My desire to try new things got the better of me, but I'm in no hurry to try this one again, especially for connecting flights. They call themselves "the airline of hospitality", but "the airline of disappointments" would be closer to the mark.

My flights were BKK-SGN-MEL in business class using Aeroplan points. There's no way to select seats. There web site lists the first item under "The functions in Manage My Booking" as "Seat reservation". This is simply a lie. It doesn't work unless you booked direct. If you contact their so-called customer service (e.g. on Facebook), they tell you to use a sub-site, which lets you look at the seat map but also doesn't work. If you're a famous travel blogger, apparently you can get seats assigned by phone. However, I emailed the two addresses for Thailand as well as the North American one and none ever bothered to even reply. I tried phoning as OMAAT did but they didn't return my call. If you expect to be able to get seats assigned for the all sectors at check-in, you're in for further disappointment, as those agents can check bags to your final destination but can't issue anything beyond the first boarding pass. They helpfully said that there's a transfer desk at SGN, but without mentioning what's yet to come.

Bamboo uses the uninspiring but quiet Air France lounge at BKK. The A320 business class is like US domestic first (old brown recliner seats with no power and no entertainment) but with worse drink options. Pre-departure drinks were juice or water, all room temperature (i.e. warm). We were shown a menu on a tablet. While the pork buns were decent, the white wine was also warm, making it as unappealing as the warm juice.

On arrival, we went not to a jetway but a stand and business class pax were whisked away in a minibus, in advance of the rest of the pax on ordinary buses. However, that one and only piece of good service just deposits you sooner in transfer limbo. The staff at the transfer desk aren't allowed to issue boarding passes for Bamboo Airways. Only Bamboo Airways staff can do that and they don't arrive until 3 hours before departure. As the departure for MEL is at 6:05pm, it looks like I get to wait until 3:05pm (about 90 mins) in a dismal void with no WiFi (that works), nowhere decent to charge devices, no food and no water. I recall the last occasion I used a cheap airline with limited check-in times, the Thai Smile staff turned up to the desk a few mins early so that they were issuing boarding passes at the starting time. In the case of Bamboo Airways, yet another disappointment. Two staff members eventually sauntered up to their post more than 10 mins late (couldn't at least one of them be on time?) and then faffed about, taking over 10 mins to actually issue my boarding pass. Le Saigonaise lounge was the best part of the SGN experience, with WiFi, food, drinks and good (if small) showers.

The flight to Melbourne was on a 787-9. I found the seat to be quite comfortable and got a decent sleep, given the limited time available between meals. There's a sleeping pad provided eventually, but it's quite thin. Nice amenity kit. Other than that, everything was below average for business class. No spirits or liqueurs, the only alcohol being wine and beer. (Probably warm again. I didn't try it this time!) The movie selection is lousy. About 8 "new" Hollywood movies, apparently meaning that they were released in the past 3 years. No TV shows. Some music and a 2D map. No WiFi on this plane. Warm juice again. Cold towel. Cold almonds. Dinner was adequate, consisting of a bland appetiser, nice "pumkin" soup (they need to spell-check their menu) and a good beef dish. Hot towel. At about 30 mins after midnight (SGN time), it was time for breakfast, which meant more warm juice and two Asian meal options. Sticky rice dish was barely edible. Like the airline itself, I'm in no hurry to see it again.

On arrival into MEL, dozens of boxes and bags (mostly boxes!) poured onto the baggage carousel from about 10 mins after the flight arrived. However, the FAs and I waited about 30 mins for our bags, as the priority tagged bags were delivered last.