Thai First
 

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Very nice, I am looking forward to the continuation of your trip report!

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Amazing report.... :D

Can't wait to read about the flight itself!

I liked the "massage report" best.

It's a good thing HIDDY opted for a head and neck rub for his first massage, because the 70 minute full-body treatment might have been too overwhelming. Especially with the girls using elbows, knees and feet to probe every nook and cranny.

Looking forward to the TG F report next.

Thanks for the ^ .

The flight report will be added sometime today still a bit of tweaking to do on it. As long as I can stay away from the list of chores the wife has for me to do. :D

Ah yes the Thai lounge is a pleasant place to spend a few hours.

I am looking forward to the flight report.

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Pretty much sums up my on TG F longhaul experience. I would like to do it again some day soon.

BTW - who did the pastries vote into power? :p

The doughballs as usual. Tee-Hee.

Nice report ^

The Novotel BKK is a very nice hotel, with a very good gym as well.

Thanks for the report; Having only tried SQ F I might have to give TG a try after reading this.

Great report HIDDY ^

TG First looks truly excellent and certainly seems to put BA First in the shade (although I'm not too fond of TG's purple and yellow colour scheme ;)).

Were there many of the private rooms in what I presume is the TG First lounge in BKK? I guess the private rooms are just for F pax and not Star Golds?

Looking forward to the rest of the TRs :)

This is standard practice with Thai: Row 1-10 is F, 11-30 is C and from 31 and up is Y. Even if they don't have F on the plane they still start counting from 11.

To some it's weird. To others it make great sense. As long as you know it, it's no big deal.

You may well be disappointed.

TG is amazing on the ground, in Bangkok. They're quite good on the ground in Hong Kong and in a few other places.

In the air they are hugely inconsistent. Service ranges from mediocre to truly excellent, I've experienced both.

The seats are fine, not actually up to world standard. Very little privacy is afforded, and you need to ask for an extra blanket so as to use one as a mattress pad. Food is generally 'ok' for international F. Though they've brought back caviar IMHO it's a bit of a lower grade than I prefer.

All my worries/complaints about TG go out the window, however, when I consider the wonders of starting out a journey with the F spa. And being met in BKK (and HKG) on arrival with the golf cart. :)

SQ is just so much better and higher standard in the air. Ground services don't compare, of course.

There are several private rooms. Sometimes a few will have reserved signs on them, for royalty/government officials/military brass. Or the chance that such may come by. But I've never had a problem being given a private room. Do note, however, that the F lounge is explicitly not for Star Golds, the Royal Silk lounge is available for *Gs...

Great job Hiddy! ^:)

A fantastic report HIDDY. I found that it's the huge chasm between 1A and 1K in particular that makes the TG F cabin seem vast.

I really can't wait for the remaining trip reports? Any chance of a time estimate?

Perhaps Mrs HIDDY could agree to ease up on the chores for the greater good? ;)

Cheers Genius1 - Certainly nice to try a different F product. I liked the colour scheme, you should see the pyjamas. :D
I'm not as observant as you but I guess there aren't that many rooms as they are quite big. A couple had doors on and as gleff pointed out are for VIPs.

It is indeed. ^

Never flown SQ so I would like to do the reverse. Give TG a try, you may be surprised.

Thanks for the info. ^

Well it's all down to individual opinion isn't it. Certainly I found TG far superior to BA, some may not. I like the open feel of the cabin others might prefer being cocooned and hidden from view. Food was above average as was the service. I found the seat as comfortable as BAs F. Another flight another day my opinion may be different.

Thanks Petrus. ^

I agree the cupboards in BA F take up a lot of space as do of course the four extra seats.
Next report is nearly done - the Qantas one. I'll try and keep the wife sweet but I have to play golf tomorrow. :p

Super TR thanks for posting.

I sure ain't Ryanair.

Cheers Larry.

Fantastic!
 

What a great trip report!

Great report HIDDY... I'm going to have to get round to redeeming some miles at some point to try out this first class malarky ;)

Even Mrs HIDDY was smiling - you've must have done something right at least ;)

Great report! Makes me even more excited about my HKG-BKK-MUC flight in TG F next month.

Very nice TR. Liked the picture of the wavy ceiling in HKG. I fly TG in F reasonably often and like the overall experience very much.

Regarding the Novotel Suvarnabhumi: Where did you find the GBP 38 rate?! I've never seen it that cheap.

Not quite. :D

^

About time too although I don't find economy all that bad you know. As for Mrs HIDDY smiling - I'll have that picture framed and put up on the wall. :p

Lucky devil - let us know how you get on.

Hi ylwae - You're not the only one to ask that question. When I was booking the night stopover I saw the rate was about £98 so got something cheaper in town instead. A few days later Accor were having a Asia and Pacific sale so I cancelled my booking and booked the Novotel instead. They had another sale a few weeks ago so keep looking if you can hold off. The occupancy rates seem to be low, it was very quiet when we were there last month.

What a great report! I love looking at the pictures and reading about the Thai service, especially in the lounges. It sounds like they really know how to take care of their first-class customers.

I really enjoyed your report.

Many thanks for sharing.

.....

Well done and thanks for the tip!

Looking forward to more reports.

Fabulous report, HIDDY. An incredibly enjoyable read. ^ ^ ^

Now, regarding the incident with the pax in 2K and the fallen blanket, well what can I say, <<cough>> what a prize nob <<cough>>. I shared your distress. ;)

Thanks for a great TR, HIDDY
Looks like a great F experience, and very good to get a glimpse of the world outside OneWorld (as well as a glimpse of the HIDDYs)!

Great report, thanks. Consistent with my LHR-BKK-SIN return last month: fantastic ground services (much better than SQ@SIN) and fantastic food in the lounge and in the air.

BC

Actually, there are six private "living rooms" in the TG F lounge.

A great trip report with photos of *gasp* real people involved with the trip! Of course some people are careful about their privacy, but seeing faces makes this more personal. ^

I agree, and for that reason it's something I've thought about doing in my trip reports but I do value my privacy and anonymity, so my trip reports will continue to be a bit impersonal, with all the personality provided in the form of prose. ;)

A thoroughly enjoyable read. Many thanks for sharing ^

Felt like a King I did. ^

Pleasure is all mine.

Not sure I'd have survived a full body one. :D

That's what worries me - perhaps I should have saved the best till last. :D

To be fair to the old dandy - although I did think similar to you at the time he was actually quite a character. The crew seemed to like him very much and I overheard him praising the crew to their superior in the morning. I think he was a regular on the route.
BTW It did cross my mind to "accidentally drop my blanket" on to the floor whilst "sleeping" just to see if the FA would pick it up and cover me in the passing. :D

Thanks - yes I think it's a good idea to experiment with different airlines and compare now and again.

Good to know you thought the same. ^

Funnily enough the number six did come into my mind but it was only a guess. As a seasoned TG traveller macabus - do you tip the Spa staff? I felt a bit of a stingy not giving them any tip as we had spent all the Thai money on the departure tax. :o

Well if only to dispel the rumours put about by PUCCI GALORE that I'm about 70 it was worth including my face even though it is hell of an ugly. :D

You carry on doing what you want Genius1 - even with pics of yourself included in your reports I'll still avoid reading them. :p

Thanks TEX277 - Thanks for your help regarding the Hong Kong side of the trip. ^

Very nice TR ^

I enjoyed the lounge when travelling in First with LH but not the SPA reserved to TG's passengers.

I'm clearly not macabus, but I do tip the spa staff. I wouldn't worry about not tipping them, though--I think it's welcome but not expected.