Current airline experiences

[Derrick Longham]

Hearing a lot of horror stories with delays and cancellations with Airlines.

Jetstar and Qantas are two that I've heard a lot about and was wondering what all your experiences are with other Airlines particularly those jetting around Asia like Thai AirAsia, VIetjet Air, Jetstar Asia etc.

Trying to book flights and hotels and wondering whether I should pay extra for accom with free cancelations, and add time between transfers just in case things go awry. 

Keen to hear your experiences!

[Bonkabit]

I'm not keen on Jetstar, several times on trips to or from Thailand the plane has run very late; worst was four hours late leaving Melbourne and 3 hrs 40 min late arriving in Bangkok. Same trip, return ran late too. Newspapers here ran reports recently; you may be able to Google to find the website which records punctuality.

Qantas - limited experience as QF do not fly non-stop Melbourne to Bangkok. Last QF was Airbus A380 Melbourne-Singapore return, excellent.

ThaiAir has always been spot-on, as has Singapore Air via SIN.

Once flew AirAsia Singapore to UTP (Pattaya/Rayong), OK as have been other AirAsia flights in SE Asia.

 

[David2268]

I flew economy to BKK from Edinburgh via Doha on Qatar Airways at the beginning on June and returned to Edinburgh yesterday. No problem with flights, luggage, timings etc. no delays on any of the 4 flights. Even the on board food was ok. 

[simon6666]

I use Thai Airways or Royal Brunei. I think the latter only operates out of Melbourne.

RB is still ramping their scheduling back up, so direct with no long layover in Brunei (12 hours) seems to only be on return flights at the moment (still ~2 hour stop). They are cheaper, but since C19 Brunei currently disallows exiting the airport on transit. RB would previously pay for transport and accommodation for the night.

Never had an issue with either airline, both really good on date changing.

I don't touch Jetstar just on the horror reviews I've read.

Qantas I only use as a hop from Melbourne to Sydney if it works out cheaper or suits my times better that way.

[Fire Bar Matt]

Recently used Malaysian, flights to BKK ran on schedule, flights back ran a little late, the medium haul flight home took off 30 mins late but we had a strong tail wind and they kept their foot down and we arrived only 5 mins late. 
At one point we were doing over 1000km / hr, though true ground speed was around 860km / hr. 

[Soi7]

I have flown Vietjet air a few times within the last year and always been on time no issues

[SkippyRoo]

If I recall correctly from my time living and working in the UK, the Bangkok to London leg was a Qantas/ British Airways codeshare so thinking Qantas flights between Australia and Bangkok won’t improve price wise until feeding back into the old style (a la Adventures of Barry Mackensie)  route to the old dart via Bangkok...

Can any BMs give feedback of flights from Australia  via Singapore and/or Kuala Lumpur....to Bangkok regarding connecting flights and other timings...

Also, any idea when Perth to Bangkok on Thai will recommence..?

thanks in advance

Skippy

[simon6666]

38 minutes ago, SkippyRoo said:

Also, any idea when Perth to Bangkok on Thai will recommence..?

Already operational. Came back July 5th. Check the site.

[SkippyRoo]

2 hours ago, simon6666 said:

Already operational. Came back July 5th. Check the site.

Then why the website want to send me via Sydney???

will check with AM Travel....

Skippy

[simon6666]

34 minutes ago, SkippyRoo said:

Then why the website want to send me via Sydney???

It's the days.

They're only doing direct flights (both ways) Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Direct BKK to Perth 7:20 to 15:05, then back 16:20 to 22:20.

[Derrick Longham]

Starting to shit my pants a little now as I'm booked with Jetsar hopefully they sort their stuff out between now and when I travel. Seriously thinking to book another airline now. 

[Derrick Longham]

Thankyou all for the comments too

[papabear1960]

Just came back on Thai Airways from Bangkok to Perth , but have tried to book again towards the end of Jan 2023 and cannot find any flights ,so tried booking in Feb 2023 with the same results ,with it only bringing up Perth to Sydney then to Bangkok , at a ridiculous price of nearly $ 4000 AU dollars, no Perth to Bangkok, only Perth , Sydney to Bangkok, I am a little surprised as the flight up was almost full and returning home was full. Regards Papa.

[SkippyRoo]

2 hours ago, papabear1960 said:

Just came back on Thai Airways from Bangkok to Perth , but have tried to book again towards the end of Jan 2023 and cannot find any flights ,so tried booking in Feb 2023 with the same results ,with it only bringing up Perth to Sydney then to Bangkok , at a ridiculous price of nearly $ 4000 AU dollars, no Perth to Bangkok, only Perth , Sydney to Bangkok, I am a little surprised as the flight up was almost full and returning home was full. Regards Papa.

Yeah, same.....I have it from a reliable source that fares for the next few months from  Perth to Bangkok will be released in September??

Skippy

[Sloracer]

I have normally flown Qantas but this time found Singapore to be better value. No issue with flight timing, infact we hit Bangkok early.

[Roadglide]

Returned mid week on JAL in July, and the flight was PACKED, I only saw 2 or 3 seats not occupied.  

[Helpisontheway3]

I flew Qantas recently to BKK and it was stress free. Just allow extra time to get through Immigration and Customs.

Airlines and airports are still getting into the rhythm of operating at 100% capacity again, at least in Australia anyway.

[hatguy]

Jetstar from Osaka to Cairns last month.  Got canceled on once and had to pay extra to stay in Cairns for two nights.  

You want advice mate? Book your hotels when you arrive in destination.  I'm talking sit down in Swampy and use their free wifi to book when you arrive.  Times have changed.  Jetstar is terrible. 

[SkippyRoo]

Still waiting for Thai Airways Perth to Bangkok fares for Oct-Jan to be released....currently despite tip from helpful board members....they seem to wanna send my via Sydney to get there....

Keep us posted please if anyone has better luck...

Skippy

[Helpisontheway3]

17 hours ago, hatguy said:

Jetstar from Osaka to Cairns last month.  Got canceled on once and had to pay extra to stay in Cairns for two nights.  

You want advice mate? Book your hotels when you arrive in destination.  I'm talking sit down in Swampy and use their free wifi to book when you arrive.  Times have changed.  Jetstar is terrible. 

That is an an awful experience. Did you have Travel Insurance?

 

I always take out travel insurance to help make those situations easier. TID were pretty good on my recent trip and were rather cheap for 8 days (< $150)

[Jake.houston]

Flying over in a week on Philippine Airlines in business class. 

Interested to see how they stack up.

[Luv2Phuket]

33 minutes ago, Jake.houston said:

Flying over in a week on Philippine Airlines in business class. 

Interested to see how they stack up.

Curious to hear your thoughts about the service, layout, airports, etc.

[JohnSmith]

6 hours ago, Jake.houston said:

Flying over in a week on Philippine Airlines in business class. 

Interested to see how they stack up.

Also interested to hear about your experience as they are roughly $1,000 cheaper than every other airline from Toronto to BKK via Manila.

[Shuggy]

6 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Curious to hear your thoughts about the service, layout, airports, etc.

Flew with them recently from KL to Melbourne via Manila in Business. Paid AU$1000.

KL To Manila was a AIrbus A321. It was 2 2 in Business. It was the newer layout they have on the Neo's. Service, seats, food,pretty much everything was outstanding.

Had a 3 hour layover in Manila where i had to identify my checked luggage in a strange room, open in, and have it security checked. Most transit passengers have to do this. Hit the lounge after that. One of the worst lounges in Asia but it has wifi, alcohol, and some food. Manila airport is an utter toilet. Its like going back in time. 

Manila to Melbourne was in an A330. 1 2 1 configeration. A little dated but comfortable, full lie flat bed, great service and good food.

For the money it cant be beat. 

[Jake.houston]

1 hour ago, Shuggy said:

One of the worst lounges in Asia but it has wifi, alcohol, and some food. Manila airport is an utter toilet. Its like going back in time.

Well, now I’m pumped!

😂🤣😆😢