Trip Report Index

As we deplaned from our Phuket flight there was an agent standing in the jet bridge holding a sign with our names on it. She introduced herself and explained she would be escorting us to the first class lounge. Usually they pick you up in a golf cart, though the walk was short so we were escorted by foot.

Escort to the lounge

After clearing security we were brought to the reception of the first class lounge, where our boarding passes were examined.

Lounge entrance

The Thai first class ground experience is one of my favorites in the world. The first class lounge consists of a main seating area which looks like any other lounge, but then also about a dozen semi-private “living rooms” which are offered first come first serve.

Thai Airways First Class Lounge

Private “living room”

The lounge was empty so we were given a “living room” and the service immediately began. Some might argue the service is a bit over attentive, since the staff to guest ratio must be something like 4:1 at times. There’s almost always a server standing outside of your living room waiting to see if you want anything, and if they don’t hear from you every three minutes they come to check that you’re still alive.

Lounge

As far as the food options go, the lounge has both a menu and a display buffet. You can’t actually take anything from the buffet, but one of the dozen or so waitresses manning the buffet will take down the order for whatever option you point at and bring it to you.

Buffet

One of my favorite features about Thai first class is the hour-long full body massage that first class passengers get. My friend and I both set up appointments for 9PM, so I quickly hopped in the shower to freshen up.

Shower room

Shower room

Toiletries

One of the servers escorted me to the spa reception, where I was offered a cold towel and beverage. I was asked to fill out a health form, and then moments later my masseuse emerged.

Pre-spa treatment cold towels and drinks

They have really nice private treatment rooms, each equipped with a shower and some even equipped with a bathtub. The masseuse brought me into the room and had me take off my clothes and put one of those fishnet underwear garments on. I don’t know what purpose they really serve, since it’s not like they cover anything or keep anything in.

Underwear

As usual, though, the spa treatment was spectacular. After an hour I was brought into the post-treatment room, where I was offered tea and cookies and waited on my friend.

Tea

Once back in the lounge my friend and I were a bit hungry, so we ordered some delicious Thai food.

Dinner

For dessert we had chocolate lava cake.

Dessert

After catching up on some email an agent approached us at around 11:30PM and advised us it was time to head to the gate. Our gate wasn’t far away so once again we weren’t driven in a golf cart. Being escorted along with us was a young American couple. I know y’all are FlyerTalkers, so just admit it. I saw your Continental Gold Elite tag, you taking pictures of the cabin, not to mention the route you’re flying. Admit it!

Walking to gate

Boarding was finishing up by the time we got to the gate, though nonetheless our escort got us right to the front of the line and onboard.

Departure gate

Thai 930
Bangkok (BKK) – Paris (CDG)
Friday, August 5
Depart: 12:05AM
Arrive: 7:05AM
Duration: 13hr
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 1G (First Class)

For those of you not familiar with Thai’s product, it’s worth noting that Munich was actually our final destination. Thai had award space on the nonstop flight to Munich, so why did we route through Paris? Because the Bangkok to Paris route is consistently operated by Thai’s leased 777-300ER aircraft. These are planes they lease from Jet Airways, and it has one of my favorite first class products. It’s the same one I flew on Turkish from London to Istanbul a couple of years back.

With that out of the way, I was once again looking forward to flying this plane.

As soon as we reached the door we were welcomed by an almost overly friendly crew. I think people assume that flight attendants at the major Asian airlines consistently provide excellent service, though many (including me) find Thai to be a bit inconsistent. What makes them different than most other Asian airlines is that they don’t fire their flight attendants at the age of 30. So in international first class you usually have “senior mamas” working (I use that term endearingly). Well, they were certainly senior mamas in first class on this flight, or more accurately one senior mama and two senior, erm, daddies? Nevermind, that just sounds weird.

Anyway, as soon as we reached our seats in the first row we found headphones and a Rimowa amenity kit already waiting for us at our seats.

Suite 1G

View of suites 1A and 1D

Suite 1K

Ottoman and screen

Rimowa amenity kits and headphones

As soon as we settled in one of the flight attendants introduced himself and said he’d be taking care of us. This guy was quite possibly the friendliest flight attendant I’ve ever had. I’m almost tempted to say he was creepily friendly, though I think he was just one of those really nice people. Not only did he have a huge smile on his face every time he interacted with passengers, but he also had such a nice way of addressing passengers (and extending every syllable as much as possible).

He first offered us hot towels followed by pre-departure beverages. I went with Dom, which the flight attendant proudly served.

Hot towel

Champagne

Shortly thereafter we were offered pajamas and slippers. I immediately changed into the pajamas, since I was just about ready to sleep.

Pajamas and slippers

Pajamas

Flight path

The door closed right on time with a full load in first class, consisting of my friend and I, the American couple seated behind us, and four older French men in all the window seats.

Shortly before pushback the captain advised us of our flight time of 11hr45min, advising us we would have an on-time arrival in Paris.

We quickly pushed back and taxied to the runway, and after a long takeoff roll were airborne.

As we climbed out I started playing around with the entertainment system, which featured dozens of movies, TV shows, CDs, etc. While it’s not quite as good as Singapore or Cathay Pacific’s in-flight entertainment, it’s still very good.

Entertainment system

As we climbed through about 10,000 feet the seatbelt sign turned off and the flight attendants sprung into action, starting with a beverage service. I went with a Diet Coke with lemon.

Diet Coke with… lemon

Shortly thereafter the menu and wine list was offered, which is always presented in a nice folder.

Menu

The dinner menu read as follows:

Menu

And the wine list read as follows:

White Wine:

Chassagne Montrachet Le Divin 2008

Grand Enclos Du Chateau De Cerons 2008

Red Wine:

Nuits-Saint-Georges 2008

Chateau Belgrave 2007

Chateau Pedesclaux Pauillac 2007

Champagne:

Veuve Clicquot Rose Vintage 2004

Dom Perignon Vintage 2002

The flight attendant working my aisle was just amazing. He set my table with such precision, always making sure everything was aligned perfectly. Whenever he would place something on my tray he would put his hand out after the plate was set and say “please enjoy.”

The first course was caviar, which was served with the typical accompaniments. The breadbasket was also offered, consisting of garlic bread, assorted rolls, and pretzel bread. I went with some garlic bread and pretzel bread.

Oscietra caviar with garnitures

The appetizer, which was tasty, consisted of crab meat and avocado.

Crab meat with avocado and mango cocktail sauce

For the main course I had the salmon fillet, which was alright. Certainly not memorable by any stretch of the imagination, though it was edible.

Seared salmon fillet with caper and fresh herbs cream and mixed vegetables

My friend had the lobster thermidor, which he enjoyed.

Lobster thermidor, duchess potatoes, carrot green peas in tomato cup

After dinner a cart was brought around with cheese and fresh fruit. I went with some fruit.

Fresh fruit

For dessert was meringue with fresh fruits. While the mango balls were fun (hey, it’s kind of cool when they pop in your mouth), I wouldn’t have minded something a bit sweeter or another option. After dessert individual bottles of Evian water were also offered.

Meringue with fresh fruits

The entire meal service took about 90 minutes, and the service throughout was spectacular. While Thai’s food is fine, it’s far from being the best in the sky. Singapore, Asiana, and ANA all have better first class meals in my opinion, just to name a few. That being said, it’s not the food that sets Thai apart, but the overall experience, including the ground service.

Seat controls

With just under ten hours to go to Paris I decided to place my seat into the fully flat position and get some rest, since I’d be driving the following day in Germany. Each suite has a special monitor with all the seat controls that’s pretty intuitive, and it took about 30 seconds to get the seat in the fully flat position.

While the seat itself was comfortable, my biggest complaint about Thai first class is that they don’t have comforters, but rather only pillows and blankets. They’re the only quality international airline I know of that doesn’t offer them, so it’s a bit disappointing. Yes, first world problems.

I got a solid six hours of sleep, and woke up about four hours out of Paris. I decided to watch a few sitcoms and even ordered a White Russian to make my flight a bit more enjoyable.

White Russian

About 90 minutes out of Paris the breakfast service began. The menu read as follows:

Breakfast

Service started with a choice of juices, and I went with a glass of orange juice. Shortly thereafter the trays were set and items were offered from the breadbasket. I went with a croissant and pastry.

Breakfast setup

Shortly thereafter a cart was brought through the aisle with cereal, yogurt, and fruit. I went with a bowl of muesli.

Muesli

Then for the main course I went with the ricotta tart, which, like most egg dishes on airlines, was alright.

Mediterranean Ricotta Tart

After my tray was cleared I decided to head back to business class for a few minutes to see how full the cabin was. It was only about half full, which surprised me, given how full first class was. The business class cabin consists of flat bed herringbone seats.

Business class cabin

Between the business and first class cabins is a small bar setup where they usually place drinks and snacks between meals.

Business class bar

About 30 minutes before landing the captain came on the PA to advise us that we were 30 minutes out of Paris and would be commencing our descent shortly.

Within a few minutes the flight attendants were through the aisle to offer each first class passenger a flower. That’s the first time I’ve ever had that happen on Thai, and I’m not sure if these were used as decorative flowers during the flight or what, but it was a nice touch.

Flower

The seatbelt sign was switched on 20 minutes out, as there was quite a bit of chop on our final descent.

After a smooth touchdown and long taxi to the gate we arrived right on-time. Despite having worked for 13 hours the crew was all smiles as they bid us farewell, after another enjoyable Thai Airways flight.

Plane upon arrival

Reality quickly hit when we found ourselves in the terminal of one of my least favorite airports in the world.

For years I’ve been suggesting credit cards to friends/readers without getting any sort of a bonus for them (occasionally select credit cards had “refer-a-friend” bonuses through which I referred people, though that was very rare). And sometimes I even got emails from readers wanting to sign up for credit cards I recommended, asking me if there’s a link they can sign up through that gets me some credit. I just sent them the way of other bloggers, figuring someone might as well get commission for them.

Well, much like a couple of other Boarding Area bloggers, I now have a page dedicated to the best credit card offers and have the ability to earn commission on select cards. Nothing else will change. This has all happened within the past week, and you’ll notice my suggestions for credit cards stay the same as they’ve been for months, including the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, American Express Premier Rewards Gold card, and Starwood American Express card (see my TravelSort post from a couple of months ago here).

I’ll keep the page on the right side of the blog updated with the latest offers, and when writing a post about a credit card I’ll throw in a link to the application.

I don’t expect anything else will change. Yes, I’ll keep making the same old posts, though if you’re signing up for a new credit card and weren’t going to sign up through someone else’s link, I’d certainly appreciate if you’d consider mine.

I promise two things:
a) To always disclose when I’m getting commission for a credit card link
b) To only put up a link through which I earn commission when it’s the best publicly available offer

Fair enough?

If y’all help me out I’ll be able to move out of my mother’s basement in no time.

According to JonNYC over at TravelingBetter (who’s literally always right), the following benefits will be announced late next week for American AAdvantage elite members flying on Alaska Airlines:

Priority Check-in and Boarding – Gold, Platinum & Executive Platinum

Express Security Line – Platinum & Executive Platinum

Preferred Seating – Platinum & Executive Platinum

Bag Fee Waiver – Gold, Platinum & Executive Platinum

Apparently Alaska elites will have similar benefits when flying on American. I wish there were upgrade reciprocity, but I guess since American doesn’t give their own elites complimentary upgrades (with the exception of Executive Platinum members) that won’t be happening anytime soon. Regardless, more reciprocity with elite benefits is always a great thing.

American has just announced double elite qualifying and redeemable miles for nonstop travel between Chicago/Dallas and Los Angeles/San Francisco for trips booked and flown between October 27, 2011 and March 31, 2012. The offer is only valid for AAdvantage members with addresses in California, Illinois, and Texas.

Roundtrip travel is required, though it doesn’t have to be between the above cities. In other words, I could fly Tampa to Los Angeles via Chicago both ways and earn double elite qualifying and redeemable miles between Chicago and Los Angeles (assuming I had an address in one of the above states).

The bonus miles will post to eligible accounts 6-8 weeks after travel.

Registration is required using promotion code DEQ11 here.

This is the second time this year that American is offering this exact promotion, so I’m guessing they’re feeling the heat from Virgin America (or at least want to remind them who’s boss).

A couple of weeks ago I posted a new poll question asking whether y’all tip housekeeping when staying at hotels. The results so far?

44% Yes
36% No
20% Only for special requests

Anyway, the reason I asked the poll question to begin with is because this is a question I’m often asked by readers. I wanted to see how you guys felt before sharing my stance. As I expected, the topic caused quite a bit of heated discussion, much like discussing seat recline in coach and infants in first class.

Let me start by saying this — unlike most, I don’t completely hate the tipping culture in the US, at least for customer facing jobs. In the example of waiters, they have to be paid somehow. Either their wages will be incorporated into the cost of food (as is the case in Europe) or they won’t be incorporated and the consumer has the discretion as to how much they tip. This results in, for the most part, good/attentive service. Compare that to Europe, where it can often take a long time to flag down a waiter.

I’m also a very good tipper in situations that I think warrant tipping.

All that being said, I don’t tip housekeeping unless I have a special request or my room is especially dirty. So I guess I’m with the majority of you (56%) that don’t think “normal” housekeeping services warrant tipping.

What it comes down to for me is that I don’t believe in tipping if an employee:
a) makes at least minimum wage
b) isn’t providing a “skilled” service
c) isn’t in a customer facing position and goes out of their way for me

What I guess I don’t understand is why housekeeping should be tipped but not the front desk clerk that checks you in? I’ve never heard of anyone tipping the front desk clerk unless they’re trying the $20 trick for a room upgrade. Or what about flight attendants (especially in first class)? They literally serve you for hours and aren’t paid especially well, so why shouldn’t they be tipped?

For me it’s all very similar to airline fuel surcharges. Airlines sell you tickets to Europe where the fare is only half of the cost of the ticket. The base fare might be $400, while there are $400 in fuel surcharges on the ticket. You can’t fly a plane without fuel, so the concept of unbundling the two is bizarre to me.

Similarly, when I book a hotel room, I buy a room that has been serviced. It’s the product I’m buying. I understand housekeeping is often poorly paid (though makes more than minimum wage), but at the same time where does one draw the line between tipping an amount that reflects the service provided and feeling sorry for someone and essentially making a “donation?”

Anyway, just my two cents. The discussion was honestly eye-opening for me since I didn’t realize so many people tip. I’ll certainly view housekeeping differently, and at the very least be sure I continue to tip if my room is a bit messier than normal or I have a special request. But I just can’t rationalize tipping them for a serviced room without any special requests, at least not before I start tipping flight attendants, gate agents, or TSA agents (after all, they provide me with a bi-weekly massage).