Review of Thai Vietjet Air flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok in Economy

Getting to airport

Hi there,

After a 4 days trip in Chiang Mai, it's time for me to head back home. Again aboard Thai VietJet Air. You can see the incoming flight review in the link above.

My choice of Airport transfer : Chiang Mai Transit system has introduced 4 new routes using air-conditioned bus. Two out of four routes begin at airport and run to the Old City area, where I stayed. So, I opt to enjoy the comfort of these buses, without hassle of the highly overpriced Song Thaew (modified truck for passenger service - opened air and often try to rip you off if you are not speaking Thai Northern Dialect) and it only cost 20 Baht for the bus ride. Cash card call "Rabbit card" that is used by Bangkok skytrain system also accepted on board. You can find the information about the "RTC buses" here
https://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/citynews/features/chiang-mai-bus-routes-in-english/

I again encounter the heavy rain on my travel date. The bus has proven an efficient way to travel without getting wet

checking in

I arrived at the airport 2.5 hours before the flight, but the check in counter will not open for another 30 minutes. I visit their ticket office to sort a payment problem. Aircraft for this flight was changed back and forth between A320 and A321 , my paid assigned seat is missing after each change. When I reassign my self, my credit card was charged repeatedly. Their website seemed to be poorly design and I found it pretty unreliable. Always double check your payment after every transaction. On a side note, I tried to select extra legroom seat but to no avail, those seats seemed to be salable to passengers booking a more expensive fare (skyboss)

At the check in counter, there is a luggage weight and dimension scale for passengers to ensure that their bags are within limit. They take this seriously and I am glad they do. The amount of on board luggage seemed huge.

Once the redundant payment is fixed,  check in counter opened and I got my boarding pass in no time. Their ground staff seemed nice enough but refuse to accommodate me for the better legroom seat. This request of mine is decline once by their ticket office already even if I agree for extra payment. Seemed like I will have to make do with whatever available.

Chiang Mai Airport Terminal is pretty old, but its medium size mean all passengers can navigate their way easily, and security check take just a few minutes. I spent a bit of time walking around Departure Hall and spot my aircraft landing.,

The queue started to form as soon as those incoming passenger disembark. Goodness gracious, why one have to be so hurry, they are still deboarding and the plane is certainly not going to leave anyone behind.

Eventually it's a "proper" time of boarding, which is approximately 15 minutes after the schedule departure time. I would like a better shot of the aircraft, my first A321 ride but this seemed to be the best I can do.

The seat and the flight

When I am on board, I think I know why some of us are so eager to wait in line for over 20 minutes. The seat pitch in this A321 seemed even worse than A320 of my incoming flight. They probably just wanted to stretch their leg for as long as possible

This is how it looks like when I sit fully upright. And I am just 178 cms (slightly less than 6')

And this is the leg of a very petite Thai lady, compare to the average height friend of hers in the middle seat

VZ's time management is good, they get things in place very quickly and soon we push back. Minimizing flight time is the best in this very cramp cabin

inflight catering

Seat pocket content. I do not need a menu for this flight, since I have already select and paid for the meal through their website

The renowned Chicken Musaman is my choice. It again look stale but the taste is good. One good thing about curry rice is that it can be reheated over and over without losing too much taste or texture. Those accompanying vegetable is not as nice, though.

Time to visit the toilet after finish eating. It's a standard Airbus toilet with a bit of some residual, something look like toothpaste, but generally acceptable otherwise. Amenities is at minimum as expected; some toilet rolls and hand towel.

arrival

After my toilet visit, the crew comes to clear the trash and prepare the cabin for landing. We are just 4 minutes behind the schedule

The aircraft docked at an airbridge. I later observe a large crowd of fellow passengers at baggage claim, where luggage of two flights are combined into one carousel. The bags of our flight is yet nowhere insight, I myself do not have to claim one and quickly get on my way home using Air port Rail Link System.