rascott.com  "news, views, travel and an occasional blog"

Qatar Airways

BKK to London Heathrow QR613/QR1, 17 March 2006
London Gatwick to BKK QR 76/QR612,  20 March 2006

Qatar Airways is a bit like two airlines that join together in Doha, Qatar. From BKK they fly an older A330-200. No seatback videos; a main screen only. And the catering out of and back to Bangkok is rather average.

Then there is Doha Airport. The trouble with Qatar Airways is that that they built the airline before they built the airfield and the terminal. There are no airbridges; buses ferry passengers to the planes. The terminal is small and over crowded. The transit area when busy is a nightmare.

The planes are a new fleet of Airbuses; the crews are multi national and smart. The airline will do well with the right infrastructure. And the 2-4-2 seating on the Airbuses is much more comfortable than the 3-4-3s on the Emirates 777s.

From Doha to London and vv this is like a different airline. Lunch is the same choice of main courses as dinner on the flight up from Doha;  Breaded Chicken, Arabian Lamb or a Paneer Korma. There is plenty of food. Cheese, Bread, Appetizer, Dessert, Wine, Coffee and Tea.

The Doha/London and return flights are on new A330-300s with AVOD; a good choice of movies, TV, music; all available on demand and on a good sized seatback screen.

JetstarAsia

Bangkok to Singapore and Singapore to Bangkok - 3K 512 and 3K513; 1st and 2nd October 2005

I really do like the JetstarAsia colour scheme of silver grey and orange. Flying brand new A320s Qantas owned JetstarAsia flies from its Singapore base to Bangkok, Calcutta, Taipei, Manila and Hong Kong. The airline will soon start flying to Bangalore and Phuket.

Check in is easy at Bangkok and Singapore; the load on the Sunday flight to Bangkok was quite light. Jetstar unlike Tiger and Air Asia allocate seats on check in. The cockpit crews are expat (mainly Aussie which reflects the Qantas connection) and the cabin crew Singaporean, with a strong representation of ex United Airlines crew.

Seats are in a smart grey leather. Leg room is limited (probably a 28 inch seat pitch). Just about OK for a short flight but would be tough on a four hour flight to Calcutta.

All drinks and food must be paid for. Prices are reasonable. The gourmet baquette was a chicken, cheese and tomato ciabatta; it was heated and served on a banana leaf; it was fresh and tasted good. Cost was S$6. A gin and tonic; full miniature and full can of Schweppes tonic was S$6.00.

The crew serve duty free. There are also portable dvds for rent. Useful on a longer flight.

The web site is easy to use. The crew are smart and very professional. Thankfully they don't sing or make you do aerobics. The flights were both on time.

A very good low cost way to get in and out of Singapore.

EVA Airlines

Bangkok to Vancouver - via Taipei BR 68 and BR 10 Wednesday 22 December 2004 - Evergreen Deluxe

Evergreen Deluxe is EVA's Economy Plus product. EVA puts first and business upstairs on its 747-400 and devotes the front half of the plane to its popular Evergreen Deluxe and the back half of he plane to standard economy.

Evergreen Deluxe is configured 2-4-2 (it uses as standard 3-4-3 in Economy); has 37 inch seat pitch and seat back video with 6 movie channels. In all other respects the service is economy. Average food and a disappointingly average crew.

Arrival at Taipei was about 9.20pm local time with the connecting flight leaving at 11.55pm. Taipei airport is a pretty dreadful place to spend two hours with no lounge access. The airport is dead. Hong Kong or Singapore would be hopping at this time of night with so man long distance flights leaving overnight. But not Terminal 2 at Taipei. Usable currencies here are Taiwanese NT dollars, US$ and Japanese yen.

About 4 hours into the onward flight - 3am body time - comes the is there a doctor on board announcement. Is it a statistical law of averages that is any group of over 300 people there will always be a doctor or nurse.

Trouble is the sick passenger was directly behind me. No idea what the problem was. But she seemed to have a massive number of family, friends and hangers on around her all of whom seemed determined to talk loudly to eachother; use my seat as a prop and to bang into my aisle seat whenever they could. Did the flight attendants try to do anything. Of course not. I actually threatened one guy with physical damage after he bumped me for about the 10th time. The crew could have told some of the hangers on to sit down. They could have asked them to show some consideration for the other passengers. 

Incidentally I did not see the crew walk around the cabin even once it the night. No drinks were offered between the meal services unless you went to the galley.

The flights were on time. The seats are reasonably comfortable. The extra leg room is a great improvement over economy. The price was a 25% premium over Economy. It is clearly a popular product.

Tiger Airways

Bangkok to Singapore TR103 Monday 4 October

Check in one hour before the flight at Bangkok's terminal 2 was a breeze. I guess everyone else had already checked in.

Then through immigration into the over-priced shopping mall that masquerades as an airport.

Tiger flies new A320s with 180 seats - this is 18 more than Valuair has with its 162 seats on the same plane. Legroom is very limited although is probably the same as on Thai Air Asia.

Passengers are mainly Singaporean; there is a Chinese mainland tour group transiting through SIN and a few Caucasians. There are no Thai passengers. And Tiger is missing an opportunity here - they do no marketing in Bangkok; their web site is in English only and their pricing is in Singapore dollars. Yet their first three routes are into Thailand. They are missing the Thai market.

The carpet is a deep blue and the seats are in a deep blue fabric with red flecks. Surprisingly there is no evidence of the Tiger theme.

Departure and arrival were on time despite an almost full flight. Our pilots are Czech.

The Singapore based flight attendants sell sandwiches (S$5), instant noodles (S$3), snacks and drinks. They then sell duty free; the only one of the BKK to SIN LCCs that serve duty free. And then come around with the snack and drinks cart again.

The luggage racks are covered in Visa advertisements and they are giving a hard sell ("absolutely sensational") to the wonderfully named and far too sweet tasting Billygoat Hill Shiraz in a can; exclusive to Tiger.

Singapore to Bangkok TR 116 October 5 2004

TR 116 leaves at 18.45pm; an ideal time I thought for people to do a days work and head for Bangkok. But the load is only 44. And we are all asked to sit between rows 21 and 30. The sunset is stunning; worth the fare on its own.

Same service as before. Bumpy old flight. On time.

Valuair

Singapore to Bangkok VF 302 Saturday 14 August

We are about 50% full flying up to BKK at lunchtime on Saturday. This is no way for an LCC to make money.

Valuair is attracting passengers who may not have flown regularly, if ever, before. The guy in 2F has brought all his belongings on board. He has been searching through them at length. For reasons that I leave my dear reader to imagine some of his clothing has not been washed for a while.

He was looking for his tweezers! And now he is plucking his face. Seems such a complicated way to shave. Should I tell the crew that they might want to have a special clean around 2F.

The box lunch has hot Chinese carrot cake with an indeterminate meat sauce over it. It may be chicken. Then again it may not!

When one of the flight attendant stretches she shows off the splendid tattoo on her lower back. Last time I saw a flight attendant with tattoos was on Aeroflot - and they were ex KGB guys.

In reality Valuair is not an LCC. It carries freight; it is looking at code-shares; it serves basic meals; it assigns seats.

But I fear its owners may need deep pockets.

Prior to landing in Bangkok two of the crew decided to lead a short exercise class. Was this worse than having the crew sing to you?

Landing was followed by the anything left behind will be shared by the fas joke - except for spouses and children. There must be another joke they can tell!

On time arrival onto 21L at BKK.

Bangkok to Singapore VF301 Thurs 12 August

Check in 90 minutes before the flight is easy. Unlike other low cost carriers Valuair gives you a seat number on check in.

Made the mistake of asking for a bottle of drinking water at the cafe by Gate 44. They wanted Baht 80 for a small bottle that would cost Baht 7 in 7-11. So I politely suggested where they might put their bottle and went to the drinks fountain instead.

Strangely given that seats were pre allocated as soon as the A320 arrived at the gate the hoards were standing in a scrum at the desk. Affordable fares have brought a new breed of travellers.

We eventually boarded after the captain had gone in search of duty free! Expat technical crew rather than Singaporeans; that surprised me. More ex-Ansett Australians maybe. The airplane is a sparking new A320 with 162 seats. With a deep blue carpet and grey leather seating the inside is smart enough. The grey seats are very firm but there is good legroom - probably 32 inches. A significant improvement on Air Asia's cramped 737s.

I think I am the only caucasian passenger onboard; maybe that it why I have a whole row to myself.

We have four crew on board today and a crew trainer. She appears to be a dragon. And she should know better than to wear white slacks while working. It looks like someone threw their noodles at her !!

The rest of the crew are in polo shirts that are dark blue with a fawn trim and fawn chinos or skirts. Maybe just a bit too casual looking.

The crew do their introductions. The humour is rather forced; as though they are reading from the Valuair in flight joke book rather than being spontaneous.

15 minutes after take off the box meal appears. Noodles, a muffin and water. The crew then sell soft drinks, beer and snacks. There is also a coffee and tea service. The coffee is strong and hot.

And that was about it; another joke from the text book when we landed; it sounds so "prepared", like a cooking show; here's one I made earlier. And then the lead fa burst into sentimental song before we reached the gate....aarrgh !!!!Let me off!

We took off a few minutes late but arrived on schedule in SIN.

United

Vancouver/San Francisco/Narita/Bangkok UA 1045/853/837; June 21, 2004 - Business Class

I know it is going to be a long day when my alarm goes off at 04.38; dawn is just arriving; Vancouver is so beautiful at this time of year. Out of the Marriott airport hotel on the 5.30 bus to the airport. Stunning sunrise. I should try and see it more often. I guess today is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere. In more ways than one !

Check in at the First Class desk is quick; the economy queue is already long; a sign of things to come. The queue for US immigration stretches back through the duty free shop. But no-one can stop for duty free without losing their place in line. The immigration queue is like lining up for a ride on a public holiday at Disney without the fun at the end. There are no little signs saying the queue is xx minutes from this point - but I can tell you that it is about 45 minutes after you get through duty free and into the immigration hall. Maybe it is just busy because it is a Monday morning. But not all the desks are staffed which must add to the delays.

Another queue at security. One of the frustrating things about security is the inconsistencies. In Vancouver you get to keep your shoes and belt on but to take your jacket off. In Vancouver they insist that you take out your personal computer and they do a swab test. In Toronto you keep all your clothes on and there is no swab of your pc.

United 1045 is a 757. We leave about 25 minutes late after waiting for passengers to emerge from immigration. It is going o be a lovely day in Vancouver.

First class is full. Breakfast is some fresh fruit and a croissant stuffed with scrambled egg. Washed down with orange juice and coffee it is a pleasant breakfast.

It is a cloudy day in SFO and ATC is busy. We are vectored in the captain's words "far out over the Pacific" before we can make a final ILS approach onto 28R. We land at 10.00; a little late; I don't mind; I have 3 and 1/2 hours at SFO.

The red carpet (not red light !!) lounge in the international terminal is a decent size; There is some fruit, vegetables, brie cheese. England play Croatia at 11.45am PST but I fear it will not be on the lounge TV. A friend text messages me the half time score; England lead 2-1. On board I ask the crew if there is any way that they can find the final score. Later in the flight the fa tells me that the pilots asked Anchorage control but they could not help. That's the trouble when you have 24 hours of sunshine.

One of the crew was reminiscing about her flying days on the Asia routes with Pan American (before the routes were sold to United). Pan American she said was an innovator. United she said were 10 years behind the competition. I hope UA survive. Although I do not believe that it should be with tax funds and loan guarantees. It should be with new equity and even deeper costs cuts. To date those cost cuts appear to have hit the front line crew hardest. As one of the crew said the problem is management and far to many VPs. The Asian flights still appear to be consistently good business.

Pushback on time from SFO. Not a spare seat onboard. The lunchtime obento box out of SFO is poor compared to the one from Narita. The very "senior" crew is efficient; an average age close to retirement is reduced by a tall, attractive Narita based fa who speaks great English. She is about to take 6 days holiday. Sadly not in Bangkok! Ten hours later we were landing on 16R at Narita; an unusual approach as I have almost always come in on 34L. Two great looking golf courses off the starboard side on final.

Arrival is at 4.00pm local. The connecting flight to BKK is delayed 90 minutes while we wait the incoming flight from LAX. Their flight was late after making a stop at Seattle to offload a sick passenger.

Through the security desks for connecting flights. The guy in front of me must be a good republican. He unpacks his computer; he takes off his shoes; he takes off his jacket. No one asked him to do so and no one asks me to do the same.

The United lounge still has no food other than pretzels and crackers. But it does have private shower rooms. I even packed a change of clothes in anticipation! Wonderful. It would be 2.00am in Vancouver; no wonder I feel tired; the shower and amenities are good. And my neighbour to BKK will be happy that I have had a change of clothes and a shower.

UA 837 eventually starts boarding at 7.50pm. We were to land on 21L at 12.00 midnight and to crawl to the gate by 12.15am. Top deck of the 747-400 was full but with only two Narita based crew. All I can say is that these two were utterly miserable. They brought a new meaning to flying the unfriendly skies. Service with a grunt ! These intra-Asia flights used to be crewed from Singapore and Bangkok with friendly local crews.  Some sleep.

The flight deck were having their usual problems with local accents. They do take some getting used to. A request to Taipei centre to climb to 37,000 ft was greeted with "Confirm due to weather" in a falsetto Chinese English. He repeated it three times and the crew still did not understand. In an emergency I always think this could be dangerous.

Back home at 1.00am. 29 and 1/2 hours after leaving the Vancouver Airport hotel.

Bangkok/Narita/San Francisco/Vancouver UA 838 and UA 1052; June 11, 2004 - Business Class

I am not at my best at 5.30am; and I am not at my best when greeted by an army of baby faced Thai contract security people before I can even check my bags in at the United desk.

I had forgotten just how miserable the US government has made flying. And however decent the flight no one can make up for the aggravation suffered on the ground and the impression left by the people there.

Lets start with the first security check before you get to the check in desk. United has sub-contracted this work to Chubb Security. 

The usual questions about when my bag was packed and by whom. But my favourite was this exchange:

Security boy: Do you have any electrical or battery items in your bags?

Me: Yes, I have an electric shaver:

Security boy: Who owns the shaver?

Check in was OK. Bangkok airport is by the day ever more like an overpriced shopping mall. It it beginning to resemble Chatuchak market more than an airport. There is hardly a chair in sight; heaven forbid that people should sit down and rest when they should be contributing to the Thai economy.

Through the security machine. Behind a girl who seemed to have all her goods and possessions with her in a huge and heavy carry on. Why do people need to take everything onto the plane and why do airlines let them?

Then to the gate where the Spanish inquisition was waiting. An army of Chubb security.  Take off your jacket; take off your shoes; empty your pockets; stand on the box (does that remind you of the guy with the hood and the wires at Abu Greib?). Feel inside the top of my socks (what was that about?).

Another guy checks through my carry on bag; there is not much in it; but I refused to leave the desk until I had checked that my wallet was still there. Then he wants the computer turned on. Then I have to put all the cables back properly.

And eventually on board. United's business class has changed little in the last 6 years. The crew have new uniforms - these must have been designed by Walmart. The seats are ok. There are six movie and three tv channels on a small tv screen. This is not Cathay or SQ. This is basic. functional, grey, drab, unfashionable, cash strapped United. It is not really representative of Chicago or New York. More like Cleveland or Delaware.

Channel 9 audio works and it is fun listening to Captain Siegfreid take us to Tokyo. I wonder if his co-pilot is called Roy? Neither he or I can understand a word that Bangkok ground control says. Worrying. Bangkok tower and radar make more sense. I always enjoy the wonderful politeness of air traffic control communications. Thai 634 is following us. Dynasty (China Airlines) are using a lot of US pilots this morning!

There is a drinks service and then breakfast - good scrambled eggs and decent coffee. There is also a choice of hot pasta or cold beef salad served 90 minutes before arrival into Narita.

A 5 and 1/2 hour flight. And an early, gentle landing into a very grey and wet Tokyo. Connecting at Tokyo is a bit of a slog. If a couple of United's 747s arrive back to back the security area gets very crowded. Into the Red Carpet lounge; it is crowded; functional would be generous. No internet availability other than by long distance dial up. No thanks. Food consists of packets of dry crackers but no cheese and japanese snacks. I think I saw a bread roll. But it was a bun fight to get it. 

Onwards; Flight 838 to SFO; its not an orderly Japanese queue to board. Priority boarding is for the fittest, strongest and the most pushy as we shuffle past the usual embarrassing line up of beggars pleading for an upgrade. You get what you pay for. Why expect more.

Dinner is a decent Obento box; washed down by a nice Chilean Merlot and I was content enough to sleep for almost three hours. Flying time was under nine hours. Crew were efficiently matron-like and one gave a nice commentary of the sights of San Francisco as we came in on a picture blue morning. Which was fine if you were on the left of the plane but not much fun for the rest of us.

No ATC on this flight. Since most of it is over the Pacific I doubt I missed much.

Still no steel knives with the meals; United's latest innovation is a steel covered plastic knife. Doesnt that make you feel better! 

There was no queue at immigration; but customs wanted to check all my bags; I am in transit for heaven's sake. I don't want to stop in this country. At least not until they get rid of Bush.

And on to Terminal 3 for the connecting flight to Vancouver. At security it was off with the shoes and belts ! Why don't they just make us walk through naked; that will be next ! Anyway they were welcome to my shoes. I have been wearing them for 20 hours.

The Red Carpet lounge has fruit and pretzels. This must be the only place in the USA where dieting is enforced ! Almost there; a shower will be welcome ! Very loud American swearing loudly on a mobile phone in the business centre. Quite unnecessary.

Onto UA's old 737-300 for the 2 hour flight to Vancouver. The plane has been repainted in UA's new colours. The new livery is rather corporate but the plane looks smart. And apparently has much lighter paint; fuel savings are significant. First class on this lunchtime flight means a choice of chef's salad (which was actually quite good) or a sandwich. ATC on channel 9 which was busy out of the Bay area. Cheerful crew. Lady next to me tried to turn my seat and hers into a flying office.

Two final notes; all three flights were packed and all three left on time and arrived early.

Cathay Pacific

Bangkok to Hong Kong and on to Vancouver

CX708/888

CX708 was an A330. Off to a bad start. I will have to beg for a headset as no one wants to give me one. I already have orange juice dripped on my shirt form juice that was spilled on the drinks tray. Cathy must be saving money. They carry around a tray of drinks but no serviettes.

And the guy next to me has just sprayed fruit over me!

CX 888 was a 747-400 crewed from the Vancouver base and full.

Hong Kong to Vancouver CX 838

18 July 2003 - Economy

Cathay Pacific have bounced right back and their flights are truly full. DIscounted fares are helping. Hong Kongers have always had an eye for value !

The flight is on an A340-300; it was packed. And it seemed to take a very long time to get to Vancouver ! This was not helped by the fact that my seat back video was not working. Well their was sound but no picture! I did tell the crew, but only so that they could log the problem and get it fixed.

Food on this flight was dinner and breakfast. The meals were OK but not substantial. There is no appetiser with dinner but there is a little green salad; lettuce with one piece of tomato. The accountants have truly taken over the kitchen. Quite scary.

Bangkok to Hong Kong CX2700

31 May 2003

Cathay's CX2700 flight leaves BKK at 8.20am for Hong Kong. The equipment is currently an Airbus A330.

The airline served one of the nastiest non-meals that I have ever seen; I got up at 6.00 for this flight. The least they could do is serve me breakfast.

Instead they hand out boxes which include three pieces of fruit; two heavily wrapped sandwiches; one is hard brown bread with some sort of inedible fish paste; the other is white bread and I have no idea what was inside it. And a mini Mars bar. If I had a dog I would not even dare to feed him this meal.

Truly, truly digusting. The crews explanation was that the meal was the result of hygienic reasons. So how were the hot meals of old prepared and served; unhygienically?

For anyone who cares the flight was on time.

Vancouver to Hong Kong and onto Bangkok CX 829/713

12 May 2003

The difference between Cathay's old business class and the new is night and day. The seats go near flat; the television screens are good sized; the headphones are high quality; the blankets and pillows are comfortable. The television and sound channels are on demand. You play what you like when you like and pause, fast forward and rewind.

And this was a Hong Kong based crew which ups the level of passenger service by about 100%.

The only down side of the trip was at Hong Kong Airport. We arrived into Gate 2; the connecting flight was Gate 34. I thought I would go to the new lounge at the Wing; and use up two hours in the shower and on the internet.

The trains to the Wing were not working; that should have been a clue. I walked to Gate 63. The lounge was closed. Couldn't someone have mentioned this before we landed or maybe put a few signs up at the airport. It is a long way back to the main lounge which is back at Gate 2 !

CX713; once a smart 747-400 is now a workhorse A330. It was as empty as Hong Kong Airport.

Poor old Hong Kong; what a thumping. Very very few overnighting planes. Northwest's daily Narita flight is now an A320 rather than a 747. And there are large numbers of Cathay and Dragonair jets sitting grounded.

Bangkok to Hong Kong and Hong Kong to Vancouver CX 750/888

27 April 2003

Business Class

I take back all I said ! When you dont get the new business class and have to endure Cathay's 10 year old business class then you are at the bottom of the airline comfort pecking order !!!

CX750 comes from Dubai and Bombay to Bankok and onto Hong Kong. It was a 777-300. I had to ask for headphones and a blanket midflight. They were not offered.

The crew walked as quickly as they could through the cabin to avoid being asked for anything and so they cannot be stopped or catch anyone's eyes.

The seats are the old regional business class seats - OK on a two hour flight but dull.

A serviceable flight but to be honest - a Thai Airlines flight is more colourful and more personal.

The connection was fast in HKG onto CX 888 for Vancouver,

I was expecting 11 hour wrapped up in Cathay's new business class. It was hugely disappointing to be in the old style seats...and with very limited and very old movies showing.

The crew are all Vancouver based. They have North American style which does not fit Cathay's service from the heart. Any other carrier would have crew walking around the cabin on an 11 hour flight offering a drink. Or they would at least hand out bottle of water - not on this flight. If you want anything get it yourself.

Maybe with SARS the crew want to minimise personal contact ! Certainly this crew were noticeable only by their absence from the cabin.

You know what the airline should do - offer a duty free or air miles voucher to pax who are made to fly on an old style 747. Cathay has hyped its new business class - well its not even knew anymore ! Some acknowledgement by the Company that we were being offered a hugely inferior product would have been appropriate.

As for the movies - no video on demand here. A choice of basically rather old 2002 movies such as Catch Me if You Can, Star Trek Nemesis, Two Weeks Notice and Maid in Manhattan.

The amenities kit is nice enough. The food OK. And the Hunter Valley Merlot was nice. But in this crummy old seat I would rather be on AC.

Hong Kong to Bangkok

28 March 2003 CX713

Business Class

Cathay's new business class is a treat - and even more of a treat after a 14 hour endurance test on AIr Canada from Vancouver to Hong Kong.

Firstly, try and use the new lounge between gates 63 and 65 at Hong Kong's airport; the showers are spacious and wonderful; like standing under a water fountain. Shaving equipment, toothpaste and toiletries all help.

There is a coffee bar; a drinks bar, a buffet and a noodle bar. The business center is outstanding with row after row or internet ready workstations and desks. Very impressive.

As for the new business class.

I like the seat; I like the mood lighting with its changing colours; the inflight entertainment is outstanding.

Vanguard Airlines

New York La Guardia to Kansas City and Kansas City to San Francisco

1 July 2002

The flight from La Guardia was contracted to Transmeridian Airlines an ad hoc charter carrier based out of Atlanta. 

My check in bag was sent for search by the security staff at LGA. Now this guy could not pack his lunch bag let alone a suitcase. And English was clearly not a language that he was familiar with. Where do they get these people?  

The part that really gets me is when the ask you to take out your pc for screening. That’s OK. It is when they sent a 20lb bag through right after your pc and it comes sliding along the track to smash into your computer. A little consideration would be nice ! 

Despite a late departure the flight arrived in Kansas on time. The equipment was one of Transmeridian’s five 727-200s; an increasingly rare sight. Re-configured by Transmeridian the aircraft has only about 154 seats in an all economy configuration. There is plenty of legroom and the seats are comfortable. 

Drinks and a small bag of pretzels are served soon after take off. Flight time was about 2 hours 15 minutes. The Vanguard representative on board was a little too gushing in her thanks for the TM crew (twice) for looking after us so well. They hardly did anything !  

Do not use the bathrooms ! This is an OLD plane – and they smell badly ! 

Kansas City Airport (MCI) is a disaster. To transfer flights you have to leave the secure area at the arrivals gate and join a long queue to go back though security to your next flight with only one screening unit at each gate.

Vanguard are trying to run a hub and spoke operation. Flights come into Kansas and leave at similar times. The queue was long and wholly unnecessary. MCI does no favours for Vanguard and seems to me to be an airport best avoided if at all possible. 

The security staff are miserable. And the carpet in the secure area has not been cleaned in the last year (or longer). There are no phones and no catering once you have cleared security.  

This is worth knowing when you are about to get onto a 3 hour and 10 minute flight to SFO. This was on a Vanguard MD80. The seats are OK. Legroom is acceptable. Despite the long flight and the 8.20pm departure catering is a drink and the pretzel bag. There is no on flight entertainment and no additional drinks service. 

We were 45 minutes late out of SFO but made up time for an in schedule arrival into SFO. 

Really there is not much that can be said about Vanguard. They are very unexceptional. The fares are reasonable. The planes are clean. But there is nothing that makes them stand out in any way.

British Airways

Bangkok to Heathrow BA 10 - Economy Class.Monday 25 July 2005

There is not a spare seat to be had on the plane. The 31 inch legroom in Economy is manageable but not enjoyable when you are in the middle seat of three for the next 12 hours.

The overhead reading lights do not work for the whole flight. There are 18 video channels on the personal screen. But these are not video on demand. The choice of movies and entertainment is very average.

By the time dinner reaches me there is no choice. But the fish is edible; no idea what it was as there are no menus. There is a salad, a cold roll wrapped in cling film and a strange sickly sponge cake with artificial cream.

Breakfast is 90 minutes before arrival and is either a ham and tomato hot baguette or a vegetarian hot baguette. There is some fruit salad and orange juice.

The crew throughout were matter of fact and grumpy. They look like they have been dressed by C and A. We left ten minutes late and arrived 20 minutes early.

Singapore Airlines

Bangkok to Singapore and Singapore to Bangkok (EY)

Saturday 30 August 2003 and Monday 8  September

Good old predictable SQ. They do the basics so well and a full meal on a two hour flight makes travelling a breeze.

Both flights were on a 777-200. Neither flight was full. News papers are offered. Hand towels are distributed before take off.

A choice of orange juice, water, beer or white wine is offered. This has already been poured and makes for a very fast bar service. Meal; no wine refills are offered after the trays have been handed out. And that is it. Krisworld has plenty of entertainment options. There is a video in every seat back. And landing in warm exotic Singapore always promises much. Except I was connecting to Sydney.

Singapore to Sydney. (EY)

Sunday 31 August.

This is better business for SQ. Hardly an empty seat in EY. Given the late departure a cold sandwich is offered after take off. No thanks; looks inedible. Breakfast is served two hours before landing in Sydney. It is the equivalent of 5.30pm Singapore time. Do we really need to eat that early.

San Francisco to Hong Kong

Tuesday 2 July

Dep 1.40am arr 6.25am Weds 3 July

After surviving Vanguard, a flight in business class on SQ is a welcome pleasure.

 A good crew; plenty of reading material; newspapers from HKG, Singapore and the USA. New movies this month including Panic Room, Monsters Ball and the Rookie. Drinks and dinners served after take off. 

Still the old Ultimo business seat and no video on demand. This is rolling out much more slowly than the original plan.

An appetizer of two (portion controlled !!!) scallops, main course of lamb chops, fish or chicken and mushrooms baked and served in a lotus leaf – this was good. Cheese and fresh fruit. 

A sleep.

Breakfast was OK. Nothing to jump up and down about. And the only cereal offering is Cornflakes. Does anyone still eat them? Cheap I guess.

The only thing SQ needs to do is somehow stop my fellow passengers from snoring !!!

There are little annoyances with SQ. Why cant they leave me a bottle of mineral water for overnight. Instead you have to beg for his pathetic little glass and then for a refill. Why no overnight kit? A decent toothbrush and toothpaste would be nice !

Hong Kong to Singapore SQ 857

17 September 2002

SQ's 10.30 am departure to Singapore is a 747-400. Maybe only one third full in Economy so lots of room to spread out.

The good news and to some extent the bad news about SQ is that you always know what you are going to get. This is not Forrest Gump; but it is solid, reliable, comfortable and rather unexciting.

The good news is that even in Y class SQ still hands out hot towels and menus before take off. We are out of HKG on schedule. A choice of pre poured white wine (in large plastic tumblers!), beer, orange juice or water is offered. The meal is either an international selection (rather bland fish) or the Asian selection of Beef in Black bean sauce. Wine is served form full bottles with the meal. Refills are an afterthought.

The movie selection is wide but still seems rather like a B team list of movies. I watched Unfaithful. But the big Singapore censor had been out with the scissors and has removed 7 minutes from the film. Probably a good thing. At almost 2 hours it was rather dull.

Early into SIN with a straight in approach onto 20R leaving a long taxi to terminal 2.

Singapore to Hong Kong SQ 866

20 September 2002

Another 747-400 for this 1.30pm departure to Hong Kong. On time pushback and take off to the south on 20L. About 40% full in Economy. Exactly the same service as on the way down. The same announcements (change the city name); the same dreadful safety video with the flight attendant smiling benignly as she puts on her life jacket. She should be panicking; showing us how to do it in the dark, or in a decompression, or in a fast dive !

The international selection was beef, the oriental selection was wok fried salmon in a sweet and sour sauce. The latter was a bit fry but plentiful.

Saw an old colleague on the flight. Another one relegated to the rear of the plane! Singapore is a small world.

A nice landing into a sunny HKG and at the gate slightly ahead of schedule.

Based on these two flights it is hard to believe SQ's load factors are still averaging over 70%. And there has clearly been a migration from business to the rear of the plane !

Actually the worst part of the journey was getting out of the Airport Express station in HKG. The taxi took over 10 minutes to exit the station onto the highway. We already had HK$22 on the tab after traveling no more than 25 yards !

Best of all there were tow guys wearing "traffic control" uniforms who simply stood there and watched. They did not have a clue what to do. The taxi exit comes out on a single lane into a queue of buses trying to get to the Central bus terminal. It is a shambles. Welcome indeed to Asia's world class city !

Thai Air Asia

Bangkok to SIngapore FD700, March 12 2004.

Thai Air Asia is the joint venture between Air Asia and Shin Corporation. With 3 737-300s now based in BKK their route network currently includes Chiang Mai, Phuket, Khon Kaen,  Hat Yai, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Lets deal with some misconceptions first.

Their airplane is the 737-300. It is one of the safest airplanes in the sky and a workhorse of short distance flights around the world. It seats 148 passengers in a 3-3 seating.

Today's plane is sparkling clean. The seats are black leather - classy. The crew are in a smart red or red and black. Four crew on board; one Malay crew supervisor and three very confident Thai crew. One of the Thai crew speaks fluent Thai, Mandarin and English. All speak good English. The languages are useful on the Singapore route with a large number of Chinese passengers on board. All the crew look like they are enjoying what they do.

There are no allocated seats; this can lead to a scrum to board the plane as people try to be first on board to get the best seats. It is quiet today - maybe a 60% load. So seating is not an issue. On a full flight it might be a problem, and I suspect that given the scrum mentality of some Asian passengers this may be a problem. Colour coding boarding passes may help. Give the first 40 to check in priority seating, then the next 40 and then the rest, or something like that.

There is no inflight entertainment; there is no inflight magazine. They may be missing a trick here - in flight magazines can be a good source of advertising and of p.r.

You can buy drinks and food on the plane. Nothing spectacular. Simple but cheap; 60 baht for sandwiches. They seem to do well in souvenir sales! No duty free is sold.

Not all the passengers understand the low cost no-frills concept yet. Requests for water before take off were delivered by a smiling crew but people should understand that all they are paying for is to get to their destination safely and on time. There is no inflight video or music. It is a two hour flight. Who needs it?

Booking tickets is simple. Go online to www.airasia.com. It is a very simple to use and well designed site. Pay by credit card and get your e-ticket. There are also hotline numbers for non computer users. You cannot book this airline through your travel agent.

The fare from BKK to SIN is as low as Baht 499 one way. This can increase to about Baht 2,700 depending on the date and time of travel and the loading. Apparently about 30% of tickets are sold at the lower price.

You can change the name on your ticket up to 48 hours before the flight for a fee of Baht 500. You can also rebook your flight for the same fee plus the fare differential.

To give you some idea of fare comparisons - SQ's lowest fare is Baht 4,200 per person for a minimum of two passengers flying together on certain flights with cancellation penalties and again only a certain number of seats are available at this price.

We took off on time; we landed on time on 2R at Changi. We used an airbridge at both BKK and SIN. We were off the plane quickly and all the bags arrived.

On time, clean and decently comfortable. A happy crew. A good flight.

Emirates

Bangkok to Hong Kong EK Economy - 17 July 2003 and Hong Kong to Bangkok EK 383 - 5 August 2003 - Updated - October 31/November 3

This route is back to the 777-300. The trouble is the sate are jammed into Economy in a 3-4-3 configuration which leaves you in the lap of your neighbour. SQ for instance configure their long range 777s as 3-3-3.

But the food is OK - and I got to watch an episode of West Wing. What more could I want except a wider seat and a neighbour who did not smell so bad !

Emirates recently restored this route after the SARS scare died down in HKG. It is an extension of one of their Dubai to Bangkok flights, and is currently served by an A330 rather than the pre-SARS 777.

At about Baht 7,500 including taxes this was about half the quoted Cathay and Thai fare for twice the service. It is a daily flight with a lunchtime departure and a late night return to BKK.

Emirates has just about got everything right. Capable crew, a wide and thoughtful range of inflight entertainment delivered to a seat back video, a bar service and a decent good three course meal, with a choice of main courses and a drinkable quarter bottle of chardonnay. I was quite content when I got to Hong Kong; the food out of Hong Kong is not of the same quality as into Hong Kong.

What Emirates cannot do is manage "quality control" of its passengers. Why is it that so many Hong Kongers think every conversation is a shouting match. Why is it that they insist on turning on their mobile phones as soon as the plane returns to earth; cant they wait five minutes until we are in the terminal building?

Westjet

Vancouver to Toronto WS 640 27 July 2003 and Toronto to Vancouver WS 683 2 August 2003

This is a long way to fly on a bag of pretzels. But I guess at least there are no surprises. The crew are friendly enough but they don't really have to do anything ! They must get bored.

I hate to state the obvious but at over C$500 including all the taxes Westjet is not cheap. And when you compare their service in a four hour plus flight to the Emirates service on a 2 hour plus flight the differences are both startling and depressing !

Westjet flies this route with 737-700s, all economy, OK legroom and with leather seats that stick to your shirt ! The pretzel bags are the smallest known to man. The cookie packets have two small biscuits in them. Soft drinks and coffee are served. Wine is C$4.

Westjet is one of the so called low-cost carriers; but check the small print and it is not so low cost: but the flights were on time.

Air Canada

Shanghai to Vancouver

2 February 2003 AC38

Now I hate to say just how spoiled we are in Asia but this is a well worn and grumpy crew; one of the cabin crew is a dead ringer for Mrs. Doubtfire ! In the event of an accident we are in serious trouble.

It is a full flight - an extended range 767. And oversold in the cabin so lots of upgrades.

Air Canada's film choices are flakey. Maybe it is one way to avoid paying as much; but they do tend to go for arthouse movies and not box office. This may be laudable; but I am held captive on a 767; I am not in an arthouse. Give me something that entertains and requires only limited concentration !

Breakfast was limited due to a couple of bumps; so no hot drinks; and I needed a coffee.

Flying time from Shanghai is ten hours; it is a long haul in a 767.

One piece of advice. Never try and make an international transit through Shanghai. There are no arrangements for transit passengers. Instead you have to clear immigration, collect your bags, even though Thai had tagged them all the way to Vancouver. And then head for departures and re-check in. As a final insult you also have to pay the airport improvement fee of Rmb 90, before you clear customs again.

What can make this really interesting is when you do not have a China visit of any local currency. Now the good news is that immigration will admit you for 24 hours; and there are money changers in the departure area. But it is a huge hassle. And if Shanghai wants to compete with the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul it will have to address the needs of transit passengers.

Hong Kong to Vancouver

2 January 2003 - AC16

Air Canada flies with two classes only - Executive First (their business class) and Economy. This makes sense for egalitarian Canada and probably saves significant branding, training and product costs.

The Airbus A340 is almost always full on this route. Today was no exception. And the flight is fine. The seats are comfortable; there is good seat recline and lots or legroom. A friendly and relaxed crew were very at ease with their passengers and took the initiative to do most things before any request was made.

There are little niggly things that AC could address...

The headphones are cheap plastic. SQ would use the headphones in EY.

The coffee was always cold and always tasted like mud water. Given that AC proudly advertise that they serve Second Cup coffee this has kept me away from Second Cup all week in Canada.

The in flight movies were a very dull choice. They are slowly introducing video on demand.

And they might try cleaning the bathrooms....

But:

Food is plentiful. A dinner service, snack service and breakfast service. A choice of three entrees for main meals including hot congee for breakfast.

Bottles of water are passed out before the lights go out and we are all encouraged to sleep. Not easy given the 2.30pm departure.

On time departure and arrival. There is a well hidden arrivals lounge in Vancouver which can be used by their business class pax. There are good showers with amenity kits. Newspapers, food and drinks are available.

Air Canada

Vancouver to Toronto

17 January 2003 - AC

The red eye to Toronto is not a fun flight - but at four hours it is mercifully short. The scheduled 10.30pm departure was delayed until 11.00pm to accommodate the 6.00am landing curfew in Toronto.

Do eat before this flight if you can. A cold plate of tasteless salmon (or chicken) is served. There is no hot meal and no breakfast. They could not even be bothered to heat up the bread rolls. Hard and cold. The rolls and the crew !!

The flight was a full 767. Business class is configured 2-2-1 with excellent leg room. But really all I remember from this flight was that the crew were extremely grumpy and that my neighbour had bad flatulence.

Toronto to London Heathrow

20 January 2003 - AC858

The 11.55pm departure is not too popular. Business class is nigh on empty.  And terminal one at Pearson Airport is like a morgue at that time of night.

So why is Air Canada such a mess. Let me tell you a true story.

There is a security check as you enter the Maple Leaf lounge in Toronto. They did not like the little pointed reset device that is a part of my pc and insisted that I had to give it up to them. It is smaller than a nail file and looks a little like a very small screw driver.

I went to the front desk at the lounge and explained the problem, gave them my business card and asked that they send it to me. The lady at the desk immediately said - " I dont know if we can do that. And who would pay for the postage". I said it was the only way to get the pc reset tool to me and surely it was not too much trouble. She had to phone her manager and ask her to come and talk with me. Now credit to the manager who when she arrived said no problem. Mind you that was 12 days ago now and I have received nothing from Air Canada.

(And just fyi - its now April 27 and I have never received this)

But here is the problem. My RTW business class ticket cost over US$3,000. From Hong Kong through to London I was traveling on Air Canada. And they tell me they don't know if they can mail it to me as they don't know who would pay the postage. No wonder they need 2 or 3 people for every real job in Air Canada. And isn't it sad that the first reaction is no we cant do that rather than no problem sir I can look after that for you. It is a state of mind and Air Canada is full of "I cant do" types.

Gulf Air

Bangkok to Hong Kong

22 November 2002 - GF 151

It has been a long time since I last flew on Gulf Air; this Bahrain based airline has lost ground in the Middle East with the rapid rise and high profile of Emirates. However, it provides a reliable service with the most cosmopolitan of crews.

Gulf Air's A340 service runs from Hong Kong to Bangkok and onto Bahrain. The Monday flight to Bangkok was about 40% full only. The crew could speak everything from Afrikaans to Thai, Malay, Mandarin, Arabic, German and English.

The flight left on time, menus are handed out and a simple meal is served; fried noodles or chicken rice. Wine, soft drinks and water are available. Short features are shown on the overhead TV screens; their is no PTV. The coffee was foul, tasteless, muddy water ! And the slightly sickly salmon and grey coloured seats take some getting used to !

Slightly early into BKK with a gentle landing on 21R.

Gulf Air

Hong Kong to Bangkok

November 18 2002 - GF150

I was surprised to see the same crew on this return trip to HKG. Gulf fly BKK to HKG as a turnaround. But Monday's crew, instead of returning to Bahrain, had been held in BKK and were not best pleased at the extension to their trip! It was nice to see familiar faces!

We were a little late leaving BKK, with about an 80% load. Noodles or fried rice for those who wanted to eat lunch at 11.00am ! Sometimes plenty of water is really all that is needed.

A very secure and uneventful flight.

(Update - I took these flights again on 1/4 March. The flights are fuller; the crews are grumpier; the decor unchanged. And there is no soap in the washrooms. That is overdoing the economy drive !).

Thai Airways International

Bangkok - Beijing- Bangkok TG 614/615

October 12/15 2004

Remarkably TG just won an award from a travel group called TTG as Airline of the Year. This must have been in a poll of one.

TG operates to Beijing with an old 747-300.

The departure gate in BKK is gate 6; this involves being bussed to the plane. Gate 6 does not have the capacity to manage 350 plus people. It is crowded and chaotic and forget about priority boarding for business class. Predictably we leave 45 minutes late. They could have told us we would be delayed in the lounge. We would have stayed there.

On board the upper deck seats are the old style pack them in business class seats. There is no PTV; legroom is probably 38 inches. The bathroom is at the front of the deck past the movie screen which basically involves crawling under the screen.

Catering is adequate. No more.

In Beijing for the return flight TG uses the Air China business class lounge. It is Friday afternoon. The lounge is packed. Forget about finding a seat.

We leave late. You simply cannot turn around a full 747 in 1 hour.

It is a tough day for the crew. This is nearly a five hour flight and they fly it as a turnaround.

Bangkok to Hong Kong TG 630

March 13 2003

The old style 777-200 serves this regional flight to HKG and Taipei. Business class is a cramped 2-4-2. Fortunately it is not full.

Despite the 3.20pm departure a lunch meal is served; an afternoon tea would be more creative. So it was a good excuse not to eat !

This was a very average crew. One passenger (in 11k) had a bag that she left to be stowed in the luggage rack. Three of the male crew walked past and ignored her and the bag !

A very average flight !

London to Bangkok TG 911

January 22 2003

Thai really should renumber this flight. It is the morning departure from London arriving Bangkok just after 6.00am the following morning.

The seats on the top deck of this 747 have more legroom than on some of their other 747s; the space being comparable with UA. Lunch and breakfast are served; breakfast at the unreasonable hour of 4.30am.

Sadly I remember little else about this flight. But it was reasonably comfortable and on time.

The Thai lounge at LHR's terminal 3 has now been closed. Thai are sharing Air Canada's overcrowded lounge. Now since the airlines all refer to this as business class surely a lounge should have more than one internet connection for the 150 or so people that were in the lounge.

A new Star Alliance lounge is scheduled to open my mid year. Let us hope it is a significant improvement.

Hong Kong to Bangkok TG 603

July 13 2002

A breakfast flight on a 777 leaving at 8.00am. Its a bit cramped but it is a short flight and it arrives on time. Only observation is that the crew run up and down the plane so quickly that you cannot get their attention. Seating in the 777 in economy is a sensible 3-3-3.

Bangkok to London TG 916

July 13 2002

Thai's daytime flight leaves at 12.10pm and arrives in London at 18.15pm. Thai have a fine crew. Their problems are the seats and amenities in the plane...Thai cram 40 seats onto the business class top deck of their 747-400. Cathay by comparison would have 32 on the top deck.  There is no on the seat PTVs and the seats are so old that they still have ash trays !

After lunch the crew does distribute personal Sony videos with a limited selection of tapes. Any one travelling with a family should know that they have no children's movies.

The man in front of me took off his shoes and socks. This was very unpleasant. One of the flight attendants (not very diplomatically) suggested that he put on his socks from the was bag; he declined.

Food is plentiful with a choice of four main dishes (non vegetarian) but very uninteresting.

London to Bangkok TG 917

July 22 2002

Overnight from London departing 21.30. Thai's lounge at Heathrow is so cramped you should stay in the main departure area. It is dreadful. And don't even think about there being anything to eat.

Sony video units were not given out. And the main screen programming was very limited on the basis that we are all supposed to sleep.

On an overnight flight these business class seats are no better than in economy.  Far too cramped to be able to get any decent rest. And I am convinced that the heat is turned up significantly to try and make us sleep.

This will sound awful ! But Thai business class from London is for readers of the British Sun newspaper not broadsheet readers. This is reduced fare business class ! There are other and better options on UA/Lufthansa/SQ/SAS and others.

Thai really are the weak link in the international Star Alliance carriers.

Jetblue

Oakland to Washington Dulles

23 June 2002

Dep 11.40pm Arr 08.00am

 An overnight flight sitting in the middle seat of three is never going to be fun ! But Jetblue does try to be different. 

Booking on line was simple and convenient.  

Oakland is a poor airport. It has marketed itself as an easily accessible alternative to SFO. But late on a Sunday night the traffic was dire; there are roadworks all around the access roads. 

And the check in facilities are very cramped.  

The A320 was full. Some of the carry on bags simply should not be carry on. But the live TV is an innovation. And the USA works well for overnight TV. The channels include ESPN and ESPN2, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, Headline News, History, Food, Cartoon and Discovery. Headsets are provided.

There is a drink service with a choice of snacks. And before landing another drink service with a small snack box. 

The leather seats look quite classy but are actually rather uncomfortable and very cramped.  

Washington Dulles is a rather inaccessible airport. And Washington Flyer appears to have a monopoly on access to the airport. They run the bus to subway connection and the only licensed taxi service. In the capital of democracy and the land of freedom of choice – here there is an expensive monopoly; this cannot be right. And after paying only US$124 for a five hour flight across the USA it is robbery to have to pay US$50 for a taxi to downtown !!