Planning & Booking
Qantas First Class Lounge LAX
Cathay Pacific 777-300 ER First Class Los Angeles to Hong Kong
The Pier Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge
Le Meridien Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Lounge & Spa
Thai Airways 747-400 First Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong
Air India 787-8 Business Class Hong Kong to Seoul
Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul
Asiana A380 First Class Seoul to Los Angeles
The premium options between Bangkok and Hong Kong are pretty outstanding for a 2.5 hour flight. You can fly Emirates' A380 service (with shower suite) for a cash rate of around $700 USD. Cathay Pacific offers a first class cabin on their 777 service and Thai offers their 747 first class. I debated between the Emirates and Thai offering but ultimately opted to save the cash and burn 70,000 United miles for the Thai flight and the spa experience.
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| Thai Airways 747-400 |
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| Up the stairs and into the nose |
After a great massage, we were soon climbing the stairs to the nose of the 747-400 that would be taking us to Hong Kong. Thai Airways actually has two different first class seats. These aging shell seats and "suites" on their newer 747s and their A380. For this short hop, Thai flies the older planes. These 747's are a total throwback but still in decent shape. The seats are old and not very private but very comfortable for a short flight.
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| Row 1 |
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| Library/Bar |
We made our way to seats 2A and 3A and settled in with a glass of Thai's signature welcome drink and a hot towel. It would just be the two of us and one other passenger today.
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| Purple drank |
The seats have a massage function, pull out television with decent entertainment options and a ton of leg room. There's an ottoman that can be moved closer to the seat to put your feet up. There is a cabinet in the middle of the cabin (next to row 2) that opens up to become the "bar" after takeoff.
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| Seat 2A |
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| Seat and massage controls |
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| Leg room for days |
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| Cabin shot |
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| Pull out TV |
Since we were already on the tarmac, we were lined up and blasting off for HKG within minutes. It doesn't get any better than sitting in the nose of a 747 for takeoff.
We had both pre-ordered meals (roast duck for me) which were confirmed as our tables were set. The flight attendant promised to keep the 2004 Dom flowing.
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| Dom |
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| Dom, Nuts, TV |
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| Soup and bread |
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| More Dom please |
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| Roast Duck |
The meal was great but not amazing. We've flow Thai Business a number of times and I can't say this meal (other than the wine) was that much better than any particular business class flight.
After another episode of The Mentalist, we were soon defending into Hong Kong. We landed right on time and were off the plane, though immigration, and in a cab on the way to The Conrad within 30 minutes. The airport is just another reason why Hong Kong is my favorite city in the world.
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| Amazing clouds on approach to HKG |
For 35,000, this is a pretty great way to get to Hong Kong from Bangkok. Next time, I'll probably switch it up and go for the Emirates A380 service but the spa was a really fun experience and definitely worth it at least once.
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