Thailand Trip Day 1 – flight cancellations
Thailand Trip Day 2
Thailand Trip Day 3
Thailand Trip Day 4
Thailand Day 5 Island Hopper Excursion
Thailand Day 6 – Rain
Thailand Trip Day 7 – the local market
Thailand Trip Day 8
Thailand Trip Day 9 – Jim Thompson shop, Temples, and Gulati
Thailand Trip Day 10 – A Chill Day and going to the movies
Thailand Trip Day 11 – home in first class

I had never had the opportunity to fly in real first class.  I’ve spent lots of time in Delta’s Business Class but never a true first class.  I was actually impressed with China Airline’s first class.  It was a true lay flat bed and even with the fact that I am 6’5″ – I was able to completely stretch out and get plenty of sleep.

The service was simply top notch.  The first class section was only half filled.  It felt like we were truly royalty.  I don’t know if I could fly to Thailand in coach.  I really felt like we got value out of our Delta Skymiles with this trip.

We had never been to Southeast Asia before and I’m glad that we decided to go to Thailand.  I would go there again in a second.

Since this trip I have been accumulating more Delta Skymiles and Hilton points to plan our next trip.  It always helps to take your significant other with you on these trips so they can see and experience that there is some method for all of the madness.  All of the coin deliveries, all the promotions, all of the obsessive credit card churning – it’s all to take these dream vacations for free!

Thailand Trip Day 1 – flight cancellations
Thailand Trip Day 2
Thailand Trip Day 3
Thailand Trip Day 4
Thailand Day 5 Island Hopper Excursion
Thailand Day 6 – Rain
Thailand Trip Day 7 – the local market
Thailand Trip Day 8
Thailand Trip Day 9 – Jim Thompson shop, Temples, and Gulati
Thailand Trip Day 10 – A Chill Day and going to the movies
Thailand Trip Day 11 – home in first class

Day 10 of the Thailand Trip and it was just a chill day.  We had seen all that we felt like we needed to and so we headed to the movie theater.

The seats were huge and plush.  Before every movie, they play the national anthem accompanied with video footage of the king.

For lunch we headed to the Marriott Cafe.  It is adjoined to the bakery and have never quite had anything as exquisite as some of the pastries that came out of that kitchen.  It was absolutely delightful.

Our trip to Thailand was complete.  We now had first class seats on China Airlines to look forward to for our long journey home.

Thailand Trip Day 1 – flight cancellations
Thailand Trip Day 2
Thailand Trip Day 3
Thailand Trip Day 4
Thailand Day 5 Island Hopper Excursion
Thailand Day 6 – Rain
Thailand Trip Day 7 – the local market
Thailand Trip Day 8
Thailand Trip Day 9 – Jim Thompson shop, Temples, and Gulati
Thailand Trip Day 10 – A Chill Day and going to the movies
Thailand Trip Day 11 – home in first class

We had just a little bit of time before it was time to head to the airport to head to Bangkok where we would be staying at the JW Marriott on points. This also was my last month with Gold status from Marriott, so we were fortunate to have planned this trip during this month.

In the morning, we stayed on the Phuket resort and stayed at one of pools after our breakfast at the Executive Lounge. Eating at the executive lounge was truly a treat. It was a full breakfast each morning and at night they had appetizers that could have easily been dinner as well. The staff was top notch. I would definitely return to this property.

We headed to the airport flying on Thai Airlines to Bangkok. We took a cab to the JW Marriott property. It is in an amazing location in the city. This hotel is one of the most luxurious hotels that I have stayed at. Everything is top class. We went to the check in desk and we had been upgraded to the Executive Floor with access to the Executive Lounge.

Our room was on the 8th floor with a fantastic view of Bangkok.

We went down to the pastry shop on the bottom floor of the JW and had some of the most delicious pastries I have ever tasted. In the elevator, they had a sign saying that there was 7 executive chefs working at the JW Marriott. It was apparent with the quality and taste of the selections.

Thailand Trip Day 1 – flight cancellations
Thailand Trip Day 2
Thailand Trip Day 3
Thailand Trip Day 4
Thailand Day 5 Island Hopper Excursion
Thailand Day 6 – Rain
Thailand Trip Day 7 – the local market
Thailand Trip Day 8
Thailand Trip Day 9 – Jim Thompson shop, Temples, and Gulati
Thailand Trip Day 10 – A Chill Day and going to the movies
Thailand Trip Day 11 – home in first class

We landed in Taipei after a long, but comfortable flight. We had a lot of time before our flight to Bangkok so we headed to the China Airlines lounge. The lounge was huge. They had lots of free food and drinks there, including noodles and soup made to order, dim sum, and pot stickers. It was delicious.

We left the lounge to wait for our flight and saw this sign that was a bit interesting.

We boarded the flight to Taipei heading for Bangkok. Another comfortable flight. We now had to wait for our Thai Airlines flight to Phuket. At this point, we were really getting tired.

I couldn’t believe how huge the plane going from Bangkok to Phuket was and the plane was filled to capacity.

We arrived to Phuket and went to the Hilton booth at the airport. Our driver was waiting for us there and whisked us off to the other side of town to the resort.

They had a covered drop off point for all passengers as no cars are allowed onto the resort for safety purposes. A covered roof shuttle picked us up and took us to the front desk area. This resort is massive!

At this time, we were Gold members of the Hilton Club. We were hoping for a free upgrade, but not expecting it.

We went to the Hilton Honors desk where we were asked to take a seat in the lounge. Two fresh fruit drinks were brought to us while we waited.

We were brought our room keys and we were escorted to our room. He walked us to the Lotus Wing. We took the elevators up to the 9th floor. We had received an upgrade and would have lounge access as well. The room was big and very nice.

China Airlines is having a fare sale from both New York City and Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles
Taiwan/Hong Kong/Bangkok book by 1/28/10 and fly between period 1 (1/9/10-2/3/10) or period 2 (2/12/10-4/11/10). Fares starting at $720.

From New York
Taiwan ($780) and HK ($740) book by 2/5/10 fly between 2/12/10-4/11/10

Last March, my wife and I flew first class from Salt Lake City to Bangkok, Thailand on China Airlines using our frequent flier miles. It was an absolute dream vacation.