Business Class Fares & Offers

[bullseye]

21 hours ago, cheetzie said:

Great price!  Usually they are much higher than that. Some premium economy flights are near that price! 

At the same time Thai were 700 quid economy! No brainer.

[The Serpent]

Just purchased one of my main two flights for my holiday next year with BYO Jet

Melbourne - Bangkok 14/2

Bangkok - Melbourne 26/3

$2,831 AUD (around $1600 pound or $1800 Euro) with Thai airways, Business Class

[thinkingallowed]

In the middle of a side trip to New Delhi from Thailand and flew here on Nokscoot who are obviously a collaboration between Nok and Scoot.

A bit more premium economy than business class but it was the best seat available on the flight. 

Flight included big leather seat with reasonable recline and 38" spacing so not bad. Crappy meal and soft drink. 30kg of luggage. Seat selection.

Check in at Don Muang airport was mayhem with no obvious queue for "Business" class. I asked a chap in a suit with a Nok emblem on it and was whizzed to the front.

Boarding was fine and cabin almost empty. The cheap seats sounded noisy and full. Two chaps sat behind me and started showing each other stuff on their phones with the volume turned right up so I asked the flight attendant to give / sell them some earphones. They didn't have any but she got them to stop.

Some Nokscoot flights have a TV streaming service that they sell that you can use on your own device. You must download the app before you fly. Being an organised kind of guy I was sat there all smug as we took off only to find out it isn't available on the flight to Delhi.

Price was 15,000 baht ish.

 

[thinkingallowed]

^

Decided to change the return flight on the above and speed reading the terms didn’t give me much hope. 

Thought to hell with it just try and see what happens. 

On a mobile it looks like you are paying for a whole new ticket until the last page where it comes up with fare difference plus charge and that amounted to around 2000 baht. Result!

[carmex]

Wow! Prices for me have increased somewhat since my last trip in December of last year.

Qatar Airways business class from Manchester UK to Bangkok was £2,400 last year.  This year the quoted journey is £3,900.

I love Qatar Airways, for comfort and service but that sort of price is untenable for me.

I'm checking out Finnair from London Heathrow which looks good and is more that £1,000 cheaper.

Onwards and upwards....

 

 

[davidge]

56 minutes ago, carmex said:

Wow! Prices for me have increased somewhat since my last trip in December of last year.

Qatar Airways business class from Manchester UK to Bangkok was £2,400 last year.  This year the quoted journey is £3,900.

I love Qatar Airways, for comfort and service but that sort of price is untenable for me.

I'm checking out Finnair from London Heathrow which looks good and is more that £1,000 cheaper.

Onwards and upwards....

 

 

There’s a outside chance I’ll be able to travel in December so have been checking fares. Very high for my possible dates. About the only decent fare is with Air China but I’ve always sworn never to fly via China.

[javasumatra]

On 29/07/2019 at 12:10, carmex said:

Wow! Prices for me have increased somewhat since my last trip in December of last year.

Qatar Airways business class from Manchester UK to Bangkok was £2,400 last year.  This year the quoted journey is £3,900.

I love Qatar Airways, for comfort and service but that sort of price is untenable for me.

I'm checking out Finnair from London Heathrow which looks good and is more that £1,000 cheaper.

Onwards and upwards....

 

 

I've flown Finnair and Qatar in business. Finnair are OK, nothing wrong with them but Qatar are out of this world.

[basket case]

There’s a outside chance I’ll be able to travel in December so have been checking fares. Very high for my possible dates. About the only decent fare is with Air China but I’ve always sworn never to fly via China.

One of the easiest ways to track fares us to sign up for IFTT notifications from flyertalk.com's premium fares forum. Just get notifications any time there us a new thread. Most of the threads will be useless, but when a good fare shows up, it will get posted here

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[thinkingallowed]

On 29/07/2019 at 22:38, davidge said:

There’s a outside chance I’ll be able to travel in December so have been checking fares. Very high for my possible dates. About the only decent fare is with Air China but I’ve always sworn never to fly via China.

If you have to fly in December and have spare time then have a look at ExEU flights to save money. 

I’ve done a few Qatar flights from Stockholm recently for about £1200 plus positioning flights. 

Also had BA from Amsterdam for £1400 over Christmas which means flying to Schiphol only to return to the UK and get on the same flight to Bangkok that is selling tickets for £3500. 

 

[carmex]

Still looking for my December flight .... 

So far I've looked at:
LHR - Bangkok 

Gulf Air via Bahrain ~£2,250
Oman Air via Muscat - £~2,600
FinnAir via Helsinki - ~£2,600

Gulf Air is currently my 1st choice - as much because they are advertising 787-9 on all legs of the route, which look pretty nice from videos and reviews.

I'll probably procrastinate a bit longer - give the prices time to go up even further 

[davidge]

9 hours ago, basket case said:

One of the easiest ways to track fares us to sign up for IFTT notifications from flyertalk.com's premium fares forum. Just get notifications any time there us a new thread. Most of the threads will be useless, but when a good fare shows up, it will get posted here

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

Yes, thanks. I actually did that a while back when planning this trip so still get email updates. I’ll have to start checking them regularly again.

9 hours ago, thinkingallowed said:

If you have to fly in December and have spare time then have a look at ExEU flights to save money. 

I’ve done a few Qatar flights from Stockholm recently for about £1200 plus positioning flights. 

Also had BA from Amsterdam for £1400 over Christmas which means flying to Schiphol only to return to the UK and get on the same flight to Bangkok that is selling tickets for £3500. 

 

I know this is a good option for many but the main reason I fly in Biz is to make the journey easier. I find airports difficult, and painful, so adding extra flights isn’t really something I’d consider. I’ve actually flown direct 5 times out of the last 6 for this reason. I’ll consider a decent indirect flight if it’s significantly cheaper, but don’t want a ‘2-stop strategy’.

[carmex]

1 hour ago, davidge said:

I know this is a good option for many but the main reason I fly in Biz is to make the journey easier. I find airports difficult, and painful, so adding extra flights isn’t really something I’d consider. I’ve actually flown direct 5 times out of the last 6 for this reason. I’ll consider a decent indirect flight if it’s significantly cheaper, but don’t want a ‘2-stop strategy’.

Hi @davidge, I agree, for me it's the same. Getting a direct flight is the ideal. BUT for me to get a direct flight I'd have to travel 250 miles to Heathrow airport - so that adds either another flight or a rail journey (well 2 rail journeys - Kings Cross => Heathrow - yuk).  Do you have easy access to Heathrow? 

[davidge]

20 minutes ago, carmex said:

Hi @davidge, I agree, for me it's the same. Getting a direct flight is the ideal. BUT for me to get a direct flight I'd have to travel 250 miles to Heathrow airport - so that adds either another flight or a rail journey (well 2 rail journeys - Kings Cross => Heathrow - yuk).  Do you have easy access to Heathrow? 

It’s a 3 hour drive, but straight up the M4 and I’m used to it now. Qatar now fly from Cardiff so I’ll need to consider that as an option as well. 

[davidge]

Things moved quite quickly so I’m currently looking at LHR-BKK on 29 December and return on 17 January. Etihad & Emirates around £2050-2150. No one cheaper that I’d fly with. Direct about £2650.

Flying out of Cardiff but back to LHR would save me 2 hotel rooms and £50 in petrol and i’d Get one extra day in Thailand but about £2400.

Hoping some other LHR flights show up. If anyone notices anything please let he know (no European airlines, China, Russia, Egypt, India).

[Stillearly]

3 minutes ago, davidge said:

Things moved quite quickly so I’m currently looking at LHR-BKK on 29 December and return on 17 January. Etihad & Emirates around £2050-2150. No one cheaper that I’d fly with. Direct about £2650.

Flying out of Cardiff but back to LHR would save me 2 hotel rooms and £50 in petrol and i’d Get one extra day in Thailand but about £2400.

Hoping some other LHR flights show up. If anyone notices anything please let he know (no European airlines, China, Russia, Egypt, India).

If you haven't already get yourself on emailing lists for your preferred airlines , any sales etc you'll get an email a few days before .... but your dates are peak season , so I doubt you will get much cheaper 

[davidge]

2 hours ago, Stillearly said:

If you haven't already get yourself on emailing lists for your preferred airlines , any sales etc you'll get an email a few days before .... but your dates are peak season , so I doubt you will get much cheaper 

Yes, thanks, I appreciate that.

Basically, I’m a full time carer and only get a break when my sister visits. Out of the blue,  just as this year’s break is ending, she’s said she’ll now come twice a year. So I’ve no choice over dates but don’t want to turn the chance down as I really need the breaks. I’m just going to have to bite the bullet and pay the fare. 

[blue1878]

On 31/07/2019 at 14:53, davidge said:

Things moved quite quickly so I’m currently looking at LHR-BKK on 29 December and return on 17 January. Etihad & Emirates around £2050-2150. No one cheaper that I’d fly with. Direct about £2650.

Flying out of Cardiff but back to LHR would save me 2 hotel rooms and £50 in petrol and i’d Get one extra day in Thailand but about £2400.

Hoping some other LHR flights show up. If anyone notices anything please let he know (no European airlines, China, Russia, Egypt, India).

Don't forget to add your name to the December & January Roll calls when you've booked your flights

[Somchai1]

On 31/07/2019 at 01:39, javasumatra said:

I've flown Finnair and Qatar in business. Finnair are OK, nothing wrong with them but Qatar are out of this world.

Finnair is fine if you value a lie flat bed over ‘service’ . try and get on their A350 planes where possible, as they are newer and are a baby A380. I flew LHR-BKK via Helsinki a couple of times over the last few years. my wife was told she couldn’t have anymore food-not sure if it was an inflight snack or a main meal- as she already had her quota or words to that effect, which was a little surprising . I would say Finnair are at the very basic level of Business class, which I guess was reflected in the price. We paid £1400-1500 both times. The Hel-LHR return was on a very small plane. It was like flying Ryanair with free champagne

[davidge]

Not Business Class but thought this might interest someone:

To: Bangkok (BKK) From (Premium Economy): London (LHR) - £578 London (LCY) - £604 Manchester (MAN) - £648 Birmingham (BHX) - £648 Newcastle (NCL) - £633 Glasgow (GLA) - £647 Edinburgh (EDI) - £648

Travel Dates: September - June (excluding December & Easter holidays)   Airline: Lufthansa (5-star) Standard Fare: £1100+ (Premium Economy) Bags: Checked bags included (2x)   Book by: These fares should last 2 or 3 days.

 

Example:

(credit Jack’s flight club)

[NotASexTorist]

5 hours ago, davidge said:

Not Business Class but thought this might interest someone:

To: Bangkok (BKK) From (Premium Economy): London (LHR) - £578 London (LCY) - £604 Manchester (MAN) - £648 Birmingham (BHX) - £648 Newcastle (NCL) - £633 Glasgow (GLA) - £647 Edinburgh (EDI) - £648

Travel Dates: September - June (excluding December & Easter holidays)   Airline: Lufthansa (5-star) Standard Fare: £1100+ (Premium Economy) Bags: Checked bags included (2x)   Book by: These fares should last 2 or 3 days.

 

Example:

(credit Jack’s flight club)

 

Good price, though one should be aware that the ticket is totally inflexible. No dates changes or refunds.

So you need to be sure of your dates.

I've travelled upstairs on the 772 in Economy and had good service. Crew friendly and pleasant.

[Just Browsing]

9 hours ago, davidge said:

Not Business Class but thought this might interest someone:

To: Bangkok (BKK) From (Premium Economy): London (LHR) - £578 London (LCY) - £604 Manchester (MAN) - £648 Birmingham (BHX) - £648 Newcastle (NCL) - £633 Glasgow (GLA) - £647 Edinburgh (EDI) - £648

Travel Dates: September - June (excluding December & Easter holidays)   Airline: Lufthansa (5-star) Standard Fare: £1100+ (Premium Economy) Bags: Checked bags included (2x)   Book by: These fares should last 2 or 3 days.

 

Example:

(credit Jack’s flight club)

Flew SIN-MAN-SIN in PE with Lufthansa and I thought it was worth the extra money (IIRC I paid about s$1700 SGD which would have been about 800 GBP at that time, I miss the days where 1 GBP would by you > s$2.10 SGD :( 

 

[ludwighigh]

I just got a screaming deal on China Southern from LAX-BKK, $1990 business, booked on 1 week's notice on a third party website.  My second time flying on China Southern between LAX and BKK.  Thought I wouldn't do it again, but you really can't beat the price.  The hard product on this flight (seats, etc) is very good, soft product is acceptable.

The LAX to BKK route typically uses an economy leg from CAN-BKK, but I selected a slightly later flight from CAN-BKK to get business class instead, where I will land in BKK at 2:30PM.  So instead of a 3.25 hour layover I will have a 7.25 hour layover.

As I recall the airport in CAN does not have the air conditioning turned on that early in the morning (and it was completely miserable to sit in the hot and humid terminal for several hours until the AC was turned on), so I am leaving the airport to take a nap at the Pullman hotel adjacent to terminal one for a few hours before getting on the next flight.  That cost an additional $118.

 

Edited September 22, 2019 by ludwighigh

[basket case]

I am leaving the airport to take a nap at the Pullman hotel adjacent to terminal one for a few hours before getting on the next flight.  That cost an additional $118.
 

If you are a US citizen, I think you might need a visa to do that. They run $100

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[ludwighigh]

5 hours ago, basket case said:

 

 

If you are a US citizen, I think you might need a visa to do that. They run $100

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

Yes, I agree that you need a visa.  I have a 10 year visa, so no problem for me. 

I think that CAN is one of the cities where you can get the 72/144 hour transit visa, but who knows how long that takes to apply for on the spot.  If it burned one hour out of the seven hour layover, that wouldn't be worth it.

[T-T-T]

On 31/07/2019 at 10:56, carmex said:

Still looking for my December flight .... 

So far I've looked at:
LHR - Bangkok 

Gulf Air via Bahrain ~£2,250
Oman Air via Muscat - £~2,600
FinnAir via Helsinki - ~£2,600

Gulf Air is currently my 1st choice - as much because they are advertising 787-9 on all legs of the route, which look pretty nice from videos and reviews.

I'll probably procrastinate a bit longer - give the prices time to go up even further 

GulF Air has a  great business class  product but that price seems very expensive I have never paid over £1400  this next trip will be my 4 or 5th I think with them.