Nowadays it's a real treat to fly in the nose of the 747, given how many airlines have retired the plane. We boarded through the forward left door, where we were greeted by two exceptionally friendly flight attendants and escorted to our seats. This configuration of Thai's 747 features a total of nine first class…
Continue reading: Review: Thai Airways First Class 747 Bangkok To Hong Kong
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Northwest 747s (not sure which model.... THINK 200s) between HNL and NRT had the same galley configuration basically taking up the "right side" of the downsairs business class section.
Since this was mostly a leisure route and J never sold out they TYPICALLY only sold J seats in the bubble and unofficially referred to the downstairs as "super coach" which they'd assign at the airport to Platinums or ???? starting 24 hours before flight. As a plat military guy stationed in Hawaii and OFTEN on the HNL-NRT run the agents knew me well....my office was a VERY short drive from the airport so I'd stop in the day before my flight and the agents would wave from a distance as I walked in and usually have my new seat assigned before I even got to the counter! I also often got OP upgraded to "real" J due to coach oversells ("super coach" pax moved to J, medallions or full fare coach pax moved to "super coach".
I flew first class on Thai between Sydney - Bangkok a few years ago. What they lacked in a truly up-to-date first class hard product was more than made up for in a spectacular soft product. Excellent ground services, both in Sydney and in Bangkok; outstanding food and drink; and superlative service provided by older, more experienced, flight attendants who were more impressed by me as a customer than they were with themselves. I'll take that over a gimmicky new F-suite any day!
Love having F in the nose -- one of the reason I'm partial to the LH 747-8i. Flew FRA-ORD last week in 1A simply for the novelty.
And yes, as others have said, KLM has a similar galley set up -- https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/KLM/KLM_Boeing_747-400_full_B.php
KLM have some 747 Combos part passenger and part freighter with that same galley combo, they have economy down the side of the galley.
Looks like an amazing flight, better than Qatar’s short haul service?
Which is the best way to redeem for this flight? I tried using Krisflyer but only biz availability shown...
I have redeemed UA miles for first-class tickets on this BKK-HKG flight 4-5 times, including each of the last three years, and I concur with the review: warmth pretty much covers it. In HKG. From this flight I invariably took a cab for Conrad Hong Kong where more warmth awaited 🙂
What does the age of FA have to do with "warm" or "robotic" service? I have had plenty of both from "young" or "older" FA's. SQ - old or young - ROBOTIC. AA - old or young - SURLY. BA - young or old - always British. CX - young or old - always spot on. QR - young or old - on point. Service is service - no concessions should be made for age. Strange perspective in this article.
KL have the same config on their 747s.
Also Ben, are you sure it wasn't Sean Mendis? 😛
@Jason - they board planes faster everywhere in the world besides the US. The last two times I've returned from Asia I've been on full 777-300s (once on ANA, once on Korean). Boarding time was scheduled as exactly 30 minutes prior to departure time. We left early both times. Whereas here they have 35 minutes boarding time for a 737. Why? Because over there people check luggage (no charge) so you have fewer tussles regarding overhead space. They dont have as many boarding groups - it's first/economy/ then coach - go! it's much quicker. We do this to ourselves over here. It wasnt always like this
A lot of inexperienced but well intentioned flight attendants don't understand the service routines or what they are doing. For example, recently on a jet airways biz flight the flight attendant only came around with the bread basket while the dessert was being served... anyone who understood what they were doing rather than just doing it like a robot would understand it has been done wrong. It's like they were just operating off a checklist without any understanding of the rationale for anything.
@ Karim I agree 100%. This has everything to do with experience and training, and nothing to do with age (see the blog post above).
You all see this? New Air Canada near miss at SFO video. It is insane how close the plane came...
https://www.sfgate.com/chris-mcginnis/article/Video-Air-Canada-near-miss-SFO-NTSB-12882099.php
I just flew Thai 1st on the 747 from BKK-SYD, had to love United’s old chart of only 40,000 miles for this route, and could not agree more with you Lucky. Thai has a truly first class soft product. I pre ordered a Thai meal for my flight and it was the best meal I had in Thailand. Can not recommend enough taking advantage of flying the 747 in the noise while you still can.
I know these new compartmentalized cabins are all the rage (even if they remind me of an office secretarial pool), but I do miss the old days of open, airy cabins with huge, comfy seats.
In the early 80's, seated in the nose of an Air France 747 en route from Paris to Chicago, luncheon in Premiere was about to begin when an hors d'oeuvres cart was wheeled into 'A' zone, loaded with pate, caviar and lobster and bearing an entire stuffed pheasant on top - wings open as if it was going to lift off!
Today, flying upfront is all about being boxed-in, both in First Class and Business. ("I'll ring if I need anything" SLAM.) I find it rather claustrophobic; no matter how good the service is. And with everyone shut-away in their private kingdoms, what would be the point of wheeling a fabulous stuffed pheasant into the cabin? No one would see it.
@James McCarthy - Here's the flight info.
Fare Class: 'O' [award F]
Cost: 35K UA miles.
Thu, 11JAN18
TG606, B747-200
BANGKOK, THAILAND (BKK) 4:00 PM - HONG KONG (HKG) 7:45 PM
Flight operated by THAI AIRWAYS.
Thai used to pick up all First Class passengers in a cart and take them to immigration. I guess that must have been cut as well
I think TG will stop flying their 3-cabin B747 on this route. They will be flying a 2-cabin B777-300 or 2-cabin A330, which will cost 25K for business saver [fare class: I]
@Adam - No it has not, and this site had a post on that a few days ago. Click link for
"Review: Thai Airways First Class Lounge Bangkok Airport" at the top of this post.
Shame this flight is no longer available. I just did this route in J would have gladly paid the extra miles for the F experience.
A bit 'over the top' for a 2 hour flight ( one that can be had for about $400 US rtn in perfectly adequate J, or $150 in acceptable Y). Nice but unsustainable.
TG persisted with these anachronisms long after the 'use by date' mostly in a vain effort to satisfy 'hiso' locals and 'more money than sense' farang.
Getting rid of them may help them reverse away from almost inevitable bankruptcy. I hope so.
BTW, the purple/yellow combo is common in Thai culture. Purple has always been a TG colour, going right back to the earliest colour schemes when it was a managed partnership with SAS ( including some of the Pierre Balmain uniforms).
The yellow is a royal colour and is most associated with the late , much adored and revered King . It has appeared more extensively since his death and is in tribute and homage.
There's really nothing quite like flying in the nose of a 747, period.
And the intention of this stretched galley was for the use of preparing meals for the "Royals" in the past, if I'm not mistaken 🙂
It's very unique though!!
Super VC-10, awesome! Love that memory!
Speaking of memories, I can recall many times flying on 747s configured thusly. Specifically, the Pan Am 747SP from JFK to DHA. Long, awful flight sitting in business class just behind the long galley on the starboard side. Meanwhile, the ARAMCO oil rig workers were a few rows back in economy getting as absolutely drunk as possible. 🙂 Crazy years and I was only 19!
I don't think immigration would stop flowers from entering the country.
Customs might give you more problems.
TG first class, like Air France, is hit or miss in terms of crew and soft product; I'm glad you had a great crew, but to others I would say don't bank on having the same level of service reflected in this review. Personally I go out of my way to avoid TG whenever I can. Agree that their first class ground service is top notch, but in flight service? Not so much, and for Asian carriers I try and stick with SQ, CX, and NH for any tickets whether paid with cash or points.
Btw, TG had the same galley setup on their MD-11s back when they flew those, which were used primarily on BKK-LAX one-stop service and varying BKK-Europe flights.
Being picked up and driven to "immigration" [after a flight] is different than being driven through a lounge before a flight. And TG used to do this in HKG. I don't think @Adam will find anything about being picked up and driven to immigration in HKG in a post about a lounge in BKK.
What a service for such a short-haul flight, and everything that was served looked spectacular. It would be really interesting to have a review of a TG long-haul flight. Hope their flights to the US can be launched soon!
@Ari -- That may well be the case, but @Adam did not specify which service he was referring to, so I took it as referring to the pick up at BKK, ESPECIALLY since I was not aware that TG used drive F passengers to immigration at HKG. I am sure that they have not done this for the last 4-5 years because I have taken this flight in F during that time span.
G'day.
Thank you for yet another great review!
I had the same flight in B747 in Thai First class about five years ago. I agree with your experiences. Thai's hardware leaves something to desire but is totally fine for a two hour flight. Much of what is lacking in hardware is payed back in hospitality. At that time I found the menu was more comprehensive than now - there was a seven-course meal with even western options.