SeamasterLux

Dear FTers,

I'm planning some 2-week holidays in Asia for Jan-Feb next year, probably departing Jan 25th and coming back on Feb 10th.

So far my trip looks like:

- 4 nights in Siem Reap (at the Park Hyatt Siem Reap in a deluxe room on a virtuoso rate)
- 7 nights in Krabi at the Nakamanda resort. I stayed there two years ago and loved it. The RC Phulay Bay would have been great but so far they refuse to extend the RC Stars rate with pay 2 get 3 so I'm not staying there.
- 3 nights in BKK at the Grand Hyatt Erawan on my corp. rate at 90 EUR per night and then using a certificate to upgrade myself to a suite.

The flights are the complicated part.
I wanted to use some miles so I booked Mrs. Seamaster and I on AF CDG-BKK-CDG in Premium Eco for 200k miles.
I didn't book yet the LUX-CDG-LUX to go from home to Paris yet.
I also booked BKK-REP and then REP-BKK-KBV flights with Bangkok Airways and KBV-BKK with Thai Smile.

The flights to/from Siem Reap are way more expensive than I had thought and I'm going way too much through BKK during that trip.

I was thinking to wait for Flying Blue Promo Awards of Jan/Feb to see where I could land in Asia in Business Class for the same amount of miles (as per the new award chat) than for Premium Eco Classic awards that would have a direct connection to Siem Reap, like Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. I would then spend a night or two at that place as well (and then depart earlier from Europe).

Would you recommend something else that would help me avoid going too much through BKK?

Many thanks in advance!

CrazyInteg

It sounds like you are already booked, so I'm a little confused on your question.

You could have flown from Europe to Siem Reap for 200k miles in Premium Economy, then you could fly from Siem Reap to Phuket, then you could fly to Bangkok, then you could fly back to Europe.

There are a TON of flight options to get from Europe to SE Asia and you don't mention what airline alliances you want to fly with.

Siem Reap is the bottleneck in your flight planning.

SeamasterLux

Sorry, I wasn't very clear on a lot of points indeed.

My awards are with AF because I don't have many points with Star (only 15k on TK and 20k on LH). These are classic awards so easily refundable (with 45€ retained).

For the intra-Asia flights, all flights are flex Y with Bangkok Airways or C with Thai. So I can change anything very easily.

I tried to fly directly from Europe to Siem Reap but my only option was through Guanghzou with AF and it meant 30 hours of travelling with a 9 hour stopover in China.

That's why, even if my flights are booked, I'm definitely open to other solutions.

Indeed, you're right on the REP-KBV segment, I could have flown REP-HKT with Bangkok Airways, I'll check the price of this. I think I had seen it at 360€ pp against 250€ to KBV through BKK.

IceTrojan

Are you not able to book LUX-CDG-BKK-vv for the same amount of miles? (Sorry, unfamiliar with AF)

CrazyInteg

Thanks for that additional info.

Korean Air. CDG->ICN->REP.
KLM. LUX->AMS->BKK
Air France. CDG->SIN and a paid SIN->REP

I think you have a decent itinerary as it is. Siem Reap to any city in Thailand is going to require a connection in Bangkok. Europe to Siem Reap is going to require a connection somewhere.

CrazyInteg

No. For SkyTeam he would have to go to LUX->???->CDG

IceTrojan

What about CDG-SGN/HAN-REP on VN?

SeamasterLux

Unfortunately not for the time being but might try that once promo awards are available for Jan-Feb '14

Alright, thank you. I actually hope to see Singapore or KL in the cities available for Promo awards which would then be an ideal connection to REP after with a nice stopover before. It's a bit a gamble but I don't risk much at that stage.

CrazyInteg

Also a great idea

IceTrojan

I should qualify that haha...

How about CDG-SGN/HAN on AF, then VN to REP?

VN's product would be pretty disappointing on the long-haul flights... I can barely stand them on short-haul, and I once took a medium haul flight (NRT-SGN) due to a misconnect/rebook. Service is great though.

CrazyInteg

Offtopic: Is Vietnam's economy class worse than United's economy class? I always try to book Qatar when flying to/from BKK and Vietnam. But I did a one way on VN and there was nothing wrong with it.

IceTrojan

Given that choice, I absolutely would pick VN over UA. As mediocre as VN is, it outshines UA on food and service (seats are at least a wash). Especially since you have a high likelihood of getting a dinosaur of a 744 on UA vs. relatively newer equipment on VN long haul.

Goldorak

SeamasterLux : do not have any hope for promo awards from CDG (or AMS) to SE Asia and to REP in january or february. This is the high season there and all these flights are packed. You can consider yourself to be lucky to have already secured what you have secured in term of award tickets.
Regarding the BKK-REP sector on PG, you are correct : it is very expensive. Until recently, PG had a monopoly on this route and charged a premium. Since a few months, Cambodia Angkor Air (K5) has broken this monopoly and operates 1 or 2 daily flights (can't remember). You may try (you can book on-line and they are reliable) but it may complicate your trip to KBV.

As a whole, I understand you feel going more than needed through BKK, but I believe this is almost unavoidable with your itinerary. BKK is the most convenient in your case and all those flights are very short (BKK-REP is 35-40 min flight time / 1hr block to block) and BKK-KBV is just slightly longer.

jiejie

Awful time. January 31, 2014 is Chinese New Year and after the initial 3 days, lots of affluent mainland Chinese will be holidaying around the region including Cambodia and Thailand. That's in addition to the ethnic Chinese from other nearby countries plus the usual crowds of Europeans. Book accommodation far ahead. Or change plans to arrive mid-February.

Going in/out of BKK multiple times is probably lesser of all the evils.

Goldorak

Very good point. I forgot the Chinese new year. Do not go to Angkor during the Chinese new year and the week after, as pointed by Jiejie. It is a total nightmare there during this period (I'm not exaggerating).