Long haul F going downhill again ?

Old Nov 3, 2012, 10:21 pm
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Long haul F going downhill again ?

FRA-BKK-HKG First Class. First leg on B747 was very bad. No menus on board; when I decided what I wanted, they said that they ran out of my choice of meal; the lamb they recommended was terrible. The flight attendants acted like robots. Extremely narrow bathrooms. In first class this is simply not acceptable. First class lounge in BKK good. The second leg on the A380 was a different story. Very good plane. Great first class. Great service and the meal was much better than on the long haul flight.
From SKYTRAX.
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Old Nov 3, 2012, 10:52 pm
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Originally Posted by RICK69
FRA-BKK-HKG First Class. First leg on B747 was very bad. No menus on board; when I decided what I wanted, they said that they ran out of my choice of meal; the lamb they recommended was terrible. The flight attendants acted like robots. Extremely narrow bathrooms. In first class this is simply not acceptable. First class lounge in BKK good. The second leg on the A380 was a different story. Very good plane. Great first class. Great service and the meal was much better than on the long haul flight.
From SKYTRAX.
BRU-BKK a few days ago: no menu either, and they ran out of my meal choice or were simply misinformed about what they had (choose the porc bbq and ended up with duck-curry). No security fast-lane in BRU (!), so ended up with the masses.. Rest of the service was ok, ground service in BKK very nice. I'm guessing TG is very good in the things they have control over, but they seem to have very little leverage over their subcontractors (Catering in foreign airports, fast-lane security, ...)

Off to board BKK-SYD in a few hours
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Old Nov 3, 2012, 11:36 pm
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Originally Posted by fets_be
BRU-BKK a few days ago: no menu either, and they ran out of my meal choice or were simply misinformed about what they had (choose the porc bbq and ended up with duck-curry). No security fast-lane in BRU (!), so ended up with the masses.. Rest of the service was ok, ground service in BKK very nice. I'm guessing TG is very good in the things they have control over, but they seem to have very little leverage over their subcontractors (Catering in foreign airports, fast-lane security, ...)

Off to board BKK-SYD in a few hours
Good luck !
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Old Nov 4, 2012, 1:13 am
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I am NOT a friend of TG and usually very critical.

My very recent experience (and two other journeys of friends of mine) give rather an image of motivated crews (but this is luck) and the bedding is now finally acceptable.

You can preorder catering and some choices are quite good http://www.thaiair.com/AWR_PREM/view-trip.jsp. I noticed that they have no menu cards, but the wine choice was good and well presented.

So the value for money was good. Just noted that some captains still choose to light cigarettes during flight (you notice that on the A340). After my complaint it did not happen again on that flight.
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Old Nov 5, 2012, 1:49 am
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For those who are interested, please note that they now give new grey color pyjamas in F ( same color as the newe blanket).
They have a zip collar on the top, and now come in size XL as well.
Once again, despite the fact that I flew on the 5th of November, they were still showing the October movies.
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Old Nov 5, 2012, 3:47 am
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[QUOTE=hgp;19624707]Let's keep this friendly and respect opinions different to our own.

I travel in all 3 cabins, I do notice that the Y FAs are more slick - probably out of necessity - and more attractive. When airborn I reckon I get adrink quicker at the front of Y than in F.

Last edited by Dr. HFH; Nov 6, 2012 at 7:20 pm Reason: Off topic comments removed.
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Old Nov 5, 2012, 5:32 pm
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My Aer Lingus flight from Dublin arrived at 14:30 and TG933 was scheduled to leave at 21:40 so I had a lot of time to kill landside at CDG, which is a shame as CDG is a pretty awful airport when it comes to facilities, either landside or airside.

I used the free train shuttle service to transfer from T1 to T2, which is the location of the ONLY Left Luggage facility at CDG (amazing that they have only one such facility). You cannot take a trolley on to the shuttle train and I had to lug two suitcases and a carry on up to the train platform, which was not easy.

Having left my bags at the Left Luggage I enquired at Information about the Massage services mentioned on the airports website. There are none in the airport. The only one is in the Sheraton Hotel which, technically speaking is in the airport. I paid e120 for a one hour massage, in a strange facility on the fourth floor of the hotel. Although horribly expensive, the massage was very good.

Having made my way over to T1 again, with my luggage, I checked in at the empty First Class facility and was quickly on my way to the Star Alliance lounge. Immigration was, thankfully, not too busy.

The Star Alliance lounge is on the second floor accessible by elevator only. First Class is directly behind the reception desk and Business Class is downstairs. The very friendly staff showed me into the completely empty F lounge. I was the only passenger!!

The Lounge is very comfortable but small. Comfortable seating but not a lot of it. A reasonable, but limited selection of drinks and a buffet of meat cuts, smoked salmon, cheeses etc, as well as crisps and nuts was available. I had planned to eat on board so I did not indulge very much.

I had time to indulge in some duty free shopping and this just reinforced my opinion of how poor an airport CDG is for an international hubshockingly poor selection in Duty Free and also bar/restaurant facilities.

I headed for the aircraft at 9pm and there was nobody at security so cleared that very quickly. On board I was shown to my Suite, 2A. There was only one other passenger in F, in 1K, so I knew the service would be good!

Hot towel and Champagne followed, along with PJs. Push back was actually bang on time at 21:40.

When the seat belt sign was switched off I changed into my PJs and when I got back to my seat my Bombay Sapphire Dry Martini was waiting for me.

Very nice warm nuts were served followed by canaps, and then the best part of the flight..the Oscietra Caviar, with all the trimmings and ice cold Smirnoff.yummy.

I know from experience over the last 20 years that Thai allocates half a tin of caviar for every passenger. I also knew that the predicted loading for F on this flight was four pax, but two had not turned up. I asked the very nice FA if I could have the whole tin of caviar and she said absolutely sir, of course you can. This was a great start to a lovely flight. When I finished the tin, she asked if I would like morewoo hoo.more.of course. So, I had another half tin portion.

Delicious, served with egg yolk, egg white, sour cream, red onion, and a choice of toast melba or blinis, and accompanied by ice cold Vodka. I am always amazed at how cold they can get the bottle of Vodka. I know the caviar is served early on in the flight so they dont have to keep it cold for a long time, but it was literally ice cold!

This was followed by a starter of Serrano Ham, Lobster tail and poached salmon. I then had the Beef Massaman Curry, which was excellent.

I chose the Grand Cru Saint Emilion from Chateau Berliquet which was great with the beef. I do wish Thai would introduce some New World wines to their F selection. French wine is good but I am a firm fan of a nice Australian Shiraz or a South African wine from Stellenboschalmost any grape from this region will do!!

I decided to skip dessert and cheese and to sleep. I asked the FA to make my bed and went to the bathroom. When I returned, two FAs were finishing making up my bed

The seats are a fully flat bed in sleep mode (as one would expect) and I slept soundly until two hours before landing.

I declined the second meal and had some coffee and juice instead.

One of the best aspects of flying F into Bangkok with Thai is the superb service upon landing. This aircraft usually lands on a C pier, normally C7 and it is easily a fifteen minute walk to Immigration. First Class passengers get a buggy ride and an escort through Immigration and then each passenger has his/her own personal porter to take their hand baggage and then collect their checked luggage and escort the passenger to their car/limo etc. Excellent ground services!!

All told, a very nice flight, as usual from Thai!!
From Seatplans.

May be not so bad if you want a tin of caviar.And not a cigarette in sight.
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Old Nov 5, 2012, 8:10 pm
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Good post rick69
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Old Nov 5, 2012, 8:29 pm
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Originally Posted by iolairemcfadden
Good post rick69
It was not my TR saw it on Seatplans.
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Old Nov 6, 2012, 9:33 am
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Sorry I haven't been around for a few days, -- I had to return to BOS for a family emergency. But, please!! This thread is not about smoking. I am removing a number of off-topic posts.
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Old Nov 7, 2012, 3:22 am
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Long haul F going downhill again ?

No buggy pick up from HAN-BKK to take to F lounge today.
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Old Nov 7, 2012, 3:44 am
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Originally Posted by VH-RMD
No buggy pick up from HAN-BKK to take to F lounge today.
wow. What did the gate staff say when you asked them? That it is no longer offered or that they were running late?
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Old Nov 7, 2012, 8:55 pm
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Originally Posted by LHR/MEL/Europe FF
wow. What did the gate staff say when you asked them? That it is no longer offered or that they were running late?
just apologies. We were escorted to the plane last night, no buggy again.

Got TGY with new F seats however. Great flight and service with the exception of the quail - it was inedible, but everything else was really good.
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Old Nov 7, 2012, 9:29 pm
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Originally Posted by VH-RMD
just apologies. We were escorted to the plane last night, no buggy again.

Got TGY with new F seats however. Great flight and service with the exception of the quail - it was inedible, but everything else was really good.
that's a worry. Was the gate particularly close? Were other pax getting buggies?
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Old Nov 7, 2012, 10:12 pm
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Originally Posted by VH-RMD
No buggy pick up from HAN-BKK to take to F lounge today.
When flying a sector such as the above which does not have First service, many of us have found, you have to ensure you tell Thai or any airline for that matter, that your connecting flight is in first class. Many of us will buy different classses and some tickets will be discounted on awards or with different airlines. If Thai know they will tie in the tickets and advise the next port that there is a First class pax arriving. First class attendants will escort you to the plane if you are in First class.
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