Good Morning from Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Today, we'll ride to IST on TK65, aboard TC-JOF, a 11 y/o Airbus A330-300.
Spoiler: Bad experience, certainly won't do again.
When I booked my flight, originally a 787-9 was planned for the trip, so the first disappointment happened when they switched it to a 330.
Mobile Check-In
I checked in 24h before departure as soon as the check-in opened. Using the TK Mobile App, I tried to select new seats. Unfortunately, this was not possible since there was an error message every time. (I had the same issue already on the inbound flight, seems to be a software problem with TK). Since the system assigned me 24G, I DESPERATELY wanted to change it, because it was directly in front of a divider and next to the toilets. It was also in the middle row of a 2-4-2 configuration, which I wanted to avoid.
I also want to point out that I find it terrible that Star Alliance still charges for seat selection, even if you are *G on another carrier. Both other alliances, SkyTeam and OneWorld, offer free seat selection, regardless of the airline you hold status with. Further pointing out that 36€ is quite a high fee, just for a seat. But like I always say, Star Alliance is the only alliance where none of the airlines care about their economy class passenger and no matter which carrier you are flying on, if you hold *G with another carrier than the one you are on, you are always treated like an "alliance burden" rather than a loyal member. This is especially true for Singapore Airlines, but that's not the point of this report.
Anyway, since mobile check-in failed, I tried to check in vis their website, since this allowed me to select my sear on the inbound. And I could select it, but when I continued through the check-in process, it skipped the part where I was supposed to pay snd went straight to the check-in confirmation.
However, since I received a confirmation for the seat I selected, I assumed that I would just need to pay at the airport for it. This would match with the issue that said "Boarding Pass cannot be generated. Unfortunately, this was not true since about 1h later I did receive my boarding pass but for the original seat with no way to change it again.
Way to the airport
I woke up at 6am, since I wanted to get onto the airport train at 7:20 to arrive with enough before my flight to try out THAI's lounge at their Hub.
On the way to the train I passed a spot where just the day before a freight train hit a bus. (Rest in peace).
From Makkasan Station it is just a 22minute ride to BKK where you need to take a couple escalators up to the departure floor on level 4.
Check-In Desk
I had some trouble finding the check-in desk, since the screens showed my flight for the "J" lane, which was Thai and the screen next to it said Turkish Airlines to be on "O" which again was a different Airline. I then found my desk at the "N" lane.
Unfortunately, the gate agent couldn't change my seat and I was stuck with 24G.
Security
I took the security right next to the check-in desk, which was for all international departures. I don't know if there was some sort of priority lane available but I wasn't really in the mood to look for it, especially since I had more than enough time and the queue at the regular security wasn't that long.
Security was quick and I was soon heading to passport control. Unfortunately, only e-gates were available, so no Thai exit stamp.
Afterwards I reached the terminal area and went straight to the Thai lounge. Now, I know that Turkish has their own at Bangkok, but I wanted to try Thai's lounge out at their flagship lounge.
Thai Royal Silk Lounge
First thing I noticed and disliked, is that the lounge has no apron views since it is in the middle of the concourse.
Also, the amount of power sockets at the comfy chairs was really limited. If you had to charge your device, you had to use one of the designated chargind tables or use a powerbank.
Checking-In took some time, as the first looked confused at my boarding Pass until they saw the *G Branding. They were then tipping something in the computer and kept saying "TP Gold", which made it look to me like they did not know, which airline the prefix TP belongs to and had to google whether TAP was in Star Alliance. After scanning my boarding pass one more time and some more tipping they then nodded and let me in.
Unfortunately, only the breakfast selection was available. I normally don't eat breakfast, so I just chose some cake and drinks and a cereal (to at lesst have something in my stomach).
I have to give it to them to, their plates with the flower design are really beautiful.
Overall, I found the lounge quite disappointing and next time in BKK, I would probably use another one. Luckily, Star Alliance also offers an EVA Lounge, Singapore Airlines Lounge and Turkish Airways Lounge at the airport.
Satellite Terminal
My flight today would depart from Gate S116, which is located in Bangkok's Satellite Terminal (therefore the S-Prefix, I assume).
I scanned my boarding pass and took the escalator down to the platform.
There was a train just arriving so I didn't need to wait long. The ride itself to the satellite is also quite short. The satellite itself was quite empty.
Since I had some time to kill until boarding, I decided to take a stroll along the terminal where I foind this statue at the end of it.
Boarding
Boarding was delayed by about 20minutes due to the late arrival of the aircraft.
Cabin
The cabin was in a 2-4-2 configuration and featured blue seats with red headrests, as well as foot rests. A universal power outlet was not available (or I didn't find it) but a working USB-A port was provided.
On the seat were a pillow, blanket, headphones and amenity kit waiting for me.
The legroom again was small (I'm 180cm). The seat also had some problem with reclining, which was later resolved by the crew during the flight. The traytable was loose and feel to the left side when slightest pressure was put on it.
IFE
The IFE was working up until 2 hours into the flighr, when it went dark. I pointed it out to the crew and it took them two restarts until it wqs working again.
I really enjoyed tho that it featured a camera view of the aircraft.
Wi-Fi was available too, with all Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Members getting free messaging and those with Elite Status got a few MB for free. The rest had to pay for it. It was 25€ for the full flight or 9€ for 250MB.
I paid for the 250MB package towards the end of the flight to check some information about my connecting flight. However, I paid with 1500M instead of the cash price.
The connection was slow and unconsistent.
Meal Service
The menus were handed out about an hour into the flight and it took another hour until it was served.
I don't know what the reasoning is behind this, but on every TK flight I've been so far, salad is always served without any dressing at all.
The food was good, though the salad obviously was dry.
Before landing, a breakfast was served, where I opted for the waffle.
Before landing, they passed by once again with coffee and tea.
Inflight
What I found unusual was that even though it was a daytime flighr, the crew asked us to all close the window blinds and lights were turned off until short before the landing.
Arrival
We arrived about 40 minutes delayed at the gate. Since everyone had connecting flights, we were all stressed. It then took another 40minutes because customs entered the plane and checked all handluggages and only afterwards we were allowed to deplane.
Some passengers asked the crew what their connecting gate was, if they were informed about or delay or if there is going to be any assistance in the airport. The answers were "I don't know" and "It's not our fault, just run", which I found quite rude.
I was happy when I could finally deplane and make my way to my connecting flight, which now had 20minutes until Boarding closure. I sprinted to the short connection checkpoint (where i fell of the escalator, broke my backpack and bruised half my body), received then some pretty unfriendly security staff which also gives me the highly smart tip to "not rush". Our arrival gate was F14 and my departure was from A10 so that is pretty much the longest connection possible so when I arrived at my connecting gate, I was dehydrated, sweaty and bruised but was let on board.
