Thai Airways affords a novel First Class product that features a spectacular floor expertise in Bangkok and scrumptious delicacies. The airline has additionally lately up to date its First Class cabin, full with sliding doorways and a big leisure display screen.
On this information, we’ll discover every part there may be to learn about Thai Airways First Class, together with what you may count on earlier than and through your First Class flight, in addition to the finer particulars about Thai Airways First Class cabins, plane, and present routes.
After all, we’ll additionally take a look at all the most effective methods to fly Thai Airways First Class at a considerably decreased fee by redeeming factors.
The Thai Airways First Class Expertise
Thai Airways First Class consists of the easiest that the Bangkok-based airline has to supply. Distinctive to Thai Airways, First Class passengers will get pleasure from a complimentary pre-flight therapeutic massage on the flagship lounge’s spa in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK).
As soon as onboard, you may count on attentive service, a spacious suite, scrumptious delicacies, and Dom Perignon Champagne at your disposal. You’ll additionally get so as to add Thai Airways First Class pajamas to your airline loungewear assortment, and use them for a nap in your lie-flat suite.
Floor Expertise
The Thai Airways First Class expertise begins as quickly as you arrive on the airport.
Departing from Bangkok, there’s a devoted First Class check-in counter, the place you’ll discover your personal porter who escorts you thru a particular Quick Observe safety lane and immigration space.
After what must be a slightly fast check-in expertise, you’ll be transported, maybe by golf cart, on to the Thai Airways Royal Orchid Status Lounge. This lounge is basically brand-new, because it opened briefly previous to the pandemic, solely to be shuttered shortly thereafter.
The Royal First Class Lounge is briefly closed, so First Class passengers can relaxation on this state-of-the-art lounge previous to their flight as an alternative.
The spacious lounge consists of many alternative seating areas, so whether or not you’d prefer to learn, eat, loosen up, or nap, you’ll make sure to discover an space to fit your wants. There’s a separate seating space for Royal First Class passengers.
Must you be hungry, you may assist your self to a scorching meals buffet, or you may order gadgets from the lounge’s kitchen. There are specifically marked tables for First Class passengers, in addition to a particular à la carte menu reserved for passengers in Royal First Class.
You absolutely received’t be dissatisfied for those who’re a fan of Thai meals, and there are additionally a variety of different choices as effectively.
Together with the meals, you’ll have a alternative of drinks, together with Möet & Chandon Imperial Champagne.
Whether or not you’re connecting by means of or departing from Bangkok, you may benefit from the lounge’s bathe services to clean up earlier than waltzing aboard feeling recent and clear.
Each the Royal First Class Lounge and the Royal Orchid Status Lounges have spas on website. Sadly, they continue to be briefly closed resulting from ongoing results of the pandemic.
As soon as they return to operation, although, Thai Airways First Class passengers are in for an actual deal with. Whereas having a spa in a lounge isn’t fully distinctive by itself, Thai Airways goes above and past by providing all First Class passengers a complimentary hour-long therapy.
Certainly, you may select from both a 60-minute full-body therapeutic massage, or for those who occur to be quick on time, you can even elect for a 30-minute foot or shoulder and neck therapeutic massage.
As soon as totally relaxed and able to board, you’ll be escorted, typically by a private van or a buggy, all the best way to the plane. Upon arrival, the Thai Airways First Class expertise continues in earnest.
Seat
At present, Thai Airways First Class is simply discovered on the Boeing 777-300ER. As quickly as you board, you’ll discover a fashionable and crisp First Class cabin, as these plane solely got here into operation in April 2022.
This present First Class mannequin has loads of area, and whereas it doesn’t have the choice of a totally enclosed suite, there’s a sliding door which gives partial privateness.
Every seat has greater than sufficient space for storing, together with within the ottoman reverse the seat and beneath the big leisure display screen. The ottoman features as each a space for storing and a spot the place a journey companion can be part of you for dinner or drinks.
In the event you want to change your seat’s place, seat controls can be found by means of a complicated contact display screen design, or with an easier push of a button for those who’d choose.
Consistent with First Class custom, these seats may be lowered all the manner, so you may get pleasure from a totally lie-flat mattress throughout your flight.
To finish the posh expertise, you’ll obtain an amenity package designed by Porsche, in addition to pajamas and noise cancelling headphones for the flight.
Meals and Drink
As quickly as you are taking your seat, you’ll be handled to a glass of Dom Perignon Champagne, often accompanied by nuts and chocolate.
On the Thai Airways web site, you may pre-select your meal as much as 72 hours previous to departure. You’ll have a variety of choices to select from, no matter your tastes may be.
The in-flight rotating menu will at all times include all kinds of delicacies. You possibly can count on Thai dishes, equivalent to Coconut Herb Sea Bass or the Royal Boiled Rice Set, in addition to classics like Lobster Thermidor.
Whereas within the air, Thai Airways affords a “dine on demand” service model. This lets you order foods and drinks everytime you’d like, in case you’re not hungry through the common meal service instances.
You can even have a journey companion sit throughout from you to share a meal, as the big and durable tray desk is a lot sufficiently big to serve two.
Thai Airways First Class Cabins
After lately retiring all of its First Class plane, together with the Boeing 747s and Airbus A380s, Thai Airways has introduced again a brand new First Class product solely on a fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs.
On these plane, there are eight First Class seats which can be configured in a 1-2-1 structure over two rows.
In the event you’re travelling solo, you’ll wish to select Seats 1A, 1K, 2A, or 2K for probably the most privateness.
In the meantime, for those who’re travelling with a companion, you’ll wish to choose both Seats 1E and 1F or Seats 2E and 2F so as to be nearer collectively.
Thai Airways First Class Routes
At current, Thai Airways has three 777 plane with First Class cabins. The airline is at the moment providing flights in First Class to and from London Heathrow, Tokyo Narita, and Osaka Kansai airports.
Sadly, Thai Airways doesn’t have any flights to or from North America.
Earlier than the pandemic, there have been considerably extra First Class route choices. Nonetheless, since retiring all of its older plane and ultimately bringing again First Class again on new deliveries, this class of service is at the moment solely supplied on three routes to and from Bangkok.
As journey continues to renew, it’s potential that Thai Airways will proceed so as to add extra routes, which might be very welcome information certainly.
How one can Redeem Factors for Thai Airways First Class
Thai Airways is a member of Star Alliance, and actually one of many founding members of the alliance. In principle, Thai Airways may be booked with factors from different Star Alliance loyalty applications.
In actuality, nevertheless, it’s a bit trickier. The preferred rewards program for reserving Star Alliance flights is Aeroplan, though it’s potential to ebook Thai Airways First Class with many different Star Alliance airline loyalty applications.
Aeroplan
Arguably the simplest option to ebook Thai Airways First Class is with Aeroplan. As a switch companion of American Specific Membership Rewards, and with a slew of co-branded bank cards, Aeroplan factors are straightforward to return by and straightforward to redeem.
To or from each Japanese locations, you may count on to pay 60,000 Aeroplan factors for a one-way flight in Thai Airways First Class.
On the long-haul path to London, the price jumps as much as 100,000 Aeroplan factors. The flight measures in at 5,938 miles, putting it within the third distance band on the “Between Atlantic and Pacific zones” chart.
You’ll doubtless have a a lot simpler time reserving one of many Japanese routes. In the event you handle to attain a seat on the London route, it could signify a wonderful option to fly from Europe to Asia.
United MileagePlus
Utilizing United MileagePlus miles, you may fly to and from Bangkok to each Tokyo or Osaka for 71,500 miles, plus a really modest quantity of taxes and costs.
Flights to and from London are over double the price, with the Bangkok to London route costing 159,500 miles.
United MileagePlus miles are comparatively tough to return by. Other than incomes miles by means of crediting paid flights to United MileagePlus, your finest guess is with US-issued bank cards.
United MileagePlus is a switch companion of Chase Final Rewards, which you’ll be able to switch immediately at an optimum ratio of 1:1.
Other than Final Rewards, you can even switch Marriott Bonvoy factors to United at a ratio of three:1.1.
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
In case you have miles in Thai Airways’ Royal Orchid Plus program, you’ll have a better time reserving Thai First Class flights. Whereas it might be simpler to redeem factors with this program, it comes at a barely decrease value than utilizing United miles or a barely greater value than Aeroplan factors.
Flights to and from Bangkok to Japan will value 67,500 miles, and to and from London will value 125,000 miles.
In case you have an eligible enterprise class flight paid with money, you can even improve from enterprise class to First Class with Royal Orchid miles; nevertheless, the prices are fairly excessive, and it could make extra sense to avoid wasting your miles for a future journey as an alternative.
Upgrading to First Class would value 61,000 Royal Orchid Plus miles for a route going to or from Japan, and 112,500 miles in case you are flying to or from London from Bangkok.
Royal Orchid Plus is a switch companion of US-issued Citi ThankYou factors at a ratio of 1:1. You can even switch from Marriott Bonvoy at an optimum ratio of 60,000:25,000.
Thai Airways First Class Award Availability
As is the case with First Class award availability on all airways, you’ll have the most effective probability of discovering area for those who ebook as far upfront as potential.
At present, reward area between Bangkok and London is sort of sparse. In the event you’re capable of finding a seat, make sure to ebook it.
Extra ample award area may be discovered on the routes between Thailand and Japan. That is particularly the case with the Osaka route, because the airline seems to be persistently releasing one reward seat on every flight.
Flights to and from Tokyo are tougher to return by, however on no account are they inconceivable to search out both.
Ideas & Tips for Thai Airways First Class
In the event you’re trying to check out Thai Airways First Class, you’ll definitely wish to discover a route flying out of Bangkok so as to benefit from Thai Airways’s floor service. When the spas reopen, this may embrace a complimentary spa therapy within the lounge.
You can even think about using Aeroplan’s stopover guidelines to mix a Thai Airways First Class flight with one other companion airline’s First Class, too.
For instance, you possibly can fly from North America to Tokyo on All Nippon Airways First Class, after which proceed onwards to Bangkok in Thai Airways First Class. Over 20 hours of First Class flying will value solely 135,000 Aeroplan factors.
Coming within the different route, you possibly can have a look at a First Class flight from Washington to Abu Dhabi in Etihad Airways First Class, a flight to Bangkok in enterprise class, after which a flight in Thai Airways First Class to Japan.
At simply over 13,000 miles, a routing equivalent to this might value 155,000 Aeroplan factors (together with a stopover), however you’d have a reasonably spectacular flying expertise.
Lastly, remember the fact that the London–Bangkok route will impose probably the most taxes and costs, because of the UK’s pesky Air Passenger Responsibility. The upside is that the flight from London is a daytime flight, so that you’ll simply have to verify to recuperate your prices with loads of free-flowing Dom Perignon.
Conclusion
Aptly marketed as “Royal First Class”, Thai Airways’s ahead cabin expertise will little doubt go away you feeling like a monarch when you step off the aircraft.
Whereas it might not be famend as probably the most groundbreaking expertise, Thai Airways’s new First Class product is certain to please, providing a wonderful floor expertise, sliding privateness doorways, and loads of high-end bubbles.
Regardless of not providing any present First Class routes flying to or from North America, Thai Airways First Class continues to be a bucket-list merchandise value trying out in your worldwide adventures.
As some airways have been pivoting away from providing First Class, Thai Airways has determined to buck the pattern by introducing a brand-new luxurious product on its latest plane.
We will solely hope that the airline will roll out the cabin on extra routes, and that the spa within the First Class lounge in Bangkok reopens with out haste.
