Thai airways or Eva lhr-bkk bkk-lhr??

We are considering booking our honeymoon in the next day or so :-)

have had quotes flying Economy with both EVA and Thai airways...EVA tends to be cheaper by about £100 for the two of us.

lots of travel agents have said go for EVA but not sure if they insist because of extra commission? (they seem to all suggest a better in flight entertainment service from EVA which in itself is not a huge deciding factor, however we do like to have a bit of comfort on a 11 hour flight to a honeymoon destination)

We have very limited experience on long haul flights and have only been to the Caribbean before (obviously with a different airline) but we are frequent travellers within Europe.

also we both have frquent flyer accounts with BA, Swiss etc and was wondering if flying Thai will give us more miles we can use for European flights? EVA%26#39;s frequent flyer programme does not seem to be too useful if using european carriers mostly...

Again that%26#39;s not a main consideration but we are trying to take into account all things before deciding.

We want to go with the most reliable (check in etc, less delays, reliable as a carrier/fleet and comfy..)

So quite in a dilemma at the moment...

Would welcome any feedback, suggestions etc.

Thai airways or Eva lhr-bkk bkk-lhr??

hello

went to Phuket Nov 07 with EVA, and all I can say is superb! Travel experience similar to your description, but some info for you...

Straight through both ways on our journey, werent overly fussy on baggage weight being top end of limit! PLane very good, fed and watered constantly throughout, no costs, in flight entertaintment brilliant - games / movies / flight path etc etc

Had similar suspicions as yourself - ie why tour operator pushing, but also advised that newer aircraft and can honestly say were very impressed...

the only thing we missed was on the return we could have had an express switch but more due to poor explanation at the massive newer Bangkok airport, nothing related to EVA..so if air miles arent a main concern, save yourself some pounds (they%26#39;ll go a long way over there1) and I%26#39;d recommend EVA. Decided where you%26#39;re staying yet, as our Hotel was also superb...first holiday in a long time where felt delivered more than the price!

From a fussy traveller!

Thai airways or Eva lhr-bkk bkk-lhr??

Hi lia-p

You don%26#39;t mention how far ahead your wedding/honeymoon is.

We%26#39;ve flown with Thai, BA and EVA to BKK before. I%26#39;d not really recommend any of them in Economy on a long haul flight to be brutally honest. You need to check out aircraft type/age as this may well have a bigger impact than the specific airline for an economy seat - all other things such as departure times and price, being equal. Check out wwww.seatguru.org

However, Trailfinders previously did us a great deal on EVA Air%26#39;s next class up (like Premium Economy/World Traveller Plus) for less than the corresponding cost for BA economy, and it was a delight.

Plus, if you mention at check-in, and via your booking agent that it%26#39;s your honeymoon, you may just get a complimentary upgrade. Airlines differ on this, and I don%26#39;t know EVA%26#39;s policy, but if you purchased their Premium Economy and got bumped up to business then that would be a result!

When we flew back from Bangkok on Eva, they offered us a chance to be bumped to a later flight with Vigin in Business (something to do with possible over-booking on EVA), but it also depended on Business class seats being available on the Virgin flight.) In the end there were no Virgin seats so we just flew back as originally booked with Eva. However we did get to spend an hour and a half in BKK%26#39;s Eva Exec Lounge as part of the deal. So look out for opportunities like that, and try the honeymoon tack to see if you might get a free pass into the airline%26#39;s exec lounge. As it%26#39;s your honeymoon, it might be worth you getting a subscription to an airline lounge club, unless your bank (or Amex at the right level) offers you lounge access with your account. Could be worth a temporary bank account upgrade just to get the lounge freebies for the honeymoon. Hope that helps, and happy wedded bliss for whenenever and ever after!!

Thank you so much both :-)

we are flying in july

thanks for all your tips...we%26#39;re looking at travelmood and best at travel as the two with the best deals so we;ll go with one of them today

trailfinders i found a bit too blase%26#39; they never responded to our calls etc

i think i%26#39;ll also check what the difference in price would be for premium economy, if it%26#39;s really small then why not

thank you for your tips about airport lounges, used to have amex never quite got to use any of these offers with lounges,i am usually quite happy just arriving, checking in and having a browse at the duty free shops, but if they do offer it then i will take up on the offer :-)

fiance has used lounges on business travel and from what i hear there are mainly suits there eating peanuts and reading financial newspapers...(not my ideal setting)

i am placing an order soon for one of those %26#39;i%26#39;m on honeymoon Ts%26#39; which i think will be just the thing to wear at the airports and hotel check ins :-)

Hi,

I think both has a good reputation from service. I flew more often with Thai, just because I found out their flight time more friendly (according to me, of course).

Another thing is, I would easily pick one which has the shortest time flight. To be honest, until noe I have no problem with long haul flight (even now I fly often with my 2-years-old son on a long haul).

So, both is really okay. Be sure the time is correct to reduce your stress.

Have a wonderful honeymoon!

ps: one more thing, it is true Thai give no commission to travel agents :)

I,ve flown the last 7 times with Thai and i dont mind the lack of seat back screens as i sleep on a night flight. Eva have newer planes (777,s) as opposed to 747,s but i do get airmiles which i can use with any Star alliance member airlines which now number 18. We book through Airline network and always get Thai cheaper than Eva plus Thai have 2 flights a day from LHR, Eva only have 6 per week and none on Mondays.

Andygsxr

Just another thought (if you havent already taken action)...Kenwood Travel were approx 600 cheaper for exactly the same accomodation with other tour operators.

We knew where we wanted to stay, but I was struggling with paying the cost and after some serious searching found exactly what we wanted but as already mentioned, massivley cheaper.

The saving wasnt far off the whole spending money and no scrimping, scraping or going without....

Thanks every1,

i tried about 15 or so travel companies (big,small,everything)

once we found the perfect package at a price that we thought as reasonable compared to other earlier quotes, i went back and checked with loads..

eventually we are going with Travelmood flying with EVA

thanks for all your suggestions, I am really looking forward to Thailand!!

Thai every time. Eva is hell (same trip in Feb).

Nuss all the other posts that I have read complemented EVA

why is it hell? in what respect?

Out of all the long haul economy flights I’ve done, Eva Air was by far the most comfortable.

The new planes have seats that recline by the most I’ve ever seen in economy. Even my partner, who is over 6’ tall, found the leg room was good. Other thing was the corridors seemed wider than normal, so if you%26#39;re in the aisle seat you don%26#39;t get bashed by trolleys and people going past all the time.

As I can barely sleep on planes, the seat back entertainment is always welcome to me.

Our bags were well over the limit on the way back from Bangkok and they didn%26#39;t say a thing.

Prebooking your seats online is always a good idea too - expecially if you don%26#39;t want to sit too near the galley or the loos!