Unique: The Economy Flight That Offers Lounge Access

All passengers on Bangkok Airways receive lounge access when traveling on any flight, regardless of class of service.

As nice of a benefit as that is, the PG boutique lounges (and not their proper blue ribbon lounges) are just a step above an airport common waiting area with some cold snacks and some water/tea/coffee. Not the same as a Sakura lounge

@ Thailand Starts Here -- Thanks! Added reference to that in the post, but as noted by Rob, I'd consider this to be a separate concept, and in a different league.

I wish more airlines would think logically about meal service like this. If I'm boarding a flight at 1am...the only thing I want to do is go to sleep...I don't need a meal at that hour and I certainly don't want the lights on for two hours while a meal is served, eaten, and cleaned.

An interesting and innovative concept. Although the passengers will weigh more from the food consumed at the lounge, this extra weight is more than offset by less catering food and supplies carried onboard and perhaps less cabin service stress on the FAs.

This is clearly set up to avoid serving a late dinner meal on the flight. On other JL flights that leave late at night - the food service is just a minimal, optional supper with the lights out - even in First and Business.

also relates to this flight being extra long and painful now that it cannot fly over Russia.

yes, especially for situations like BA/AA from NYC to LHR, where they operate high frequency shuttles between 6pm and midnight. They should have a policy of no meals on flights taking off after 9pm. People who want meals can opt into earlier flights, and people who want sleep can opt into later flights. BA has done things like this from time to time.

Porter Airlines has drinks and snacks for passengers in the gate area. Happy Hanukkah.

If an airline provides a meal at the airport, I am more than fine with the airline not offering a meal after takeoff. This is the type of cost-cutting that I am completely fine with.

Personally, if a flight leaves after ~9pm, I'd rather they fed us on the ground so I can get right to attempting to sleep once we're in the air.

... I say looking at the 11:45pm departure I have tonight

What happens if you have a special meal request like halal or kosher? Would they serve you a meal in the lounge?

Agree, for a while BA was serving dinner in the lounge and only a light optional meal on board on eastbound transatlantics, is that still the case?

You do pint out that the flight weight load is likely (more than) balanced out.
Try weighing yourself before a major meal, the actual weight gain is minimal. Any unusual weight gains are more likely related to fluids.

Hey Ben, Bangkok Airways offers a lounge experience for their economy passengers too. It’s actually a cute little airline. White lotus 3 will probably get them some love as Koh Samui airport is owned by the airline.

@mark - You do realise that most people travel because they need to get from A to B and time travel has not been invented yet, right? You are always free to decline a meal if you don't want it, it's not compulsory to eat it. But removing that option and telling people to just take an earlier flight (which may not be an option for them) is ridiculous.

Most normal people wouldn’t eat at that time, hence the idea is that they would mostly sleep on board.

I’ve taken that flight and was pleasantly surprised to be offered lounge access as I was in economy. Therefore I ate in the lounge and slept for most of the time on board.

Based on the comments here, I think you would be outvoted, and I think BA could charge much more for J/F tickets on later evening flights specifically marketed as being without meals. Most people in J/F between NYC and LHR want 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep and have little interest in eating (and less interest in being disrupted by noisy meal service for a small number of others).

I guess, if the lounge is just offering some food/drink that they otherwise would've received on the plane, the difference from sitting in the general airport waiting areas isn't that significant. The terminal seating areas at HND are relatively nice anyway.

Methinks a longhaul Y review is in order to cover this full unique experience…

(It was a 2:45 am departure pre-pandemic & Russian Airspace closure so the policy made even more sense then)

JAL have reversed the policy and now serves full meal (same portion as lunch/dinner) in all cabins for long haul late night departures (currently HND-LHR and JFK-HND are the only ones). Just not right after take off, where substantial dine-on-demand light meal menu is still available on request in premium cabins.

ANA on the other hand, could be disappointing on routes like HND-US West Coast-HND as they just have very minimal breakfast as the main meal in premium cabins.

AF until recently offered night service on the later flights from JFK and YUL to CDG where business class passengers could opt to have the meal they would have on board in the lounge.

For US domestic flights, I would prefer that cabin luggage be allowed, not just a personal item, even if that is offset by no drinks or snacks on the flight.

For it to become competitive advantage, I wonder how many people realize they will be given lounge access at the time of booking?

Not the only example of this!

Bangkok Airways has lounge access for all passengers at its BKK hub, and its Samui hub (owned by the airline) is set up like a lounge with free refreshments for all pax.

Tiered members of its frequent flyer program have a slightly nicer lounge.

JL still offer lounge access to all pax before Ukraine war

Sky express in Greece used to offer lounge to all Passengers in economy as well... Now it seems only available to full fares (that include a checked bag)

FYI, JAL do have some more mid to long haul service from Haneda around midnight - to DOH(23:30), to BKK and SIN (24:10), to SGN (25:25) but none of Y passengers on these flights would not receive lounge access.

One might argue that the overall travel time increases because you now must arrive to the airport earlier or go without a meal until 8hrs after departure.

I know I'm in the minority, but I typically will adjust my sleep and meal schedule to destination time prior to departure to reduce jet lag. Eating right after take off would be a perfect dinner time then to bed. Instead, you eat a late lunch then again at midnight London time.

About 10yrs ago I flew Blue Islands from JER-MAN. They offered a lounge at Jersey to all passengers and don't even offer a business class service onboard. It was pretty similar to a lower tier Priority Pass lounge but a great offering to all passengers.

I also experienced Bangkok Aiways great economy lounge.
Interesting food, coffee, popcorn machine. Low key but a little bit of unexpected luxury

Exactly, i was on one of the evening JFK-LHR flights in J last month, and i had eaten in the lounge before the flight. So on board i just had a cocktail drink and went to sleep till breakfast time.

This is smart from JL. It will cost them zero extra. In fact it will probably save them money overall. This is the last flight of the day, so the food in the lounge will be basically leftovers. With that said, I would rather eat lounge food on the ground that airline slop wedged into a Y seat. This idea is a winner.