JM41

I'm new to the forum but need some advice! I will be flying London to Bangkok return around 8 times per year due to a new job. Flights will be in economy and and paid for by me so i'll be looking for the cheapest flights.
I'm thinking it makes sense to use one airline only to get points and hopefully upgrades and lounge access. I've flown with BA, Thai and Emirates previously and all are ok and allow golf clubs for free as part of checked baggage allowance. Emirates are indirect which isn't ideal but they do fly from gatwick which is closer to home than heathrow.
I'm looking for advice on which membership program is best and easiest to obtain a decent membership level which will give upgrades and lounge access.

BA seems fav at the mo as i can deduct their avois from the cost of the next flight when booking but they only give 23kg of baggage allowance which isn't great.

Thai give 30kg but you can't deduct miles from the cost of flights unless flying from BKK to London return and not the other way round. Their gold status membership does sound good though.

I don't have any knowledge on Emirates frequent flyer program.

All advice and suggestions greatly appreciated.

RTWFF

Emirates also allow you to deduct points from the cost of the next flight and give you 30KG. You are often offered a paid upgrade when checking in at less than the cost of a full business class ticket - often much less. As you're transiting Dubai it will usually only be for one leg, but perhaps that the leg on which you might want to sleep anyway. They also have the most flights out of Bangkok - five I think. BA has only one

vbh812

Eva Air fly non-stop between London and Bangkok and have a solid product in business class; not sure about economy. They often have the cheapest fares.

Its a good idea to patronise one airline alliance to maximise benefits. Thai and Eva, both belong to Star Alliance and, combined, have several flights a day. Not sure about BA's frequency into BKK. On the other hand, being London based, BA status/points are likely to be used more frequently on other travels as well.

ajeleonard

If you're looking for the cheapest then you are always going to be indirect. Both BA and Thai price steeply for their nonstops.

There are many many more airlines competing in the one-stop market than just Emirates.

tg911

If you fly with Thai on a cheap economy ticket you will accrue hardy any air miles,if your lucky you will get about 1482 miles each leg. That is what we accrued service class W last flight each leg.

andyptrav

I have been doing LHR -BKK - HKT return 8+ times a year for 7 years and I can assure you Thai is way way ahead. The personal service from the London office is exemplary. You will achieve gold status very quickly and 8 flights a year will give you two free return upgrades every two years but the icing on the cake is you will get one free first class return every year and miles to spare. BA and Emirates won't come anywhere near this.
Emirates is a non starter, the stop in Dubai is a killer.
Fly LHR - BKK TG917 and BKK - LHR TG910 and sleep 7 hours of the flight. No jet lag. When gold you will generally get a good seat and if you ask politely when boarding the purser will find you 3 or 4 seats if available.
Flights with full miles do cost more but well worth the returns.

SunLover

Solid analysis andyptrav. Plus when you become TG Gold you will have access to seven *A lounge locations at BKK and four *A lounge locations at LHR.


SL

BinSabai

i am with you, but many claim that the stop over is a release, in particular if flying cattle class...

kapitan

Since you are asking about economy class, you may wish to know that THAI is;

World’s Best Economy Class
1.Thai Airways
2.Qatar Airways
3.Asiana Airlines
4.Garuda Indonesia
5.Singapore Airlines
6.Japan Airlines
7.Emirates
8.ANA All Nippon Airways
9.EVA Air
10.Lufthansa


http://www.airlinequality.com/news/q...rline-in-2017/

timster

Agree with TG or EVA as both are *A and have good economy class service. Eva also has premium economy. Not a fan of BA economy or premium economy. I don't mind EK economy on the A380, but wouldn't dream of going via DXB.

I would however try to avoid 10 across on 777s flown by some airlines. Too squeezy.

You do have a wider choice where you credit your miles. For example, *A airlines like A3 and TK traditionally have easier programs to reach gold with (ie fewer miles required), even if you never fly with them (although gold will be easier if you do 4 flights with A3, eg via Athens). So look into exactly what economy classes you would be flying, and whether those classes credit at 0%, 50% or 100% miles with different programs. The cheapest will credit 0%. But if you are flying 8 times, you will only need to pay the premium necessary for 100% miles crediting on a couple of flights, with the program that requires the fewest miles to reach gold.

Then you get lounge access, premium checkin, extra baggage with every *A airline.

There is some extra benefit to being gold with the airline you actually fly with, as opposed to another *A airline. But you need to weigh up the merits of that, if it will take you more miles and more expensive Y classes to get to gold with that airline.

trooper

I would strongly suggest the OP fly with the crediting airline..as he/she specifically mentions upgrades as a priority.

Upgrading with miles/points is invariably better value with "home" airline credits....the *A upgrade program for instance is relatively poor value...

Having said that..if the OP is looking for complimentary upgrades on long haul flights..then I have no idea what they should do...lol

Thai-Kiwi

With Thai, just do note that the specific fare class in economy matters when it comes to accumulating miles.

Q class earn at 100%, so to earn Gold status (50k miles) flying LHR-BKK requires 4 round trip flights (4x 12k miles) plus another 2k miles on Thai or another *A airline. booking in cheaper fare classes earn either 75% or 25% and so takes longer.

You need to certain of the fare class before tye final stage of purchase, and note that a number of class can fall inopto descriptions like 'saver' or 'flexi'. Many a frequent flier has made the mistake of not being certain and missing out on a full mileage earn.

for random dates in September:

Q class. 100% miles GBP 800
K class. 75% miles GBP 633
W class. 25% miles GBP 574

Once gold status is obtained then the cheapest fare classes can be booked, providing you can live with the more restrictive conditions.

andyptrav

Agreed you will pay about £225 extra for Q class but you get to sit in the front section of economy and upstairs on the A380. You can also change dates for a fee, W out date is fixed. No idea about K.
7 x £225 gets you your free (except taxes) return in F which seems pretty good value to me. But K class looks pretty good too, 9 (and a bit) x £59 is even better.

djjaguar64

EVA premium is very good indeed, we flew YYZ-SIN via TPE and it was a good change from Y.

RTWFF

Who did they pay for that?