I have had the great privilege of trying Thai Airways first class a couple of times and it is no doubt that if you fly a lot, this is a real treat! It all depends on which routing you fly, which plane you get, which crew you have etc but this review is based on experience on first class on an older Boeing 747 and a newer Boeing 777-300ER (leased from Jet Airways). First of all – if you check in at Suvanabhumi airport in Bangkok when flying Thai Airways first class, life could not be any simpler. You just go to the Royal First class check in and they will take your suitcases, your passport and then seat you in HUGE chairs and while you are enjoying a cold drink and a cold cloth, they will check you in and make sure that you get your boarding pass. After this you get guided through airport priority security check and a separate immigration control and once you are through it leads you straight to the Royal Orchid lounge. But for first class passengers it is not enough with a business lounge – you get picked up by a small “car” and driven through the business lounge and into the first class lounge next door. As a relative young and healthy person I could easily have walked this but I guess this is a part of the special treatment

The First class lounge has been voted the best first class lounge in the world but I’m sorry Thai Airways…I have to object and say that this is not correct. The best first class lounge is in Frankfurt (Lufthansa First Class Terminal) but that is a different story that you can read about here (XXX). But the first class lounge in Bangkok is great –you have lots of good chairs, separate rooms if you are traveling in a group, lots of good free drinks (but only Moet and Chandon champagne) and a good selection of food. You can also take showers, get a PC to get online, the wifi is free etc. But there is also a Royal Orchid Spa where you can get a massage complimentary! There is no better way of starting a long flight than having 1 hour full body massage!

When traveling in June 2012 there was a bit of fuzz as we were supposed to travel through London but when we checked in we got another routing via Frankfurt. Luckily the two flights had take-off at approximately the same time and the advantage was that we got a Boeing 777 leased from Jet Airways instead of an old Boeing 747. Due to this we got a first class with separate compartments like you can find on Emirates first class and Singapore first class. There are only 8 first class seats on the 777 (in a 1+2+1 configuration) and we got first class treatment the moment we got in there. The headset was already in the seat together with the duvet, menus etc. It didn’t take long before we got offered some drinks to start with and it is hard to say no when they ask you if you want a glass of Dom Perignon champagne

I was seated in 2A and I got a HUGE seat by the window. It resembles the seat that you find on Swiss airlines first class where you have a big seat and an ottoman in front and when reclining you form one bed. The difference between Swiss and this Thai flight was that the Thai flight included a small compartment where you can close the door to get more privacy around your seat.  Like on Swiss the table is HUGE and it is so large that you can actually invite a guest to come and sit with you so that you can dine together and face each other while you are eating –how great is that? The remote on the Boeing 777 were a bit confusing as there is one large remote just to cover the seat adjustments and then there is one regular remote to control the multimedia. The Thai AVOD system is quite good and it was displayed on a large 17” (or is it 20”?) screen so seeing movies etc was not a problem.

It was a bit scary to look behind the seat of the first class seat btw – there was lots of trash there so I’m not sure there are routines in place to handle this – it could have needed a round of vacuuming! The toiletry bag that we got was OK and the TUMI bag included stuff that you normally need: lip balm, mouth freshener, brush, tooth brush etc.  When the service started we started getting hot and wet cloths and I can honestly say that I have never gotten that many in my life before! We got these lovely warm and scented clothes both before and after meals!

When the table was set for two it was beautiful with the Thai logo stamped into the butter and fresh bread served. We got real caviar to start with (with garniture), followed but a salmon dish and topped up with a slow cooked beef cheek. One of the pieces of the beef cheeks was quite tough but the rest of the pieces were delicious. We also got an ENORMOUS cheese platter – me and my friend could have easily have shared this and not been able to eat it all but instead we got two large portions of cheese each! The dessert was a bit of a disappointment – I got a small chocolate cream and a pretty dry “muffin” with custard and berries on top.

The great thing about having a small compartment is that it is easy to get some privacy to be able to slip into the pajama that was handed out. The seat with the huge table in front is also perfect for pulling out the PC and working a bit. The only problem in my seat was that someone had stuck something into the power socket so I wasn’t able to get power to my PC and they didn’t have a plug adapter either. The table was a bit hard to move back and forth – so hard in fact that my friend and I had to really put our muscles into moving it. In the process of moving the table I managed to get my finger sliced but the flight attendant was there to patch me up.

The flight time from Bangkok to Frankfurt is about 10-11 hours so there was time for another food serving before landing. This time I started with breasola served with a mix of mozzarella and tomato and it was delicious. After this we got a tom kha gai (a typical Thai chicken soup which is creamy, a bit spicy and a bit sour) and the main dish was a chicken breast served with garlic mashed potatoes. Having chicken breast on flights is normally not a good idea as it normally becomes quite dry but this chicken was actually quite good. Once again the dessert was nothing special and I was a bit disappointed by that. But you can enjoy some very good cognac if you are into that – they served Otard Extra 1795.

The service onboard was great and we were mainly served by two flight attendants and towards the end of the flight they came to say goodbye with a traditional wai. I tried to talk a bit with the one flight attendant to hear what her work schedule was like etc. but she seemed to be very professional and didn’t seem to be interested in getting into personal details which is fine.

All in all this was a great experience. The spa treatment at Bangkok airport is great before going on a long flight and the small suites on board the flight is perfect if you want a bit of privacy for working or for sleeping. As they provide a pajama you can slip into a comfortable outfit while enjoying the great food and drinks served. Thai Airways might not have the same modern layout as you can find on Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa these days but this will change soon when they introduce the new A380 (see presentation here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Us4r02JRk ). I had a great flight from Bangkok to Frankfurt on Royal First Class and I look forward to flying with them again. If you want to read about a previous experience on Thai Airway first class (on a Boeing 747) you can read this blog entry: http://gardkarlsen.com/blog/?p=497

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures

Over the years I have flown quite a lot with Lufthansa in economy class – they have provided great offers to many parts of the world and their onboard service has been quite good (apart from their really bad in flight entertainment system). So when I was going to fly Lufthansa business class long haul from Seoul (ICN) to Frankfurt (FRA) it was something that I looked forward to! In July 2012 my wife and I checked in at Incheon airport in Seoul to fly LH713 to Europe. Check in was fast even if though the ground staff looked and behaved as if she had gotten out on the wrong side of the bed that day. Our request to sit together was met with a frown and statement that business class was full and this was not possible. There was no priority security check and no priority immigration and that was a bit disappointing for an airport that is labeled as the best in the world. I guess this is Asiana’s home base so I was also looking forward to checking out their lounge – but let me assure you, there is not much to look forward to. It is a rather dark airport lounge with no view of the runway. Maybe they have tried to make it look like home with all the books in the book shelves.

Our flight was scheduled for 14:05 and we boarded at about 13:30. Contrary to grumpy check in lady’s statement, our seats were changed so that we could sit together – in seats 10 G and K. These seats are located in the smallest business class cabin at above the wings of the plane (you can see the setup of the plane on the Lufthansa site ). The Airbus A340-600 has been the longest plane in the world until recently when the new Boeing 747-8 took that title. Anyway, the Lufthansa flight LH713 had a three class configuration with 8 first class, 48 business class in a 2-2-2 configuration and the rest being economy class.

When we sat down we noticed that a bottle of water had already been handed out together with a blanket, headset were already attached and we had also gotten a small toiletry bag with a toothbrush, socks, eye shades, ear plugs and some lip balm – the toiletry bag and water was “hidden” in a small compartment on the side and behind the seat so I wonder if everyone actually noticed it. After a looong while we were offered a glass of champagne (they had different bottles during the service so I’m not sure it was champagne) but the plane was still parked at the gate. After a while the captain announced that they had to take out some luggage, that there were flight restrictions over China etc. (it was not easy to understand as we could hardly hear what he was saying) and it would cause a delay. I pushed down the call button immediately to get some more champagne but I would have died of thirst if I had to wait for that response. I think I had the call button on for 30-40 minutes and no one came to check on me once – at all. You might say that they were busy with flight preparations but as I said we were supposed to take off at 14:05 and we finally left the ground at 17:40! So in the end I had to just grab a flight attendant that was just walking past or actually go to the galley to ask for service. I walked in once and two flight attendants were casually chatting away. When I asked for some champagne and maybe some peanuts they all of a sudden seemed to think that it was a good idea so they started offering peanuts to all the business class passengers. After a while they did walk around to serve us a small snack while we were waiting but the standard response when asking for a drink was “Just wait a second and my colleague will come past to serve it”.

After takeoff they could finally start with the regular service and a menu was handed out. It was rather grand but my wife was like “I’m not sure I understand the menu” and I had to agree. It was not very clear what we would get, what decisions we had to make etc. But when they started serving the food we got some explanation. There were three starters to choose from and I went for the fresh garden greens with Gruyere cheese. The salad was quite good but there was actually not that much salad but more cheese – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But this was served on a tray with salt/pepper, tooth picks etc and before the main course they actually removed this tray and hence they removed the stuff that you might want to use for dinner (or after) e.g. the salt/pepper and toothpicks.

The dinner option was braised chicken, sea bass on asparagus risotto or bibimpap (a traditional Korean rice dish). I went for the chicken and my wife went for the sea bass but when it was served it was easy to see that my lactose intolerant wife could not eat the sea bass dish. I like the Italian cuisine and I love my risotto and to call this dish sea bass on asparagus risotto is an insult to Italian cuisine…no, actually an insult to Italy and everyone that loves Italian food! The sea bass itself was OK but what was supposed to be risotto were just a few rice grains swimming around in a creamy soup.

My wife was not that that impressed by the chicken on linguine either. It was presented as “Tomato basil olive sauce” but she said the chicken was dry and the sauce was merely a few splatters of tomato puree. So could the dessert make up for this rather bad start? On the menu we had the option of chocolate terrine or cheese or fruit salad – when the FA came to me I asked for the chocolate and she was like “Oh, you got the last one” like I had won a prize. But I can assure you…I did not feel like I had hit the jackpot. I don’t know who came up with the idea of combining chocolate cake with terrine as this was not very good – a chocolate “cake” that seemed to have been overdosed on gelatin and with not a lot of taste.

Let us talk about the configuration and seat for a bit. Lufthansa is a big company and they have lots of different planes and they also have different options for seats. I think there is at least three different first class seats at the moment and they have finally came to realize that they have to introduce a proper lie flat business class seat to be able to compete with other major airlines. This plane had a pretty standard Lufthansa business class seat for long-haul flights if I’m not mistaken which means that you have a more or less flat seat but in a 160-170 degrees configuration. For me this means that you can get a better sleep than in an economy seat but I keep on sliding down so in my case it is better to turn the seat into a deep reclining seat but this depends on your preference of course. I think what bothers me the most about the seat is that there is nowhere to put “stuff”. There was a narrow compartment behind the seat where the water bottle and toiletry bag was placed but apart from that there is nowhere to place stuff like camera, the holder for my glasses, iPad etc. At least there was a small place for a glass of champagne There is also a power outlet if you need to top up your iPad or laptop! In addition to this there was a 15”(?) screen that popped up from the seat (we were on the first row before the next section) and the in flight entertainment is not bad but a problem with the StarAlliance deal is that it seems like all the airlines show more or less the same movies.

We were seated in the business class section in the back and there are only 12 seats there and the next section is economy. I’m not sure how this is supposed to work but it seemed like most of the economy passengers were using the toilets in the business class sections – and as the flight attendants didn’t seem to give instructions, the economy passengers were walking around in the business class section. In fact, I had to go back to the economy section to go to the toilet as this was available while people from economy were lining up for the business class toilet! This is not a very impressive setup! Maybe Lufthansa should consider informing people where toilets are located. The toilets in economy on the A340-600 are kinda cool as they are located on the lower floor of the plane. It is not like I mind sharing my toilet with economy passengers but the whole idea of flying business is to get better service, have a better seat, get a quieter environment etc. Having people from economy led to a lot of traffic through our business class section. Even SAS (Scandinavian) are able to handle this issue!

Before landing it was time for a new meal and as the previous serving had not been a great success, we were looking forward to tasting the Cajun chicken breast with some caprese salad. But when the flight attendant came she asked me if I would care for some Korean braised sea bream with rice. I asked what the alternatives were and then she said that they didn’t have more of the Cajun chicken. Wouldn’t it be better to just say this to start with? Well, she served the fish with a smile and assured me that it was delicious. The fish was not bad but it was not the meal that I wanted!

As we took off several hours after planned schedule, we arrived late in Frankfurt. We were lucky to get out of the plane early and got to a Lufthansa service center to get information about what would happen next as we just missed our connecting flight. For some reason we had been rebooked to go to Copenhagen the next morning – which is great if you live in Copenhagen but our final destination was Stavanger in Norway. But they fixed this by booking us into a hotel (where we got up at 4 am due to a fire alarm) and sending us to Norway via Aberdeen the next day.

Conclusion
I know I sound like a spoiled brat when I describe the service on board. I mean…I should be thankful for flying business instead of economy right? But I have had the privilege and pleasure of flying first class on a number of airlines and business class on e.g. Scandinavian (SAS), Turkish, AirCanada, Emirates, Thai Airways so I feel like have something to compare it to.  When flying for work I have looked into flying with Lufthansa several times but the prices has normally be substantially higher compared to  e.g. Scandinavian (and sometimes more or less on par with Singapore Airlines). If I can save 30% by flying Scandinavian compared to Lufthansa I would do so as the seat on Lufthansa is not any better, the service is certainly not any better, the facilities is not any better etc. And if I had the option of flying Singapore Airlines with their new business class or flying this Lufthansa business class…let there be no doubt about it: I would pick Singapore Airlines any day! While Singapore can offer an amazing seat, perfect service, option of selection food before you flight etc. Lufthansa could only provide a tired business class seat with a crew that didn’t seem too interested in it’s passengers. Maybe the business class is too big for the crew to handle as service was slow, they ran out of food, when I tried to call for service no one checked on me etc. I know that this seems like a harsh conclusion – but I have to admit that I am disappointed by the Lufthansa business class.

If you are flying long haul on business class you are far better off by choosing Singapore airlines, Scandinavian, AirCanada etc. I do look forward to testing out the new Lufthansa business class (currently being installed on the new Boeing 747-8) – so Lufthansa: feel free to invite me back for a test of the new business class and I will make new flight review and hopefully it will be substantially better.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures

This summer you can pay to get access to the SAS business lounges in Stockholm (Arlanda), Copenhagen (Kastrup) and Oslo. In the period from May 16th to September 30th you can pay 219 Kroner (about 36 USD) per person to get access to these lounges but you need to have a ticket on SAS, Widerøe or Blue1. So if you have a long wait it might be worth it – you do get access to some snack and drinks at least

I had a lovely weekend in Paris but I do have some feedback that I would like to send to Scandinavian Airlines of course. It started at Stavanger airport (SVG) – as years has gone by there are not really any check in counters anymore. You check in yourself on a machine, get your luggage tag and go to baggage drop. I’m not sure I understand the point of checking in online the day before when you still have to go through the machines. But the machines work great and I have never really had any problems with them. The problem this morning was the baggage drop of as there was only one woman behind the counter. I do have a SAS Eurobonus Gold card but I was not sure that entitles me to go in the business line at SVG – I have tried it before and I have been told to get in the regular line as the business line was only for international flights and for Lufthansa. So after 20 minutes it was finally my turn to hand in my luggage and it was just in time as the plane was boarding so I had no time to buy something to drink and eat. But I do want to compliment SAS for their service on morning flights as you do get a small breakfast and a cup of coffee. The flight from Oslo to Paris was pretty uneventful and we landed on CDG on terminal 1.

Going back home again we tried out the SAS lounge at CDG and it is a pretty sad looking lounge but better than hanging around at the gate of course. It was great to see that there was a fast track for us to get through the very long line at security – compliments to SAS for this as well. When we came to OSL we had to take out the luggage, go through customs and check it in again. We headed to the drop of point and the line was extremely long this Sunday afternoon. Luckily we could take advantage of the Gold card once again as there was a Eurobonus Gold counter and we dropped of the suitcases without waiting. But then we had to get into the security line that was equally long – why is that when there is a fast track option also at OSL? But according to the signs the fast track at OSL is only for international passengers – why? But after 10-15 minutes in line we got through security control and it was back to SVG. So all in all not a bad trip as there were some very positive things and some negative things. SAS should really get more staff in the mornings as I have experienced waiting a number of times when dropping of luggage was Stavanger airport.

I read in the news today that Finnair has opened a spa at the lounge at the Vantaa Airport in Helsinki. It seems like the spa is for the passengers traveling between Europe and Asia. Sounds like a great way to spend some time at an airport of course but I’m not sure that I agree that this is revolutionary news as Finnair has it on their site  . There is a spa at the airport in Bangkok and I had the great pleasure of testing that when I flew Thai first class earlier this year. But maybe I will have to try out Finnair one of these days to Asia :-) Thanks to VG for the illustration of how the lounge looks.

After the stay in Hong Kong and a short stop in Bangkok it is now time to go home.  So this morning (October 1st) I took a taxi from Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi airport (pronounced something like su-waan-na-poom if you wonder) and it was a slow process as the remains of the typhoon Ketsena made it pour down. But I got to the airport eventually and walked over to the Royal First sign outside of the airport and a guy in Thai airways uniform helped me with my suitcase and escorted me to the First class check in area located at the one end of the terminal. Check in was fast as I was the only one there but it was a bit of a surprise when I had to pay a 700 Baht (21 USD) airport tax – I have not done that in a while at Bangkok airport – I guess it has been included in my tickets before.

From check in I was escorted to the immigration control where I got my passport stamped and through the first class security control where there were no other passengers. And right behind security was the escalator down to the lounge. I thought I was there already but this turned out to be the regular business class lounge. But as soon as I came down the escalator a small buggy car turned up from nowhere and I was asked to get on to be transported to the First Class lounge. I know the business lounge is kinda long but I still feel silly being transported in a small car when I’m still capable of walking

I was pretty much alone in the Thai First class lounge and it was of course with some anticipation that I entered the lounge – after all this lounge has been voted the best First Class lounge in the world in 2009 by Skytrax . So how would it compare to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal experience? (see previous entries on http://gardkarlsen.com/blog/?p=457 and http://gardkarlsen.com/blog/?p=466 . As in the business class lounge I was met by lots of staff greeting me with the traditional wai and I was led by one girl to the seating area. In this lounge you can choose to have a separate room with a few recliners and a TV or you can sit in recliners in the main seating area. The lounge looks pretty exclusive with the large chairs, the soft carpet and this use of dark wood on pillars and walls. I did ask if I could take some pictures and a guy escorted me around and proudly showed me the Skytrax award that is on display in the lounge itself. There is of course a business center where you can use a PC, a separate dining area, a smokers lounge with great ventilation etc.

The food selection was not really that impressive – all the hot food was to order and not buffet style and I had the option of spaghetti Bolognese, spaghetti cabonara, wonton soup, chicken in green curry Thai style, pork in teriyaki and I think that was about it. So all in all the food selection is not spectacular if you compare it with the Emirates lounge in London or the Lufthansa First Class terminal. The drink menu is also a lot shorter in the Royal First lounge but I think that most people will find something they like as they can offer cocktails, beer, port, a couple of red wines and Moet & Chandon champagne.

Another difference from First Class Terminal in Frankfurt compared to the lounge in Bangkok is that the lounge in Bangkok is located above one of the main areas of the airport and you get the constant buzz from the rest of the airport. I think I prefer the serenity of the First Class Terminal

There are also 4-5 shower rooms at the First class lounge that seemed to be very nice and also 4-5 slumber rooms were you can catch some sleep.

One great thing about the lounge in Bangkok is that fact that you have a Royal Orchid Spa. If you have been to Thailand you know that getting a message is quite common so even at the airport they have a spa. When I first arrived I was asked if I wanted a message and I said sure of course. Initially I asked for “just” the neck and shoulder message but everyone I talked to asked me I wanted the 1 hour full body massage….so in the end I caved in and agreed on that. The spa is located just a minute walk away from the lounge and I walked over there and got a lemongrass drink and a cold cloth while I was waiting, But soon I was led into a spa room and told to get undressed and take a shower and get ready for the message. I would of course post some pictures of myself in disposable underwear but in fear of scaring away new readers I think I will avoid that Anyway, it was really, really nice to get a one hour massage at the airport while waiting for the flight.

After the massage I went back to the lounge, had some teriyaki pork lunch and enjoyed a few glasses of champagne before I was told that my flight was ready for boarding. My flight was due to leave from C6 and a lady walked with me to make sure that I went the right way (not that I had been drinking THAT much) and once I got to the gate it looked like I was the last one there….perfect timing in other words. But more about the flight in the next chapter

So what is the conclusion? Which lounge is better…the First class lounge in Bangkok or the Lufthansa First Class terminal? Well, I have to say that I think Skytrax is wrong. The Lufthansa First Class terminal is far better than the First class lounge in Bangkok. First of all the First class terminal in Frankfurt feels more exclusive as it is separate from the main terminal and you don’t get the noise from the airport as you do at the lounge in Bangkok. The food and drink selection at the Lufthansa first class terminal is far better than in the lounge in Bangkok. But I have to say that having a one hour full body massage as a part of the service at the lounge in Bangkok was very, very nice.  But in the end…the Lufthansa First class terminal wins in my opinion.

Here is a short video showing a walk through of the Lufthansa First Class terminal lounge when it was pretty much empty.

I’m not sure when I heard about the Lufthansa First Class terminal the first time – I have been to some business class lounges over the years but the Lufthansa First Class terminal sounded pretty amazing. So when I booked my award ticket I made sure to go First Class vith Lufthansa via Frankfurt in order to get access (you can read more about who gets access on Lufthansa.com)

The flight from Stavanger to Frankfurt took longer than expected. I think the flight took about 2 hours and 45 minutes!  When I came out of the plane there was a man there with a sign with my name on it and he had a nice Mercedes parked right next to him. So I joined him (he never actually checked my boarding card by the way) and he took me to the terminal building. He was initially planning on taking me to the First class lounge in the B building by I asked about the First Class Terminal so he drove me to the A section and I walked from there. To get to the First Class Terminal you have to walk out of the main terminal building and walk for 2-3 minutes to get to it. When you get there you actually have to ring the doorbell and one of the staff comes to fetch you.

The lady that escorted me in took my passport and boarding card and told me to just enjoy and I would get my passport back later on when it was time to board the plane – it is not that often that I hand over my passport like this but I guess you have to trust them.
When it comes to the lounge….well, I guess there is not that much to say apart from WOW. First of all there are lots of leather chairs spread out in the lounge and there were not many people there so finding a place to sit was not a problem. Each table had a selection of nuts so they have taken the roasted nuts to the next level 

The selection of food seems to be pretty amazing…yes, the Emirates lounge in London was not bad either. But in the Lufthansa First Class lounge they have taken it to the next level. Lunch was pretty amazing with a huge selection of antipasti from a buffet (including huge a huge parma ham and a huge Pata Negra) and there were also several warm dishes including Thai soups, Indian food, risotto and so on, And for dessert a wide variety of sweet stuff including tiramisu, chocolate mousse, panna cotta etc. If you can’t find anything good to eat at this food buffet you either have some pretty weird food allergy or are very picky about what you eat.

As a Norwegian I also have to mention the drink menu….which is extensive Here you can choose to drink Bollinger, Taittinger, Ruinart etc champagnes, 8 different red wines, 80 different scotch and whiskey’s !, 7 types of gin etc…you get the picture. It is quite nice to sip some good champagne while having some Voss water to keep saturated Apart from that the First Class terminal has a cigar lounge where you can enjoy your whiskey together with a cigar and they have 4 shower rooms where you can take a shower. I did take a shower and unfortunately the water was freezing. But apart from that the facilities are very nice. There are also a couple of rooms where you can get some sleep if you want to.

The internet is free of course and there are also several small “offices” where you can get access to the internet if you have not brought your own laptop. It does not get much better than this.

About to enter Lufthansa First Class terminal in Frankfurt

This is a trip report from when I went from Stavanger in Norway to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. I used SAS and I went via Copenhagen and Bangkok on my way to KL. I used my Eurobonus frequent flyer points to upgrade to business class and that it always a treat Normally I travel with a colleague but this time I traveled alone.
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