Thai Airlines vs Qantas

[habby]

Im travelling to Japan again at begining of March. Works travel agent is trying to get me to take cheaper Thai Airlines flight instead of Qantas one I requested. I prefer Qantas because of my Platinum Status. Any info on what Thai airlines is like? Both flights would be in economy.

 

[scottz95]

Im travelling to Japan again at begining of March. Works travel agent is trying to get me to take cheaper Thai Airlines flight instead of Qantas one I requested. I prefer Qantas because of my Platinum Status. Any info on what Thai airlines is like? Both flights would be in economy.

Never had a bad run with Thai. They are a little underpolished on their processes but the service has always been friendly and helpful.

 

[csw0101]

I had to fly to the UK for work 2 yrs ago and was forced by work to take Thai as they were the cheapest airline. It was business but the flight from Melbourne to Bangkok was on one of the very old planes that only had the 1 screen in the middle and did not recline all the way. I'm not sure if those planes are still flying but I was quite disappointed to say the least.

However you can't fault their service. Much better than I've experiences on Qantas

 

[Quickstatus]

TA prob gets more commission with Thai than QF?.

TG is prob better in flight in terms of seat and cabin service than QF but QF have improved considerably in recent years. (I haven't flown TG in 5 years).


Is connection in BKK worth it?
You won't get F lounge access
Fly direct with QF?
Possibility of upgrade with QF.
TG have older planes AUS-BKK.
Tech ops QF vs TG - I would prefer QF

 

[habby]

TA prob gets more commission with Thai than QF?.

TG is prob better in flight in terms of seat and cabin service than QF but QF have improved considerably in recent years. (I haven't flown TG in 5 years).


Is connection in BKK worth it?
You won't get F lounge access
Fly direct with QF?
Possibility of upgrade with QF.
TG have older planes AUS-BKK.
Tech ops QF vs TG - I would prefer QF

I agreee with everything you say. But I'm limited by work rules about buying tickets. So I will probably end up with a long layover in Bangkok.

 

[gaz0303]

I agreee with everything you say. But I'm limited by work rules about buying tickets. So I will probably end up with a long layover in Bangkok.

Check your work rules carefully. My work has a 'cheapest and most direct' policy. 'Most direct' can often be used to rule out flights with long layovers...ie a transit time of 12 hours is more direct than a transit time of 21 hours. I often find its the over zealous TA interpreting work policy incorrectly. I travel often to Cambodia for work. The most direct option is QF with a PG (codeshare) connection, rather than with layovers in SIN or KL.

 

[Quickstatus]

Does office policy prevent you from using the travel "credit" and making up the difference with another airline/cabin?

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Im travelling to Japan again at begining of March. Works travel agent is trying to get me to take cheaper Thai Airlines flight instead of Qantas one I requested. I prefer Qantas because of my Platinum Status. Any info on what Thai airlines is like? Both flights would be in economy.

I agreee with everything you say. But I'm limited by work rules about buying tickets. So I will probably end up with a long layover in Bangkok.

Get yourself a copy of your employer's travel policy so you can see if you can work taking your preferred QF flight whilst still adhering to company policy. Your company doesn't care that you want to fly QF because you're Platinum but they may care more if you are going to fall asleep in a meeting because you have just flown overnight BKK/NRT.

Ask the TA how taking the QF flights could work in with the company's corp travel policy. They may think it unnecessary to book a night's accommodation the night prior when you can arrive on the day (not recommended) so could you pay for an Air BnB that night if it meant flying QF eg CBR/xBNE/NRT. It's probably better to avoid overnight flighhts where possible when you're flying in whY.

Do you have any Star Alliance status that would get you lounge access when flying TG? It's quite possible that you'll be able to get a *A airline to match your QF WP eg TK, A3 etc.

Before your flights are locked in and ticketed get all the details about your proposed itinerary ie exact flights you'll be on with the arrival and departure times so you can see in black and white what you're expected to do. I would also ask the following questions:

a) if you are flying TG are their schedules more suitable flying ex SYD or MEL?
b) if flying QF CBR/SYD or CBR/MEL, will the domestic sectors on the same ticket as the TG flights enabling QF to tag bags onto the TG. If not the same ticket then you'll need to collect your bag at either SYD or MEL and take it with you to the international teminal
c) even if your bag is through checked from QF to TG as there is no IATCI agreement you'll still need to get a boarding pass from TG in SYD or MEL
d) If arriving in Japan early morning are you expected to put in a full days work that same day? If on an overnight flight ex Japan arriving in CBR in the morning are you expected to work that day?

 

[JohnK]

Another thing to consider is cheap Thai Airways flights don't credit anywhere.

I would lose the desire to travel for work if the company tried to cut costs on everything.

 

[dajop]

Where in Japan are you travelling to?

Numerous posters seem to have approached this from an east-coast perspective, but it seems you are from PER, which alters things somewhat. Taking QF (via east coast) is quite a long way of getting there in Y, compared to travelling via HKG, SIN or BKK. If you stick to oneworld it's worth looking at CX as well or QF via SIN (with codeshare on JL), which is probably OK. Although personally I'd prefer SQ on PER-Tokyo due to being day flights in both directions, but you can forget that on cost grounds.....

Getting back to Thai, they operate their newest plane type on PER-BKK (787) and various types (but usually newer) on BKK-Tokyo, so they are probably OK. Their legroom is usually quite good, and service OK (albeit a little hit and miss).

 

[leadman]

I'm currently on a TG ticket 1/2 way through a trip. From MEL to BKK was an old 777, J seat shocking; dirty, would not recline and light broken. BKK to DXB was a 330, totally different Entertainment setup the latest movies, seat was far better and service totally different. Even though gold with TG its just a tourist airline, one step above Jetstar. Price is the driver for me!