LAX-BKK itinerary help
 

Hi all.

I'm flying LAX-BKK in April '08 for my honeymoon. I would prefer to fly Thai Air because of the non-stop option.

I have several questions:
1. It seems to be the consensus on the board that business class isn't worth the price difference over premium economy. Seats in business go flat, i believe. How are the seats in economy plus?


2. Per united's international mileage plus agent, I can't book economy +. Instead, I have to book an economy ticket, and upgrades to economy Plus are based on status. I find this hard to believe. Is the agent right?

3. Given this is our honeymoon, I'm hoping for a free upgrade (although I understand this is very unlikely). Therefore, I'm hesitant to book through a website other than Thai (or United), even if its significantly cheaper. That is, I've seen economy tickets on sidestep.com at a few hundred dollars less than it is on Thai's website. Would booking through someone else adversely affect my chances of an upgrade? Or to economy plus, if the agent is right and it's based on upgrades?

4. The same united agent said I can use United miles to upgrade one class (in this case, economy to business (because there's no 1st on LAX-BKK). He quoted me the following mileage rates:

H, M class: 30K miles, per person, one way
B, Y class: 15K

So I then asked about sample fares. He used an economy flight, through NRT, as an example:
H: $1,509
M: $2,339
B: $2,8282
Y: $3,000+

So now I'm confused. In practical terms, what's the difference between H and M class, except the price? I'm somewhat reluctant to accept the agent's word, as I've experienced in the past that by speaking with different agents, one can get different answers (although my experience has typically been with AA and trying to get on Alaska flights).

5. Finally, I've seen recent news about Thai not using other Star Alliance miles. How does this news affect my planning?

Sorry this is so long. Thanks in advance for your help.

Josh

1. There's very significant difference between business and premium economy, even on Thai. Whether it's worth the price difference, only you can decide.

2. You cannot book UA's E+. What the agent said is correct about UA's product. You can definitely buy a Thai PE seat outright.

3. Buy a PE seat outright directly through Thai, unless some other agents offer them cheaper.

4. H, M, B, Y are fare classes. They are all the same coach seats. They have different restriction, refund/cancellation/upgrade policies.

5. Most airlines won't take other FF program miles for upgrade. Don't know the specific, but in genenral, you can't buy a Thai ticket and then use UA miles to upgrade.

---

Anyways, I'm not a TG or UA expert, so those are only general answers. Others more familiar with the process and fill in the details.

Through one means or another, you've got some wrong information about several things.

Thai business class: These are angled-flat seats. Not as good as horizontal flat seats, but better than anything United has or is likely to have in April 08.

Premium economy and economy plus: Premium economy is Thai's product that's between business and economy. The seats are wider than regular economy, you get a lot more leg room, you get more recline, and I believe that you also get a foot rest. Economy plus is United's product. You get more leg room than United's regular economy, but no additional width, recline, or leg rests. Also, the leg room in United's Economy Plus is no better than regular economy on the Thai LAX-BKK flight.

To get Thai's premium economy, you have to specifically buy a ticket for it. To get United's Economy Plus, you must be an elite member of UA's frequent flyer program, or you can purchase a 1-year subscription to Economy Plus seating.

You cannot use United miles to upgrade a Thai flight. You can use United miles to upgrade a United flight (econ to business). Keep in mind, though, that United's business class is really, really poor compared to Thai's, at least until UA's new business class gets installed.

I fly the L.A.-Bangkok, non-stop route on Thai Air usually twice a year for vacation. I've been in both regular economy and premium economy. I'm fine with regular economy although it was REALLY nice being in economy premier. I personally wouldn't pay extra for business class. I'd rather use that money for when I get to Thailand.

I upgraded from economy to premium economy at LAX airport on the day of my departure since they were having an upgrade sale and for $198. each way. They throw these sales from time to time, but you never know until you get to the airport. I take my chances. I buy an inexpensive economy ticket and then hope for the sale.

If I were you, I'd just go ahead and buy a ticket, in Premium Economy, on the Thai Air flight...10:30PM departure and arrival into Bangkok at 6:40AM two days later. The Premium Economy tickets can sell out fast. I've experienced that before. I don't know if April is a busy month or not since it's so hot in Thailand then. I have been in Thailand the last week of March and the airfares to that part of the world were a good price during that time of the year. Happy Travels!

The seats in Thai premium economy are more similar to those in Thai regular economy than to those in Thai business. The pricing reflects this - premium economy seats can be had for only a few hundred dollars over the price of regular economy while for business class the difference is in the thousands. If you can find a way to finagle the business class seats, do it. As the others have said, with United miles you can not upgrade from economy. However you can purchase seats outright with miles. If you are short, you can purchase up to 60,000 additional miles on the United web site for far less than the cost of a business class seat. There is a promotion right now where if you purchase miles by the end of October you can receive a 10% bonus in miles.

I would avoid flying United for the reasons given above and because even in business class you will be treated as a second class citizen since you do not have status - this means last choice on meals etc. I haven't flown United international business class for 2-1/2 years and even back then the business class cabin was "tired". The seats are totally inferior to those on Thai even though the Thai business class seats do not lie completely horizontal. United economy plus can be purchased for a year and I have done this for domestic flights - however as stated above Thai offers the same leg room in economy.

I forgot to add that I buy my ticket directly through Thai Air. The office is right there on Sepulveda (222 North) on the southeast corner of Grand and Sepulveda...about 15 minutes south of LAX....800.426.5204 or 310.332.8728.

I don't buy my tickets through an agent. I've experienced over many years that Thai Air prices are pretty predictable. Either I call Thai Air and have them hold the ticket and then drive down and pick it up or I just drive down to the office and buy a ticket without calling first. For years I've paid around the same price and that's for my high season December ticket. But again I will say that the lower fare tickets can go VERY fast.

If you want to go with an agent, then you can try Star Tours/Star Travel...323.671.2288. It's at 5112 Hollywood Blvd at Normandy on the south side of the street and upstairs in the HYE mini mall. This is a Thai agency that the majority of my Thai friends and others have used over MANY years. It's been a well-kept secret for a long time.

However, over the past about 3 years, the super low fares haven't been as easy to find as they used to be. It used to be cheap to fly from LAX to Southeast Asia. I remember a friend and I once paying $700. total from LAX to Singapore (RT) and on United in the month of April.

You can also try USA Gateway...213.383.6360 and Econo Travel...323.671.2288. These are also agencies that Thai friends use regularly. Hope this has helped. I would not depend on getting an upgrade. That's very iffy. I would just outright buy the Premium Economy tickets and be finished with it. Happy Travels!

Hi
Do you have enough UA miles to get two business class tickets? If so, do that.
Here's my experience-I bought a Thai Economy class ticket for December for about $1100 (LAX-BKK). If I'd opted for PE at the time it would have only been $386 more.
My mother, who will be on the same flight in Business (using her UA miles) offered to upgrade me to PE. When I called Thai, they said I'd have to wait until I get to the airport to see if any PE seats were available (see Guen's post above).
Then our travel agent got an offer to be able to do the upgrades for $199 each way, so we took that. But he had to re-issue the tickets from electronic to paper and there was a fee for that too!
So, lesson learned; buy the right ticket first, or use miles for Business!
Also, trael agent who used to work for Thai said free upgrades on the spot are very, very rare so I would not count on that just because you will be on your honeymoon.

Josh, if you can afford the PE seats I say go with it. Comfort is very important to me & the wife. We'll be in BKK 04/14 - 04/24. Maybe we can buy you a drink! Last Christmas we flew business on Korean Air and it was great. This year we're using miles and flying first on BA. BKK's a great city and we're following Guenmia's advice and staying at the Emporium Suites.

Be very cautious about accumulating United miles in the expectation that you'll get a pair of business seats on the Thai flight.

Although Thai does make available a reasonable number of award seats to its Star Alliance partners, United often withholds offering those seats to Mileage Plus members (even though Thai makes them available to United). I have gotten business-class award seats on Thai through United, and I've also been denied seats through United even though Thai makes them available.

One thing you can do to make your economy seating a little better for you is to choose your seats ahead of time. If you have an elite frequent flier card you can often do this ahead of time by telephone. When you wait until the last minute at the airport you may get stuck with seats everyone else rejected. At the very least get to the airport early and see what is available and not just accept any old seat they give you unless you have to.

I avoid seats that are the last in a row for two reasons. If there is a wall (bulkhead) behind you the seats MAY NOT recline fully. If there is no wall behind you sometimes other passengers lean on your seatback while they are stretching out or loitering in that space behind your seat.

I don't pick seats with emergency doors or windows behind me because often those seats DO NOT recline as much as the other seats! Seat backs that could fully recline may block egress in an emergency. Often they are locked with little recline. (Always exceptions.)

I don't like walls in front of me, I like seeing down the aisle a bit. A seat with a wall in front of you or a seat in front of the big emergency doors usually has a tray that pulls out of the arm rest. The space for that pull-out tray takes away about an inch of seat width - if you have a big butt you will be more cramped. Seats with bulkheads in front of you or no seats in front of you don't have under seat storage - no seat in front of you! Often the seats immediately in front of the big walk-in hatch go to elite card holders. Good for leg room and skinny butts!

I like aisle seats because I get up often during long flights to stretch my legs or use the toilet. (A seat near the toilet, besides the smell, will have a light on - light off - door slam pretty often to disturb your sleep.)

Bring a sleep mask, some sort of neck pillow, ear plugs and anything to make your ride more comfortable. On long flights, when I get to my seat I immediately take all of the magazines and other crap out of the pocket in front of me and put it in the overhead storage bin. I do keep the barf bag and emergency info card though. Taking this junk out gives you a place for your stuff and possibly almost another inch of knee room.

I bring several paperback novels with me, when I am finished with them I give them away. I read, get sleepy, sleep for a while, wake up and read some more. Repeat as necessary! Having an empty seat next to you is a distinct advantage because you can put all of your junk on that seat and stretch your legs a little wider.

Having an elite card allows you to board first when all of the overhead bins are still available. Sign up for the frequent flier program or add the miles to your present Star Alliance affiliate card - U.S. to Asia is a lot of miles!

Pulley...Have you already made your arrangements at Emporium Suites? I left some info on your Emporium Suites thread on whom to contact. Did you get the info? Happy Travels!

I have been able to purchase business class seats on Thai with miles through United for February trips in 2006, 2007 and 2008 with no problem. But, I did purchase them 10 or 11 months in advance.

Kristina...When in December are you going to be there? I'll be there in mid-Dec/Jan. Maybe we could hook up for a bite. Happy Travels!

Ah Guenmai, I think it's not meant to be. :-(
We'll be there (and in Cambodia) the fist week of Dec only. I come home on the 9th.
BTW, I've found the Star Tours agency in Hollywood less than helpful the last couple of times I've needed to book tickets. They just don't seem to get the deals anymore.

Hey guys...was it just me, or did I remember someone a ways back using their miles on Thai Air but by booking through Air Canada?

Just a thought to throw into the mix--I searched for the old post, but couldn't find it. Maybe someone remembers?

Kristina...It's too bad we'll miss each other by about a week. Anyhow, as for Star Tours/Star Travel...it's too bad they don't get the REAL deals anymore. I have friends who've sworn by them for years. Friends were flying round trip to BKK for around $650. It's just that now it's much harder to get the REAL deals anymore period. When the gas prices hiked astromomically, then the super cheap deals started to fall off. Happy Travels!

Thai, UA, Air Canada, etc are all part of the Star Alliance. You can use miles from any program to claim tickets on flights of other partners (but not necessarily all flights, all classes).

But you <b>always</b> have to book through <b>the FF program</b> you have miles on. If you're using AC Aeroplan miles, then you book your TG flights via Aeroplan. If you're using UA Mileage Plus, then you book your TG flights via Mileage Plus. Basically no exceptions. TG will not do anything for you with any UA, US, AC, NH, LH, SQ or whoever miles.

Wow! You've all been really helpful. Give me a little time to digest all this, and then I'm sure I'll be back with more questions.

One more for now though:
Given that there are still several months before we go, should I try to buy the tickets sooner rather than later, or should I wait until it gets a little closer?

If you're just going to pay money to buy a ticket, then you can wait a little. But if you're trying to use miles for anything - tickets outright or upgrades - you need to do it ASAP.

Hi,
I should also add that I'm not really considering flying on United. It's just that I have some United miles, and no Thai miles, so I figured I would start there in my research.