Reaching Australia from Japan is surprisingly difficult. Both QANTAS and JAL operate daily flights from Narita to Sydney, but both take-off around 7pm which doesn't leave nearly enough time to reach distant Narita after working a full day in Tokyo and would still require a connection to reach Melbourne. Rather than spend another night in Japan, I decided to take an indirect flight to Melbourne from Haneda, a short monorail ride from my hotel.
Through a quirk of BMI's (presumably, soon to disappear) award chart, Star Alliance connections between Japan and Australia are priced as a regional flight, so a business class ticket, on sale for over £3000, was snapped up for a handful of miles and a touch over £200. Predictably, there was no award availability on Singapore Airlines, but I was happy to be ticketed on Thai.
A few weeks before the flight was due to leave, I noticed that Thai had switched the aircraft on the Haneda to Bangkok sector from a two-class A340-500 to one of the 3-class 777-300ERs that they have leased from Jet Airways and which feature that airline's massive, fully-enclosed, first class suite. A few, admittedly rather tortuous, calls to BMI, £70 and another smattering of miles later, and I was upgraded to First. Even though the Bangkok to Melbourne sector was still on a two-class aircraft, I figured it was worth it – not only for the suite, but because I had a four hour connection in Bangkok and Thai's first class facilities there are the stuff of legend.
After a week of exceptionally long hours in Tokyo, I was actually pretty excited about the prospect of the sleep I imagined I'd be able to catch in first class. A few hours before the flight, I tried to check-in online, only to be met with an error screen and a message asking me to call Thai. After some confusion, it emerged that Thai had, yet again, changed the aircraft on this route and were now using a two-class 777-300. Bye bye first class suite and Bangkok First Class Spa.
As it happens, when I started checking-in at Haneda, the station manager suddenly appeared and asked if I was aware of the aircraft change. He then went on to apologise profusely for the downgrade, before handing me a pass for ANA's First Class Suites lounge at Haneda. A minute or two later, toying with my lounge pass, I thought I'd chance my luck and enquired if I was still entitled to first class ground services in Bangkok. After five minutes of hushed conversations and much consulting of ring binders, I was assured that a call would be made and the first class team in Bangkok would be expecting me. Excellent.
I'll cover the ANA Suites Lounge and Thai's first class services at Bangkok in subsequent posts.
Preamble over, what was Thai business class like? In truth, varied and middling.
The sector from Haneda to Bangkok featured the older, seven-abreast, seating product. The seat itself was actually not too uncomfortable and I did dose for a few hours. The service on this flight, despite the fact that it was completely packed, was exceptional. I'm not sure if it was because I was being given preferential treatment after being downgraded from first, but I was hugely impressed.
The onward flight, to Melbourne, wasn't nearly as impressive. First of all, Thai's latest business class seat, as installed on this aircraft, is uncomfortable – there is a hard ridge in the middle of the seat cushion itself. Furthermore, despite being only six-abreast, the seat doesn't seem to be any wider – it looks as if Thai have just removed the middle seat and made the aisles very spacious. Both of the Thai seats I tried are angled lie-flat rather than fully-flat. The business class cabin was almost empty, but service still seemed to be unenthusiastic and the food was a disappointment.
I didn't really eat much between Tokyo and Bangkok, so can't really comment on the food offered. Service between Bangkok and Melbourne started reasonably well, with a pre-dinner snack of minced chicken on rice crackers.
The full meal service opened with a seafood salad that, while presented well, didn't actually taste very good. The main (below) was most dissappointing - not only was the massaman curry tasteless, but the crew didn't bother to plate it. As I said, the business class cabin was practically empty, so nobody was being rushed into cutting corners.
Reasonable presentation returned with the final course, of fruit and underwhelming cheese. Breakfast was offered an hour or so before landing in Melbourne late in the evening - none of it looked at all appetising, so I passed.
Thai's business class passengers are given access to the fast-track immigration line at Melbourne - a boon as the main line was a scrum.
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