Another pictorial review, this time from my friend CP who was recently in Bangkok for a conference and he flew back on SQ 979 in Business Class. Being on A330-300, he was on the old Business Class spotting the angled-flat seats in 2-2-2 configuration.
CHC and I were accommodated in the Renaissance Hotel in Bangkok for our recent conference. The Renaissance Hotel is part of the Marriott chain of hotels (Marriott Bonvoy points). It is centrally located in Bangkok, within walking distance from Erawan Shrine (and very near to the Holiday Inn hotel which I stayed in back in 2018).
There is a BTS station just a stone-throw away from the hotel with Central World and Big C shopping center being nearby. This makes the hotel extremely convenient for moving around, food and shopping.
CHC and I were in Bangkok recently and we had the chance of trying out Thai Airways on their new Airbus A350-900. We were booked in Economy Class (Q class fare, which is a semi-flex fare) and knowing of Thai Airways’ same day walk up upgrade, we decided to give it a try.
You can check the seat availability on Expertflyer before travelling to know how full the cabin is but 48 hours before flying, this info is no longer available and one can only check at the check in counter (on the day of flying).
One of the best use of British Airways Avios is for short haul/regional flights. For my March trip, I spent 7500 Avios for one way Club Europe between London and Munich. Intra-Asia flights are also a good way to use your Avios, where a one way Business Class from Singapore to Hong Kong cost only 20,000 Avios (vs 30,000 for Asia Miles prior to devaluation). The tax cost about SGD $50-60 per person.
I intended to redeem the SIN-HKG direct flight but due to mistake on my part, I did not manage to get the ticket on time and the availability was gone by the time I tried to redeem it. Hence, I ended up with CX 711 that flies thru Bangkok.
For my short weekend conference in Bangkok, I was placed in Holiday Inn Bangkok which is located in the city centre (within walking distance to Erawan Shrine and many big Shopping Complexes). There are plenty to go around in this area – from entertainment to food to shopping! This hotel certainly ranks high in terms of location and accessibility. Even more convenient is the city monorail which is just a stone throw away from the hotel.
It has been a while since I last used my Priority Pass card and hence the best time to use it is when I fly Economy. Priority Pass has quite an extensive lounge list one can go in Suvarnabhumi Airport (although most of it is Miracle First and Business Class Lounge). As I was short on time, I just chose the lounge nearest to my departure point in Concourse E which is the Oman Air Business Class Lounge.
I just came back from a conference in Bangkok and I managed to position myself to try out the new 787-10 in which Singapore Airlines was the launch customer. The 787-10 is meant to handle the regional flights currently being managed by the A330-300s and 777-200s which is way due for replacement. While the SQ974 is still being flown on an A333, SQ973 is being used as one of the short haul route for crew familiarisation before being used for its intended purpose – regional flights (KIX and PER being the first 2 destinations). So how was the flight?
