After celebrating the New Year in Thailand, my cheap open-jaw business class flight home on Air France left from Kyoto. There are a couple of airlines that fly nonstop from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) to Osaka Kansai Airport (KIX) including Thai Airways, Thai AirAsia X, Peach Airways, and Japan Airlines.
While I will be flying the reverse route in economy with Japan Airlines in a few weeks (stay tuned), I was looking to burn some miles for a business class flight as I had the bright idea of taking the midnight redeye. Still, with a little bit of sleep on the plane, I was able to hit the ground running and enjoy lunch at my new favorite sushi discovery: Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera.
So, how was the redeye from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Osaka Kansai Airport on Thai Airways? Perfectly lovely, if a bit short!
The booking process via Air Canada’s Aeroplan frequent flier program
While United did not have any availability on its Star Alliance partner Thai Airways, Air Canada’s Aeroplan program did. At just 45,000 points, there was availability, so I transferred points from Chase’s Ultimate Rewards program and snagged a business class seat. It was my lucky day as well, because Chase was featuring a 25% bonus on points transfers to Aeroplan. This meant I only had to transfer 36,000 to snag this business class seat for a 5+ hour redeye on an airline I’d never tried out in business before. Fees were only $67.70 CAD ($50.11 USD) in total, as well. Not bad!
The Thai Airways business lounge at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport
There are multiple Thai Airways lounges at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport but I chose the biggest, which has been recently renovated and is just past security. There is a large buffet area, plenty of seating and a staffed bar, but there’s nothing particularly special about the area and if you hadn’t told me it had been recently renovated, I certainly would not have guessed it. I can’t vouch for the food as I’d eaten before arriving at the airport, but the bartenders were friendly enough and the Australian red wine was good enough for me to have a refill.
While many flyers fondly remember the Thai Airways first class lounge with its free massages and top-notch food and drink selections, these days, the offering for passengers flying in first class is a little different. First class passengers are allowed into an exclusive separate section of the business class lounge which looks no different from the rest of the lounge and even appears to have the same food and drink offerings. How times have changed.
On board the Thai Airways Boeing 777-300ER in business class
When I made it to the gate, they were already boarding the flight and I boarded through the lane for business class passengers. Gotta love not having to stop and stand at any point between leaving the lounge and boarding the plane!
I passed through first class on the way to my seat and as is the case with many first class products these days, the seat looked a bit larger than is normal, but the lack of privacy is somewhat off-putting, especially if you are shelling out so many dollars or miles for the seat.
Arriving at my seat, I was struck at how much I enjoyed the purple color scheme which Thai really leans into. From the pillow to the carpet to the amenity kit toothpaste to the menu to the tops of the water bottle, it was purple everywhere! As I settled into 15B, a lovely window seat, I was offered a hot towel and glass of Piper-Heidsieck champagne which I happily accepted. There was plenty of storage space and a power outlet as well as USB charging port.
For the five-and-a-half hour flight, there were two meal services but I slept through them both! I slept somewhat fitfully but my seat didn’t return to the upright position until we were about forty minutes outside of Kyoto. The menu and wine list was quite extensive for such a short flight and if I’d stayed awake, I certainly would have liked to have tried some of the interesting offerings from the tamarind tea, to a tasty looking 2021 Pouilly-Fumé to the Tom Nok Mhor soup.
The bottom line
Though Thai Airways was fully prepared to keep me well fed, watered and entertained over the night flight from Bangkok to Kyoto, I was considering my business class seat to be a hotel room that moved me from point A to point B while I slept.
The flight was perfectly pleasant, though I will be honest and say that I was actually hoping for the flight to be just a bit longer so that I could get a bit more shuteye! Alas, the flight time was even shorter than the 5.5 hours advertised. Damn tailwinds!
Next time I am in Thailand needing to get to a destination flown by Thai Airways, I’d definitely check them out again, especially if Chase is offering a bonus for points transfer to a booking partner that allows booking on Thai Airways such as United’s Mileage Plus or Air Canada’s Aeroplan.
