Thai or Emirates ?

[Mid Life Crisis]

I'm planning a trip to Bangkok in the next few months.
I have narrowed it down to Thai or Emirates on the A380.
Which would you choose for on-board comfort and service?

[ExXB]

Thai would be non stop, EK will stop in the dessert{sic}. No question I'd avoid the stopm

[wowzz]

Another vote for Thai - why would you want to waste time in transit?

[crippen]

Emirates for me


unless you fancy flying thro Heathrow with all that entales.
presuming you are oop north

[ZFT]

Originally Posted by wowzz

Another vote for Thai - why would you want to waste time in transit?

As has been pointed, he will have to transit somewhere. The OP doesn't state which class, but Thai economy is one of the best at present

[S.o.S.]

Welcome to the Cabin Mid Life Crisis. When asking questions, it is best to give more detail. As you have given your location as Bolton, might we presume that you are near MAN? Giving the expected Departure and Arrival airports is very helpful.

[wowzz]

Originally Posted by crippen

Emirates for me


unless you fancy flying thro Heathrow with all that entales.
presuming you are oop north

Personally I would prefer to transit LHR at a civilized hour, after a quick hop down from Manchester and then have an uninterrupted flight, rather than muck about in DXB at 'stupid o'clock'.
As has been said, it might help to know if the OP is flying from oop North.

[Andy_S]

You probably should consider transit times as well. Some connections in the Middle East have long layovers.

[Mid Life Crisis]

Thanks for the welcome S.o.S.
My loçal is MAN and my destination is BKK in economy.
I would travel to LHR for the Thai A380.
I'm steering well clear of the 787 after reading reviews.
Has anybody flown Finnair on the A350?
Thanks for all the replies sorry for the late reply due to work.

[Mad Monk]

Flown Thai sevearl times, great service.

[Trinity 09L]

Fly Thai, avoid dxb, remember either journey you will wish to sleep on arrival, so your bkk eta is relevant.

[Mid Life Crisis]

Top deck economy seat.

Has anybody used the top deck economy section on the Thai A380?

[Espada III]

I have not used Finnair, but friends flying to the far east have and say it is good.

[Mr Mac]

Mid Life Crisis
Would use EK and DXB two step - more connections 3 flight a day from Man and numerouse DXB - BKK. Would avoid LHR everytime. However would agree with your choice on not using 787.


Have a good trip which ever way you go, and dont have a crisis in BKK, many have !

[surely not]

I would rather fly on an A380 for the LHR-BKK sector and have the comfort, than split the journey in Dubai and maybe only have one sector of the two on the A380.
Not flown Thai for a few years but they were excellent when I last traveled with them.

[spiney]

For me it's a combination of which airport to avoid - LHR or DXB and whether or not you like 10hr + flights... nothing to do with the aircraft. Most people would struggle to tell the difference between an A380 cabin and a 777 cabin. I'd quite happily spend an extra couple of hours in the air for the benefit of avoiding the zoo of LHR. And when travelling economy, 6-8 hour hops are vastly preferable to those 10hr, 2 meal, 5 movie marathons. Transit in DXB is not a problem provided you have a reasonable connection (2hrs min / 3hrs max). Cabin service on Thai is better and Inflight Entertainment on Emirates is better. How much value you place on plastic food on plastic plates served with plastic smiles only you can answer. As for the aircraft itself... sure the A380 is quieter than the 777 but it's not so great in turbulence.

An important factor for me is the choice of seat - forward on an aisle away from the toilets... Bulkhead on the bog is the worst seat on the plane.

By far the most important factor for me is the price. No way I'd pay more than £200 more to fly Thai. I can buy a few nights in a decent hotel in Thailand for that price.

MAN - BKK : if it's slightly cheaper, I'd go Emirates. If it's the same price I'd go Emirates. I live in Scotland and travel to SE Asia several times a year have done so for many years. I prefer to travel several hours to GLA in order to avoid London or route through AMS. Having been a regular traveller through LHR and LGW through a lifetime of work, I now avoid those airports like the plague.

[Metro man]

As your trip is a few months away, why tie yourself down to these two airlines ? Qatar or Et ihad are very comfortable and you can fly the A380 on at least half of the route.

If you are dead set on the A380 then this website may be useful.

https://www.iflya380.com

[PAXboy]

Each person's perception of cabin space, background noise level and sensitivity to turbulence is different. I have heard people speak very warmly of the 787, I have only done two sectors and did not like it for several reasons. You can only go and try what you would like to try. But the flight experience, crew, weather etc all make for a different day.

[Mid Life Crisis]

Thanks to all for the replies.
Decided to go Emirates from MAN. All four sectors on A380 and 2 to 3 hours transit time each way.
Main reason was not having to travel to LHR and no hotel needed, plus seat selection on Thai was limited.