TG - Maiden Voyage

[Cruiser Elite]

I have just taken my first TG flts courtesy of USDM – as I posted previously if I knew then what I know now I would not have bothered to go down that path due to schedule changes by TG which rendered 2 other bookings through US totally unworkable – so I cancelled and re-booked via SQ. However I did have TG J MEL-BKK then TG F BKK-ZRH / TG F FRA-BKK then TG J BKK-MEL booked way in advance and this is itinerary I am currently half way through.

Many no doubt know I am an SQ devotee and fly them almost exclusively and quite regularly. Had I not had access to the TG flts via USDM I would have flown SQ F MEL-SIN-ZRH / FRA-SIN-MEL – cost of that approx. 230K KF pts + 1K taxes – so the TG itinerary at 150K USDM mls (I think this was the pts cost – I cannot actually remember TBH) + $200 taxes looks cheap right? Well so far that is what I am getting – a very cheap alternative – so far anyway.

Now I am really trying to be subjective here and not try to compare it too much to SQ – just my assessment of what I think J and F should deliver.

Firstly TG J pax get access to NZ Lounge – I arrived at MEL right on midday and SQ lounge closed til 12:40 so I actually spent a bit of time in NZ Lounge til SQ opened – pretty uneventful but I did eat the beef ragout and rice for lunch as I was forewarned about TG on board offerings. Wandered up to SQ F at 12:40 and had a quick chat to the girls and couple glasses Moet before boarding.

I was actually first on board – 12E as it was only seat showing no pax next to me – alas a couple came along and occupied the seats – no biggie as middle bank in last row no pax so I shifted there to give extra room. The minute you sit in that seat you immediately feel this is not good – give it time – it could get better – but unfortunately it didn’t.

After take off first thing I do is get out computer as I always BYO IFE – try to plug computer into power supply – here is plug for computer – pretty standard I think:



And here is power supply socket:



WTF - I tried and tried - just could not get it to fit - call FA down - sorry Sir does not fit - really? Really? Just shook my head.

Next we get a drink - Piper Heidsieck as expected - but warm - and served in thimbles - we are not off to a good start.

Did I mention the seat not comfortable?

Then they serve lunch - starter was some dodgy corn fritters - one bite - pass on that - next was some dried out salmon - pass on that - salad consisted tiny bit of wilted lettuce with caeser dressing - then some terrible excuse for chicken with fried rice and veg for main - had 2 bites and left rest - bit of fruit - coffee undrinkable - 2 chockies - I like chockies. Did I also mention the PH was not cold. OMG - what a terrible excuse for a meal in J.

OK so decided I would lay bed out and try to poke out a few ZZZZs - impossible - no matter which way I tried to lay you just could not sleep on this angled uncomfortable thing. OK - sit up and watch final 5 episodes of Fat Tony that I have been trying to finish for like months but never seem to get around to it and also watched THe Other Woman with Cameron Diaz - I like Cameron Diaz.

Hour before arrival they serve you noodles with a bit of chicken and veg - did eat that and another glass or 2 of PH was by now was colder but a bit flat as left over from lunch - just wasn't getting any better,

Thank god flt only 8 hrs - but we did eventually get to land and we disembark on tarmac - J pax off first into bus - then bus fills to sardine level with Y pax - we wait - we wait - we wait - after about 15mins we finally move and I think we circumnavigated the airport 13 times before finally arriving at terminal and unload. Up the stair and little lady waiting there to collect me on cart to take me to F lounge - I think we drove like 2km or so - seemed to take forever - no line at security though straight upstairs and into F lounge.

I will not forget my first TG J experience for quite some time.

 

[boomy]

Sorry to hear the disappointing experience so far, I hope you enjoyed the F lounge and your next flight to ZRH in F should be much better.

 

[RooFlyer]

I must admit that the bus-circumnavigates-the-terminal thing resonates with my past experience I thought it extraordinary that a TG flight landing in BKK should park on the tarmac. I can only guess that the plane terminates there and they save a few bucks by parking on an off stand.

The power plug looks like a standard 'international' one, and an Aussie plug should fit, albeit with a bit of jiggling to get the internal guides to slide out of the way. Think the response of the FA was more along the lines of 'I don't know - give up.' Just saying this so you might give it another go on your next flight.

If I need to go to Europe on a revenue ticket, and I'm not feeling that prosperous, I find TG J is a decent - but by no means brilliant - well priced alternative. But going from regular SQ to TG would be a bit of a come-down.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

So we are now in TG F Lounge and I have to admit the lounge is really good. It was on the cold side but no doubt that could / should be adjusted. Full bar and wait service from wherever you are seated is a nice touch - staff showed me to one of the rooms on same side as entry - from inside lounge you can clearly hear all announcements over PA outside - bit of a pain. Food offerings in lounge looked a bit sparse also although I was not really interested in eating - toilet and shower facilities are A1. I did book a massage for an hour at 10pm - just prior to that staff informed me they were too busy so put back massage to 11 - boarding at 00:10 and wanted to shower after so told them to forget that one - big tick to F lounge overall.

Staff came and collected 8 F pax at 00:10 and we walked to gate which seemed to take forever - boarded and first thoughts less than impressive, 8 F seats on 340-600 - seats looked so narrow - I was in 1E and the centre bench area bw 1E and 1F just covered completely with newspapers and magazines - these were moved after a while to free the area up.

2004 Dom was at least served cold but still in those tiny glasses - you just goota continually ask for it to be refilled. First thing I notice when seated is the headrest on seat is not height adjustable and is sticking fair in the back of my shoulders - somewhat of a pain in the cough.

At take-off I thought this plane was going to shake to pieces - it rattled and shook and vibrated incredibly until off the ground - rather interesting looks from a number of pax in F cabin - 8 seats - 8 pax.

Right after take-off dude next to me in 1F reclines and sleeps - shortly they commence meal service - first caviar - I don't eat caviar - but others looked to be enjoying it - next lobster served a-la-whatever - I am allergic to crustaceans so pass on that - for main I chose the pork - what arrived was some sort of pork stew slop with mashed potatoes and veg - something like you would pay $5 fot at coles food hall - then some desert of some sort and more dodgy coffee - passed on the cheeses that did look quite ok.

Half way through meal service dude in 1F wakes up and cannot get his seat up - he gets out and staff spend 10 minutes just trying to et seat up which they succeed in doing. After meal I start t flick through IFE trying to find something to watch for an hour or so before sleeping - my god the tiny screen you are supposed to watch IFE on - my iPhone has bigger screen. Dude next to me now tries to get his seat to recline to sleeping position again - just will bit move from almost upright at all. I think almost every crew member onboard had a crack at it over next hour - they even brought out the manual which was like 3 times as thick as War and Peace - but no luck. Last I saw of him was Flight Manager apologising profusely to him and disappearing with him towards back of plane - I assume to a J seat as no spare in F.

I took a sleeping tablet and slept kinda ok - tossed and turned regularly - that head rest that was sticking me in neck is now forcing me to sleep with neck tilted or raised whichever way I lay - yes flat bed but not so wide and that bloody head rest.

Wake to brekkie which was quite good except for the fake orange juice - yoghurt or muesli or both - basket of bread rolls/danish/croissant - fruit - omelette with tomato/bacon/sausage/potatoes - decent tea too. By this time dude has returned to his seat in 1F - so I guess they did get his seat fixed during night - he did however not look a very happy camper.

Landing again was the same shaking/rattling/vibrating experience as take off - poor lady in 1A I thought was going to have a conniption - it really was interesting. Cabin staff throughout flt were really quite good - no complaints there at all.

How would I rate TG F? Seats too narrow - head rest pain in the cough - food fail on main meal - pass on brekkie - overall just not very impressive at all - again will not be rushing back. I have F on 380 next Monday ex FRA - am hoping F product on that might be better - what are my chances?

 

[RooFlyer]

... head rest pain in the cough ...

To be honest, the lack of comfort may not be entirely the seat's fault

View attachment 34545

 

[boomy]

The A340 is a very noisy plane and the old F seats may not be the best in the sky but to say uncomfortable is a bit harsh.
The food may not be up to par but still caviar and lobster is pretty special and not something you get often in the air.
I hope the seat will be more comfortable for you on the A380 but the food will probably be similar so maybe you should pre-order your main online. I just did it last week and there are a few good looking beef and lamb options (on selected routes).

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Currently sitting up at one of the high benches half way between bar and windows overlooking tarmac in FRA Senator Lounge awaiting TG921 FRA-BKK on 380. Boomy has promised me money back guarantee if this flt not far better than F on 340 BKK-ZHR - will report back with honesty, sincerity and integrity.

Whilst waiting enjoying 1 or 3 of these:



Close up:

 

[boomy]

Boomy has promised me money back guarantee if this flt not far better than F on 340 BKK-ZHR - will report back with honesty, sincerity and integrity.

Should I be worried?
Oh I just remembered, it was USDM booking. Worst case I can probably afford it

 

[Alanslegal]

I don't get it Cruiser ... I know you fly SQ regularly and appears you can fly them anytime with the zillion of points you have over at KF but why did you ever consider buying USDM to fly TG who are known from various reports to be much more inferior than SQ?

TG have been known through the years to change flights, do all sort of weird changes which adversely affect bookings that were made many months prior. The best ones are where they change your flight to a many hours later and where you land 10 hours after your connecting flight has long taken off. Smart one TG

But I guess for those who don't earn enough points *my hands up* buy cheap points to redeem 2nd tier First Class carriers like TG ..... we can handle it

I have just taken my first TG flts courtesy of USDM – as I posted previously if I knew then what I know now I would not have bothered to go down that path due to schedule changes by TG which rendered 2 other bookings through US totally unworkable – so I cancelled and re-booked via SQ. However I did have TG J MEL-BKK then TG F BKK-ZRH / TG F FRA-BKK then TG J BKK-MEL booked way in advance and this is itinerary I am currently half way through.

Many no doubt know I am an SQ devotee and fly them almost exclusively and quite regularly. Had I not had access to the TG flts via USDM I would have flown SQ F MEL-SIN-ZRH / FRA-SIN-MEL – cost of that approx. 230K KF pts + 1K taxes – so the TG itinerary at 150K USDM mls (I think this was the pts cost – I cannot actually remember TBH) + $200 taxes looks cheap right? Well so far that is what I am getting – a very cheap alternative – so far anyway.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Alan - you are long time dead - this life is short and experiences should be maximised.

Who knows what the future holds? Will our current ability to cultivate and harvest FF pts in the future continue as it is? NFI from my view point.

There was a massive thread re USDM - t looked appealing on 2 fronts - pts burn and taxes. I stuck my toes in the water - in retrospect water a tad too salty for me now - would not do it again.

As everything with most peoples travel patterns there is a long story - I will expand on this at a later date when I have time.

Suffice to say TG got me to ZRH where I needed to land - hopefully they will get me from FRA-to MEL in one piece - life goes on - so I had a couple of flts not as good as SQ - that's life - I have had girlfriends too who were just not up to scratch - you know the rest.

 

[Alanslegal]

Alan - you are long time dead - this life is short and experiences should be maximised.

Who knows what the future holds? Will our current ability to cultivate and harvest FF pts in the future continue as it is? NFI from my view point.

There was a massive thread re USDM - t looked appealing on 2 fronts - pts burn and taxes. I stuck my toes in the water - in retrospect water a tad too salty for me now - would not do it again.

As everything with most peoples travel patterns there is a long story - I will expand on this at a later date when I have time.

Suffice to say TG got me to ZRH where I needed to land - hopefully they will get me from FRA-to MEL in one piece - life goes on - so I had a couple of flts not as good as SQ - that's life - I have had girlfriends too who were just not up to scratch - you know the rest.

Haha nice one re: the girlfriend analogy

Fair enough that you wanted to try TG and experience something different, I guess I have the same philiophy with travel as well. Go to as many cities, fly as many carriers as you can, see as many things as you can.

Hope you enjoy the remainder of the flights thought, hope the A380 is a bit better than the older 747/346 experience.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

And now to the return journey - TG921 FRA-BKK 380 F and TG461 BKK-MEL 773 J. Now I only have one word to describe my maiden TG 380 F experience - WOW.

Absolutely knocked me over. Both hard and soft product was EXCELLENT- I was truly surprised and enjoyed it immensely.

I was originally in 2E in F cabin but a couple who were separated wanted to sit together and me being the thorough gentleman that I am - let me retype that and bold it for guys like penegal, jetlagger and Gold Member etc - me being the thorough gentleman that I am moved to 3A to allow them to sit together. I never sit in window seats but this proved a great move - more later.

As soon as I am in any F or J cabin I always go to bathroom as soon as possible to change - before I even sit in seat. The first thing about the TG 380 that floored me was the GREAT BATHROOMS - SIMPLY GREAT. They are HUGE - and with separate sitting area - please note it is sitting area and not s*itting area - where you can comfortably change etc. Just so much bigger and better than SQ 380. So much better - SQ look around you don't own excellence.

On return to seat and I sit down and start to take in the TG F seat / mini suite. WOW - so many simple design features which make this seat outstanding. Things like the sliding tray table that slides all way forward / all way back - so simple / so clever. Right down to the little water bottle holder positioned in mini bin right beside where you sleep - perfect design.

Also window seats have HUGE bin space between seat and wall of plane - more than accommodates any gear anybody could require during flight. Plus F cabin has overhead lockers too so can get your bags away from your feet - another point that SQ F on new 77# does not have (refitted 773s do have bins). Just a brilliant seat overall and so comfortable to sit in in all positions - upright / reclining / watching TV - whatever - great seat.

Now for some general impressions of service - Dom before and imm after take off not cold enough but they did get it colder - mixed nuts just perfect - better than SQ. Canapés were excellent - the dinner / lunch bread basket that is placed on your dinner table such a great idea - then they come along regularly with garlic bread.

And what about those tall skinny Perrier cans - I have never seen those before. Declined on the caviar - starter was lobster tail and portion size huge - I am allergic to crustaceans so didn't bother that too much either. Main course excellent - eye fillet with garlic mash and veg - real mans food

Cheese and crackers 4 diff cheese - lots of different fruits which again was excellent. Dessert also very good and this time coffee so hot and so good - just great meal and delivery and overall staff service impeccable. And the Dom was getting colder and more delectable the more I sampled.

I slept a good 7 hrs or so quite comfortably - it is a great seat to sit in and slept very well. I asked crew not to wake me for brekky which they abided by - I woke about 1 hr out and had an orange juice or 2, changed and deplaned. I could not fault this product in any way at all - would gladly fly it again anytime.

Again picked up at gate on arrival in buggy and escorted through security into TG F lounge. Only had an hour or so to kill so quickly showered - the shower rooms are just fabulous - then a quick glass of Mumm - YES only Mumm on offer again in TG F lounge - quick check of emails etc and a couple quick calls to Oz then time for boarding TG461 BKK-MEL on 773 with new staggered J cabin. I don't really care much for this cabin layout as I really felt like I was in a rabbit warren.

Whilst I am not huge IMHO seat size is just big enough - it does appear like they have crammed as many seats in J as possible - but that's good business as I would do same. Originally seated in 20E I again moved to let a mum and dad share 2 rows of middle seats with the little billy lids.. I moved forward to the rear middle row in front cabin - there seats have a large flat space between them which allows plenty storage space for computer etc during meal times. Meal on this flt was more than acceptable also - but TG let themselves down IMHO by serving Palmer & Co Champagne - jeez that stuff is vinegar - good way to keep costs down huh?

But without nitpicking too much the flt was quite OK. The difference between the MEL-BKK-ZRH combo and the FRA-BKK-MEL combo was just incredible - outbound the total package was far from acceptable in terms of premium travel but inbound the package was REALLY REALLY good. TG went from villians to bordering on excellent - I just found the J product slightly cramped.

 

[boomy]

Congrats mate, you survived the full TG F experience and now you know how regular people (who buy points) fly. Now you can go back and enjoy the luxury of SQ suites

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Congrats mate, you survived the full TG F experience and now you know how regular people (who buy points) fly. Now you can go back and enjoy the luxury of SQ suites

Yes that is in the planning stage - I need to wait until Friday to get SQ F MEL-SIN then R SIN-ZRH and following week SQ R FRA-SIN then F SIN -MEL - it never stops does it? So what is the deal with TG F ex SYD - talk of that being canned is there not? That'll be a bummer!

 

[boomy]

Yep, from 26 October I believe.
Not many F options left to Asia

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Yep, from 26 October I believe.
Not many F options left to Asia

SQ quite obviously - but who else?

For that matter what options to USA? Europe? (Forget QF and EK)

 

[kpc]

And now to the return journey - TG921 FRA-BKK 380 F and TG461 BKK-MEL 773 J. Now I only have one word to describe my maiden TG 380 F experience - WOW.

Can't wait til my Monday flights; Refurbished F on 747 to Bkk, then F on A380 to Fra. Still can't believe I jagged 3 seats in TG F: Syd-Bkk-Fra. Shame Syd-Bkk TG F is no longer available post October 26th

 

[boomy]

SQ quite obviously - but who else?

For that matter what options to USA? Europe? (Forget QF and EK)

Maybe CA F to PVG or PEK (coming soon).

 

[Alanslegal]

But without nitpicking too much the flt was quite OK. The difference between the MEL-BKK-ZRH combo and the FRA-BKK-MEL combo was just incredible - outbound the total package was far from acceptable in terms of premium travel but inbound the package was REALLY REALLY good. TG went from villians to bordering on excellent - I just found the J product slightly cramped.

Glad you had great return flights starring TG's A380. A few here who have flown several times with TG F would agree with me when I say that their service can sometimes be hot, then sometimes quite cold. I have said in other threads that the reason why they aren't rated higher is because they display inconsistent service from time to time. Their A380 and refurbed 747 are solid cabins but they just let it all down by the occasional unenthusiastic and uninspiring service.

Can't wait til my Monday flights; Refurbished F on 747 to Bkk, then F on A380 to Fra. Still can't believe I jagged 3 seats in TG F: Syd-Bkk-Fra. Shame Syd-Bkk TG F is no longer available post October 26th

We snagged 4 F seats SYD-BKK this time last year And yes, very sad that TG F will cease in late October. I was booked to fly with them one in late November for one last hurrah.

 

[infinity]

I did the TG A380 in F from CDG to BKK then 747 to SYD ( old plane) mid last year in F.

Went SYD/KUL/CDG on MH on way over in F A380 from KUL.

Also did a number of SQ suites last year and this year.

The A380F product I love the best is SQ followed by EK/TG followed by QF then MH ( haven't tried other A380f's yet, but waiting for EH please !)

I really rate the TG F A380 and love caviar and lobster yum.

The old TG 747 F was a shocker from BKK /SYD but hopefully KPC will get some great experiences there next week on the new beast before it stops.

Overall TG F PJ's are still the best in the world ( maybe that should be a new thread??)