bodaciousbob

Hello Folks!

Lurker of the board, but first time poster. I have found alot of great information on here!

I have a couple questions though, about flying internationally to Asia.

My Girlfriend and I are going to Thailand for a month, November 2010. We have never been to Asia, but are looking forward to lying on the beaches and eating the food..

I have a couple questions about getting there. I want the most comfortable flight, without having to pay an arm and a leg.

I couldn't find this information online, but I'm trying to find out what might be included in my international flight, and which company would be best to fly with, for the price.


Cathay Pacific, is about $300 more per person, for economy restricted class ($2800 for 2 people.) But I have heard their meals, drinks and seats are WAY better than Delta or United.

Delta is about $2160-$2300 for 2 people.
United is about $2150-2300 for 2 people.


What is normally included in a Cathay Pacific Flight? What about Delta/United when flying internationally?

I've heard that the new Shell Seats on Cathay pacific are horrible? Has anyone flown on these in comparison to Delta/United?


I'd love to fly business class, but unfortunately thats just a bit out of my price range.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!

MegatopLover

Welcome to (participating in) FlyerTalk, bodaciousbob!

Do you have any points or miles on any programs that you could use for upgrading?

Do you have membership in any FF programs currently (AC?) that might influence your decision in terms of miles you'll be earning from this trip? YYC-BKK-vv is going to be about 20,000 miles, nearly enough to earn the lowest tier elite status on DL and UA. Not sure about AC. If you signed up for Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus, you could achieve Silver Status with just 10,000 miles, meaning you might qualify for Silver on the way over and be entitled to the benefits (extra baggage allowance) on your return flight.

Starting in YYC might be your problem in terms of pricing. USA-BKK flights should run you about $1500 for advance-purchase economy tix, maybe less if you went through a consolidator. You might consider buying YYC-USA and USA-BKK tix separately, just leaving enough time for the connection in case of delays. One thing to look at would be Thai Airways LAX-BKK nonstop, connecting from YYC-LAX on AC perhaps. Thai Airways' product on the ultra-long-haul nonstop in economy is much better than all of the other options, with 3-4" extra seat pitch. If you can spend an extra $300 or so, you can go Premium Economy and get another 5" of seat pitch and one less seat across, meaning a seat roughly equivalent to domestic First Class. Depending on what you'd pay for YYC-LAX, if the LAX-BKK ran you $1700 for Premium Economy, you could come in close to those fares you're seeing on UA and DL.

Hang on... I might have misunderstood your post. Are you seeing DL and UA for $2300 all-in total for both tickets, or per ticket? If that's for both, it's a good fare and a good $1000 cheaper than the Thai Premium Economy and separate YYC-LAX tix option.

tcook052

MHO would be to go with CX all things, like price, being equal. As MegatopLove indicates however the decision might hinge on whether FFP in one program or another are of importance to you.

I would counsel caution over buying separate tickets however as schedule changes could cause an awkward misconnection at the U.S. hub city.

Lastly I would see whether you can purchase lounge access at a connection city as sometimes there can be a long gap between connections and having some quite lounge to relax is often worth the $50 or so most airline charge for one day entry. Note that each airline does things very differently so it's important to always check the fine print before buying this access.

Happy travels and welcome to FT.

Daawgon

You should be reading the airline reviews - Skytrax

(really doubt that you will consider an American carrier after you compare)

Stezo

As a Calgarian who has lived in Thailand for a while, and now Singapore, I have flown many airlines between Thailand and N. America. Not sure if you have bought your ticket yet, but here are my tips.

Cathay Pacific is quite good, I don't really care for the capsule style seats, but the food and service really makes up for it, and if I had to choose them or an American carrier, it would be Cathay Pacific for sure!

Thai Air is also worth paying a bit more as well, especially if you can get a deal on there Premium Economy seats, which are fantastic, and often not that expensive!

You also may want to look at prices into Phuket (HKT) as well.
Korean Air flys there from ICN, and I quite enjoy there service as well. And Phuket is a nice place to start Thailand from, you can relax on a beach first instead of the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.

Enjoy your trip!

mtensioners

Stezo
I am looking for deal for tic ICN - YYZ for student. Wants to leave ICN mid august around 18th and retrn 7 to 10 days later. All prices I have seen are $2000+, BUF is an option, any ideas?

HotelSlave

Everythinig you can expect from a good airline.
Standard things like: CX offers a great in flight entertaiment system in all economy seats. It includes AVOD function, movies - tons of them, tv shows - dozens of america's most watched shows, sometimes a few episodes, sometimes a whole season, documentary, a CD library of 888 discs, and recent music hits, quite a few video games, a 3D (sometimes) animated moving map, interactive language learning programmes, destination guides...thats a rather brief summary.

• Alcohol is provided free on CX flights.
• CX no longer hands out amenity packs for economy passengers, there is a limited supply of toothbrush/inflight socks/eyeshades/earplugs available on demand.
• Window and middle seats on CX planes might have restricted legroom due to an entertainment box installed, look up some seatmaps before you make your seat selection.
• Your checked-in baggage would be tagged all the way to your final destination.
• CX allows unlimited date change after departure on most discounted economy tickets. It is also usually free, but it all depends on your ticket fare restriction.

This has been a constant debate on FT for a long time, if you go to the CX forum you'd find a long list of reasons to support or dislike the new seats. I personally don't really enjoy it...I now need sleeping pills on CX longhaul flights to sleep, I didn't before the new seats, but maybe it's just me. If you are rather courageous or adventurous you might want to try it out and maybe you'd love it. If not then you might want to stick with the kind of seat that you're fimiliar with just in case. Bear in mind that if you realise that you don't like the new seats half way acorss the pacific, you're stuck in the air with it for another 10hrs or so, and you'd be stuck with it again on your way back home.
Don't be so sure about that. Look around for some deals sometimes business class fares might be cheaper than you think.

Some other airlines that you can consider as well:
American Airlines
EVA Air - via TPE
China Airlines - via TPE
Air China - via PEK
Thai Airways
Japan Airlines

I know that EVA and China Airlines routinely put their J class on sale. I found a deal once with CI, YVR - KUL rt for just 2,000 incl taxes. Sure their J seats are like from the last decade, but nevertheless great service, big comfy seats, more food/beverage selection, and at roughly the same price of a Y ticket.

I think your trouble might be that it is difficult to find a good deal out of YYC, try YVR or YYZ instead, or even, LAX/SFO.

1969corvette

I fly US Air the majority of time. I have not been to Asia yet but will be flying in October to Singapore and Bangkok.

I do have Miles to upgrad and was told Singapore Air is great to fly. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I need to leave from Richmond on 10/9 to get to Singapore for a meeting on 10/12. On 10/14 I need to leave during late afternoon early evening from Singapore to BKK. Then I need to leave BKK on 10/18 during the evening to RIC ( Richmond VA ).

Any suggestions? I have plenty of Miles on US Air for an upgrade, can that be used on Singapore Air?