Noble16

Hello all, I am looking to fly with Thai for the first time in January in Economy and was wondering if the new A350 will be in service for their overnight flight. Its still saying when I look to book the aircraft will be on the 777 but in the summer the A350 was due to launch last September. Also as a first time long haul passenger would anyone prefer this to a stop over with Emirates?

BinSabai

if you are a smoker, who can not stop for a while, a stop over might be your Preference
a non stop flight is certainly better to adapt to new time zones and keep the rythm of sleep/being wake

SK AAR

A non-stop flight is way better than 1-stop connecting flights. period.

It is unlikely that A350 will be deployed to LHR soon. The aircraft is smaller/fewer seats than B77W so it is deployed on smaller routes like the current FCO and MXP. A350 to LHR would mean a significant cut in capacity/number of seats and the LHR is doing OK with B77W as I understand it.

You could also consider BR (Eva Air) for non-stop service LHR-BKK.

Gus

Noble16 You're too late, you blinked and missed it. TG gave a lot of publicity to the A350 on TG916/7 but it only lasted 4 months from about October to February. TG decided the 350 was better utilised on Melbourne flights.
I flew the aircraft twice in Economy and loved it, better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.

Noble16

Oh wow that didnt last long! Would you say the A380 day flight be better then the night on the 777?

BinSabai

for J: seats and service is pretty much the same. If you have not flown A380, I would go for it.
Otherwise i would prefer the night flight (TG910) from BKK to LHR as you loose less time and spend the night in the airplane and back the flight that leaves LHR in the evening (TG917) as it is slightly better to adapt to the Eastern time zone

BangkokSteve

Just sharing this:

My wife and I booked APR 16 BKK-LONDON with return April 30 AMSTERDAM-FRANKFURT-BKK. We booked January 24 2018. The FRAN-BKK leg of the flight at the time of our booking was an Airbus A350. But THAI changed the airplane to a 777-300 on March 25th. We just found this out today, April 10 when we went to review seat assignments. (After the switch, the new seat assignments were next to the toilet).

Our complaints with THAI:

• If THAI knew it would be rotating the A350 in March, it should NOT have had the booking information as an A350 as the plane servicing the FRAN-BKK for a flight on April 30
• THAI did not inform us of the plane switch

I believe that the decision to change planes during different seasons was known before January 24th. However, THAI is too lazy or too insensitive to its customers to want to inform them the plane they are booking will be changed on them. (I understand that THAI has the right to change the planes at any time. The point I’m making is that if THAI knew the planes would be changed at the time of booking (Jan 24th), it should not be placing that information at its booking website. Its wrong in terms of customer expectations. This assumes THAI cares about its customers).

Call Center is clueless as how many A350 planes THAI has in service, where these planes fly to and when.

flyerby

Noble16

Hopefully LHR-BKK will be one of these soon.

Thai-Kiwi

@BangkokSteve. Was this itinerary booked directly with THAI, or though a travel agent (online/physical)? Thai needs to manage its (very) varied fleet flexibly, they may not have known of the equipment changes that you assert. How would you know what THAI was thinking around Jan 24.....?

There are much worst cases of equipment changes, sometimes resulting in downgrade of cabin class.

The 77W and 359 are similar enough for it not to matter to me. Messed up seat assignments are annoying, I agree.

BangkokSteve

Booked directly with THAI. I wrote 'I believe'. I based my comment on the relatively short time (1.5 month) between my booking date and the plane switch. But you are probably right and THAI may just make this up as they go along with very little forethought and planning ahead.

As for 'worst cases of equipment changes', perhaps THAI can take a page out of ANA's playbook. Recently, I booked Premium Economy with ANA and they switched the flight to a plane without Premium Econ class. Not only did they send an email about this when they switched planes, they upgraded me to business.

According to the airline geeks website, there is a HUGE difference between the 2 planes: "Almost all airlines have transitioned to 10-abreast seats in economy on the 777-300ER, leaving many passengers squished in the new 17.5-inch seats. No airlines, however, have yet passed nine per row on the A350-900, which has the same cabin width as the -1000 variant. With the slightly smaller cabin, seats in that configuration on the A350 generally are 18 inches wide. ... The A350XWB, like Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, is pressurized to a lower altitude than the majority of commercial jets today. The aircraft is pressurized to only 6,000 feet, while the 777-300ER’s cabin pressure, like most other non-composite airliners, generally sits around 8,000 feet when airborne. This difference can certainly allow passengers to arrive at their destinations feeling refreshed and rested."

But I guess I won't know the difference between the 2 planes for myself given that I won't be flying on the A350 anytime soon.

Thai-Kiwi

@BangkokSteve. Ah, I interpreted you as being in business class, but you actually don't mention your class of travel - so we ended up somewhat at cross-purposes in comments.

Thanks! ;-)

BinSabai

I was also thinking the same that I would not mind any change from A350 to 77W in J at all, but then refrained from commenting as I am not sure about differences back in the cabin
one should not forget that the majority of passengers still flow cattle; for the most active FT members, it seems however opposite...

tg911

Had to fly on the 777 a few months ago in cattle class TG910 had the most uncomfortable seat i have ever had.Think it must have been broken because i ended up with a bruised coccyx even after putting the pillow on my seat.Spent most of the flight sitting foward weight off my backside head on the seat in front of me.Shame about the A350 being pulled from the route but a least we had 1 flight on it before if got pulled nice and comfy even in cattle.We fly back to BKK on the 17th April TG917 showing A380 at the moment as long as its not cancelled don't care what plane we get but if its a 777 will be changing my allocated seat.

BangkokSteve

No forgetting here.

It must be that there is way more 'pressure' in the 777's Economy cabin than in its Business Class. I wonder how they do that. Now in the A350, like the A380, they've made the whole plane the same pressure. Fancy that!