All I know is that I am flying tonight to BKK

pipoz4444

tamada wrote: ↑

September 11, 2018, 2:39 pm

runrunshaw wrote: ↑

September 10, 2018, 9:36 am

I'll be flying Thai to PKG this week, business class. Again. Check in at the gate is mayhem... very poorly thought out and managed. IMHO, biz class food is not good. What premium service? They have been over priced and overrated for years. Ownership and upper management responsible, which means nothing will change.

I didn't know THAI flew to Pangkor. Is that a direct flight?

My typo. PEK is the airline code for Beijing, not PKG. For this non-stop flight at Suvarnabhumi, Thai Airways doesn't give gate announcements in Chinese, only Thai and English, even though 95% of the travelers on the flight appear to be Chinese. Since they can't understand the announcements, they angrily gang press the gate, making it impossible for families traveling with children and the elderly to board first. As a business class flyer, I didn't even try for pre-boarding. The hordes of Chinese--and I've seen this many times--won't let anyone get past them.

The twenty-something female Thai ground staff could care less--they're too busy taking selfies and checking their LINE and FB messages. And once on board the aircraft, the flight attendants in biz class cared even less, so I stopped mentioning it to them. This is how Thai Airways manages the flights from their home hub city, Bangkok, to a major foreign capital, Beijing. That tells you quite a lot about their management.

runrunshaw wrote: ↑

September 11, 2018, 3:17 pm

tamada wrote: ↑

September 11, 2018, 2:39 pm

runrunshaw wrote: ↑

September 10, 2018, 9:36 am

I'll be flying Thai to PKG this week, business class. Again. Check in at the gate is mayhem... very poorly thought out and managed. IMHO, biz class food is not good. What premium service? They have been over priced and overrated for years. Ownership and upper management responsible, which means nothing will change.

I didn't know THAI flew to Pangkor. Is that a direct flight?

My typo. PEK is the airline code for Beijing, not PKG. For this non-stop flight at Suvarnabhumi, Thai Airways doesn't give gate announcements in Chinese, only Thai and English, even though 95% of the travelers on the flight appear to be Chinese. Since they can't understand the announcements, they angrily gang press the gate, making it impossible for families traveling with children and the elderly to board first. As a business class flyer, I didn't even try for pre-boarding. The hordes of Chinese--and I've seen this many times--won't let anyone get past them.

The twenty-something female Thai ground staff could care less--they're too busy taking selfies and checking their LINE and FB messages. And once on board the aircraft, the flight attendants in biz class cared even less, so I stopped mentioning it to them. This is how Thai Airways manages the flights from their home hub city, Bangkok, to a major foreign capital, Beijing. That tells you quite a lot about their management.

Agree runrunshaw about the chinese mass rush getting on at any airport. But on topic did the price of the ticket go up? Or if your like me and try and travel BC where evr possible it won't matter just to get a way from cattle class.
I'll assume you have flown into Beijing before? If not good luck with the chinese lines at the other end going through immigration. It is hit and miss usually in a negative way. Did a number in outs through Beijing and then luckily later flew threw Tianjin, easy as down there.

Barney wrote: ↑

September 11, 2018, 5:54 pm

Agree runrunshaw about the chinese mass rush getting on at any airport. But on topic did the price of the ticket go up? Or if your like me and try and travel BC where evr possible it won't matter just to get a way from cattle class.
I'll assume you have flown into Beijing before? If not good luck with the chinese lines at the other end going through immigration. It is hit and miss usually in a negative way. Did a number in outs through Beijing and then luckily later flew threw Tianjin, easy as down there.

Barney, my mention of the Chinese blocking the gate was not a criticism of the Chinese passengers (although there is plenty to criticize), and I believe it was exactly on topic; the chaos at the gate was a result of poor management. Good management starts at the top. Poor management is why Thai ticket prices are going up. Poor management is why Thai, which 20 years ago was a very good airline, is now an over-priced airline in decline.

Fuel price increases are always a good excuse for airlines to add a surcharge or increase the price. But Thai hasn't needed such an excuse in the past, have they? I often fly BKK-LAX, and Thai is generally 3 TIMES higher for an economy class ticket, than say one of the Chinese or Taiwanese airlines.

Thai Airways has been in huge financial trouble for YEARS. Hundred of articles have appeared on the business pages of newspapers around the world on this. The root is the Thai oligarch owner--a big-ego type who spent lavishly on marquee properties around the world, etc etc, and basically ran the airline into the ground, no pun intended. This guy has been forced by the Thai government to sell off unneeded assets and get the house in order, but can't seem to do so, creating a national embarrassment. The only direction their ticket prices will go is up, regardless of the cost of fuel.

Just a few links here:
https://www.eturbonews.com/179191/thai- ... ial-losses
https://loyaltylobby.com/2015/10/21/tha ... e-airline/
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Thai-A ... ompetition

Juicier articles can be found elsewhere, but it's easy to fill in the blanks.

Barney, you are certainly right about Beijing Immigration. I have a ten-year Chinese visa and fly to Beijing frequently. There is no fast track lane at immigration for first or business class passengers: only diplomats or APEC card holders can use it, so perhaps Tianjin is an option.

I can't speak to the cost of my current ticket since it was purchased using a corporate travel agent some time ago and would not reflect any recent price increases on the part of Thai Airways due to fuel costs.

I used to love Thai and flew them whenever I could. Now, I generally don't even bother considering them.

tamada wrote: ↑

September 12, 2018, 11:34 am

I feel your pain. Truly. The traveling Chinese aren't a pleasant lot to be lumped in with. Although I do find it a bit of a stretch that you can't pre-board as a Business Class passenger. The Chinese hordes are not averse to being bowled out of the way. In fact, they're quite used to it.

How about trying one of the other, cheaper, Chinese airlines serving that route?

Tamada,
Yes, of course, you are right, Chinese travelers can be bowled out of the way--except when they are angry, then that changes everything, in my experience. The last few times I flew to Beijing (PEK, thanks for catching that), the flights were delayed, and since there were no announcements in Chinese explaining the delay, the great unwashed became a bit heated, to say the least. Thai ground staff did nothing to help rectify the situation. When the mob wouldn't let women and children get through to pre-board, I simply stood back to take in the spectacle. I understand a little about the psychology of crowds, and avoid angry ones like the plague.

Booking flights is something of an art. I need a non-stop that gets me to Beijing at a certain time; surprisingly, there aren't as many choices as you might think.

tamada wrote: ↑

September 11, 2018, 3:11 pm

Thai Airways to come up with yet another turnaround plan ... All a bit like shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic IMHO.

I agree. TG's problems are much more structural and run much deeper than improving the menu. There are so many better choices in and out of Thailand in all regards, -- hard product, soft product, price, etc.