I was headed to New York to attend the Freddie Awards and the day of departure was fast approaching. I was supposed to be flying on Singapore Airlines First Class but my miles hadn’t transferred from Amex in time so It was time to look at another option.
I ended up booking Thai Airways. I was going to use Lifemiles but ended up getting a paid fare for just under $1800 AUD to Shanghai which is pretty reasonable in Business Class.
Thai operate both a 777-300ER and 777-200ER on the route and both are very different, the -200ER have angled flat seats and the -300ER has lie-flat seats with every Business passenger having direct aisle access. Thai was supposed to have the A350 on the route last year but due to CASA it has been delayed to October of this year.
Thai Airways 777 at Melbourne Airport
Boarding for the flight started 30 minutes late as the inbound aircraft was late. Boarding was a little bit of a mess with people pushing in but it eventually started and was completed surprisingly fast.
Thai Airways 777 Angled Flat Business Class
On the window seats, the seating controls are found on the left side. The seats also feature a massage function.
Seat Controls
Also on the left of the seat is where the old style IFE remote control is found.
IFE Remote
The IFE screens are fairly small and are not touch screen.
IFE Screens
The 777-200ER features 30 angled flat Business Class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration. Even though the seats themselves are quite old they are still very well cushioned and comfortable.
During boarding, passengers are offered water, champagne and juice.
Water and Hot Towel
The crew also came around the cabin to offer newspapers and magazines.
Reading material
As you can see the seats are fairly spacious but really lack privacy.
Thai Airways 777 Angled Flat Business Class
I selected seat 14B and luckily 14A was empty. This was great as the seats have basically no storage so I could store stuff on the seat next to me. Each seat has in-seat power and individual reading lights above and next to your shoulder.
Thai Airways 777 Angled Business Class
We pushed back shortly after boarding and made our way to the runway, the weather in Melbourne kept changing from raining to sunny then cloudy, this is completely normal for them.
Departing Melbourne
Shortly after our taxi we took off and were headed for Bangkok!
Goodbye Melbourne!
Soon after taking off, the meal service started. Thai don’t offer an A la carte service so on this service, there was a full lunch service and a small meal served before landing. First I had some mixed nuts and a sparkling water with a lemon slice.
Nuts and Sparkling Water
Next was the salmon salad which was fresh and full of flavour.
Business Class Lunch Service
I then had the cooked salmon as the main, it was cooked brilliantly. I think it’s obvious that Salmon is my favourite seafood 😉
Cooked Salmon with Mustard Sauce
The for dessert was a small orange cake with raspberries and cream. My apologies for the quality of the photo.
Small Orange Cake
After the meal service was completed, the cabin windows were shut and the cabin lighting was dimmed for people to sleep.
Dark Cabin
Thai Airways Business Class amenity kits are designed by Furla.
Furla Amenity Kit
The feature a dental kit, eye mask, socks, a hairbrush, mouthwash, body lotion, lip balm and ear plugs.
Amenity Kit Contents
The brand of body lotion is Acca Kappa.
Acca Kappa Amenities
Thai provide headphones but I’d definitely recommend taking your own, these fitted nicely but the sound quality was poor.
Thai Airways Business Headphones
On this flight, there’s no bedding available and no pyjamas are provided. I reclined the seat and tried to get a few hours of sleep but it was quite difficult with its angle.
Reclined Seat
I didn’t end up getting any sleep so decided to stay awake and get some work done and watch a movie or two. Luckily the seats do have In-seat power which is found inside the centre armrest. Interestingly, there are no USB power outlets onboard.
Business Class Bathrooms
There are 2 bathrooms for Business Class passengers, 1 at the front of the cabin and the 2nd at the back just beside the galley and in front of Economy Class.
The bathrooms are average size and were mostly clean. The front one was quite dirty as I think most passengers didn’t know there was one bathroom at the back of the cabin.
Toilet
The bathrooms smelt good the whole time thanks to ‘Thé Vert’. It’s quite a refreshing and long lasting scent which is nice.
The Vert Green Tea Scent
After about 6 hours of working and watching movies, I decided I needed something to wake me up. I opted for a black coffee and it was accompanied by some biscuits.
Black Coffee and Biscuits
After having some coffee, a small pre-landing snack was served. I went with the Fish broth soup with was quite tasty.
Fish Soup
Overall
My experience with Thai Airways was quite pleasant. I really want to fly them in First Class and you can do it quite cheaply with miles from Sydney.
I wouldn’t hesitate to fly them again but would try and avoid the angled seats.
10 comments
I flew this in January, and the two rear middle seats had a curtain that went around it for added privacy. Did you notice if that was on your flight?
Hmmm, didn’t notice that on my flight. Could be used for crew rest maybe?
Oh yeah, hadn’t thought of that. But we were the ones that sat in it. Couldn’t figure out when only those seats had curtains….
I flew this in reverse out of BKK in March. The overnight flight from BKK also has the angled seats. I found the service to be wonderful, but the hard product is such a let down (knowing what else Thai have on offer on other routes).
Is the 300ER from MEL used on the day flight or the night flight?
I flew the 777-200 from BKK to AKL for my honeymoon. What a disappointment. We had previously flown Thai first class from MUC-BKK on the new config 747 and the service and hard product were night and day. The seats on the 747 were big enough that my wife and I were able to lay in the same seat and watch a movie together. On the flight from BKK-AKL, the seat was so old, the leg rest wouldn’t hold the weight of my legs. I had to prop my carry on bag underneath in order to keep the leg rest from falling. I don’t know how they can get away with such a terrible product for an 11 hour flight. Had I paid for the flights and not used miles, I’d been livid. They say 170 degree angle flat and it’s no where near 170. It seemed to be more like 140-150 and a recliner chair.
Agree fully ! The Melbourne public are getting a pretty horrible deal with the 777-200 old ,out-dated and very poor Business class model compared to other airlines
Booked expecting to fly the new A350 Melbourne to Bangkok !!! feel cheated ! Booked 8 months ago and still they are flying into Melbourne the 777-200
Thai obviously does not see Melbourne as a priority
Mike
It’s all driven by demand on the route … Auckland is not a high demand route in winter so Thai will go with 777-200 for as long as possible… there’s not many airlines who fly A350’s into NZ , emirates I can only think of and then plane has to stop is australia to fill up with passengers…
Hey Mike, they’ve been flying the A350 for the night flight and the 777-300ER (with fully flat beds) for the daytime flight. I booked a fare based on this information for November and now I’ve just been alerted that they are reverting back to the 777-200ER for the daytime flight from late Oct until February 2018! REALLY not happy. From what I can gather Thai have a fairly poor track record in this regard. I only booked as I had some United Miles and if it does turn out to the the 772 then I wont be using them again.
Thank god the 777s are retired they were an over priced clagged out affair. Thai still need to get the arrival meal right on the A350s, economy get one always its hit and miss in Business. I find flying from Melbourne to BKK the Vietnam airlines 787 Dreamliner is a better option, more comfortable and more consistent, just adds 2 hours extra to the trip. Thai really need to get their act togetaher. I only use them when I need the direct flight.
You said there was no bedding but there was a pillow and blanket on you seat during boarding (I know you mean there was no proper bedding but you should say that)
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