Bangkok – Sydney | B744 | Thai Airways Royal First
This is my last flight of my Round the World trip and I thought I’d add it in, just to see how it compares against the excellent Singapore Airlines and the over the top Emirates Airways. We spent five nights in Bangkok, one of our regular cities we visit and thoroughly enjoy, and were sad to be leaving. Our metered taxi arrives at the airport and we are dropped off very close to the dedicated First Class kerbside drop off. We are met with a porter who takes our bags onto his luggage trolley and we are off to the dedicated check-in lounge. It is a seated check in area, so we sit back, served a cold drink and chilled towels, whilst the check-in formalities are completed. Once done, our assistant leads us to the separate security line and we are through, and then immigration after that. It takes no more than ten minutes from kerbside to airside, where an awaiting motorised buggy will drive us to the First Lounge. Now, this entire process is exactly how it is supposed to be done, not like what happens over at Emirates where you work it out all on of your own.
The buggy ride takes about a minute two minutes and although gimmicky – is part of the service experience that Thai Airways offer – and we are straight into the lounge. I see a familiar face or two at the lounge desk and those familiar faces recognise me too and warmly welcomes me back, this being my 13[SUP]th[/SUP] Thai Airways Royal First flight in four years.
We are offered a private lounge area within the lounge which we usually accept. We order a drink, a light meal and make our reservation for the complimentary Spa and massage. There are endless choices of Thai meals to choose from the electronic menu that are presented off an iPad. There is also a buffet at the end of the lounge, as well as a seated dining area but I have rarely seen anybody dine there. Service is with a smile, efficient and staff is always hovering around to really take care of the guests.
An hour or so later, our massage appointments are ready and a host comes to find us and escorts us across the terminal to the Royal Spa. We have booked in for the Royal Touch treatment – which is an hour long, full body massage using oil. We are served another cold drink and cold towel as we wait for our therapists to find us. This is my spa therapy room for the next hour or so:-
After our hour long deluxe pampering, we are ready to take our flight. When boarding is ready, a host will come and find you and lead you to the plane – despite hearing stories how people have received a golf buggy transfer from the lounge to the gate that has never happened with us in all our visits. After the obligatory final bag check prior to the gate, we breeze through directly onto our awaiting plane. The entire host assistance beats Emirates hands down, and also Singapore Airlines – however at least Singapore Airline didn’t make any last minute rookie errors like what Emirates did.
It is a refurbished cabin today, so only nine seats, and only one pair of adjacent seats 3E/3F that we have reserved for our flight home. The crew are warm and inviting, we are served a glass of Dom Perignon 2004 at our seats and are given a set of pyjamas and the desirable Rimowa branded amenity case.
Flight time is usually 8hrs 30 minutes on this sector, despite always showing a scheduled 9hrs or so. Departure is on time and once airborne the crew work hard to get our meal service underway.
My dinner consists of Prawn Mousse wrapped over Lemongrass; Grilled U.S Scallops; Thai Chickecn Soup in Coconut Milk; Pork Neck in Prune Stew; and mix of Pandan Sticky Rice w Mango, Double Chocolate Mud Carke Tart and Jasmine Panna Cotta w Red Berries Compote
In all my flights with Thai, service is definitely a hit or miss. Some days they can be good, and then some days not so good – it reminds me of my past experiences with British Airways. This flight in particular, although the crew were friendly, dinner service was completely disjointed. Usually the meals are served in order, like how the menu is written. I was given the hot appetiser first, they skipped the caviar and served my first course of scallop. Whilst eating my scallop, they started to serve caviar. I skipped the caviar. Whilst enjoying my chicken soup – which I really like if you add a little bit of hot chilli into it – they wanted to see if I was ready for my main meal. My chosen meal – the pork neck is a designated Thai Airways speciality – but I didn’t really enjoy it for some reason. For dessert, I was not asked for a choice – so they gave me a sample of all three desserts. Fresh fruit and cheeses were served, as well as Port. It was a weird meal service, felt very rushed, and if it haven’t been setting my expectations quite low from the onset – I know I would have been quite disappointed. Maybe not as disappointed as when one time, they served my lobster thermidor to another passenger – and I received their fried rice.
The usual post meal, turn down service of my seat into a lay flat bed, which quite enjoyable for an overnight flight before landing back home in Sydney.
Next: A quick summation.
. We stayed at the Four seasons on Bora Bora in an overwater bungalow and just loved it. We actually went to Taha'a as well and liked that more - not as luxurious but more Polynesian. One thing we did was pick up a couple of bottles of French Champagne at duty free and drank that on the verandah of the room, rather than always paying crazy prices for alcohol.
