Yangon/Hanoi
 

Has anyone done Yangon to Hanoi on the EK 777 service in Business?

If so would anyone recommend upgrading to Business with miles for this flight?

I am planning to fly this route in reverse later this year. I was not planning to try and upgrade this sector.

As it is a pretty short flight (just over 2 hours), I think EK Y class is perfectly acceptable.

I only consider upgrading on flights of more than 08 hours as I find more than 08 hours in a Y cabin simply too much.

I therefore prefer to save my miles for use on long sectors. But if you have miles expiring and no other use for them, then why not?

I am not sure what lounge facilities are available to EK pax in RGN but there is certainly no EK lounge and it is not clear what 3rd party lounge is available, if any.

RGN
 

I live in Yangon and I can tell you that the lounge that all airlines use in the new T1 is very basic and not worth spending time in.

I fly frequently to HAN on VN and can recommend them for their better flight times.

I was on the RGN/DXB leg this week and confirm that the enormous CIT lounge used by EK is not up to their standards but perfectly acceptable.
I certainly would not use my miles on this sector,also the food offering on this short flight is only a snack.
SS

I upgraded this flight back in december because it's a late night flight out of DXB and the 1:30 stopover in RGN makes it long. (you don't leave the plane).

Pro: it's a night flight so you can sleep
Con: Y was not very full so you can have 2 empty seats next to you. You get a small breakfast on this plane; that's it. So don't upgrade for the food ;-)

Thats interesting, Im on the HAN-DXB at the end of April and wasnt sure if we stayed on for such a short stop. ^

I too am flying DXB-HAN shortly and then a few days later HAN-DXB both in J. Does anyone else have experience with the stop-over in RGN?

It appears we stay on the aircraft for the duration of the 1:30 stopover, but I am curious how it works in practice. For instance do the cleaners come on to service the seats of those who have ended their journey at RGN while you are still in your seat?

I can't speak for your route, but there are similar arrangements on DXB-BKK-HKG and on this flight cleaners do come on in BKK and clean up around the remaining passengers.

Do note from August (I think) this route is direct to HAN as the new route DXB/SGN stops in RGN.
Great timings out on EK388 (09.00/16.45) but a killer night flight back (02.10/06.45)and for that reason I have booked my day return via BKK.
SS
ps I flew RGN/DXB early this year and the HAN pax remained on board whilst the cleaners worked around them

How long is the turnaround at BKK and is there a crew change?

I think you've got that the wrong way around. The SGN route is none stop, and has been going for a while - I used it last year.

1 hour 45 mins in Bangkok. The crew change at BKK and the new crew take over and do BKK-HKG-BKK.

Yep,I got my RGN/HAN/SGN/PNH mixed up.
HAN and SGN are direct
EK388 (the one I was referring to with a day flight) stops at RGN on the way to PNH
cheers
SS

Have just completed DXB-HAN. The stopover in RGN was announced as 1 hour (but they turned the plane around in about 50 mins). You indeed stay on the plane while the cleaning crew pass through the cabin. Have to say (and maybe due to J cabin being only half full) that we hardly noticed them. The flight crew changed at RGN but the same cabin crew continued to HAN.

One interesting thing is the security procedure prior to pax boarding at RGN. In order presumably to prevent anything untoward being left on the flight from RGN to HAN by departing pax at RGN, the cabin crew ask each passenger to identify their hand baggage in the overhead bins. It is announced over the PA that any unidentified hand baggage will be removed from the aircraft. In addition the cabin crew thoroughly search each vacant seat (including opening up the tray table and emptying the seat back). I even saw the purcer lifting out the flower pots at the front of the J cabin to check in the container!

Does anyone know EKs reason for operating the BKK-HKG sector? Both cities get plenty of direct flights from EK.