Thai Flight Lax to Bkk

[Guest skeet45]

I am thinking of using the Thai flight form La to Bangkok.

This is a non-stop flight .

I was to fly the one out of New York In December but it was cancelled.

They have not started it back as of yet.

Have any of you heard if they are thinking of starting this flight again.

Or have you heard of any news about them stoping the one in La.

I know the one in La used to fly every day now its a few times a week.

I am usuing my miles and even though i am on the East coast it would be easier to go through La

than to go through Boston , Frankfort then Bangkok.

If you know any thing about this flight please post it

 

Thanks Skeet

[Gaybutton]

This is a direct flight.

First, I'd like to correct your aviation terminology. It's not a direct flight. A direct flight is any flight with at least one stop before you reach your destination. You don't have to change planes, but there will be at least one stop.

 

The LAX-BKK flight is a non-stop flight. That means there are no stops between your point of departure and your destination.

 

To my knowledge, Thai Airways is not presently considering reinstating the New York-Bangkok non-stop flight. Also, to my knowledge, there are no plans to end the Los Angeles-Bangkok non-stop flights. As a matter of fact, a friend arrived on that very flight just three days ago. He said he loved it and it was a long flight, but very nice.

[Guest MonkeySee]

To my knowledge, Thai Airways is not presently considering reinstating the New York-Bangkok non-stop flight. Also, to my knowledge, there are no plans to end the Los Angeles-Bangkok non-stop flights. As a matter of fact, a friend arrived on that very flight just three days ago. He said he loved it and it was a long flight, but very nice.

I also have not heard of any rumors of starting the NY-BKK non-stop flights. I have a friend who arrived a few days ago on the LAX-BKK flight. He said it was alright, but nothing out of the ordinary. He was disappointed that the food and service was not better. He was expecting better from Thai Air. I guess all the airlines are cutting back.

[Guest laurence]

Skeet, your best bet would be just to book the flight and wait and see. Service and food depends on what class you are flying but it is not as good as some other airlines. You might want to consider booking in economy or premium economy and then using miles to upgrade to Business. Let us know how it goes.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

I have flown the LAX-BKK flight three times, twice in Premium Economy, and once in business.

 

It is nice to board in LA, and a few hours later get off in Bangkok...and to arrive in Bangkok at about 6:30 a.m., and not in the middle of the night like the United Flight. Also at that hour customs has been a breeze.

 

Compared to United and Continental, the food and service was well above average. LAX is a little pain in the ass if you are boarding there, but if connecting should be ok.

 

Hope you have a great flight...it is going four days a week now, and that seems to be the way it will be for a while.

[Guest fountainhall]

I am thinking of using the Thai flight form La to Bangkok.

This is a non-stop flight .

 

According to Thai's online timetable, this flight is presently non-stop, but will soon change to a 1-stop direct flight with the stop being in Osaka each way.

[Guest Astrrro]

It is nice to board in LA, and a few hours later get off in Bangkok...

 

A few? You must a glass half full kind of guy!

 

I am usuing my miles and even though i am on the East coast it would be easier to go through La

than to go through Boston , Frankfort then Bangkok.

 

You also use less miles so in effect it's cheaper to fly the Pacific route.

 

Btw, You can tack on Bali to your trip for no extra charge. You are permitted to have one layover of more than 24 hours so you can layover for 10 months if you choose in Bangkok before going to Bali.

 

This is my third trip to Bali and they were all using FF miles and all involved lots of time in Thailand.

 

It requires lots of time on the phone with the United rep, (I assuming you're using United miles, not sure if you're using Thai miles).

 

My old game plan was to accumulate United miles by flying Thai and redeem them using Sing. But Sing no longer offers the non-stop from New York to Singapore in economy.

 

[Guest GaySacGuy]

According to Thai's online timetable, this flight is presently non-stop, but will soon change to a 1-stop direct flight with the stop being in Osaka each way.

 

I was looking at flights in Sept. - Oct. , and the flight was still non-stop LAX-BKK. Did it show when the change was going to take place???

[fedssocr]

I don't think we will see the JFK-BKK nonstop come back. It's been gone for quite a while already. It was just too expensive to fly that route.

 

TG keeps changing its mind with respect to the LAX-BKK non-stop. It was supposed to change last year to a different aircraft which would have required the technical stop at KIX (Osaka) for re-fueling. But they were never able to unload the A340-500s that fly this route and used to fly the JFK-BKK route. So they are still using it on this route. I think they sometimes substitute an A346 around Songkran when they need more capacity and I believe that ends up changing the route to require the stop at KIX.

 

If you are using miles you should have plenty of options. Whose miles are you using? If it's a Star Alliance carrier you should be able to fly on partner airlines. I know United has increased the amount of miles needed for their award seats. I used to always call them up and got pretty much what I wanted. I flew the past two years on ANA using UA miles for business class awards going Washington-Tokyo-Bangkok. I think ANA must also fly from JFK and Chicago, so you might have a good chance of getting a seat with them. Depending on your starting point it might be better to change planes in Asia rather than going to LAX. I personally don't like LAX so I would avoid it.

 

A good source for news and tips on frequent flier miles is flyertalk.com. They have very active forums there.

[Guest fountainhall]

I was looking at flights in Sept. - Oct. , and the flight was still non-stop LAX-BKK. Did it show when the change was going to take place???

 

I have checked several months from April on and the flight is indeed scheduled to be non-stop. Either TG has changed it's mind (just possible) or I misread the schedule in the first place (more likely). Apologies!

 

As fedssocr points out, TG has changed its mind a few times on the route. It did plan to switch to 777's with 1 stopover. But the present on-line timetable for all months up to September now shows flights are with A340-500 aircraft.

[Guest Astrrro]

If you are using miles you should have plenty of options. Whose miles are you using? If it's a Star Alliance carrier you should be able to fly on partner airlines. I know United has increased the amount of miles needed for their award seats. I used to always call them up and got pretty much what I wanted. I flew the past two years on ANA using UA miles for business class awards going Washington-Tokyo-Bangkok. I think ANA must also fly from JFK and Chicago, so you might have a good chance of getting a seat with them. Depending on your starting point it might be better to change planes in Asia rather than going to LAX. I personally don't like LAX so I would avoid it.

 

A good source for news and tips on frequent flier miles is flyertalk.com. They have very active forums there.

 

Lot's of good advice here.

 

I also have lots of experience redeeming United miles on convulted routing. Sometime a friendly rep can do wonders for you and with a supervisor's approval can stretch the rules a tad re allowable routing.

 

I like to prepare for the phone calls in advance by checking out the Star Alliance site. This shows all Star flights but some of these may have fufilled their FF seat quota.

 

http://www.staralliance.com/en/travellers/

 

 

If you get a rep from the Indian call center just hang up and try again. Or if the agent seems unfriendly for any reason just abort the call if it's complicated routing.

 

But a lady from their Phillipines call center was extremely helpful.

[fedssocr]

That is definitely true about calling more than once. If the first agent isn't able to find something you like just call back another time to try again. I wouldn't make blanket statement about the Indians though. I had had as much good luck with Indian agents as any other kind.

 

It does help to know some of your options. And it also helps if you have flexible dates. It is definitely true that they can come up with convoluted routings. If you are on a few different airlines they have to get supervisor approval but I have not been denied at that stage.

[Guest Astrrro]

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh on the Indians but I find it tough to understand what they're saying and sometimes they don't understand me. If I'm connected quickly, by knowing how to bypass an automated system, I prefer someone who seems friendly who speaks clear English.

 

Maybe Brits can understand the Indians better than the Yanks can?

 

The PIers sound like they're from California though.

 

I don't understand why their aren't more call centers in the PI.

 

Does anyone know of an ADR that's a PI outsourcing company. I want to invest.

[Guest skeet45]

HI guys

Thank you for the input.

I went ahead and made reservations on the Thai Flight

with my Usair miles.

I hope it works out

 

Skeet

[Guest laurence]

What class and how many miles are required? I once used US Air miles to upgrade from premium economy to Business but forget the miles required. About on year ago.

[fedssocr]

HI guys

Thank you for the input.

I went ahead and made reservations on the Thai Flight

with my Usair miles.

I hope it works out

 

Skeet

 

What class of ticket did you get? One nice thing about Thai is the ability to buy an upgrade at the airport. Not sure if you are allowed to do it on an award ticket though. I bought an upgrade when I flew BKK-JFK. I had a premium economy ticket and paid about US$700 at the time to upgrade to business class. I think it costs a little bit more now. If you are interested just ask at check in if "stand by upgrades" are available.

 

[Guest fountainhall]

just ask at check in if "stand by upgrades" are available.

 

Great suggestion! With front end travel falling on most routes, there will probably a good possibility of buying upgrades at the airport.

[Guest skeet45]

I am flying form east coast to La then on to Bkk

It is first class on the fist leg then business on Thai 120000 miles

I have a Usair visa card is where i get most of my miles from.

I charge every for the company and my own bills on the card.

The first time right after the New York to Bkk flight started it was 90000 miles.

Then with in the last year it went to 120000.

The one thing is the flight time are the same as the old flight out of New York.

I have flown that flight a lot depending on the weather we would go out over the pacific the over Japan . Sometimes we would go up over Alaska then down . I guess it depends on the head winds .

[Guest Astrrro]

The way the JFK-BKK non-stop was configured premium Economy was not much nicer than regular economy. I was offered to upgrade one-way for 200 USD and declined. 200 USD is almost a month's rent for me in Pattaya.

 

I had a pretty good seat in Economy and didn't see the need to upgrade. If I was stuck in the middle with people on both sides of me, perhaps I would have considered the upgrade.

 

Biz class is a whole different story and significantly different.

[Guest fountainhall]

Saw in the Bangkok Post today that THAI will continue the 4 times a week non-stop service between LAX and BKK through the summer season. Apparently TG has been unable to sell its 4 long range A340-500 aircraft which have something like 60 business class seats and 150 economy, so this aircraft will continue serving the route. With so many business class seats, I imagine there will be a good chance of instant upgrades at the airports.

[PattayaMale]

I am flying form east coast to La then on to Bkk

It is first class on the fist leg then business on Thai 120000 miles

I have a Usair visa card is where i get most of my miles from.

I charge every for the company and my own bills on the card.

The first time right after the New York to Bkk flight started it was 90000 miles.

Then with in the last year it went to 120000.

The one thing is the flight time are the same as the old flight out of New York.

I have flown that flight a lot depending on the weather we would go out over the pacific the over Japan . Sometimes we would go up over Alaska then down . I guess it depends on the head winds .

 

Thai has a promotion. If you have 164,000 you can get a free award ticket. This is NOT an upgrade but a full ticket in Business Class. So if it is 120,000 for an upgrade fro 44,000 more miles you would not pay anything

[Guest rentalb123]

I picked up a great price from Qatar Airlines leaving from JFK, it is a one stop trip, but leaves at midnight so sleeping is at least forced and arrives at 7 in the morning and not midnight. The layover is also reasonable......

[Guest Astrrro]

Unless you already have Thai Air miles. I think it's best for most folks flying Thai to put the miles in a United Mileage Plus account.

 

Note that you can redeem these miles on Thai and get more bang for your buck.

[fedssocr]

Unfortunately United recently raised the amount of miles required for award tickets so they are not quite the bargain they used to be. I recently decided to start accumulating Air Canada Aeroplan miles instead. I had 51K Amex Reward Points I needed to do something with because I was canceling that card and I could transfer them 1:1 to Aeroplan and they dropped United so I couldn't put them there instead. On Aeroplan you only need 100K miles for a business class award from North America to Asia which is "cheaper" than United.

 

There is apparently a Bank of America Aeroplan visa or mastercard that collects miles but I don't have one of those yet. I recently started using a Starwood Amex card instead.

 

I am also booked on Qatar Airways from JFK for my trip later this year. Their business class seats from JFK are over $3000 cheaper from JFK than from Washington. So I figured it was worth it to make an extra connection. I have been reading some bad things about their ground staff at Doha, but they are using brand new B777-300's from the USA to DOH and also on the connection to BKK now. So they should be very comfortable. Business class has lie flat 180 degree seats. I am not exactly thrilled about the 7 AM arrival. Ideally I would prefer to arrive late afternoon, but hopefully I will be able to get some sleep on the flights.

[Guest fountainhall]

Just for interest, I read that Emirates will put one of their A380s on to the Bangkok route in the summer. Anyone travel on one of those super-jumbos yet? What's it like?