Review: Thai Airways Business Class Lounge & Royal Orchid Spa Bangkok

Introduction

Planning & Booking

Sheraton JFK Hilton JFK Conrad New York

Asiana 777 First Class Suite New York to Seoul

Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul Incheon

Asiana 767 Business Class Seoul to Bangkok

Novotel Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport

Thai Airways Business Class Lounge & Royal Orchid Spa Bangkok

Thai Airways 777 Business Class Bangkok to Bali

Four Seasons Bali at Sayan

St. Regis Bali Resort

Exploring Bali

Singapore Airlines 777 Business Class Bali to Singapore

Conrad Singapore

Exploring Singapore

Singapore Airlines The Private Room

Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class Singapore to Los Angeles

I really like the look of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport.  There are rows upon rows of check in desks for airlines headed to exotic locations all over the world.  The people are just as diverse headed home, to their holiday, on a business trip, or just transiting through.

Thai Airways has their premium check-in for first and business (Royal Silk) class passengers in row A which is all the way to the left upon entering the great hall.  We made our over and were immediately shown to a check in desk.  The check-in process is unique in that there are umbrellas at each station along with cubes where you can sit down if you'd like.  The color scheme is decidedly "Thai Airways Purple" which I like a lot.

Thai Airways Royal Silk Check-In

Review: Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul Incheon

Introduction

Planning & Booking

Sheraton JFK Hilton JFK Conrad New York

Asiana 777 First Class Suite New York to Seoul

Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul Incheon

Asiana 767 Business Class Seoul to Bangkok

Novotel Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport

Thai Airways Business Class Lounge Bangkok & Royal Orchard Spa

Thai Airways 777 Business Class Bangkok to Bali

Four Seasons Bali at Sayan

St. Regis Bali Resort

Exploring Bali

Singapore Airlines 777 Business Class Bali to Singapore

Conrad Singapore

Exploring Singapore

Singapore Airlines The Private Room

Singapore Airlines A380 First Class Suite Singapore to Los Angeles

After a great flight from New York, we were off the plane and through transit security within about 10 minutes.  Incheon is really a great airport.  Not as good as Singapore Changi or Hong Kong but it's up there.  Clean, modern, well marked.  It's very easy to get around.

Asiana First Class Lounge Entrance

We made our way to the lounge which is up a set of escalators along with all the other lounges.  After a quick scan of our arrival boarding passes, we were shown into the lounge.

Review: Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to San Francisco - Part One

Booking
Exploring Singapore
Conrad Centennial Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to San Francisco - Part One
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to San Francisco - Part Two

After four great days in Singapore, we woke up early and grabbed a cab to the airport.  We were both super excited as this would be our first international first class flight together.

Singapore Airlines has a dedicated first class check-in facility at Changi airport.  Not as swanky as the Lufthansa First Class Terminal but nice nonetheless.  I totally forgot to tell the cab driver but Emily reminded me just as we arrived at the airport.  He dropped us off at the first class check-in and three airline staff members quickly descended on our cab.  We were the only ones checking in and everything was processed in a matter of minutes.  We were quickly escorted through the premium immigration line (Singapore does security at the gate) and shown to the Singapore Airlines Private Room.

The Private Room invitation

My 5 Favorite Airport Lounges

One of the best perks of international premium travel are the lounges.  What's better than relaxing in a comfortable chair while drinking champagne and eating great food?

We're Star Alliance flyers (both United Gold for 2014) and several of these lounges allow access for Star Gold members even when traveling in Economy.  But for the most part, the ticket to these lounges is a First Class ticket.  The great news is that you can receive access (hasn't always been the case) to premium first class lounges even on an award ticket!

We've been fortunate to relax in some of the best lounges in the world so it was tough to narrow down the list.

Here are my top five favorite lounges:

1)  Lufthansa First Class Terminal at FRA

The First Class Terminal as a lounge within a dedicated terminal located down the street from the main terminal buildings at Germany's Frankfurt International Airport.  We visited the First Class Terminal after our first class flight on Lufthansa from Dallas to Frankfurt.  The terminal includes private security, a cigar room, a bar with over 100 premium whiskey's, a sit-down restaurant, amazing shower rooms complete with the famous "rubber ducky" and chauffeur service to the plane in a premium German automobile.

Frankfurt Lufthansa FCT