Long Haul Business Class for under $2K (Long Post)

[ThePope]

So if you're arriving in BKK on a business flight you can use a faster security line? Ive never had a line at immigration but just in case what do i do?

[Luv2Phuket]

1 hour ago, ThePope said:

So if you're arriving in BKK on a business flight you can use a faster security line? Ive never had a line at immigration but just in case what do i do?

Depends. Business class should get you access to the Priority lines

Having an APEC Business Travel card gets you into the (typically shorter) diplomats, airline crew, etc. line. It requires registration, an interview, approval, and a $70 fee. It is good for 5 years.

The last time I used it (pre-COVID), it was in the section with the Priority lines, but to the far right.

[Kandinski]

1 hour ago, ThePope said:

So if you're arriving in BKK on a business flight you can use a faster security line? Ive never had a line at immigration but just in case what do i do?

Yes, the biz ticket will gain you access to the  priority immigration counters. Be aware there are 2 immigration points and fast track may only be available at one of them. 

[eddydb]

1 hour ago, Kandinski said:

Yes, the biz ticket will gain you access to the  priority immigration counters. Be aware there are 2 immigration points and fast track may only be available at one of them. 

Where are the priority counters?  I've never noticed them, but haven't looked too hard either.   

 

I've paid for fast-track service before but that has its own separate location.  

[Luv2Phuket]

41 minutes ago, eddydb said:

Where are the priority counters?  I've never noticed them, but haven't looked too hard either.   

 

I've paid for fast-track service before but that has its own separate location.  

I am 95% sure that Fast Track just gets you into the Priority Lanes - these:

[Just Browsing]

34 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I am 95% sure that Fast Track just gets you into the Priority Lanes - these:

I used to have TLM (Thailand Long Stay Membership) 20,000 THB pa which gave you Fast Track access at Departure & Arrivals, it's a lot like the Thailand Elite Visa service where you would be met at the Check-in Desk on Departure / Plane on Arrival & it was the same lines that you would use when travelling in Business Class.

 

[eddydb]

3 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I am 95% sure that Fast Track just gets you into the Priority Lanes - these:

 

3 hours ago, Just Browsing said:

I used to have TLM (Thailand Long Stay Membership) 20,000 THB pa which gave you Fast Track access at Departure & Arrivals, it's a lot like the Thailand Elite Visa service where you would be met at the Check-in Desk on Departure / Plane on Arrival & it was the same lines that you would use when travelling in Business Class.

 

 

Ok yes.  I've used that when paying for fast track.  Didn't know it was also available for Business Class ticket holders.  

Edited August 28, 2022 by eddydb

[The Blue-Eyed Sheikh]

6 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Depends. Business class should get you access to the Priority lines

Having an APEC Business Travel card gets you into the (typically shorter) diplomats, airline crew, etc. line. It requires registration, an interview, approval, and a $70 fee. It is good for 5 years.

The last time I used it (pre-COVID), it was in the section with the Priority lines, but to the far right.

This does apply for American & Canadian card holders? Things I’ve read have been unclear on the matter. 
 

Pre-post edit: I may be thinking of the extended visa-free entry. Would like to know about either one from someone in a position to know. 
 

TB-ES

[Luv2Phuket]

4 minutes ago, The Blue-Eyed Sheikh said:

This does apply for American & Canadian card holders? Things I’ve read have been unclear on the matter. 
 

Pre-post edit: I may be thinking of the extended visa-free entry. Would like to know about either one from someone in a position to know. 
 

TB-ES

I just read a travel blog on it today (see below). As of October 1, it sounds like we now get 45 days instead of 30 days, but it is only scheduled to last until March 31, 2023, with the assumption that it will revert to 30 days again then.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/thailand-new-visa-rules/

[The Blue-Eyed Sheikh]

1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I just read a travel blog on it today (see below). As of October 1, it sounds like we now get 45 days instead of 30 days, but it is only scheduled to last until March 31, 2023, with the assumption that it will revert to 30 days again then.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/thailand-new-visa-rules/

Not what I’m thinking of. 
 

I believe APEC card holders can get 90 days visa free, but that this doesn’t apply to Canadians or Americans. 
 

TB-ES

[travelling_man]

There are other threads right now talking aboug how crazy flight prices are.  But let's talk about mileage "prices".

When I booked my trip to Thailand very early in 2022 for a Feb/March departure, the airline (United) showed NO reward travel available after mid-September.  So I made my return in mid-September, planning to extend it to the end of the year.

Yesterday I called United and ultimately obtained new flights - but at a substantial cost.  My original ticket was Business class BKK-NRT-IAH.  The *only* replacement flight I could get was in coach from BKK-NRT and then business from NRT-IAH. 

But they added insult to injury.  I had to pay an additional 90,000 miles for the privilege.  That means the total cost of this ticket will be 279,000 miles.  Ouch.  That hurt.

While looking online, I noticed DOZENS of flights available -- at a mileage level of 650,000 one way.  You didn't read that wrong and I didn't make a mistake with the comma.  UNBELIEVABLE.

I hope there will be a day when mileage flights return to normal as well, although in the current situation, I can't imagine when that will be.

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by travelling_man
added image

[JohnSmith]

For Aeroplan members looking for a flight to BKK this winter.  AC is releasing award seats and 'deals' on the YVR direct flight to BKK and from all other Canadian cities.

Had this in my inbox today.

https://www.aircanada.com/en-ca/flights-to-bangkok

Unfortunately i have used up all my miles on upcoming trips but may be useful to others.

 

 

 

[Luv2Phuket]

4 hours ago, travelling_man said:

There are other threads right now talking aboug how crazy flight prices are.  But let's talk about mileage "prices".

When I booked my trip to Thailand very early in 2022 for a Feb/March departure, the airline (United) showed NO reward travel available after mid-September.  So I made my return in mid-September, planning to extend it to the end of the year.

Yesterday I called United and ultimately obtained new flights - but at a substantial cost.  My original ticket was Business class BKK-NRT-IAH.  The *only* replacement flight I could get was in coach from BKK-NRT and then business from NRT-IAH. 

But they added insult to injury.  I had to pay an additional 90,000 miles for the privilege.  That means the total cost of this ticket will be 279,000 miles.  Ouch.  That hurt.

While looking online, I noticed DOZENS of flights available -- at a mileage level of 650,000 one way.  You didn't read that wrong and I didn't make a mistake with the comma.  UNBELIEVABLE.

I hope there will be a day when mileage flights return to normal as well, although in the current situation, I can't imagine when that will be.

 

In my experience, United's awards have been out of whack for a while. With almost all airlines going to "dynamic pricing" models, I would expect that to continue for them and many others.

It's why I am HUGE fan of Alaska and Singapore, even though Singapore keeps devaluing their miles by increasing requirements for awards.

BIG caveat on United:
In March, I was able to get EVA biz OW for 99,000 miles for my November trip, including the "positioning" leg from LAS. Even though I may have been able to snag it for 75,000 EVA miles, I have clung to the United booking after repeatedly seeing 180,000 mile awards each way.

One problem you might be experiencing is substantially increased pricing due to that first/last positioning leg. You may want to see how many miles you could save by stopping the trip at SFO (or LAX or SEA) and then buying the leg to IAH. A bit of a pain in the ass, but it opened up a bunch of availability for me.

[ThePope]

I check the Aeroplan pricing multiple times a day for my upcoming trips to see if better deals are available as i have OCD. One thing i find is that if you check week-of availability things will pop up at 7, 3 2 or same day for better options as BR TG LH NH LX often release space in the final week. 

So i like to lock-in my trips with a refundable fare that usually costs 15k more points than a "refund for a fee of $150" fare and they are easy to cancel online so i can book anything new that comes up and cancel my old trip without hassle. Also since if aircanada changes a flight time/aircraft swaps that allows me to rebook any available booking +/- 2 days so ive benefited from this too.

My next trip is YYZ-DEL on crappy airindia business then a 12h layover followed by thai business... departing on a saturday. But whenever i look at availability on the upcoming Saturday I'm seeing better options like YYZ-LHR on AC then LHR-BKK on eva in business for 120k points, and usually LH is releasing YYZ-FRA-BKK in their 2-2-2 business for 85k points one way

So i guess im saying be flexible and check often for improvements especially the week-of travel

[madmike]

5 hours ago, JohnSmith said:

For Aeroplan members looking for a flight to BKK this winter.  AC is releasing award seats and 'deals' on the YVR direct flight to BKK and from all other Canadian cities.

Had this in my inbox today.

https://www.aircanada.com/en-ca/flights-to-bangkok

Unfortunately i have used up all my miles on upcoming trips but may be useful to others.

 

 

 

I'm on that YVR-BKK non-stop in January.  😄  Thank God not in coach. 

[Luv2Phuket]

46 minutes ago, madmike said:

I'm on that YVR-BKK non-stop in January.  😄  Thank God not in coach. 

It's a long ways off, but I'm eager to hear about it!

[Little Evil]

Random data point, but the BA lounge in Boston Terminal E now closes at 9pm (was 1am previously), which does nothing for me and my flight that boards at 1am. F**K! They used to stay open for this flight. WTF and I going to do by the gate for an hour and a half? And I skipped dinner thinking I'd snack at the lounge. 

[Luv2Phuket]

That sucks! Hope you found a decent snack and a place to sit

[jimboh]

Anyone know if the Qatar lounge at BKK is open yet?

I flew a few months ago and was closed, they put me to a dreadful lounge.

[Little Evil]

Kind of off topic, but man, I had to share. In a case of the most TiT thing I've ever seen....

 

So I knew Thailand's entry requirements meant showing vax records or clean test. I figured this was going to happen at immigration with the serious guys dressed in uniform. But no, this is Thailand.

 

555. Coming off the plane and through the jetway, we were ambushed by random looking people with no uniforms, saying "show me your health info" in a very unofficial way. This lead to confusion, as some people were transfering and others like myself actually needed to show records. So some people stopped and dug out their records. Others walked past confused, not showing anything. I'd wager they got like 30% of the people they needed to check. No rhyme or reason to it. A total mess. I'm home! TiT! 

 

[Luv2Phuket]

Major blow to my travel plans....

United dropped their late night flight from LAX to LAS a while ago and Alaska changed their late night flight to afternoon flight, so my 8 p.m. arrival at LAX on Singapore looks like it is going to leave me stranded.

The latest flight out now is a Southwest departure at around 9:20 p.m. I get through immigration and customs pretty quickly with GE, but an 8 p.m. arrival pretty much rules out anything before 10 p.m. Baggage is the killer. It can take 30+ minutes to get your bags at Bradley, and I would need to check them in for the next flight an hour before to be assured they make it onto the plane.

Also, Southwest is in Terminal 1, so it's about as far from the Bradley Terminal as you can get, making a short connection time even more difficult. Frankly, a SW flight at 10:15 may be cutting it close.

I'm probably lucky that Alaska made this switch, as it allows me to re-book for the next day. I think the Alaska flight was around 9:30 p.m., so I would've been cutting it VERY close (probably TOO close) to begin with.

I'm going to see if I can find another award ticket home (VERY doubtful), but I booked an LAX hotel in the (likely) event that I cannot find anything.

Adds about $200 to the cost of my trip (or 9,000 Hyatt points, whichever I choose to use), and it looks like returns on Singapore may no longer be an option for me going forward. Singapore flights through SFO get in even later and, in my limited experience, SFO hotels are pricier than LAX hotels.

[direct_voyage]

6 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

M SFO hotels are pricier than LAX hotels.

Agree with you on the unfortunate timing! Damn united strikes again.  SFO hotels are more expensive and when I lived in SFO I've never seen more shorthaul flights delayed than on SFO foggy mornings. They delay the shortest routes first so SFO-LAS wouldn't take much time to hit the delayed list.  It seems an overnight in LAX is probably the best bad outcome.

[Luv2Phuket]

Color me amazed!

I checked EVA (where I had 75,000 miles waiting to book a Biz class award)....

Holy crap! I found an award ticket that leaves BKK on the day I wanted to leave at around noon; 2 1/2 hour layover in TPE and arrival at LAX at 2:50 p.m. Biz class on both legs.

I prefer to leave BKK a little later, but beggars can't be choosers. Jumped on this, and it already is confirmed (NOT waitlisted).

I'm looking at connecting to a Delta flight (Terminal is next to Bradley) at 5:40 p.m. Almost a 3-hour layover should give me more than enough time (other option is Southwest about an hour later or AA 2 hours later - I'm always building in long layovers, but 5 hours is a little too much, even for me).

[bgtp]

Speaking of connections at LAX, I got another schedule change from AA for my upcoming trip. This one gives me 1:30 to connect at LAX on the way home. I do have Global Entry and I don’t check luggage. AA is at Terminals 4 and 5 and there are terminal connectors between Bradley-T4 and T4-T5. So maybe I’ll be OK. It’s all on a single ticket, so whatever will be, will be, not gonna worry about it.

[ThePope]

Eva coming through for me too

Im on a 2 week rotation with every second week off Saturday+sunday+monday and every monday off so my best day to travel is Friday evenings/saturday morning with a return in 2 weeks on the saturday or sunday to be back to work Tuesday morning

d1720 friday aug25 YQT-YYZ(ac)6h45m YYZ-TPE(br)3h45m TPE-BKK a1110. Priced as ~105k aeroplan but i opt to go 62.1k points +$860cdn

Honestly if the flight operates its the best possible outbound routing i can get for the best price. I usually finish work by 1400 and can fuck-off if i have to so getting my d1720 is no problem... 6h45m in YYZ is my "comfortable buffer" with how fucked AC is... redeye to TPE in BR followed by short leg stretch to catch the flight to BKK arriving at 1110... Patts by 1300... shower and Soi6 for 1700... i could do that every weekend

fully refundable without hassle at that price too (costs 15k ap)

gotta book the return but ill watch that like a hawk

Edited September 5, 2022 by ThePope