skyrider007

TG916 - 30 Oct 06 - 13:50 - Suvarnabhumi C2 > Suvarnabhumi C2
TG916D - 31 Oct 06 - 08:00 - Suvarnabhumi C7 > Heathrow T.3
J Class - 16A - Upperdeck - B747-400 (744)

Click HERE for comprehensive review with photos on HFLIGHT.net

3 hours out of Bangkok, flying above New Delhi - the captain announced that the aircraft has to be returned to Bangkok due to one of the four engines is experiencing an oil leakage. I was relatively surprised to hear that, thought the plane was still flying 'smoothly'. 2 meals were served on board with no affect to inflight entertainment at all.

Arrival at Bangkok (8.50PM) was a chaos. The ground staff did not know what to do and where to take the passengers to. There were no priority service for premium class passengers, everyone were scattered in a big pile of 400 people. After about 30 minutes of negotiation with the immigration officer, ONE LANE of passport control was opened to process 400+ passports. All passports were retained by the immigration bereau (security reasons?).

In the arrival hall, ALL passengers (regardless of travelling class) were directed to 4 waiting coaches. We were transported to AMARI Watergate Hotel (should have been the Novotel Airport Hotel), which I find quite far away from the airport (45 minutes drive). Arrival at the hotel (10:30PM) was also a mess. The check-in que extended to the entrance of the hotel. The hotel room was adequate, late snacks/room service must be paid by passengers and couldnt be charged to Thai Airways.

By the time I've settled in, it was already midnight. I ordered a PHAD THAI from the room service which costed me 350 baht. Tasted pretty good for a meal cooked at midnight tho. Anyway, I received wake up calls at 4AM and went to the complimentary buffet breakfast. I find the breakfast pretty good with loads of choices and nice service.

At 5AM (31st OCT), I boarded a coach at the hotel which took me directly to Suvarnabhumi. The coach parked at Entrance 7 (5:45AM), which is quite far away from Thai Airways zones (esp. premium classes at Entrance 1). We left the coach to find NO TG staff in sight. So everyone just headed to the check-in counter with no passport and used tickets.

I went to the Royal Silk check-in and the lady there tried to help me. She phoned up someone and told me that the guy who's in charge of keeping the retained passports from last night has not arrived for work yet. So I had to wait in the Royal Silk waiting lounge (Zone C) until 6:30AM). Finally at about 6:45AM) the guy showed up and we started queing at immigration desk near zone M.

The flight was re-scheduled to depart at 08:00AM. Boarding, however, did not start until 08:10AM due to "ground handling" problems. Once on board, the delay was further extended due to 10 passengers not showing up so they had to take their bags off the plane. I received an aplogy letter from the TG Airport station manager.

Overall, it was quite a horrendous experience flying with TG this time. I met the same upper-deck crew on board (they were exceptionally friendly & nice!), and they did seem to be as worn out as the passengers.

I'm not angry with THAI by any means, tho some Brits with thai wives were moaning and moaning (really annoyed me). However, I expect a better back-up plan for TG when the passenger arrives from the affected flight. Ground handlings must be improved.

No compensation were given.

kinchai

- Why didn't you switch to TG910 when you got back to Suvarnabhumi?
- All C-cabin was full on TG910?
- I would have asked for F upgrade (Happened to me with GF before from BKK to BAH in C ^ )
- Time was not an issue for you?
- Needed a few hrs of good sleep on a hotel bed?

Better luck next time.

skyrider007

- TG910 on 30OCT had 15 seats left (all taken by downstairs F and C passengers withint seconds of arrival in BKK)
- I SHOULD HAVE ASKED FOR AN UPGRADE!!! F was practically empty with 2 passengers!!!
- OLD Boarding pass was used, so everybody had the same seat
- Time? I missed a day of school.
- The hotel? They kind of forced everyone to stay there coz our passports were retained and I guess they don't want people to leave secured premises bla bla bla (i hv no idea)

I was quite pleased to see the same crew on the 2nd flight tho. They're extrmely nice and helpful.

globetrekker84

I gotta ask: is that standard protocol for the immigration officers to take your passports from you? I'd be freaking out if that happened. What would happen if he/she "lost" it? Imagine the nightmare of that.

Thailandflyer

Hi Sky... sorry to hear about your flight problems....

I do fly Thaiairways quite often.. But... you have to remember that in thailand.. the departure and arrival times posted are more of a Suggestion and not neccesarily Exact... and if something out of the ordinary happens... Wholly crap... no one knows what to do.... well except the one person who cannot be found...

I am not picking on TG... I love the Thai style services on board... and it is hard to remain upset about flights cancellations and such... when the thai standing in front of you is genuinely concerned and quite apologetic... and still finds the ability to Smile at you .... I always find the ability to smile back...

One thing I have learned is when in Thailand ... do not be so Western ... so rigid ...so pushy... so ... Western...

I have been stuck in Udon Thani... heavy rain... I was once left at Krabi for two extra days because TG would not send an empty plane to Krabi to pick us up...

Last time I was in Udon Thani... Sept 2006, I was in the airport saying my good byes about 7 pm ...flight leaves at 7:40pm... then leaves at 8pm ... 830 pm ... we left Udon Thani at 945pm ... one hour after I was to be in BKK...

I guess my point is this... even though I love TG ... I only fly with them in country (thailand)... where things are less..... formal...

Hope you have better flights ahead...... see ya in Bangkok...

skyrider007

Check out my comprehensive flight review (in English) at www.hflight.net

SAT Lawyer

Should have flown BA instead. They would never allow a trivial little problem like a single engine failure on a 747 prevent the flight from continuing merrily along its way to its final destination.

globetrekker84

...but they never made it to Heathrow. Had to divert to Manchester.

This does make me wonder what the threshold is for them to continue on or go back. Makes sense they went back to BKK at the 3 hour point, seeing that their options had they gone forward was either Iran, Afghanistan, or any of the other -stans.

Blackcloud

They landed at Manchester because of the three engined flight meant they used more fuel than they could have with 4 engines. Sounds strange but they could not get the height for the favourable winds and the remaining engine were above optimum throttle settings to compensate for the loss of the 4th engine.

Paella747

Classic!

AAK

Had a 'not-so' similar experience with Qantas ex FRA. Plane had to return to FRA. I was in J and all J and a good number of economy passengers were bussed to a hotel which was perfectly OK. A few days after arrival in SYD, I received a letter from Qantas explaining that the J passengers were supposed to have been taken to a different hotel and enclosing a A$400.00 Qantas travel voucher. Hotel arrival drinks, snacks ( 2.00am) and phone calls to a a specified generous maximum were complimentary.

kinchai

Skyrider007 is definitely right, you are flying to an EU country and therefore will also be protected under the EU law. You may want to contact London TG office asps and get some money back if you have not done so.

Enjoy!

skyrider007

so far i havent written or complaint or asked for compensation, should i do this?

jhm

This old chestnut again! It's been discussed to death on this board in other threads, e.g.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=404323

The CAA investigated and concluded BA did nothing wrong in carrying on with 3 engines.

Olip

What I don't understand:

What sense does it make to go all the way back to BKK instead of going down in DEL or BOM? Isn't there anybody who is able to fix a oil leaking B744 engine?

Or, instead of flying 3 hours back to BKK they could fly 3 hours enroute to, let's say DXB. They should be able to fix the problem as well and TG would have saved 6 hours of unnecessary flying.

I would claim the additional Miles from BKK - DEL - BKK...