Hong Kong to Bangkok – Thai Airways – Business
12 October 2009
Hong Kong – Bangkok
Thai Airways TG603
Depart 08:00 Arrive 09:40
Business Class
Check-In
Another early start but this time only a short taxi to train station.
Had read of the ability to check-in at the train station so opted for that as it meant we wouldn’t have to carry our bags all the way there. Check-in was nice and quick at the station although we were given different seats from those I had selected after booking and advised of an aircraft change. Excellent being able to check-in at station and made the train journey that much easier.
Nice journey to the airport and we headed to T2 – this is where the airport said to go and also our booking confirmation. As we had already checked in we headed straight for immigration and security. We did not see a single other passenger! We had the whole security area to ourselves. Friendly staff and the most pleasurable experience of going through security! This is when we discovered that we could probably have gone to T1… we have to get a shuttle to the departure gate… in T1!
Lounge
Went to Thai lounge which was my favourite lounge out of the ones we had visited in Bangkok, Tokyo and Hong Kong. We were on the first flight to Bangkok and it was very quiet. The lounge looked new, it was very clean, open aired and bright.
The selection for breakfast was excellent – breads, pastries, cereals, fruit, yoghurts, etc. Definitely the best selection of the lounges we had visited.
Used the free internet access in the lounge to try and figure which aircraft we now had!
Boarding
Boarding was in progress as we got to the gate with a big queue for economy and no queue for business/fast-track boarding. We made are way round to the fast-track side and when we presented our boarding passes to the gate attendant who looked at them and asked us to go and join the end of the economy queue! At this point, another gate attendant must have clearly seen our boarding passes (and then said something to the other member of staff), promptly took them from us, scanned them and let us on to board wishing us a pleasant flight.
It transpired to be the same aircraft as was planned for the flight and no-one was sitting in our seats! However, someone was sitting in what would have been the seat behind us and when we landed in Bangkok he was met from the plane by Thai staff… maybe we were moved so we didn’t recline into him?
Anyway, business was very empty, c. 25% load but with no shortage of flight attendants. We stowed our bags in the overhead lockers and made ourselves comfy.
The FAs were quickly round to offer us a drink pre-departure – it was 8am so I stuck to the OJ! Headphones and blankets had been distributed.
Seat/Cabin
For a 3 hour flight the seats were pretty good although the poorest of the three Asian flights we took. However, compared to what you would get in Europe for a 3 hour flight they were a class above.
Meals
I’d had quite a bit a substantial breakfast in the lounge at Hong Kong and wasn’t all that hungry. The menu wasn’t the most appetising for an 8 am departure but I had a bowl of fruit and a few cups of tea.
IFE
It wasn’t AVOD but I found a funny programme to watch for a period of the flight and then stuck to the moving maps. The poorest out of all IFE systems we encountered on our trip but I didn’t find it a major issue for such a short flight.
Service
The service was very good as you would expect with so few passengers. Everything was done with a smile and they were only too happy to get me a fresh cuppa!
Arrival
Second international arrival to BKK in two weeks and whilst no premium arrivals this time the queue wasn’t long. We were through to collect our bags in no time – again the priority tags worked!