Have you flown UA/ANA to Bangkok?

Old Jan 4, 2015, 4:30 pm
  #61  
 
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Originally Posted by Asiatraveler15
If you read the thread you would see my suggestion to go through Hong Kong, not NRT.
If you did some research the W fare on UA is about 1400 RT from lax to HK.

Only 3 hours of knee crush instead of 7, HK to BKK.

Also, if you knew about the route you can get an Emirates air Bus class seat for about $550 RT, HK BKK.

So for less than $2000, you are in bus. class the entire trip. That is if you qualify for global upgrades.

If you think CX prem econ. for over 2k is worth it, then go for it.
You and Kacee are in agreement. He has many times previously recommended a UA W-fare to HKG and then switching to CX/TG/EK for the 2 1/2 to 3 hour flight to BKK instead of a NRT UA/NH routing.

PG works well to USM. I have been using them to get to USM direct from HKG.
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Old Jan 4, 2015, 5:01 pm
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Originally Posted by zombietooth
PG works well to USM. I have been using them to get to USM direct from HKG.
This is another option. PG does fly direct to USM, but this will require overnighting in HKG.
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Old Jan 4, 2015, 11:20 pm
  #63  
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Originally Posted by UA-NYC
NH is putting 787s w their flatbeds on the route this year though, right?
NH is not going to put in the int'l long haul 787 with flatbed for intra-asia, but they will start converting those regional 787 that with Business Cradle seats into Business Staggered, those regional 787 that has 2-4-2 in Y will start reconfig first (which will become standard 3-3-3 once it is done)

However, NH did not specify which intra-asia route will get the reconfig 787. And if the Y loads are sufficient, NH may just continue to use the intra-Asian 772 instead, given the intra-asia 772 has 271 seats in Y and intra-asia 787 only has 198 seats, that is almost a 100 seats difference.

Last edited by ORDnHKG; Jan 4, 2015 at 11:31 pm
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Old Jan 5, 2015, 3:12 am
  #64  
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I just did some checking on a random date for SFO-BKK. UA gave me W class to HND and then onwards to BKK on the NH 787 for $1691 Round Trip. Eva Air has their Evergreen Deluxe class available for $1849 all the way through SFO-TPE-BKK. Cathay is available in Premium Economy for $2150 all the way SFO-HKG-BKK (all in PE even HKG-BKK).

There is no valid comparison between UA E+ and these real premium economy products. Real premium economy products are comparable to UA domestic first class.

If you're willing to risk it, you can even fly Philippine Airlines for $3000 in business class the whole way, although I'd take a pass on this.
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Old Jan 5, 2015, 5:42 am
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Originally Posted by Asiatraveler15
If you read the thread you would see my suggestion to go through Hong Kong, not NRT.
If you did some research the W fare on UA is about 1400 RT from lax to HK.

Only 3 hours of knee crush instead of 7, HK to BKK.

Also, if you knew about the route you can get an Emirates air Bus class seat for about $550 RT, HK BKK.

So for less than $2000, you are in bus. class the entire trip. That is if you qualify for global upgrades.

If you think CX prem econ. for over 2k is worth it, then go for it.
Your suggestion appears to be the best one!

I will check out Emirates and hope to find that Bus Class seat for $550 RT HKG-BKK.
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Old Jan 5, 2015, 5:53 am
  #66  
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Originally Posted by ORDnHKG
However, NH did not specify which intra-asia route will get the reconfig 787. And if the Y loads are sufficient, NH may just continue to use the intra-Asian 772 instead, given the intra-asia 772 has 271 seats in Y and intra-asia 787 only has 198 seats, that is almost a 100 seats difference.
Can't remember where I saw it, but there was an article (maybe Global Traveler Mag?) where it said NH was putting the reconfig 787 on NRT-BKK.
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Old Jan 5, 2015, 6:51 am
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Originally Posted by UA-NYC
Can't remember where I saw it, but there was an article (maybe Global Traveler Mag?) where it said NH was putting the reconfig 787 on NRT-BKK.
I was checking reward flights for Q4 and a NH 787 NRT-BKK is indeed on the schedule. It is a convenient connection in both directions for NH JFK-NRT.


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Old Jan 5, 2015, 8:51 am
  #68  
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Originally Posted by Asiatraveler15
If you read the thread you would see my suggestion to go through Hong Kong, not NRT.
If you did some research the W fare on UA is about 1400 RT from lax to HK.

Only 3 hours of knee crush instead of 7, HK to BKK.

Also, if you knew about the route you can get an Emirates air Bus class seat for about $550 RT, HK BKK.

So for less than $2000, you are in bus. class the entire trip. That is if you qualify for global upgrades.

If you think CX prem econ. for over 2k is worth it, then go for it.
I have taken a look at this option, but the timing doesn't work out for the return...unless I am missing something.

For the trip to BKK, I can connect to the Emirates flight with just under 2 hours of connection time. Risky. The fare rules for the ~$500 business class fare do not appear to permit free changes and doesn't appear to be fully refundable. (Note: I am a novice at reading fare rules so would love to be corrected if I am in error). The one-way fare is also ~$500.

For the trip back to the USA, the Emirates flight doesn't arrive in HKG until 1730 hours. The UA flights (EWR,ORD) both depart HKG by 1200.
Are you assuming a night of layover in HKG when trying this?

Considering everything, this does not seem to be a very realistic option...at least for me.
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Old Jan 5, 2015, 9:03 am
  #69  
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Originally Posted by Asiatraveler15
If you did some research the W fare on UA is about 1400 RT from lax to HK.
Actually, I'm flying a $1313 W fare SFO-HKG at the end of Jan.

The problem is that UA will only sell that through-fare to BKK with a CX Y, so the fare jumps all the way to $2468 if you want to do it on a single ticket. Which kind of forces separate tickets, and that raises a whole different set of issues (discussed upthread).

Sorry you seem to be so confused about the point of this thread
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Old Jan 5, 2015, 7:38 pm
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Originally Posted by Kacee
Actually, I'm flying a $1313 W fare SFO-HKG at the end of Jan.

The problem is that UA will only sell that through-fare to BKK with a CX Y, so the fare jumps all the way to $2468 if you want to do it on a single ticket. Which kind of forces separate tickets, and that raises a whole different set of issues (discussed upthread).

Sorry you seem to be so confused about the point of this thread
OK. You seem to be the expert and have it all figured out.

Good luck with your flight!
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Old Jan 5, 2015, 10:54 pm
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Originally Posted by Asiatraveler15
OK. You seem to be the expert and have it all figured out.

Good luck with your flight!
He is one of the fee here that has it all figured out.
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Old Jan 5, 2015, 11:00 pm
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First everyone whines about how bad UA is. Avoid US airlines. Asian airlines are the best. NH is a five star airline.

Now everyone laments the loss of the UA 747 that they still trash in countless other threads, and NH is a airline to be avoided

I'll never understand flyertalk logic
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Old Jan 5, 2015, 11:43 pm
  #73  
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Originally Posted by travelinmanS
I just did some checking on a random date for SFO-BKK. UA gave me W class to HND and then onwards to BKK on the NH 787 for $1691 Round Trip. Eva Air has their Evergreen Deluxe class available for $1849 all the way through SFO-TPE-BKK. Cathay is available in Premium Economy for $2150 all the way SFO-HKG-BKK (all in PE even HKG-BKK).

There is no valid comparison between UA E+ and these real premium economy products. Real premium economy products are comparable to UA domestic first class.

If you're willing to risk it, you can even fly Philippine Airlines for $3000 in business class the whole way, although I'd take a pass on this.
BR is the only one that offer a true premium economy product even for intra-asia flights. For CX, however, when it is premium economy for intra-asia flights, you only get the seat, no upgraded meal and no extra amenities, it is just a better E+ seat ! (no legrest except the first row)

Also even with CX's long haul premium economy, other than the seat itself, basically you are getting what Y used to have, like ice-cream and amenity kit, metal cutlery, etc. So it is basically CX downgraded its own Y product and put it in premium economy instead, nothing really upgraded except the seat. It is far from even UA domestic F !

If you talk about "real" premium economy products, I would say only BR and NZ can classify as one, when TK got the best premium economy.

Last edited by ORDnHKG; Jan 6, 2015 at 12:05 am
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Old Jan 6, 2015, 12:46 pm
  #74  
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we're getting off topic

Originally Posted by Kacee
No idea, but it will still suck in Y unless you're able to score an exit row.

If one is willing to pay for J, there are lots of good options to BKK. The problem that gives rise to this endless discussion is trying to use a GPU TPAC on a single UA ticket without getting stuck in Y on NH for 7 hours.

While there are lots of theoretical connection points to various Asian carriers (TPE, ICN, etc.), the reality is that UA is funneling this business to NH via NRT with its through-fare pricing of the W. If you want to pay less than $2K, that's basically the only option.
thank you for trying to bring discussion back to my original question/issue - my wife and I are both 5'10" and "normal" weight. Which certainly sounds like a "knee crusher" experience back of the bus on NH.
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Old Jan 6, 2015, 1:11 pm
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Originally Posted by BB2220
First everyone whines about how bad UA is. Avoid US airlines. Asian airlines are the best. NH is a five star airline.

Now everyone laments the loss of the UA 747 that they still trash in countless other threads, and NH is a airline to be avoided

I'll never understand flyertalk logic
I completely agree with this.

I have never had a bad experience in NH economy. In fact, economy seats on one configuration of the 787 the pitch is 33-34 inches which is essentially Y+. (Not flown on intra-Asian routes but worth mentioning.) Yes, the other configs are comparable to Y-, but if I'm getting the far better service of ANA I can get over that. (I'm 5'11" by the way)

And someone earlier mentioned how the food isn't good, which surprised me since I've always thought it very satisfying.
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