Bali 2014 – Aeroplan Sale: Thai “Economy” BKK-DPS and Thai First Class Lounge BKK – PART 3 of 5

Bali 2014 – Aeroplan Sale: Lufthansa First/Business YYZ-FRA-MUC + FCT & FCL – PART 1 of 5

Bali 2014 – Aeroplan Sale: Thai First MUC-BKK – PART 2 of 5

Bali 2014 – Aeroplan Sale: Thai “Economy” BKK-DPS and Thai First Class Lounge BKK – PART 3 of 5

Bali 2014 – Aeroplan Sale: In Bali and the Kupu Kupu Barong Resort – PART 4 of 5

Bali 2014 – Aeroplan Sale: EVA Airways Royal Laurel TPE-SFO, Centurion Lounge SFO, and being detained because of EBOLA! – PART 5 of 5

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Thai First Class Lounge in Bangkok

Once I landed in Bangkok, Thai’s ground service kicked in. Unlike their inflight product, Thai is well known for having excellent ground service. Waiting outside our gate were buggies for First Class passengers. They drove First Class passengers to security, lead us to the front of the line, and helped us with our baggage. Once we cleared security, they brought us to the Thai First Class Lounge.

To get access to the Thai First Class Lounge, you have to be: (1) Departing on Thai First; (2) Landing on Thai First and leaving on a Thai flight in any class of service. As I was landing in First and leaving on a Thai flight I had access. If you’re leaving in Business Class, you’re granted a 30-minute complimentary spa treatment, and if you’re leaving in First Class, you get one hour. However, as I was ticketed in economy, I was not given a complimentary spa treatment.

The lounge was fine. It had a small dining room with a very small and unimpressive menu. I had a small fish ball soup and a tea (which was Lipton). The buffet selection looked tired and I did not touch it. I didn’t bother with alcohol, as it was too early in the morning for me.

I really enjoyed the shower rooms. They were spacious and well designed, and they provide l’Occitane en Provence products. Further, the bathroom had individual rooms, with your own toilet and sink. This was excellent for my embarrassingly excessive tooth brushing habit (Invisalign baby! Some people see me brushing in a bathroom and look at me like they’ve never seen a toothbrush before).

The Wi-Fi was pretty slow and it used an annoying system where you had to provide your boarding pass to get a hotspot voucher. At least it isn’t like in Beijing where you have to scan your passport, but I think it’s still a little déclassé.

Before I left the lounge, I went to the front desk to see if they could get me an exit seat for my flight to Denpasar. After a couple minutes of typing and a quick phone call, I was told “unfortunately there are no exit seats available. We are very sorry. We did find a seat in Business Class though. I hope this is OK.” I was then given my boarding pass with a Business Class seat assigned. Yeah, they should be sorry… jeez! 😛 I then left the lounge by foot for my flight to Denpasar.

Thai “Economy” from Bangkok BKK to Denpasar DPS

I say “Economy” because it turns out that they converted one section of Business Class into economy, providing economy service while in business seats. There were only a handful of us, and the flight wasn’t even close to full. I suspect they did this for some premium passengers on the flight who were booked in economy.

For the four-hour flight, the seat was quite comfortable. It was an angled seat, meaning it does not go fully flat. I was served a decent economy meal, which was some fish thing with rice. Honestly, it was better than anything I was served on the Thai First Class flight! There was also a frequent complimentary drink service. I really like the vintage stirring sticks!

After eating I spent most of the flight asleep. It went by quite smoothly and we landed in Denpasar on time.