yogurts, sandwiches, cup noodles, spinach and cheese omelette, various breakfast meats, bee hon (stir fried vermicelli noodles), and chicken porridges, as well as the dim sum platter. It was an amazing spread and no one would go hungry on SQ, and this spread even was better than Singapore Airlines’ own home base lounge, which was really bad this afternoon.

Boarding began on time at 8:25am, and everything was carried out in an orderly fashion and the flight was not overly full. I was happy to not seeing the dreaded 9V-SMT, and the F/As immediately welcomed me aboard. The F cabin had three passengers this morning. Stephanie immediately brought me newspapers, magazines, offered me a drink and the full SQ treatment. No amenity kit and pajama are offered on this daytime flight, but pairs of slippers and eyeshades are offered. I was addressed by my last name at all times, and then menus were given to me. Stephanie took my refreshment order and of course Dom Perignon after takeoff for me. (I also noticed that Dom Perignon 1999 was served instead of 1998 a month ago. I am not much a wine connoisseur, so I don’t know if these two years make a big difference). We pushed back on time at 9:06am, and headed towards R/W33L. We took off at 9:25am, and our flying time was six hours and seventeen minutes. The routing took us towards Jeju at 9,800m, and then climbing up to 11,000m before passing the Ryukyu Islands, and then 11,600m before entering South of the Manila and then onto Singapore.

There are two meal services on this short flight, refreshment after takeoff and then a lunch prior to arrival. Here is the wine list and menu transcript:

Wine List
Champagne
Dom Perignon 1999
Krug Grande Cuvee

White Wines
Dr Loosen 2004 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese
Chablis Premier Cru Les Beauroys 2000 Domaine Laroche
Chablis Premier Cur Fourchaumes “old vines” 2003 domaine laroche

Red Wines
Chateau Cos D’Estournel 1999 Saint-Estephe
Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtess De Lalande 1998 Pauillac
Morey Saint-Denis 1999 Joseph Drouhin
Beaune Les Avaux Premier Cru 2002

Port Wines
Dow’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port
Graham’s 20 Years Old Tawny Port

Refreshment
Light Bites
Warm Olive Bread with Teriyaki Salmon and Sautéed Onion served with asparagus soup
Or
Warm Steak Sandwich with tomato-chilli relish and rocket salad, chilled tomato soup served in cup

Hot Beverages
Freshly Brewed Coffee
Espresso or Cappuccino
Selection of Tea

Lunch
Appetizer
Smoked salmon with asparagus
Dill and lemon sauce

Soup
Cream of leek and potato soup granished with candied chestnut

Salad
Caesar Salad
Romaine Lettuce with bacon, parmesan cheese, croutons and anchovy-garlic dressing

Main Courses
Pan fried beef fillet with Perigord sauce, asparagus, baby turnips and roasted potatoes
Exclusively created by Georges Blanc, Vonnas
Or
Korean style panfried prawns with seasonal vegetables and steamed rice with pine nuts
Or
Fish noodle in soup
Egg noodles in rich broth garnished with steamed sliced fish and vegetables
Or
Grilled Supreme of Chicken with herbs in roasted shallot sauce with selected vegetables and potatoes
Or
Farfalle Pasta with kalamative olives, roasted cherry tomato sauce and feta cheese

Dessert
Strawberry, strawberry, strawberry
Strawberry shortcake, Strawberry ice cream, and champagne jelly with strawberry

Cheese
Selection of cheese with garnishes

Fresh Fruit
A selection of fresh fruit

From the Bakery
Oven fresh rolls with a choice of extra virgin olive oil or butter
Garlic Bread

Hot Beverages
Freshly Brewed Coffee
Espresso or Cappuccino
Selection of Tea

SQ603A ICN-SIN (SR1/L1) 148-1.2 10-12 FC

For refreshment, I chose the steak sandwich, but decide to go with the asparagus soup, instead of tomato soup on the menu. The F/As have no problems accommodating my choice. Then I watched the “Two and a Half Men” marathon, and a few episodes of the American version of “the Office,” which is better than the UK version in my opinion (maybe it is the culture difference). Throughout the few hours, my champagne was topped off, and small bottles of Evian water were passed out. Never a moment without a beverage! Around 1pm Seoul local time, Stephanie asked if it was okay to set up my table for lunch. The other couple decided to have their lunches a bit earlier than mine. For bread, I decided to go with the really nice breadsticks. The salmon appetizer was excellent, as the fish was fresh and the lemon and dill dressing went very well with it. The soup was okay, but I did not think the candied chestnut went too well with the leek and potato. The Caesar salad was fresh as usual, but the dressing was a bit heavier, so I asked to have it on the side. The entrée was excellent and the shrimp was huge, and Korean stir-fry vegetable was excellent, as well as the steamed rice with pine nuts. For cheese, there was a choice of Emmental, Sundried-tomato, and Camembert, served with dried fruit and walnuts. For fruit, there was a choice of banana, orange, pear, apple, and persimmon. The dessert was a creative use of various strawberries in the form of a shortcake, ice cream (good because you can taste the fruit), and champagne jelly. Stephanie was very great because she made sure that she did not rush through the meal, which I really appreciate.

Around 2:09pm Singapore local time (an hour behind from Seoul), we began our descent, and we landed on R/W2C at 2:42pm, and parked at gate E26 a few minutes later. I spotted a brand new SQ 77W 9V-SWE at the tarmac resting, and later I saw 9V-SWF parking at one of the gates (must be the Zurich or Paris flights).

To connect to the Bangkok flight, I had about three hours at SIN. I spent most of my time at the Silver Kris lounge, but the lounge is really nothing special for a flagship lounge. It is spacious but lack the fancy amenities offered at Lufthansa’s first class terminal at FRA, as well as CX’s renowned “the Wing” or “the Pier.” The buffet was simply disappointing with only a place of cheese, few salad, some Christmas dessert, turkey with stuffing, Thai fried rice, some hot savories (Christmas quiche and scallop spring rolls), and a bowl of Cream of Tomato soup. The buffet is okay, but is just not at the same level with other world class airlines’ offerings.

SQ 68 SIN-BKK Lv1800 Arr1925 Boeing 777-200ER 9V-SQI
Photo link:
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Boarding began at 5:46pm, and the flight was almost full in economy class, but F only had two passengers in total, and J was 70% full. The usual amenities are offered and the F/As wasted no time to address us in last names, and offered a pre-takeoff beverage, even a second was offered. Everything was so organized, and we took off from R/W2C at 6:21pm for our hour and fifty-one minutes flight to Bangkok. I have no other information, as the flight information was not loaded properly at the system.

Dinner was offered after takeoff, and the appetizer was nice, and the seabass entrée was also decent. For fruit, there is a wide selection of mango, peach, persimmon, banana, and white grapes. Unfortunately no dessert was offered, which I though would be nice.

Dinner
Appetizers
Tian of crabmeat with corn kernels and sundried tomato
Corn nage with olive oil and aged-balsamico

Main Courses
Roasted lamb rack with rosemary jus, ratatouille, pesto sauce and fondant potatoes
Exclusively created by Matthew Moran of Aria Restaurant, Sydney
Or
Pha naeng moo
Pork in peanut red curry sauce served with brinjal and dried shrimp salad, steamed rice
Or
Pan fried seabass with lobster sauce, braised young leek, fava beans, and buttered new potatoes

Fresh Fruit
A selection of fresh fruit

From the Bakery
Oven fresh rolls with a choice of extra virgin olive oil or butter
Garlic Bread

Hot Beverages
Freshly Brewed Coffee
Espresso or Cappuccino
Selection of Tea

SQ68B SIN-BKK (D3) 24-1.1 12-01FC

Descent commenced at 6:40pm Bangkok local time (an hour behind from SIN), and we landed on R/W1R at 7:12pm. We parked at gate D2 a few minutes later. My first time using the arrival facilities is nice. The immigration waits are significantly shorter than normal, but delivery of bags are still a bit behind from the usual high standard at Hong Kong and Singapore, but I feel reasonable wait. Priority bags came out first, but not necessarily first class tag bags though.

December 30, 2006
TG 606 BKK-HKG Lv1600 Arr1945
Boeing 747-300 HS-TGD
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Well the last segment is slightly delayed because due to recent Internet problem in Asia (especially in HK and Taiwan), I can’t really upload my pictures on my TG flight till much later. Nevertheless, I really don’t have anything urgent to report back.

About Thai Airways, I continue to have problems with this airline in various levels, and this time, I spent USD$400 in this one-way first class ticket from BKK to HKG. I bought first class because I was expected to carry quite a bit of bags this time, which came out as a right direction, as my bags weighed over 40kg, which was the limit for first class bags, but thank to my Star Alliance Gold status, I got an extra 10kg. If I would fly TG J, I would possibly pay more for the overweight bags than the differences between J and F ticket. Because I bought full fare, I expect a higher quality, which was beyond my expectation in terms of ground service, but the inflight product, which was a bit higher ranked in my book, was below any expectation and the ancient cabin of the Boeing 747-300 and a full F cabin even made TG’s disorganized service style more obvious.

The ground service for TG F and J passengers is amazing, and there are a separate check-in areas, as well as separate passport controls, which significantly reduced ground wait time. For first class folks, it meant additional VIP area (but no drinks were served as advertised), and there was a porter service. But my first impression was rather poor, as I took the taxi into the airport, and taxi off-load area was a street away from the entrance, and there was a lack of easily accessible trolleys, which was a big no-no in my book. HKG, SIN, and most airports did not have this problem. But once I walked closer to the door way, a friendly Thai porter immediately asked if I was flying Thai or in premium class. Once the word, “first class,” popped out, he immediately took over my luggage trolley and headed towards the separate F class area, which was deserted at these early afternoon hours. I was asked to take a seat, while the staff took over the check-in process. F tags, as well as the red Star Alliance tags were attached to my bags immediately, and five minutes later, boarding pass and baggage receipts were returned to me, and the same porter immediately guided me towards a separate F immigration check-point. He immediately also took my 500Bhat and went to buy me the airport tax ticket, without me going to another line. He then brought me down to one level, and golf carts were already ready to bring us to the F class lounge. The distance was relatively short, but that’s part of glamorous for flying F class.

The new Royal First Class lounge was nice, and was quite busy this afternoon. Food buffet is still limited to sandwiches, pastries, and fruit, but a dining room had been set up and I assume real food would be offered soon. Beverage was brought by staffs, just like a fancy restaurant and hotel bar. Then I began to work on this report and uploading some photos, as I anticipated the Internet problems. The staffs were okay, but not overly friendly. When I asked a few questions, the staffs seemed a bit rush, despite that there were four of them at the reception desk, but no customer seeking help), and definitely different from the excellent concierge and staff during my stay at Conrad Bangkok. Most Thai folks are friendly, but I don’t know why TG manages to hire some of the coldest and unfriendly staffs in the whole Thailand. I left a bit early and decided to check out some shops, but did not find anything too interesting.

Boarding began on 3:41pm at gate C1, and it was a very full flight in all cabins, as the New Year holidays are quickly approaching. Knowing that it was a Boeing 747-300, I did not have any expectation, but everything was just so much older and TG definitely did not show any intent to upkeep these planes. The plane is clean, but the equipments are definitely old. The F seats are the purple velvet kind, similar to those older TG’s Boeing 747-400, which I flew from KIX to LAX a few years ago, but I did not imagine that 747-300s featured an even older version with non-electronic seat control. The legrests had to be raised manually, and the control panel said the same thing. Therefore I took a picture of those items. Unfortunately I did not take any more cabin pictures, as the flights were 100% full and the meal service took up the whole flight.

Once on board, the F/A sort of pointed me towards my seat, as well as the newspaper console set up in front of the middle seats. The F/As were a bit busy in the galley, as catering was late, but other F/As rather stood at the door and did not really serve pre-takeoff beverage till everyone was seated. So dramatically different from SQ… I helped myself to some local HK papers, which were loaded since this particular plane just got in from HKG (and used mainly on the two 747 HKG flights). A box of chocolate was placed on seat console as a small gift. The bathroom was even more classic and smaller than the new generation of restrooms. Even the bathroom at the EMB-190 is more spacious and feature better equipments. Door was closed at 4:03pm and pushed back started a minute later. We took off from R/W1L at 4:19pm.

Flying time was an hour and fifty-seven minutes with a cruising attitude of 33,000feet. A very quick flight, even compared to the normal flight. No personal television system was available, and main screen features an episode of “the Office”, the “Horsemen,” the Issac show, and some golf programs. Nothing worthwhile to watch!

A hot dinner was served, and the whole meal service was just rushed and dis-organized. The crew just could not get their acts together, and it started a bit too slow, which caused them the rush at the end. They mixed up orders, and beverage was not refilled. At the end, they passed out hot towels before some of us even finished the dessert course. The whole experience was just the opposite from the SQ flights the day before, and even most US airlines could carry out a much more organized experience in first class. However, due to their poor acts, I got to keep the TG menus including the fake “bamboo” folders. Also no wine list was given, which was extremely poor on TG part and definitely not premium class at any means.

Bangkok to Hong Kong
Hot Savories
Fried Spring Roll Hong Kong style
Never served…
Chicken Satays/Cucumber Salad Thai Style

Tom Yum Seafood
Shrimp, fish, squid, straw mushroom and a good traditional spicy seafood soup
Or
Fish Maw Soup

Main Course
Chicken Curry “Mussaman”
(Chicken cooked in Coconut-Chilli Paste, Peanuts, Potato, Onion)
Steamed Thai Hom Mali Rice, Taiwanese Cabbage, Chateau Carrot
Or
Stir-fried Seafood in Soy Sauce
Yellow Noodles, Vegetables
Or
Grilled Veal with Boletus Sauce
Chateau Potatoes, Zucchini, Pumpkin, Carrot
I like the veal much… a good piece of meat…

Assorted Breads, Crackers, Butter
Garlic bread, walnut multigrain rolls, pretzel roll and Ciabatta rolls
Cheese and Fresh Fruit Tray
More like a plate; Blue, Swiss, and Milk cheese with apricot, walnut, and fig filling, melon, grapes, and carrot and celery stick – no crackers are offered.

Dessert
Chestnut Cake
Tea, Coffee
Espresso, Cappuccino
Nothing out of the ordinary… a bit like the cake is made from a cheap Chinese bakery in Chinatown, but nice pralines to go with the cake. The cake was sliced in front of passengers.

TG606 F-MAR/DEC

A few minutes after hot towels are passed out, descent began, and to my surprise, traffic was not particularly busy. The F/As were barely able to clear the cabin, and safety checks were not carry out carefully. The passenger at 1H still had his legrest raised and nobody stopped him. A more significant point of interest: safety was not emphasized, as my neighbor had so much stuff at her leg. As a bulkhead passenger, her large handbag should be placed in the overhead bin. Cabin checks definitely were not carried out properly, and in conclusion, I did not know what was going on with the crew. Nothing was carried out in a reasonable organized matter. Everything was so rushed. We landed on R/W7L at 7:16pm. We parked at gate 61 five minutes later. Thankfully the flight ended in a better note, as TG arranged a nice shuttle/golf cart service for first class passengers. It was an amazing experience to be shuttled into the immigration area. My conclusion was that my USD$400 was well-used, as I was able to avoid a hefty extra baggage fee, and the ground service at both ends are amazing, but Thai definitely ranked the poorest in my book in terms of inflight service, which was definitely below par and two words, “disorganized” and “lukewarm,” and the meal could be better. I don’t mind the use of an older aircraft, but if TG will continue to use these Boeing 747-300s, they need to be revamped with new interior, at least new seats, bathrooms, and updated audio/video equipments (at least LCD monitors), especially these old planes will continue to be used in the near future.

Thanks for reading the report!

The next one would be possible a short HKG-BKK trip, and then EVA Air back to LA.

Carfield

RTW4

You have always writtten excellent reports,but this report has topped them all in my opinion. The photos are great and make me really lookforward to my LAX-NRT-SIN-BKK in SQ F class in 20 days.....

aw

Thanks for sharing your experiences and observations with this informative, entertaining and thorough trip report.

Rejuvenated

As always enjoy reading your writings. ^

NoY

A very entertaining report indeed (yet again!) and I must say I totally agree with your observations regarding TG First service - "luke warm", at best, about sums it up for me.
I have just completed BKK-LHR in F and was seriously underwhelmed (probably one of the worst F/C services I have "enjoyed" actually) Ground services at BKK were excellent (exactly as you stated in your report, naturally ) but in the air - it was a disjointed mess - a day flight too (thought I would savour the bext thet TG could offer ) I too experienced some issues, which don't seem much in isolation perhaps, but combined together and in International F?? ; very irregular wine/champagne/beverage re-fills; no water offered with meals; dessert literally "dumped" on my tray table without me requesting any; 1/3 of a glass of Dom champagne poured from the "dregs" of the bottle (totally flat) - not refreshed without first getting several reminders from me; truly cheap and nasty "cake" for dessert after both meals - no choices available; etc.etc.etc. one (miserable) F/A+back-up serving 9 x F pax, is simply not enough with such an elaborate service;
In short, I will avoid longhaul TG flights in future although I do believe their domestic services offer good value/service and will continue to use these.
Please keep your reports coming^

Frequent_Flyer1

Excellent tripreport, Carfield. It really makes me looking forward to my flights in February witz OZ and SQ; it seems that we both have the same routing booked... BKK-SIN-ICN-LAX...

BTW: what did OZ offer as a farewell-gift on this flight? Again something from Wedgewood?

sporadic

Nice TR again, as always ^ ^, but why happy to not seeing the dreaded 9V-SMT? If you're flying F there's skysuites, no difference, ain't it?

tomashi

Great report and very interesting and sometimes mouth-watering pictures too! SQ food looks so delicious! Unfortunately itīs not very likely that Iīll fly any of these airlines in F soon... TG inflight service sounds awful though!

Have a great 2007!

-Thomas

Carfield

Well 9V-SMT has the older entertainment system... hehe... anyway, I like the "new" stuff better...

About the farewell gift, a nice Wedgwood Salt and Pepper shakers are given this time.

Carfield

PhilH

This is a great report, Carfield. Thanks for sharing it with us! ^

FLYGVA

Fantastic report, party flying this routing in May in F and really looking forward after last years flight on OZ in C