BKK-SYD-BKK very busy, ideas?

[JohnK]

I am going back to BKK in 2 weeks time and need to organise return airfares before I leave. It appears I have left the booking a little late and I am looking for some viable options. My main goal is to get back to SYD with Oneworld and then QFF SCs and lastly FF points although the last 2 are still important.

I can use award on TG for BKK-SIN-BKK, ~A$100 in taxes and surcharges, and then only real option with QF is SIN-PER-SYD-ADL-SIN which costs S$1145, ~A$900. As the only option is the morning SIN-PER flight it will mean one night in SIN so with hotel and transfers another A$200. So all up ~A$1200 earning 90 SCs and 17012 FF points. I am not too keen on going through PER although this time it will be at a civilised hour this time around. Plus SYD-PER/ADL-SIN-BKK makes for a very long day.

Or I can save the TG award for another day and travel BKK-HKG-SYD-HKG-SYD with CX for ~36500 THB, ~A$1300. The connections are good and don't require any overnight stopovers although 1 night in HKG might be OK for A$200. Only problem is booking class on CX is L which is only 0.5 FF points. So all up ~A$1500 earning 90 SCs and 11260 FF points but with a reduced flying time due to favourable connections. Actually I can get overnight flights in both directions which would be preferable.

The direct flights SIN-SYD are S$300-400 more expensive than the non-direct flights. I have not called QF to price BKK-SYD-BKK direct but judging by the prices on the BA website I am not too confident this would be cheap. World Traveller Plus for both BKK-SYD-BKK and SIN-SYD-SIN are booked out on the dates I want and only available about 3 days later.

I did find a nice airfare BKK-HKG-SYD-HKG-BKK with CX in F for just over A$5000 return. :-| Anyone have any other suggestions that I may have missed? The departure date from BKK is 26 July and returning 8 Dec or 11 Dec.

 

[Evan]

JohnK,

I think you hit the same sort of problem i did, its just really busy, i think you have covered most of the possible solutions, maybe some flights via BNE ?
Believe it or not i organised my flights by calling the QF sales in Singapore as i wanted WT+ for one flight and knew it was available abd they did a great deal.

1 way on QF is a joke price wise better to get return.

Only other possible could be JAL via NRT ??

E

 

[ANstar]

What about JQ BKK-MEL-SYD?

Star Class is shopwing around $2000 AUD Inc TAX and you would get QF J class points and SC's.

 

[jakeseven7]

sounds like everyone has the options covered.

i to have noticed how tight the route is, a friend in finance mentioned that the 2 weeks before and after financial year end is always packed full of suits and regional execs flying back and forth for profit meetings - for example I know about 40 ppl from our company travelling up to BKK/SIN at the moment.

Thought it may shed some light on why it is so tight.. Plus NSW school hols I guess!?

 

[JohnK]

Only other possible could be JAL via NRT ??

Thanks for this suggestion. I haven't tried pricing this, don't think it will be cheap though, as the JAL website won't accept BKK-SYD but I think it would make for 2 very long flights.

What about JQ BKK-MEL-SYD?

Star Class is shopwing around $2000 AUD Inc TAX and you would get QF J class points and SC's.

OK, I normally don't give JQ too much thought even with *class.

Looking at JQ website BKK-MEL-SYD return for July 26 - Dec 9 (no flights on Dec 8) shows up as 63,876 THB, ~A$2280. Good SCs but the price is ~A$800 over budget. I could almost get another return flight with that money.

i to have noticed how tight the route is, a friend in finance mentioned that the 2 weeks before and after financial year end is always packed full of suits and regional execs flying back and forth for profit meetings - for example I know about 40 ppl from our company travelling up to BKK/SIN at the moment.

OK that may explain why the flights have been filling up over the last few weeks.

This is totally my fault for hesitating to book a few weeks ago. I had the flights I wanted and even BA WT+ was reasonable priced.

Decisions, decisions. I need to make one very quick or I won't have too many options remaining. Do I take the QF flights, cheaper but a little lengthy and tiring but would fully utilise my Platinum status or do I take the CX flights, dearer although more convenient flight times where my Platinum status would not mean much in terms of premium seating and I would also lose half the FF points....

 

[serfty]

FWIW, I have found that CX generally treats oneworld emeralds and sapphires quite well.

 

[JohnK]

Better than BA but not as good as QF? Would I have access to bulkhead and exit rows or is this reserved for their own elite?

 

[serfty]

Not sure about exit rows; but bulkhead should be fine.

 

[Evan]

Is it just me or do CX not have all that many elites ?

Seemed on a few flights recently that myself and a few other QF or BA elites were greeted and looked after very well but not anybody i would have thought was CX macopolo (ie of Asian decent, and without asking them i could never guess for all i know the caucasian guys on the flights may have been CX but i somehow doubt it with the Aussie and English accents)

Or maybe all the CX elites fly J and F only the rest of of fly Y.

Can't comment of exit rows etc but i easily got my prefered seating every time i have asked and i am only OW sapphire.

So to be back OT and answer, yes i think better than BA.

E

 

[JohnK]

Is it just me or do CX not have all that many elites ?

From what I understand it is very difficult to achieve CX Diamond? (OW Emerald). I think it could be something like 3 years before you reach top status as each time you reach a higher status the year is reset and you have 12 months to re-qualify from scratch for the next higher status. I will leave it to CX experts to confirm.

Can't comment of exit rows etc but i easily got my prefered seating every time i have asked and i am only OW sapphire.

I am sure I can get aisle in forward part of cabin but if not lucky could have issues with recl....

So to be back OT and answer, yes i think better than BA.

I don't mind service on BA just that they could not care less about OW Emerald status of other partners.

 

[JohnK]

I have taken the plunge and booked SIN-SYD in BA world traveller plus. Not a cheap option but it will have to do this time around.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what is a good seat. I got allocated 22G for the outbound flight and 22B for the inbound flight. I have changed both to flights to 21J. Is this a good idea with row 21 being the bassinet locations in world traveller plus on the BA 777? Perhaps a recommendation for window seat if there is more legroom and seat width.

The flight I have booked has been showing zero or limited availability for the last week. Since I have booked I notice that only 7/32 possible seats have been allocated and I think this number is actually only 3 as the bassinet seats would normally be blocked off if not allocated. Looking at BA website now for the same date shows no availability for world traveller plus for this flight. Weird that only 3 seats are allocated even though World traveller plus is booked out for this flight. Also this flight was more expensive than flights on other days. Is someone playing around with availability? Can anyone see current WT+ availability for 26 July SIN-SYD? I know WHY is full on this day.

 

[serfty]

It's simple really.

Since 1st December, ONLY PAX on full fare WT+ bookings (W rather than T class), BAEC Golds, BAEC Silvers, oneworld Emeralds and oneworld Sapphires can pre-select seats in WT+ on BA flight before OLCI opens.

In the same way for First, Business and WHY classes - non status PAX booked in discount cabin classes A, Z, D, C, I, U, N, O, Q etc cannot pre-select seats either.

It's more noticeable in WHY and WT+ as a lot less elites fly BA in those cabins to/from the antipodes.

 

[JohnK]

It's simple really.

I wish I had the same confindence and understanding as you!

Since 1st December, ONLY PAX on full fare WT+ bookings (W rather than T class), BAEC Golds, BAEC Silvers, oneworld Emeralds and oneworld Sapphires can pre-select seats in WT+ on BA flight before OLCI opens.

I still cannot believe that world traveller plus cabin is full and only 3 seats, plus mine, are pre-allocated. Would that mean that I am one of the highest status flyers in the cabin?

Would I have reasonable expectation that as the flight in WHY is full, and full in WT+ that I may have a chance at an op-up? What would be the best seat to risk getting a possible op-up? The seat next to a bassinet location? Yes I know I am dreaming but dreams are free....

 

[serfty]

I wish I had the same confindence and understanding as you! ...

Aplogies ...

I had the advantage of you sir, having experienced this before.

I flew BA to/from BKK in MAY on a BA Special $817 fare. I noticed the same as you did on the seat maps for my BA flights. Thinking that surely there were more seats sold than that, I did some investigations.

What to watch for is at t-3 Days when the Kiddies and family groups get allocated and you can see where they are.

Do this again at T-24 hours when OLCI opens. You will see many seats being 'selected' hour by hours.

Also note that as I posted very few BA elites seem to travel the Kangaroo Route with the "Chavs', so not many booked PAX are eligible for seat pre-selection.

I still cannot believe that world traveller plus cabin is full and only 3 seats, plus mine, are pre-allocated. Would that mean that I am one of the highest status flyers in the cabin?

Would I have reasonable expectation that as the flight in WHY is full, and full in WT+ that I may have a chance at an op-up? What would be the best seat to risk getting a possible op-up? The seat next to a bassinet location? Yes I know I am dreaming but dreams are free....

This is your chance to ensure you have a good seat. According to SeatGuru in that configuration you should look for the bulkhead seats 17A/B/J/K, with 17D/G as plan B (assuming all seats are going to be occupied ). Of course, if you get an OP-Up you'll have to take whatever club seats they happen to give you. :shock:


(Note that WT+ does have some middle seats and these should be avoided.)

 

[Evan]

Could also be that Y is oversold and you can't allocate a seat in WT+ if you only have a Y tickets and BA plan on op-uping people ?

But the BA allocating of seats is sometimes a problem even as OW emerald or sapphire i have had issues due to mixed itinerys etc and needed to call to get a seat allocated.

Enjoy the flight, can i ask what you paid ? actually if i undertand correctly your return flight is a long way out isn;t it so that would bump the price usually but generally when i was looking SIN-SYD-MEL-SYD-SIN flying BA WT+ for SIN-SYD segements was around $1440 SG all in.

And i can't say in WT+ that any seat if much better than other but i prefer the outside isles, and the front seats have much more leg room.

E

 

[JohnK]

This is your chance to ensure you have a good seat. According to SeatGuru in that configuration you should look for the bulkhead seats 17A/B/J/K, with 17D/G as plan B (assuming all seats are going to be occupied ).

Actually it is this configuration from SeatGuru. Note no row 25 on the actual seat map from BA website. Seats 21A,E,F,K are bassinet positions. I have pre-selected for myself 21J. I guess I am running the risk of losing this seat when bassinets are allocated at t-3 as you mention.

Of course, if you get an OP-Up you'll have to take whatever club seats they happen to give you. :shock:

There is no bad business class seat.

(Note that WT+ does have some middle seats and these should be avoided.)

Well if I get bumped from the bassinet row I may end up in one of these.

 

[JohnK]

Could also be that Y is oversold and you can't allocate a seat in WT+ if you only have a Y tickets and BA plan on op-uping people ?

I can't get any WHY seats on this flight. And now no WT+ seats available but I think BA is playing games here as a seat appears intermittently.

But the BA allocating of seats is sometimes a problem even as OW emerald or sapphire i have had issues due to mixed itinerys etc and needed to call to get a seat allocated.

I was able to pre-select a seat and I can still do it.

Enjoy the flight, can i ask what you paid ? actually if i undertand correctly your return flight is a long way out isn;t it so that would bump the price usually but generally when i was looking SIN-SYD-MEL-SYD-SIN flying BA WT+ for SIN-SYD segements was around $1440 SG all in.

I paid S$1649 with a return date of 8 Dec. Most flights are listed as S$599 o/w except for this flight which was listed at S$699. Taxes and surcharges for the return trip are S$351. :shock:

 

[serfty]

... I have pre-selected for myself 21J. I guess I am running the risk of losing this seat when bassinets are allocated at t-3 as you mention. ...

Unlikly ...

BTW, if you do get bumped forward it often happens you will get one of the better seats in Club. This is generally due to the previous high status occupant who preselected a preferred seat being bumped into F. Good Luck.

 

[JohnK]

Can anyone with access to EF post class availability on BA015 for Thursday 26 July 2007?

Using Seat Counter I have not been able to view any BA class availability although it does show the QF codeshare. Is this a known issue?

Thanks in advance.

 

[NM]

Zero is all classes according to EF.