Anyone flown with Thai air (& otherQs)

[chadmat]

Happy Anzac Day!

Well it looks like we going for a trip early next year! Just got to get a good deal!

Anyway, Thai air seems very reasonable (and I can also spend a few days in Thailand to visit my aunt, cousin and new baby!). Was just wondering if anyone else had flown with them and what they thought?

Also considering hiring a motorhome as seems the easiest way to see the most places - figure don't have to keep packing and unpacking which is a big bonus!! Has anyone got any views whether or not this is the best way? Maybe it is not as practical as it sounds?

If anyone has any tips/ideas/suggestions at all will be very greatful as we have no idea what we going to do when we are there yet - apart from obviously wanting to make the most of our time over there and see as much as possible!

So excited!!

[MotherBear]

Happy ANZAC Day to you too, Chadmat.

Hi Chadmat!

We flew with Thai Air the first time we visited NZ (Jan 2006).

Bascially, Thai Air was cheaper for us and we had no problems with them at all, other than a little bit of personal nit-picking. I was on crutches at the time and they looked after me well. The first leg of our flight was in an old plane which was a bit rattley, but that might just have been from this part of the world, as we also had the same thing when we flew with Malaysia Airlines the last time we went. The second plane out of Bangkok was much better. I hear that there is a new airport there now, otherwise I'd have mentioned that it was very run down. I’d hope the new one would be a lot better.

During the flight we found it odd that they insisted on all the window shutters being kept closed for the entire trip, so we never knew whether it was day or night. I don't know whether that helped in some way, but we didn't suffer from jet lag at all. The food was pretty good, both on the plane and in the hotels we stayed at for our short stopovers (7 hours going and 18 hours returning), but that depends, of course, on your taste for oriental food. The hotels they put us in were fine, not what you’d call modern and glossy and not in the best part of Bangkok, but they were clean and we were happy enough. We did manage a quick trip to some shops on the return journey and had a quick look around on the way. The only reason we didn’t fly with Thai the last time was because of the insistence by our travel agent that we’d get a very good deal from Malaysia Airlines. You can read the whole sad story about our dealings with her here . As it turned out, we’d have been better to have stuck with our idea of flying with Thai a second time instead of listening to her. In fact, we’d have been better staying away from her altogether as we ended up paying through the nose to fly with Malaysian, yet the service was no different to Thai who would have been quite a bit cheaper, I'm sure .

On here, you can see how Thai Air shapes up and, if you click on Passengers Comments under the red stars it’ll give you some personal thoughts on the airline.

Hiring a motorhome seems to be a very popular way of seeing NZ. You have a home on wheels and are free to go wherever you wish without having to worry about booking hotels or motels. I believe you can just pull up at a spot of your choice (within reason, of course ) and set up camp there, you don't necessarily have to use the campsites, although you wouldn't get the accompanying facilities. Most of the campsites in NZ seem to be clean and tourist-friendly so there shouldn't be a problem.

[chadmat]

Thanks MotherBear!

Having read your post I'm glad I don't bother with travel agents! What a nightmare. I'm very impressed you kept your cool - I certainly couldn't have done.

I think we will go with a motorhome as we want to see as much as possible so if nothing else we will return with a shortlist of places we could see ourselves living.

I'm glad you can recommend Thai air as I mentioned the possibility to my cousin and she is up for us visiting her - I've not seen her in 8 years!

[MotherBear]

Disclaimer: (cos I don't want be be sued if it all goes belly up for you ) As with any airline, there's good bits and bad and different people have varied experiences with them. Personally I can't think of any reason not to recommend them, especially if the flights aren't booked by an Indian lady called Mary.

Originally Posted by chadmat

Having read your post I'm glad I don't bother with travel agents! What a nightmare. I'm very impressed you kept your cool - I certainly couldn't have done.

Believe me, I think I would have felt much better if only I could have vented my feelings on this dreadful woman. At least I would have got it out of my system. As it is, I still have the vapours every time she pops into my head. Ah well, no doubt time will heal and I'll no longer be plagued by longings to go and 'sort her out'.

[LilAmy]

Hello,

Welcome to the forum! Hope you get all your flights etc sorted out. Unfortunately I've only flown with Malaysian Airlines so cant comment on Thai.

Just a wee word of advice on the Motorhome thing. Not sure how long you will be staying in NZ for when you visit but seeing it by Motorhome can be a slower way to do things as the roads here are quite hilly and windy and I know just driving them by car can be a bit of a nightmare and I know from what others have told me doing it by Motorhome can be even slower.

It sure will be a good laff tho and means all your accomodation and travel are all paid for. What I'd say is try and plan where you want to go and add a couple of extra hours on just incase. Or even do part of your trip by motorhome and part by car??

I'm sure what ever you do you'll love your time across here

[chadmat]

Don't worry motherbear i won't sue as i can spell colour!!!!

LilAmy, cheers for that! The slower thing is fine as we are not planning to rush things! But the allow extra time is an excellent idea, something I may have not thought of, especially as we want to fit in as much as possible! OH is used to driving a transit high cube (really really big, long & tall transit) so luckily we have a fair idea of the difference driving one as oppposed to a car would be like.

Another question, how easy is it to get internet access overthere? I'm doing a degree, so I'm hoping to use the deadtime when flying studying and will have at least one assignment I'd have to submit on line (at the time when I'm currently planning to go). So I'll need to hook my laptop up at some point or go at a different time!

[MotherBear]

I don't think there'll be much problem with Internet access, judging by the number of members who have posted on the forum as they've been travelling around NZ.

Not having had any personal experience of this, I'll let others fill you in on the details.

[Glenda]

Hi chatmat,

There are plenty of internet 'cafes' about - some are in actual cafes, others in book shops, and McDonalds quite often have them.

I believe libraries have them too, but haven't used the internet in a library in NZ, but they allowed public use in Australia when we were there last year.

:smile:

[chadmat]

Thanks Glenda!

I'm going to ask one of my 'stupid' questions now (never having used any public internet!)

How does it work? How much does it cost? I need to connect via my laptop, not via a different computer.

Thanks all again in advance!