Pricing on Thai Premium Economy
 

I just got off the phone with Thai Airways to reserve a flight and find out what the cost is for premium economy v. regular economy. It was more than $600 more (round trip) per person! :-( The agent also said that the seat pitch in REGULAR economy on the JFK-BKK non-stop is 37 inches. Considering that we just flew 30 hours to Kuala Lumpur in seats with a 31-32 inch pitch, I think we could manage 17 hours with 37 inches.

I'm going to hold off making reservations for a little while to see if Thai runs any specials like they just did (PE for $1150) Since we aren't going until the middle of May, I have time and I doubt the seats will sell out any time soon. Besides, we can be somewhat flexible with our dates. PE is just too expensive. We can fly Thai's regular economy from JFK-BKK-CGK-BKK-JFK for $1420 per person, including all taxes. Upgrading to PE on the JFK-BKK legs only will cost almost $2100 p/p. Way too much in my book.

The agent also said that she hasn't heard anything about the price of PE going up to $3350 as was reported recently in the NY Times.

Laurie, you must enjoy the torture of being confined to REGULAR economy. If you could handle 30 hours to KL under those conditions, well go for the cheap seats. When I'm on vacation, I want to be comfortable from the moment I pull out of my driveway so it is business class for the long trips. I really don't think that Thai will run any more promotions, now that the route is established. If they aren't getting the traffic, they will probably just cut back on the number of flights.

In case you are interested ;-) most of the times I am in a Bangkok (alone without special GF), I stay in 500 THB guesthouse. It's spotlessly clean, safe, friendly, has lots of charm and is very convienently located (2 min. to Nana Skytrain station). Most of the people on this board stay in more upmarket hotels (me too I decided to book the Oriental for my last nights in BKK with my girlfriend who will travel with me for the 1st time) but ... as it looks like you're up to saving some money: you want me to give you the details of this guesthouse? :-)) It will certainly do the job and save you a lot of money too :-))... See where I am going to? ;-)

Craig, some of us are just regular folk with average incomes and can't afford the price of upgrading. If it's a choice between flying a little more comfortable and 5 star hotels, I'll choose the hotels every time. Besides, the 37 inches on Thai regular economy won't be such a hardship.

Laurie, aren't there other airlines flying from JFK-BKK? I am thinking of for example China Airlines (from Taiwan), they fly to JFK and of course being from Belgium, I don't know anything about US-prices. I do know though that I am flying them a lot from Amsterdam to Bangkok and they have some very good deals in Business class (for next Jan my GF and I are paying 1.300 euros per person return)

ThierryD, unfortunately, prices like the one you quoted are unheard of from NY to Asia in business class. Also, we want to take the shortest route, which is the NY-BKK non-stop. After the trip to Kuala Lumpur, which was torture, we decided we no longer wanted the cheapest flight, but the shortest. We could save several hundred dollars by flying another airline's economy but it would come at the cost of an additional 8 hours, which I'm no longer willing to endure. But neither can we afford business or even premium economy. We could only aford PE by cutting back on other things, such as hotels, and as I said above, I'm not willing to do that. I would rather have 2 weeks of luxury than 17 hours of more comfort. Thanks for the tip anyhow.

I suppose we could just not eat for a couple of months to pay for the upgrade, but my husband and I are both thin enough as it is ;-)

I'm with you laurie-- shortest is first priority (unless it's a free ticket and in business or first class). I've never paid for business class -- like you a would rather spend it on something else (unlike you that means the Oriental) and I don't have the money to do both. If I had the money, however, I would only fly business.

Gloria, believe me, if I had the money, I'd be flying first class! Some day it will be possible (if and when I inherit, but I'd rather fly economy and have my mom around!) But right now, with Eric and I supporting two households, with a house in Albany and a coop in NYC, with double the bills, we just can't do it at this point without giving up something else: for us it's the Peninsula or eating!

I don't think $1,420 for a May JFK-BKK-CGK-BKK-JFK itinerry is that good in coach. Maybe you should wait a little, and hope that both regular Y and PE fares will come down.

rkkwan, it's the taxes that really up the price. Before tax, it's $1199 per person for that itinerary. But you're right, I am going to wait and see if the price goes down. Like I said above, I can save about $400-$500 hundred a person with another airline but I want the non-stop so we can spend the first night in BKK in a comfortable bed before going on to Jarkarta.

Laurie, I didn't mean to imply that I would ever PAY for business class seats. We just manage our miles well and use them only for upgrades or free business class tix. For a petite person like you, maybe 37 inches is comfortable but for me it would be an awful start and finish to an otherwise great vacation. By the way, we consider ourselves "regular folk with average incomes" as well and I don't think we travel nearly as often or for as long as you do - we just don't get the time to do it.

Craig, I'm glad to hear you're one of us, you seemed so normal when we met you :-)
(Take that as a compliment, normal is good in this case!)

You hit the problem on the head, we go overseas at least twice per year so we need to stretch our vacation dollars. I feel like I manage our FF miles pretty well but we've always used them for free trips to expensive places, like Australia, and believe it or not, Greece, which is pretty expensive to fly to. We did use miles to upgrade to Peru last year, but business class to (upper) South America isn't the same as business to Asia or even Europe.

I hit POST too soon. what I wanted to continue saying is, we never have enough miles left to upgrade, at least not both of us since it's always my miles we seem to use since Eric doesn't collect as many as I do (I'm the one with the affinity credit card). I am thinking of not using my miles for free trips any more and saving them for upgrades for the future. I'm also considering changing my loyalties from American Airlines AAdvantage to the Star Alliance since they fly to many more Asian destinations. Besides, what has American ever done for me but cause agita?? I'm weighing the pros and cons. If anyone would like to weigh in on this, please do, I need all the input I can get.

I agree with Laurieco. I usually won't spend extra money on airfare upgrades. I have a set budget with airfare and if the upgrade just happens to fit within that budget then fine...if not...then back to coach. I used to fly business class to and from Europe back in the days when I had over 300,000 frequent flyer miles on Pan Am and a business class ticket was only 60,000 frequent flyer miles. Every time I've flown in First Class, it's because I've been upgraded by someone at the airport prior to boarding. Once coming home from Paris, I got upgraded to the first and only individual seat in first class because I was very dressed up. When I checked in I was told that I'd be upgraded to first. Might seem like a strange reason to get upgraded, but it worked. The flight attendents asked if I'd just attended the fashion shows in Paris. You've got to use whatever might work in order to escape economy class and not have to pay for another class. Coming back from the Honolulu GTG, I was upgraded to business class to L.A. and Kathie ended up upgraded to business class to Seattle. I cross my fingers to get lucky! Happy Travels!

Laurie, I've also never paid for a transpacific or transatlantic business class seat. My frequent flier miles are with United, and one of their great benefits is using miles to upgrade a coach fare. You can reserve the upgraded seat about 11 months in advance, and it costs 30,000 miles each way. I only use my miles for upgrades, so I always have enough in the bank to do so.

That trip back from Hawaii, both Guenmai and I got lucky - they were both free upgrades!

economy seats = peninsula, oriental, sheraton grande, marriotts and face, biscotti, bed, etc.....

and i think we will all chip in and send gloria first class.....does any airline still have first class?? notice i didn't say when....

I actually flew first class on malaysian air last year using miles -- great deal in that it was only 90,000 miles. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Believe me if I could swing it I'd do it every trip!

United's upgrading sounds more reasonable than American's, where you now not only have to use miles but PAY an additional $250 each way PLUS the miles to upgrade!! American has really gone downhill in every way.

The problem with United is that if I want to fly to BKK, I believe you have to stop over in Tokyo, which is fine if I have a lot of time and can spend some time in Japan, which I love. But if I only have two weeks and want to go to SEA, then going to Japan isn't feasible. What I'm trying to do is avoid any stops and go non-stop, which is only Thai at this point. I'm wondering if I'm better off collecting miles directly on Thai rather than on United, so I can use miles to upgrade on Thai and fly non-stop. From what I understand, you cannot use United miles to upgrade on Thai. Is this true? (and I'll never collect enough miles to get two free tickets in business class for free, that would take years).

I'm also looking to switch FF program to get better deals to Asia. Kathie, from the United site it seems that you have to book a regular economy in order to be able to upgrade to business, and the r/t fare in Feb for reg economy is about $3500 as compared to non-refundable fares of about $1100. We had FF miles with Delta & used them for 1 business class seat on Korean & then bought the 2nd business class seat for about $3500, so I suppose it comes out to the same thing. Yes, it's expensive but husband has a bad back & for very long flights it really makes a huge difference. So, would rather save on other things, use points to get free hotel nights, and splurge on business class. Laurie, I agree about AA. Their flights are always more expensive than the other carriers to the same destination.

As a United Mileage Plus member, I'll provide my 2 cents:

1) Upgradeable economy fares on United are more expensive than "regular" economy fares - usually about $200 so not much different than American.

2) You can not use United miles to upgrade on Thai but you can use United miles to "purchase" a business class ticket on Thai - its 90,000 miles though.

3) If you choose to upgrade to United business, you really do have to plan ahead, as Kathie says - 11 months in advance.

4) All United flights to BKK go via ORD and NRT when you fly from the east coast. We have done this several times and have always found the connections to be very good. We have never spent any time in Tokyo - maybe some day. Total flight time is a longer - 24 to 26 hours versus 17 for the direct Thai flight from JFK.

In early Nov, my wife and I flew Thai JFK-BKK PE for $1560/pp. This compared to about 1100 on regular.

The pitch was 46&quot;, compared to <b>listed</b> 36 in regular, and width of the seat was 19&quot;, compared to 18.

Going BKK-JFK, the plane was about half full, and the people in regular were able to spread out and use 2-3 seats for sleeping.

Putting it all together, we were happy to go PE, so as to be sure that the seat in front would not be in our faces.

One more thought - When you get to the Thai airport desk, ask how much it would be to upgrade to PE. If there is room, they will be happy to sell it to you, at a price which <b>may</b> be less than what heard on the phone. ((F))

How does everybody collect so many miles? Is it from doing a lot of business travel?

I would love to fly business or first - I flew first class once when British Airways flew me back from Ghana when I had a serious case of malaria. It was lovely - for the five minutes I was awake! I slept the entire trip...

We are flying Premium Economy to BKK from Heathrow next summer on Eva Air - positive luxury compared to regular economy, am really excited about it.

All of UA's US-NRT flights can connect same-day to NRT-BKK. JFK, IAD, ORD, plus West Coast cities.

Bella_Bluebell - All airlines give bonus miles for their &quot;elite&quot; FF members.

On UA, if you fly 25K qualifying miles a calendar year, you will be a &quot;Premier&quot;, for the following year. You'll earn 25% bonus miles during that time. If you fly 50K, you'll be &quot;Premier Executive&quot; and earn 100% bonus miles.

JFK-NRT-BKK is about 9,630 miles each way. Roundtrip as a Premier Exec, and you earn close to 40K miles already. So, basically, you pay for two economy roundtrip to BKK a year, plus some domestic or other flying, and you can earn a business class trip to Asia every year.

since we are only flying to thailand once a year (!) and this might be our &quot;once in a lifetime&quot; trip--how can I convert Thai Air miles? I know they are part of Star Alliance, does that mean I can convert to United miles,etc. and use them in the US?

jacqui72 - You give Thai your UA number, and you collect UA miles from your trip.

CFW, Craig's summary also reflects my experience. I paid about US$1200 for my last set of upgradeable economy tickets from Seattle to Bangkok. It was maybe $200 more than the lowest economy tickets. You do NOT need to buy full-fare tickets to upgrade.

jacqui, you can't convert miles from one star alliance member to another, but you can use your limes on an affiliated carrier. So if you live in the US and fly domestically from time to time, you are probably better off joining the United ff plan. Many of us use a credit card that also earns us miles on United. I think all of the major carriers have them, though I don't know about foreign carriers (like Thai).

We gave Thai our USAir FF numbers, and got the mileage on our USAir FF accounts. It is best to make sure they have the numbers before you leave, otherwise you have to file for them. ((R))

Okay, after reading all of this, it appears that United's flight to BKK still takes about 25 hours, which is what I remember when I flew them to BKK. I don't mind paying a little more to fly business but I don't want to spend 25 hours to get somewhere I can get to in 17. So, am I better off collecting the miles on Thai? Does anyone know how many miles it takes on Thai to upgrade from regular economy to business class?

I'm with you,Laurie. The difference in flight time is huge.

I just went to Thai's website and it appears that to upgrade from economy to business is 40,000 or 50,000, depending on the ticket (Y,B,M are 40k; all others are 50k; no upgrading from V or W) but how on earth do you know which ticket you get and the price difference????

The difference in flight time is worth it to travel in relative comfort. The cost on Thai to upgrade from ecomomy to premium economy is 30,000 miles one way. The cost to upgrade from economy to business is 50,000 miles. You cannot upgrade from the lowest cost ticket just like on American or United.

For our 2007 trip to Bhutan via Bangkok we were planning on paying to fly Thai Airways on premium economy (well worth it in my opinion) until we discovered that we will have enough United miles to purchase business class tickets. By the way, we rack up miles using our credit cards to charge EVERYTHING, including the substantial business expenses for my wife's dental practice.

Laurie, looks like you posted during my response. I think you can assume that the V and W tickets are the lowest cost and those other than Y, B and M are the most expensive - best to call Thai for the details but I am sure that they are in synch with other airline programs.

I understand what you're saying Craig. If we weren't flying on to Jakarta, we probably would have paid the extra for PE. But adding in the round trip to Indonesia, we just can't do $2100 each in air alone, and that isn't even counting the intra-Java flights. We'll be spending about 16 nights in hotels and you know that I like 5 star hotels. We're looking at 6 nights at the Peninsula, which is now around $200 per night, and, I'm hoping to stay at the Amanjiwo in Java for 2 nights, which is $650 per night plus 21% tax/service, and another 5 or 6 nights somewhere else. It's adding up fast! Also, we're planning on Sri Lanka in Sept for my 50th birthday trip. If we pay too much for air, we'll end up in Disneyland instead because we won't be able to afford anything else (and I'm NOT going there!!!)

I also use my American AAdvantage credit card to charge everything but we don't have business expenses to charge, so, even with my heavy spending (I'm a one-woman economy booster) I can only rack up so many miles. And like I've said, I've usually cashed them in for free tickets and it has eaten into them. I only have about 85-90,000 miles at this point, and it's on American. The only partner that flies to BKK is Cathay Pacific and that means flying JFK to Vancouver to Hong Kong to BKK. I refuse to do that one again.

Not to belabor this dialogue too much but I would never spend almost $800/night on accomodations (i.e. Amanjiwo). In fact, spending $400/night for Rajvilas in India was a personal record for us that we would prefer not to repeat. Not that we don't like 5 star accomodations - we just don't like paying top dollar for them. I mentioned that we will be visiting Bhutan in 2007 where the MINIMUM is $200 per person which includes lodging, meals, transportation and tours - at that price the lodging will be modest at best - so it will be a new adventure for us in order to see a relatively untouristed country.

I hope you'll be posting a trip report, it sounds great. At this point, we're still debating the Amanjiwo. Eric has agreed to it, which I can't believe, but it is a lot to spend and we should probably have our heads examined if we do it. Unfortunately the only other choice is a 2 star hotel if we want to see the sunrise at Borobudor. I'm going to need a complete description from Kishore (Boblax) on the other hotel before we make up our minds. But I really do want to stay at the Aman, just once.

Hmmm - 5 star vs 2 star - well...you're on vacation, life's too short, go for the 5 star...just this once...

Laurie-- I think both Japan and ANA partner with American and they have relatively direct routes to bangkok although not as direct as Thai. And they are both good airlines.

Craig-- I'm with you in that I would never spent $800 for a hotel. The most I've ever spent is $300 and that was in Europe.

As for sunrise at Borobudor. When I went in 1990 there were no hotels right there. We stayed in a dump in yojogarta and got up very early and drove there in time to see the sunrise. In other words we spent zero and saw the same sunrise as if we were spending $800. Now it's possible that if I could afford it I would be willing to spend that kind of money but somehow I doubt it.

Gloria, unfortunately, you are no longer allowed into Borobudor for the sunrise unless you are staying at either the Amanjiwo or the other hotel (the 2 star). I don't know when they started this or how they even enforce it but if I'm going all that way, I certainly don't want to miss what is supposed to be one of the most magical sights on earth. We could handle a 2 star hotel for one night, it's just that we've become spoiled. Honestly, the most we've ever spent on a hotel is $330 per night, at the Monasterio in Cusco, Peru, where we spent three nights, and it was worth every penny. I really want to experience an Aman resort (but what if I get even more spoiled and want that all the time? We'll either go broke or travel once every 5 years! Neither is acceptable). I'm going to have to think long and hard about this one. I'm hoping Aman will have a &quot;special&quot; or I can call them and see if they ofer something. Marmot said that tourism in Indonesia is soft and they may lower the rate.

As for JAL and ANA, it's 90,000 miles for a business class ticket. I checked my miles and I have about 84,000--not enough for even one ticket, never mind two, so that's out, and I don't think I can use the miles to upgrade on a partner airline.

I noticed that Craig and Kathie said that on United, you have to pay about $200 per ticket more to get an upgradable ticket. This is still far better than American, where you have to pay an additional $250 EACH WAY, so in order to upgrade on American, it's an extra $500 round trip. That stinks!

Craig &amp; Kathie, How did you find such good rates on United. When I checked, the upgradeable economy fares from JFK to BKK were around $3500 for Feb. Was the high price due to high season?