Thai-Kiwi

Hi,

Mrs TK and I will head off to Europe next year, with flexible routing in/out since THAI do not fly to one destination (Spain).

I have to wait until 31 Dec for my ROK Gold membership to re-new so I can use both GUP and 50% award - so I am tracking biz award availability on some key routes.

I have noticed that if I consider FRA-BKK (as it operates twice daily), that there is good biz award availability for TG923 (2040-1230) but much rarer on TG921 (1415-0625). It would suggest to me that TG921 is somehow the preferred flight and so less need to offer biz award seats?

Can any regulars on the FRA-BKK route provide any thoughts why this might be? And/or offer any insights to which of these 2 flights they would prefer and why?

Cheers, TK

Unterwegs

921 is often on a 380 (but don't count on it). More seats, quieter plane, better air pressure and you have a full day in front of you at the destination.
923 is better for sleeping, but the 777 is significantly noisier and you have a full day in Germany before the flight.

No clear winner. If 921 is also a 777 I would take 923.

Thai-Kiwi

Thanks. We will be driven entirely by award availability in 'I' business class for the dates concerned (with some flexibility around the dates we need), and to/from any European city served by THAI.

So now, just a nervous wait until around 3 Jan for the local THAI office to re-open to make bookings! My plan also assumes that we will get confirmation of the 50% Birthday Award being available in 2019 - otherwise a complete re-think of plans.

Mrs TK is not keen on split cabins if I use my GUP; even if we can get the FSM to agree for us to swap cabin seats (ie the Mrs sits in my J seat for 2/4 sectors, and me in her Y seats).

BinSabai

if J is the only option, I would certainly go for the nightflight (TG923) as it is more smooth for the sleep/awake cycle and causes less jet lag
not sure why the flight leaving early afternoon (TG921) is so much more popular, maybe people are more fascinated by the large aircraft A380 or many fancy a completely unlikely upgrade to F?

Creole Spirit

All afternoon flights to BKK and all midnight flights from BKK to Europe offer smooth connections to/from almost all destinations within theThai Airways network and, therefore, these flights are more demanded than the few/additional "back-up"-flights to/from FRA, LON and CPH

SK AAR

I believe this explanation is spot on. However, I would take TG923 any day given the much better opportunity to sleep onboard (rather than on TG921 or other awkward afternoon flights ex Europe). You arrive well rested into BKK and are able to check-in when you arrive at your hotel. I don't care if the aircraft is A380 or B773 - to me there is no notable difference. When you arrive BKK from Europe at 5-6AM it becomes a very looong first day in BKK (and often the hotels will not allow you check-in before 2-3PM). To me the selling point of TG923 is the much reduced jet-lag compared to the many afternoon flights ex Europe.

maerim

I would agree with Post 6. However it depends on various factors including whether travelling for business or pleasure, how much time you have, how much each individual suffers from jet lag and to what extent and what is important. For years I travelled between Bangkok (or Vietnam or other parts of SE Asia) and Frankfurt between 6 and 12 times a year and nearly always travelled on the flights that arrived in Frankfurt or Bangkok/SE Asia early in the morning to allow me to go directly to the office and or/home (occasionally). I spent 2 or 3 full days in Germany on more than half of the trips so time was important and this schedule maximized my time and suited me, but probably is not suitable for everyone.

Thai-Kiwi

Thanks all for your views.

Ultimately, it all depends on award availability! We are travelling on vacation, so we won't be too fussy on schedule.

We will almost certainly take 3-4 nights in Thailand on our way from New Zealand to Europe and return to allow for some partial time zone adjustments, and to call on family and friends.

BinSabai

just an Addition: the 920/921 are for some years already around 9-10 months a year on A380 and for the rest, usually during European summer season on 77w.
This is also for the other two destinations in Europe, LHR and CDG the case

vbroucek

This is interesting statement. Every time I took Asian stopover on a way back from Europe to Australia, my jet lag in Australia was worse than when I did the trip home as fast as possible... To add to this, I usually do not suffer any jet lag on the way to Europe, but can take me up to 5 days to get back to normal while back in Australia...

Thai-Kiwi

I have no problem, but Mrs TK is a poor air traveller. The time on the way home is very much about family and friends, and a chance for her to avoid the horror of 2 back-to-back long haul flights :-) So 'partial time zone adjustments' was probably not quite what I meant!

In my active flying days (as pilot), the rule of thumb for jet-lag was 'West is best, and East is least' - meaning that flying Easterly sectors has a greater jet lag impact than flying West - and the science into time-zone change impact on aircrew has shown this to be true.

vbroucek

I have to agree with you here... Every time I fly in the easterly way it is worst than westerly... Though, when I did SYD-JFK-stop-FRA it was not that bad... So I also think that the excitement of holidays and then the fact of going back to work and normal routine can contribute somehow... However, I have worked for nearly 20 years with medical researchers, including psychologists who were working on sleep patterns, circadian rhythm etc and yes, they too agree that easterly way is worse, although, I do not think there is real scientific evidence for that (or reasons of that)… Unlike your Mrs, mine prefers 2 back to back long hauls, so I do not have a problem of that kind