Great Economy class (Thai Airways)

Member Name: garymarsh6

Product:	Thai Airways
Date:	24/10/08 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Effiecient friendly service.

Disadvantages: Too hot in business class.

I flew with Thai international from London Heathrow to Bangkok. Out in economy return in Business class.

Economy seats were comfortable with good leg pitch of 34 inches much better than BA at only 31 inches. The inflight entertainment was disappointing as there were no seat back tv's and only drop down screens throughout the cabin with little choice in what you could watch. As I am not that bothered with the films I chose to listen to my ipod to my own music and read.

The cabin crew were excellent and very attentive welcoming each passenger on board with a wei. For dinner we were served a full five course meal in Economy with port or cognac offered after the meal which I found really good. The food was of very good quality and of a better standard than rival airlines. Overall I was quite impressed with economy leg of the flight however the planes are well past their sell by date and need updating urgently if they are to remain competitive.

Return leg.
We upgraded to business class for our return flight and all I can say is that it was a big disappointment. We sat upstairs which was very hot and uncomfortable. Althought the seat was wider and could be extended so you were more comfortable it was not a particularly comfortable sleep and in fact I found I slept better in economy than in Business clas.

Just after take off the heating had been turned up and it became quite inbearable and when the passengers asked if the heating could be turned down the crew said it was set at that temperature for passenger comfort and could not be changed. Some passengers were actually stripping off to try and keep cool. In the end we had to ask for some ice to keep cool it really was unbearable. I think the idea was to heat the passengers into submissive sleep so that the crew were not bothered by the passengers.

The cabin crew not as attentive as they were in Economy and were slow to meet requests and I found that the extra money we paid was not worth it at all. There was a complete contrast to the crew and their attitude to the crew in Economy. I doubt if I would pay the extra to fly Business with Thai again as the seats were not comfortable compared to other business class in similar airlines and as economy was adequate I would choose to fly economy. In fact recently I took two economy flights with Thai and I was very happy with the service in Economy.

In summary I would only use Thai international again to fly to Bangkok if the flight was noticeably cheaper otherwise I would only travel in Business class if they improve the seating and the attitude of the Business class crew.

Summary: A good airline not the best but far from the worst.