Sawatdee khap from Phuket! I’ve just flown Thai’s business class from Hong Kong to Phuket, and have one more leg on the other way round to go (no, I still haven’t flown a leg with no “relation” to Hong Kong). I went in with pretty low expectations, and even though they were met, I still had a pretty good flight.
THAI Airbus A330 Business Class Ground Services
As a THAI Business Class passenger, you are entitled to lounge access at the Royal Orchid Lounge, which is, unfortunately, drab and ageing. I was underwhelmed by The Cabin, especially with my expectations going in, and though my expectations for this lounge were much lower going in, they were barely met. There wasn’t much service, there weren’t many amenities, and the food spread was pretty bad.
THAI Royal Orchid Business Class Lounge Hong Kong
You do get access to the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge and the United Club in Hong Kong. While I didn’t have time to visit the United Club, I did visit the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge as well, which was aesthetically amazing and had a better food spread (though there was one mishap).
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong
THAI Airbus A330 Business Class Seat
THAI has angled lie flat seats on their Airbus A330 fleet, the same as they used to have on all international routes (and still use on most of them). While I can’t stand them for much longer, they were great for our three hour flight.
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class Cabin
The seats go pretty far down, but it definitely wasn’t a flat surface, as far as my seat went.
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class bed
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class Cabin
The blankets are definitely industry leading – I hope they’re not the same for longer flights, but for shorter flights, these are great. They’re warm, fleecy and exceeded my expectations for a mile.
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class Pillow and Blanket
THAI Airbus A330 Business Class Headphones
THAI offers pretty good noise cancelling headphones in business class. They’re comparable to the Premium Economy headphones on Cathay Pacific, but I think Cathay Pacific Premium Economy and Business Class headphones are the same, so…
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class headphones
THAI Airbus A330 Business Class Bathrooms
THAI Airbus A330 Business Class washrooms are pretty subpar (and I also found them pretty dirty), with economy facilities apart from a few business class toiletries from Borghese.
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class Bathroom Borghese Amenities
They did have “Eau de Toilette” (literal translation: water of the toilet), though. Nice touch!
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class Bathroom Borghese Amenities
THAI Airbus A330 Business Class Meals
I went in, admittedly, with really low expectations for THAI’s meals. However, they were pretty high quality. I’ll be my normal restauranteur self and say that the meat was a little unevenly cooked (some were cooked to a perfect medium rare and some were basically well done), but overall, all three courses (I skipped the cheese course) exceeded my expectations. Not restaurant quality, but really good nonetheless.
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class Salmon Gravlax Appetizer
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class Beef Stew Main Course
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class Cheese Course
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class Raspberry Mousse and Chocolate Mango Tart Dessert
The only part of the meal that met my expectations without exceeding it was the bread. It was grainy, and if it was meant to be corn bread, I’m sure they could have done better than put corn bits in it. It was seriously bad.
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class Bread
THAI Airbus A330 Business Class Service
I felt like the service was really cold to start with, but they warmed up a bit, and by the end of the flight they were pleasant without being memorable.
I like laughs, and when the flight attendant found my dad’s bag below his blanket when we were getting ready for landing (he was trying to hide his bag as the area below the seat said “No Stow”), I made a face, and she sure did. Really hard. It was a warm, comforting laugh (and she helped us stow our bag afterward), so thank you for that, folks. 😉
THAI Airbus A330-300 Business Class Hot Towel
Bottom line on THAI Airbus A330 Business Class
I think that THAI has a substantial product for the Hong Kong to Phuket route, and can compete with Dragonair across the market. For longer flights, business class is all about the seat, and this product would be unacceptable (as, apart from the new 777-300ERs and their Airbus A380s, these are their international seats). I think that Dragonair still is a little bit more “polished” across the market, but especially at below US$700 per person, this flight had a really great value.
I think with price factored, for the full service flights, THAI takes the edge over Dragonair for business class on the route.