China Southern vs Korean Air - need help deciding

[kash buc]

Last I saw and heard here on PA, Thai Airways got rid of the non-stops from USA to BKK.  That is why I have had to use these other options. 

 

 

I believe in airline speak 'direct flight' means you stay on the same plane for the entire flight even with stops. 

[LASportsNut]

I believe in airline speak 'direct flight' means you stay on the same plane for the entire flight even with stops. 

Ya, you are probably right. I was confused because my first flight to LOS was a non-stop flight on Thai Airways (LAX to BKK).

[Luv2Phuket]

I believe in airline speak 'direct flight' means you stay on the same plane for the entire flight even with stops. 

 

Yes, Thai has service that is a direct flight (i.e., a stop, but no change of planes) from LAX-BKK and back.  I believe the Thai non-stop flights -- which were brutally long, but shaved some time due to no stops -- were discontinued in March of last year.

 

The direct flight It is limited to 4 flights per week (each way), and it appears that they only fly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.  

 

In addition to the limited days, the departure times may or may not be good, depending upon your opinion.  

Flight from LAX leaves at 2 p.m.; arrives in BKK at 11:40 p.m. the next day (so leave on Thurs. at 2 p.m.; arrive in BKK on Fri. night at 1140 p.m.).  

Return flight leaves BKK at 7:30 a.m.; arrives LAX at noon (same day) (7:30 a.m. flight sucks in my opinion).  

Even though there is no change of planes, you still have about an hour and a half on the ground in Seoul each way.

[mr21]

I just wanted to provide an update to this thread:

 

Last night I was on Hipmunk.com and it showed China Southern Airlines (CSA) roundtrip LAX - BKK for $982 (total). The day before the price was $1160 so I immediately booked the ticket thru Priceline for $987. Two years ago I used Priceline for a multi-city ticket to Vietnam and Cambodia without any issues.

 

I usually prefer making reservations directly with the airline's website, but there was a problem receiving a verification code via SMS that is required. After doing some research, it appears a Chinese based cell # is needed to do this. Has anyone here had success booking directly with CSA from the U.S.? 

 

The layovers are 3.5 hrs and 2 hrs in CAN  which is pretty good. The trans-pacific flights (15.5 hrs, 12.5 hrs) are on a A380 which is a great plane - I took one with Singapore Airlines in April. Seatguru shows the seat pitch in economy at 35-36" on CSA which would be wonderful if accurate. I also like the 10:50am arrival to BKK which will get me in Patts at a perfect time to check in and get cleaned up for the evening. The return flight is at 3:30pm, which avoids an early morning wake-up to get back to the BKK.

 

Thanks to everyone that provided helpful feedback in this thread. PA board members are the best and I am looking forward to meeting up with some during my first trip to LOS in Feb. Cheers!

[Kilili]

I'd also look at China Air and EVA. They have comparable fares and schedules usually pretty good.  China Air prices seem to bounce in the range of $1,000 to $1,500, depending on which site you use.  Sometimes their own site is cheapest, sometimes not.

 

Used China Air before out of SFO, but this Nov using EVA.  Their seats have a bit more room.  Always good to look up flights on Seat Guru to check things like this, and, as mentioned, always good to check on HipMunk forconnection times and such.

 

Believe Air China seat specs about same as China Air.  Never check Korean Air.

[Daddee]

The only carrier flying direct to Bkk is Thai Airways. Maybe a bit more expensive but you avoid all the possible things that can go wrong when you have to change planes. Otherwise it may turn out great or awful, you'll never know.

 

Thai is flying direct to BKK from where??????  Nevermind, should have read the rest of the posts first!