Business Class Fares & Offers

[legalbeagle]

YVR - BKK Cathay Economy $905 CAD Economy

[freedom42]

Finnair have already introduced the A350 on some flights between LHR and Helsinki & will be using it 5 days a week from October. This will mean 'proper' Business Class seats all the way from LHR to BKK.

 

Finnair often have good fares but I've avoided them so far as it meant an Economy seat (with Biz service) on the LHR legs.

The A350 is only on some flights so not sure how well they connect to the BKK flights.

 

Currently Finnair operates the A350 on flights AY831 and the return AY832 on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday. A fifth service will be added on Wednesday (also AY813 and AY832) from October 5.

I just did the FinnAir BKK-HEL on the A350 up front. Very nice new product, quiet and comfortable. Wifi (albeit slow, but is free). Decent meals. THe LHR-HEL route is a training route, getting everyone up to speed on it. I would fly the A350 again with them, but beware HEL airport is under renovations and it is slow to get around in there. 

[davidge]

KLM will have their improved Business Class offering on all long-haul flights by 2018. Fares are currently competitive though it does mean a short flight on one of their smaller City Hopper planes from regional UK airports.

 

 

 

KLM has confirmed that it will fit its new World Business Class cabin interiors to its A330 fleet.

 

The Airbus A330 is the last aircraft type in the KLM intercontinental fleet to be fitted.

 

By the end of 2018, World Business Class throughout KLM’s entire long-haul fleet will be fitted with new cabin interiors.

 

The World Business Class cabins of KLM’s B777-200 and B747-400 fleets have already been refitted. Work on the B777-300 fleet has just begun and is expected to be completed in June 2017. KLM’s latest aircraft, the B787, already has the new World Business Class cabins.

 

The new World Business Class has fully-flat seats, a 12-language Inflight Entertainment System and a 3D flight-tracking system. The cabin interior was designed by the Dutch designer Hella Jongerius, the tableware by Dutch designer Marcel Wanders and this year, the meals have been developed by chef Jacob Jan Boerma.

[Halfaboy]

KLM sales man ?

[davidge]

Just passing on info as I did with Finn Air.

 

Not sure what your problem is?

[freedom42]

Just did three legs in J. LHR-YVR on the A380. TO be honest, worst J class I have ever been on. Shoulder room within the seat is limited, my shoulders were wedged between the pod walls. The seat when it lies flat, has a flip up foot rest that is attached to the wall in front of you. Window seats must then vault over the legs of a sleeper to exit their seat to gain access to the aisle. Window seats face backwards, and if you turn your head 45 degrees to the side, you are staring the person beside you in the face. Yes it has a partition, however it must be lowered for take off, taxi and meal services. BA also lost my luggage for 12 days. Cabin crew was young and preferred to hang out in the galley and chit chat to each other, rather than serve people who paid big money.

 

YVR-PEK on Air Canada 773. Excellent executive pods. Full lie flat in herringbone layout. Never any issue with room. massage function in seat. Entertainment system has a huge TV, as well has a handset with a screen where you can watch the map while still watching whatever on your big screen. Food was good, bathroom at the back of J is massive, can fit a wheelchair (mile high club anyone?).

 

PEK-BKK Thai Airways 773. Great seating, all rows set up that nobody is walking in front of you or over you to exit the seats. Staggered seats A & B are both window seats, but A is beside window, B is closer to aisle. Good food, attentive staff (I slept about 3.5 hrs of this leg, so I wasn't needing much).

 

Just finished 21,638 miles in seat over the past 31 days. http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=bkk-hel-bud-boj-ber-lhr-yvr-yqr-yvr-pek-bkk

[socrates]

Why they designed seats where people step over others to get out is beyond me - worst design flaw ever

[Jack Frost]

Why they designed seats where people step over others to get out is beyond me - worst design flaw ever

 

 

Agree.

[DJ Phil]

Emirates dot com  have a fantastic price for Business Class return to Bkk from Amsterdam Schiphol travelling between 16 Sep 2016 - 31 May 2017, the offer ends 30 Aug 2016 and the fare is EUR 1678 which is approx GBP 1477 (increased at weekends to EUR 1777) so if you're travelling from the UK it might save you a few quid to get an easyJet or KLM Cityhopper flight to AMS which is usually a very cheap fare. More travelling time, granted.

[Nongprue]

Emirates dot com  have a fantastic price for Business Class return to Bkk from Amsterdam Schiphol travelling between 16 Sep 2016 - 31 May 2017, the offer ends 30 Aug 2016 and the fare is EUR 1678 which is approx GBP 1477 (increased at weekends to EUR 1777) so if you're travelling from the UK it might save you a few quid to get an easyJet or KLM Cityhopper flight to AMS which is usually a very cheap fare. More travelling time, granted.

 

No need to add 2 more flights on economy connections as Emirates has LGW-BKK for around £1670 and LHR-BKK for £1690 or so.

 

Thai has £1770 or thereabouts but watch the mileage accrual. You can pay £5 more on a leg to get full benefits on some dates.

 

Etihad has £1500 or so without chauffeurs or another £100 or so with more mileage and 2 x chauffeurs.

 

I've been looking at dates as far out as April 2017.

 

Don't forget TopCashBack as well.

 

Some agents can offer slightly better fares but you are screwed if you need a change and you may get hit with CC fees.

[Nongprue]

I just did the FinnAir BKK-HEL on the A350 up front. Very nice new product, quiet and comfortable. Wifi (albeit slow, but is free). Decent meals. THe LHR-HEL route is a training route, getting everyone up to speed on it. I would fly the A350 again with them, but beware HEL airport is under renovations and it is slow to get around in there. 

 

I liked the price at around £1208 a few months ago but it was competing against the Qatar sale so still looked expensive and the return 10+2 is a nightmare when you get shuffled around HEL looking for your connection.

 

If they keep the A350 from BKK-HEL onto LHR and you can just sit on the place then great. Likewise in reverse if you don't have to change at HEL then it would be a great routing.

 

Current pricing at £1700/2200 is way OTT though.

[Jack Frost]

Just did three legs in J. LHR-YVR on the A380. TO be honest, worst J class I have ever been on. Shoulder room within the seat is limited, my shoulders were wedged between the pod walls. The seat when it lies flat, has a flip up foot rest that is attached to the wall in front of you. Window seats must then vault over the legs of a sleeper to exit their seat to gain access to the aisle. Window seats face backwards, and if you turn your head 45 degrees to the side, you are staring the person beside you in the face. Yes it has a partition, however it must be lowered for take off, taxi and meal services. BA also lost my luggage for 12 days. Cabin crew was young and preferred to hang out in the galley and chit chat to each other, rather than serve people who paid big money.

 

YVR-PEK on Air Canada 773. Excellent executive pods. Full lie flat in herringbone layout. Never any issue with room. Massage function in seat. Entertainment system has a huge TV, as well has a handset with a screen where you can watch the map while still watching whatever on your big screen. Food was good, bathroom at the back of J is massive, can fit a wheelchair (mile high club anyone?).

 

PEK-BKK Thai Airways 773. Great seating, all rows set up that nobody is walking in front of you or over you to exit the seats. Staggered seats A & B are both window seats, but A is beside window, B is closer to aisle. Good food, attentive staff (I slept about 3.5 hrs of this leg, so I wasn't needing much).

 

Just finished 21,638 miles in seat over the past 31 days. http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=bkk-hel-bud-boj-ber-lhr-yvr-yqr-yvr-pek-bkk

 

 

Thanks for your info.

 

Very interesting.

 

Jack.

 

 

[Jack Frost]

Emirates dot com  have a fantastic price for Business Class return to Bkk from Amsterdam Schiphol travelling between 16 Sep 2016 - 31 May 2017, the offer ends 30 Aug 2016 and the fare is EUR 1678 which is approx GBP 1477 (increased at weekends to EUR 1777) so if you're travelling from the UK it might save you a few quid to get an easyJet or KLM Cityhopper flight to AMS which is usually a very cheap fare. More travelling time, granted.

 

Great price but what is the restrictions with date changes ???

 

Thanks.

[Jack Frost]

No need to add 2 more flights on economy connections as Emirates has LGW-BKK for around £1670 and LHR-BKK for £1690 or so.

 

Thai has £1770 or thereabouts but watch the mileage accrual. You can pay £5 more on a leg to get full benefits on some dates.

 

Etihad has £1500 or so without chauffeurs or another £100 or so with more mileage and 2 x chauffeurs.

 

I've been looking at dates as far out as April 2017.

 

Don't forget TopCashBack as well.

 

Some agents can offer slightly better fares but you are screwed if you need a change and you may get hit with CC fees.

 

Great info & fantastic prices but I have to have flexible date change tickets.

 

Can never travel on set dates.

 

Thanks for your info.

 

[Nongprue]

Great info & fantastic prices but I have to have flexible date change tickets.

 

Can never travel on set dates.

 

Thanks for your info.

 

 

I use Etihad but they are a right pain in the arse to change tickets for a return leg. You can do it online but they might quote £1050 for a change when they are selling a return leg of a return for £750. Of course they claim 80 million different fares etc. but it feels like a con.

 

I resorted to pushing back on the date to a time when I could change for the reasonable fee of £200 or so and then bought a return starting in BKK which was inside the dates of the my now moved long dated return.

 

I don't know who are the most flexible for changing dates outside fully flexible fares.

[docbunsen]

Great price but what is the restrictions with date changes ???

 

Thanks.

i got charged £300.00 for date change on the cheapest business class ticket. that was booked direct with emirates and just did the change online. 

Edited August 30, 2016 by docbunsen

[Gr JBB]

Just booked Finnair LHR-BKK £1312 in business for October

[Jack Frost]

Just booked Finnair LHR-BKK £1312 in business for October

 

 

Nice seats & a great price.

 

Keep us posted with pics & opinions.

 

[dontpanic]

Just booked Finnair LHR-BKK £1312 in business for October

Finnair seem very aggressive on pricing, be interesting to hear how good their service is, my suspicion is that it's premium economy.

[KittenKong]

Finnair seem very aggressive on pricing, be interesting to hear how good their service is, my suspicion is that it's premium economy.

 

No, it's proper business class on the A350, including champagne and free wifi. No chauffeured limos though and Finnair are quite cost-conscious. Lounges are acceptable but not wonderful. Seats on the A350 are in a reverse herringbone 1-2-1 format which means you never need to climb over anyone to get to an isle. As far as I'm concerned reverse herringbone seats on the A350 and A330 are the best you can get for space and comfort, for the price, and are better than on the A380. The next step up would be real pods/cabins but not at the same price.

 

The only real let-down with Finnair can be the HEL<>LHR leg. Some of these flights are now on an A350 which is fine but some are on smaller older planes which are economy seats in 3-3 format with one empty seat reserved in the middle of each group of three. So the trick is to try and select an A350 flight. That sector is quite short though so it isnt the end of the world if you have to do it in another plane.

 

I paid 54,000B (GBP1200) to fly BKK>LHR>BKK with them next summer and am happy with that as the overall flight time is fairly short at 14-15 hours each way (very short stopovers in HEL) and baggage allowance is huge (3 standard pieces). 3 of my 4 sectors are confirmed on A350s and I live in hope that the fourth will get upgraded by then.

[dontpanic]

The getting to Helsinki was putting me off too as with Etihad I can go direct from Dublin all the way in Business. Not sure if the seats are lie flat though and doesn't look like there's anytime dining either which is a great asset when going long haul and you're never sure when you're going to get hungry. Speaking of lounges Etihad now use the Louis Tavern in Bangkok which is even smaller and has less food selection than the Thai Silk lounge, you even have to leave it to use the toilet. Yeh it's only across the walkway but it's not exactly business class quality which is what we're paying for!

[boxershrimp]

No, it's proper business class on the A350, including champagne and free wifi. No chauffeured limos though and Finnair are quite cost-conscious. Lounges are acceptable but not wonderful. Seats on the A350 are in a reverse herringbone 1-2-1 format which means you never need to climb over anyone to get to an isle. As far as I'm concerned reverse herringbone seats on the A350 and A330 are the best you can get for space and comfort, for the price, and are better than on the A380. The next step up would be real pods/cabins but not at the same price.

 

The only real let-down with Finnair can be the HEL<>LHR leg. Some of these flights are now on an A350 which is fine but some are on smaller older planes which are economy seats in 3-3 format with one empty seat reserved in the middle of each group of three. So the trick is to try and select an A350 flight. That sector is quite short though so it isnt the end of the world if you have to do it in another plane.

 

I paid 54,000B (GBP1200) to fly BKK>LHR>BKK with them next summer and am happy with that as the overall flight time is fairly short at 14-15 hours each way (very short stopovers in HEL) and baggage allowance is huge (3 standard pieces). 3 of my 4 sectors are confirmed on A350s and I live in hope that the fourth will get upgraded by then.

I quite like the lounge in Helsinki, maybe it's a Nordic thing. Or maybe the gold one is better than regular business?

For me, it's just a 40 minute hop over there from Stockholm, and stopover times are usually quite optimised, so it's almost as fast as flying direct. Sometimes really good price, too, around £1000 (used to be more like £900 before the pound went in the toilet) is the sweet spot where I'll consider them over the other airlines.

 

And the A350s are quite nice. The old planes are kind of shit, though, so avoid those at all cost. But maybe they've exchanged all of those already on this route?

 

What I really don't like is the timing of the flights back from BKK, though, either at 9 or 10 in the morning. I'm not a morning person normally, and being in Pattaya doesn't exactly help with that...

[mbamber]

I quite like the lounge in Helsinki, maybe it's a Nordic thing. Or maybe the gold one is better than regular business?

For me, it's just a 40 minute hop over there from Stockholm, and stopover times are usually quite optimised, so it's almost as fast as flying direct. Sometimes really good price, too, around £1000 (used to be more like £900 before the pound went in the toilet) is the sweet spot where I'll consider them over the other airlines.

 

And the A350s are quite nice. The old planes are kind of shit, though, so avoid those at all cost. But maybe they've exchanged all of those already on this route?

 

What I really don't like is the timing of the flights back from BKK, though, either at 9 or 10 in the morning. I'm not a morning person normally, and being in Pattaya doesn't exactly help with that...

I have chosen Emirates for my first trip Manchester early afternoon gets me to Bangkok noon and the evening flight home back to Manchester 0700 seems good timing for me.

[boxershrimp]

I have chosen Emirates for my first trip Manchester early afternoon gets me to Bangkok noon and the evening flight home back to Manchester 0700 seems good timing for me.

Evening flight at 0700? You confuse me, good Sir.

 

Either way, I'd actually prefer a flight at 7 in the morning, since then I could just go straight from any nighttime activities to the airport and sleep an hour in the taxi with a guaranteed wakeup call once we get to BKK. When it's at 10, you kind of feel like it would make sense to sleep a bit before that, and then there's always the worry that you won't actually wake up.

[davidge]

Evening flight at 0700? You confuse me, good Sir.

 

Either way, I'd actually prefer a flight at 7 in the morning, since then I could just go straight from any nighttime activities to the airport and sleep an hour in the taxi with a guaranteed wakeup call once we get to BKK. When it's at 10, you kind of feel like it would make sense to sleep a bit before that, and then there's always the worry that you won't actually wake up.

I think he means it leaves Bangkok in the evening and arrives in Manchester at 7am :-)