Award Travel from CHS (Charleston, SC) to BKK Options?
 

Looking to take a trip to Thailand in August on the following flights:

UA5688 CRJ200 from CHS to IAD
UA932 772ER from IAD to FRA
TG923 744 from FRA to BKK

TG970 A346 from BKK to ZRH
UA979 763 from ZRH to EWR
CO4532 ERJ145 from EWR to CHS

Cost isn't to much of a factor, but is it worth it to do the trip in first or is business going be just basically the same, and are the planes first and business decent on these flights I have above, any input is appreciated.

TG F has fully flat seats & look comfortable. I've seen them many times but never booked one. Their C seats are inclined almost flat & just make me insane for any flight where I want to recline to sleep. Same seats on 744/346 UNLESS you get a last minute substitution with a 744 with their old seats. They are abysmal. I think TG is tries never to do a substitution on FRA-BKK, but with TG one never knows.

If cost isn't a factor, go with F. TG will have Dom & maybe caviar.

I would avoid UA on the TATL, if you can find LH/LX F at least you can use their First class lounge while transiting in Europe. On board service is on a different level to UA.

If you're doing paid C and don't have a requirement to go via FRA, you can go UA the whole way if you go IAD-NRT-BKK or with a stop in ORD or the west coast somewhere. I wouldn't want to fly that route in Y, particularly via ORD.

That time of year, via ORD you get lie-flat C on the UA 744, but NRT-BKK is on a 777 (likely to be new-config with lie-flat C by August--that route seems fairly often to be new C even now--but could be barcalounger C, too).

The flights are on reward miles, I have 130 and first class is 70 each way and 60 for business, I am trying to decide if its worth the extra $300 to buy the last 10,000 miles or just settle for business, I would love to fly LH, but its not showing up on any of the flight options.

Award Ticket
 

On an award ticket I'd return in F and arrive at BKK early so as to enjoy the lounge experience and the spa massage.

The United experience in C is good but almost entirely due to their hard product, lie flat seats with excellent video entertainment. I figure F on UA is just marginally better. Food is generally disappointing with service being average but pleasant enough.

I am seeing Fare Class O - International First Class Award as my only option

You might consider CHS-ORD-HKG-BKK; there's an 8:45pm flight from HKG-BKK - that way a biz award will get you lie flat to HKG and then it is just 2 hours to BKK.

There's also a connection via PVG that works CHS-ORD-PVG-BKK - I'd do an F award on that, though, since ORD-PVG is a 772.

If you want to go via Europe, you might consider LHR or another gateway for TG - I've seen better availability on the LHR flight than the FRA flight.

I've also connected in DXB to TG, which worked well also. CHS-IAD-DXB-BKK.

To answer your question specifically, I'd choose TG F over TG C for a long haul on the 747. Their F seats are really nice and I don't prefer the angled biz seats for really long flights - they're just fine for regional flights. There's less of a reason to do that on UA.

I was just on TG F from BKK earlier this month. Absolutely wonderful. You check-in sitting in a chair, you have a separate immigration/security line, they bring you to their first class lounge on a cart and drive right in, they took me to a private living room type area, they offer free massages and you can order off a full menu, and then they walk you right to your seat on the plane a few minutes before take-off.

So, in other words, I thought F on TG was absolutely the way to go!

With TG F you might (just maybe) have a shot at the new retrofitted 744s that will have suite-style seats (in order to align with the F product coming on their A388s).

Also, TG is prone to equipment swaps. Ex-FRA, this might benefit you in that there's a good possibility you'd end up on a 773 leased from Jet Airways which also features F suites.

As a general product, TG F is far superior to UA. Slightly less in terms of IFE and privacy, but incredible service, food and amenities. TG F lounge and spa in BKK is unbeatable, IMO.

PMFJI, but we must be looking at different charts. I'm looking at going from OKC to BKK the opposite way (i.e., trans-pacific) in August or later and I'm being shown 300,000 miles round trip in business, about double what it cost me in November, 2009.

What am I missing / where should I be looking?

Thanks,

--Bob

I'd stay away from UA as much as possible, long haul C/F service can be spotty.

(sl)EasyPass/Standard, which is almost always available is 300k. SaverPass/Saver, when you can find it, is 120k.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Obviously, my next question is how do I find the SaverPass/Saver? I can't seem to find a way to specify that is what I am looking for.

--Bob

Bob. . the 60K/70K biz/first numbers cited are on continental.com. You can readily find wide availability for biz & first award flights to BKK at these prices. Hope the OP is able to fly TG F out of BKK. . . quite an experience!