Thai Airways - upgrades?
 

My fiance and I are booked for the JFK-BKK flight for our honeymoon in Oct. Fiance is an elite member of UA, and I was wonderign what we need to do to get upgraded or if anyone has had any luck? The first person I spoke to said it wasn't possible, but I wasn't convinced they were that knowledgeable. Was anyone able to do it successfully? If so, how and who did you call? We have plenty of miles we'd be willing to use, just need to find the right person to speak to. Thanks in advance for your help!

i don't think you can use ua miles to upgrade on a paid tkt on thai.

You can not use United miles to upgrade on Star Alliance flights.

You can not use the ua miles. On the thai tickt's

That's too bad. Thanks for the info.

Think about getting their premium economy or using miles to get one free ticket and then buy the other.

kjk1009-we are taking the same flight for our honeymoon in November, did you book the Premuim Econ.? If so, do you mind saying how much the ticket was? I just want to make sure I did not over pay. We paid $1300 per Premuim Economy Ticket.

What is premium economy & how does the leg room & seat recline compare to business class?

From Thai's news release about their 340-500 JFK-BKK:

* Royal Silk Class: 60 seats, seating offers 60-inch (five feet) pitch, with 170 degree recline for sleeping in 2-2-2 configuration.

* Premium Economy Class: 42 seats, seating offers 43-inch pitch in 2-3-2 configuration and 135 degree recline with leg rest.

* Economy Class: 113 seats, seating offers 37-inch pitch in 2-4-2 configuration and 125 degree recline with foot rest.


Note that their economy's 37" pitch is the best in class. Most airlines provide 31" to 32". UA's E+ is about 34"-36".

When is the 340-500 set to start flying JFK-BKK? I was looking on thai's web site for tickets for next april or May and there is no mention of this aircraft.

Started May 1.

I searched the flight for May 2006, and it showed up.

345 = 340-500

(Okay, maybe my math teacher will say that's wrong.) ;)

Just want to clarify. It started May 1, 2005. More than two months ago.

I did search for May 2006, as that's what you tried.

Thanks rkkwan. I didn't realize 345 was the 340-500. I'm seriously thinking of the premium economy if it's only a couple of hundred dollars more. As we all know, every inch counts.

I'm taking that flight in January. One thing for any of you who have AmEx FF miles. You can use them on Thai by transferring the miles to US Airways. I only needed 90,000 miles for business class which is a lot less than many of the other carriers.

And keep in mind that the economy on this flight is better than a lot of airline's premium economy and you get that great thai service. And the premium economy is supposed to be terrific.

Is 43 inch pitch the leg room between your seat & the seat in front of you?

Yes, seat pitch is the distance between a point in the headrest on one seat and the same point on the seat in front.

For glorialf - it is 90,000 miles for business class on Thai using any airline in the Star Alliance (United, Lufthansa etc.)

Craig-- I know that but lots of people who have Am Ex miles don't realise that by moving it to US Air they can access the star alliance.

Gloria - can't Amex miles be used on any airline, including USAir and other Star Alliance airlines? - that's where I was coming from...

Craig-- no. AmEx miles can be transferred to only specific airlines which include: US Air, Delta, ANA, and several others. It does not include United or American or Thai.

Gloria - I was thinking about the Starwood Preferred Guest cc which is an American Express card but has different rules. If you like using American Express, you should look into it - for every 20000 points you transfer, you get 5000 bonus miles.

Craig-- but you have to stay at Starwood Properties, right? I rarely stay at big name American hotels because I much prefer boutique hotels or old world ones. And I'm not a resort or beach person. I like to use my ff points for airfare only. If I transfer my points to Starwood can I then transfer them back to an airline program. If so, I'd be very interested.

You don't have to stay at Starwood properties but you can get bonus points if you do. The card works just like your Amex card but the points are Starwood points that can be redeemed for miles:
www.starwoodpreferredguest.com

And starwood miles can be used for all airlines?

Starpoints can be converted for most airlines but not always 1 to 1. United for example is 2 Starpoints for every mile. Here's the link to the list:
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefer..._checkRoc.html

glorialf - When did you book that business class seat? I just called USAir trying to get business seats on Thai for November using my USAir and Amex points, but was told that it was not available.

I got business seats to New Zealand for last March using USAir and Amex, but I had to call 334 days in advance to get them.

FYI - You can see the airlines connected with Amex Membership Rewards at <b>http://www.membershiprewards.com/CategoryN.aspx?clgid=1&amp;catid=103&amp;ahcr=1</b> ((R))

Jed- I booked my ticket for January months ago (virtually the first or second day I could -- about 330 days ahead). I find that that's the only way to be pretty sure you can get the ticket on the date you want.

I also booked my business class Thai New York-Bangkok trip immediately when I could for travel in January, on US Air. You might also want to try via Continental using Amex miles.