holtju2

Have had few segments on TG's C in the past couple of months, but I have never been impressed about TG's "food" in business class, whether it would be short/medium/long haul.

IMHO, the catering on the BKK-HKG sector that I took on Friday on probably the oldest A330 they could find, was absolutely the worst I have ever seen.

So business class menu choices were:
Omelet
Fish
Chicken Curry
Vegetarian Pasta

I asked the FA what were the choices in economy, because didn't find any of these acceptable, and was told that the last two were the economy choices.

Luckily, I had spent the transfer time at the SQ's lounge @ BKK and had some dim sum there, so decided to skip the whole "dog" food service on TG.

When I was walking to the gate TG used for this flight, I passed the EK A380 that was taking off for the same destination 15 minutes later.

I am just curious, how TG is competing with all the other carriers serving on this route with the oldest possible equipment they can find and the "food" and service they provide on these flights?

BKKROP

I am sure the oldest A330 is on the Yangon route, I flew it 3 times last week, and the food was similar to what you enjoyed on the HKG run. I am sure you will agree, the HKG flight was full, it always is, the Yangon flights were full, I flew back down under and that flight was full, and you have to ask why?

For me it comes down to service, I want a flight back on the weekend, who else can fly me, who else cares now days about connections to other ports. SQ doesn't, neither does CX, QF gave up, Garuda gave it a half hearted push. The people in the lounge are the same faces I see in HKG and BKK, if you are going to base yourself in Thailand and need quick connecting daily flights to neighbouring countries, you have one option, and you certainly will not pick it because of the food. TG maybe going the same way with it's new airline, let's hope not.

planr

The daily to MNL is on the 3rd oldest A330 in the fleet (in deference to RGN and HKG of course!)... and the food is equally terrible. Abysmal actually.

However, I'm sure the alternative for me (PR) is no better.

holtju2

I was actually connecting from SGN. Not sure what they served on the SGN-BKK as I slept the whole flight. The plane on the SGN-BKK leg was with the shell seats.

The equipment was really a disgrace. I had something similar on the TPE-BKK last year. The flight in business class was less than 50% full as everyone had seat next to them unoccupied. Not sure about the economy.

TG's prices out of BKK are higher than UL, RJ, ET, EK & other who operate on this route that all have better equipment than Thai and the food, if they serve anything at all, cannot be any worse.

BTW I was at a home party in Ho Chi Minh city the night before. I was joking that maybe I should take leftovers with me to the TG flight so that they could reheat some. Oh boy how right I was.

I am flying back to Bangkok on Monday, but this time on 747 F. If nothing else at least I can drink Dom this time..

Aussie_flyer

Almost all airlines charge more in their home market. this is a common thing around the world most frequent flyers would be well aware of. none of those other airlines offer the frequency that TG does with either a single daily, or only select days per week. the business traveller going to HK for a daytrip or overnight business trip will select TG for this alone.

joy16

What are the acceptable (Good) choices for you in business class?

planr

Can't speak for the OP, but TG's hard product on the HKG route varies (I think there are 3 different aircraft flying the route). As for the soft product (food!), the omelet is just as bad on a 744 as it is on a 773 or 330.

EK has a good product, but for business travelers, the daily flight (especially ex-BKK) is not very convenient.

skywalkerLAX

The equipment is a hit and miss, it ranges from the very old Airbus and the 747 All Series to their newer equipment with the Shell Business Class and the 747-400. There will be the A380 tested on this route very soon I heard.

In regards to the catering, on the flights where TG does not offer the pre-order service it is always a disgrace and barely (if at all) edible. I found that on the BKK-HKG the meal order option is always available in C & F so at least something. Though I have to admit the quality of that food varies a lot. My last Steak could have killed someone if thrown at a person. *gulp*

behuman

I am not a TG apologist, but admit that for flights up to three hours their C product is just fine.

The new online preorder meals ex BKK are quite nice and you can escape the Y style main courses (the starters, cheese and dessert are much better).

On a very bright side I think their bevearge selection improved. Laurent Perrier Champagne is not bad and Chartron Trébuchet makes a nice Chardonnay (Pouilly Fuissé). Also the Château La Rouvière 2005 is pleasant.

And most importantly you arrive mostly on time and the C immigration problem appears to be resolved.

somkiat

Mr. holtju 2 ,

my heart just broke when I read about inferior catering offered on a recent Thai flight bound for Hongkong .

This event obviously able to ruin your well being I may suggest that you might be far better off using direct flights from SGN to HKG in future thus definitely avoiding being poisoned by Thai Airways and saving a lot of time .

I find Thai Air food mostly acceptable though I always thought my standards in consuming food are extremely high but maybe yours are higher .

" So business class menu choices were:
Omelet
Fish
Chicken Curry
Vegetarian Pasta "

Care to eleborate on what you found wrong with this selection as you did not even eat it ?

holtju2

Of course.

First of all I am not a foodie, but would have thought that they would have had a choice or two that had catered to a western traveler.

Thanks for reminding me to pre order the meal ex-Bangkok. Just did it for my flight tomorrow. Hope that the steak is not as hard as skywalkerLAX's.

A_Lee

In my opinion, Thailand has some of the worst steaks in the world. I've never found any steak even remotely resembling a good steak. And the situation certainly isn't any better with airline food departing from Thailand. I've completely given up on steak that's been prepared in Thailand. I'll take just about anything else as an alternative. If the only option is something equally disgusting, I'll just nibble on the salad/dessert/etc.

zhaobao

Have you had any CX food lately ? Flew TG from HKG to BKK to RGN return in Y and found the food acceptable. Food on EK similar to that on TG, but of course, you get the endless entertainment with A380. Have an upcoming flight to BKK on CX (mileage ticket) and can't say I look forward to it. I can see though, that being on the TG Boeing 747 is not exactly very pleasant either.....

holtju2

BTW had a decent HKG-BKK F flight this week, although they sent the old equipment for this sector. I really like the UA F lounge over TG one @ HKG. I was there alone for about half an hour before I moved to the TG lounge.

But then I had a service meltdown on my BKK-SIN C sector yesterday.

I asked for Laurent-Perrier and received mineral water. When I said that this wasn't what I ordered, they brought me white wine. This was when the champagne bottle was in full view on their cart.

Asked to speak with a purser, whose English was equally bad. She had trouble understanding what this Laurent-Perrier is.

somkiat

I would never use Thai any more .

Neither drink any Perrier nor any other water .