This Thai Airways flight TG 921 from Frankfurt to Bangkok in Business Class offers good service, delicious food and comfortable seats – but limited space for taller travellers. Minor inconsistencies in service and the slightly dated seat spoil the overall impression – but only slightly. Read for yourself!
Review #56
| Departure – planned (actual) | 21.11.2024 – 13:45 (13:51) |
| Arrival – planned (actual) | 22.11.2024 – 6:25 (5:49) |
| Flight time – planned (actual) | 10:40 (9:58) |
| Delay | 6 minutes at departure 36 minutes earlier at arrival |
| Aircraft type (call sign) | Boeing 777 -300 ER (HS – TKX) |
| Class | Business |
| Seats | 17D & 17G |
Content
Arrival
We travelled to the airport by car for this trip. Frankfurt Airport has excellent links to the German motorway network and is very conveniently located. There are parking facilities on site, but unfortunately they are very expensive if you are parking for a longer period of time. However, you can also park your car in a more distant car park within the surrounding area – these car parks usually offer a free shuttle service to the airport. And if you book well in advance, you can usually park your car quite cheaply.
Of course, you can also go by train. Frankfurt Airport’s long-distance train station, which is also served by ICE trains, is within walking distance of the airport terminal. The airport can also be reached by public transport from Frankfurt city centre in a good fifteen minutes. Some long-distance buses even stop directly at the airport.
Departure airport
As Germany’s largest airport, Frankfurt offers countless direct connections to basically all around the globe, with ultra-short flights as Stuttgart and Nuremberg as well as very long flights to Buenos Aires, where flight time is almost hitting 14 hours.
The airport is constantly being improved, remodelled and expanded. The new Terminal 3 is currently under construction and is due to open next year. More than 70 million passengers pass through the airport each year and Deutsche Lufthansa calls Frankfurt its main hub.
Check-in
As usual, we are travelling without checked baggage and have already checked in from home using the app. So we can’t say anything about check-in at the counters. At the time of our trip, Thai Airways check-in counters were located in Terminal 1, Hall C, counters 744 to 746, with one counter exclusively reserved for Business Class travellers.
Security check
As Business Class passengers, we were able to use the priority security check at Frankfurt Airport. We like Area A in Terminal 1 the best, as it has the new scanners already installed, allowing you to leave liquids and electronic devices inside your carry-on luggage, so we went there for our check. There wasn’t much going on that Thursday afternoon, so we got through very quickly.
Waiting area / Lounge
We were quite late so we went straight to the gate this time. To get to area B (where our departure gate was) we had to go through passport control useing the fully automated electronic gates available at Frankfurt Airport for passengers holding European Union passports. As always, this worked really well and went really quickly.
If you have enough time, you can of course use all Star Alliance business lounges at Frankfurt Airport as a business class guest on Thai Airways flights. There are several Lufthansa Business Class lounges to choose from. Depending on your status, you can also use the Senator Lounges. As Thai Airways usually departs from Area B of Terminal 1, we recommend the Business & Senator Lounge at Gate B 24.
As a Business Class passenger, you can also use the Lufthansa Senator Lounge if you hold an American Express Platinum Card. We use this whenever possible and are very impressed with the service!
Boarding
Thai Airways is not handled by their own but by Fraport staff at Frankfurt Airport. However, they handled the process at Gate B 42 very well and efficiently. The pre-boarding announcements, including the information that boarding passes and passports should be presented at the gate, were excellent – so boarding was very quick.
Guests with young children and those who needed special assistance were asked to board first, followed by Boarding Group 1, which includes all status passengers and Business Class travellers.
The short walk from the gate to the plane involved two boarding bridges, the one for all Business Class passengers being labelled First Class and the one for Economy Class passengers being labelled Business and Economy. Incidentally, Thai Airways does not generally offer Premium Economy, but does offer First Class on selected routes.
Welcome
On board we were greeted warmly by the purser and, after a friendly ‘how are you?’, shown to our seats. Less than a minute after arriving at our seats, we were each handed a hot towel and offered a choice of water, orange juice, champagne and the typical purple Thai butterfly pea infused iced tea.
Our menus were already waiting at our seats and a good 10 minutes after we had taken our seats, the flight attendant introduced herself personally and by name, asked us what we wanted to eat and informed us of the flight time and the location of the toilets.
Start & Routing
We took off almost on time, flying south-east from Frankfurt across Europe and the Black Sea to Turkmenistan. From there we continued along the northern borders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, across the Bay of Bengal to Thailand. The flight was a little bumpy at the beginning – but this settled down as the flight progressed.
Quelle: flightradar24
Cabin & seat
In this Boeing 777-300ER version of Thai Airways’ Royal Silk Business Class, the airline has installed seats in a 1 – 2 – 1 configuration within two cabins. There are 6 rows of 4 seats in the front cabin and 4.5 rows in the rear cabin, with only middle seats in row 18. This gives an impressive total of 42 Business Class seats.
source: aeroLOPA
In the odd-numbered rows, seats are positioned on the side next to the windows, offering the best privacy for solo travellers. The centre seats in these rows face the aisle and are separated by the centre console. In the straight rows, seating is reversed. Here the individual seats by the window side are facing the aisle, so the centre seats are right next to each other, ideal for couples travelling together.
All seats in Royal Silk Class are basically the same. I sit in 17D, Fabi in 17G – the same seats, just mirrored, both facing the aisle. I will discuss my seat – 17D – here. Other seats may be different, but of course I can’t state anything about those.
When flights are not fully booked, we like to try other seats, but in this case all the seats were taken, so we couldn’t try any other seats for you this time.
Upon arriving at our seats, a pillow and blanket were waiting for us.
Like many airlines, Thai Airlines has a three-point seat belt that must be fully fastened during take-off and landing. For the rest of the flight, you can remove the shoulder belt and only leave the lap belt on.
The footrest, which is open to the side, is fitted under the side shelf of the seat in front of yours, providing additional storage space for shoes or similar items.
In the seat pocket under the armrest in the centre console, the amenity kit, headphones with individually wrapped plush sleeves and slippers were waiting for us as we sat down.
This seat offers a range of adjustments between a normal upright sitting position and a completely flat lying surface. In between, you can adjust the seat as you like using the controls in the centre console armrest. A very comfortable lounge position is also preset, ideal for both work and relaxation. Both lights can also be controlled from the console. The only downside to this open control surface is that I occasionally found myself accidentally pressing buttons with my arm when taking something from the shelf or putting something down.
Unfortunately there is not much storage space in the seats, but two seat pockets for magazines and the like, as well as the option of storing small items under the armrest in the centre console. Sadly, there is no space for a laptop.
In addition to the overhead lights, which can be controlled from the console, there is a reading light with three brightness levels and a hook on the back of the front seat for hanging jackets or similar items. Unfortunately, there are no individual air vents for each seat, but a universal socket in the front of the centre console.
Of course, at the touch of a button, the seat can be converted into a completely flat bed. Thai Airways offers an interesting mattress topper that slips over the headrest to stay in place during the night. The flight attendants will make the bed for you if you wish – we just wanted to do it ourselves, but some time after the meal service they will proactively ask if the bed should be made for you.
Unfortunately, the bed surface is rather short for tall people. At well over six feet tall, I found myself touching the top and bottom end of the bed when lying down on my back. While lying on my right shoulder, I couldn’t raise my knees – the front seat was in the way. The other way round worked because there was more space towards the aisle. Somehow, though, the space is quite limited and quite narrow.
As soon as we boarded the plane, we were able to snap some pictures of a few more seats to show you what the centre couple’s seat and the window seats look like.
Entertainment
As with all airlines, the focus in it´s in-flight entertainment is on the monitor. In addition to flight information and maps in various versions, the IFE on Thai Airways also offers movies, TV series and music programs. The system can be controlled via the touchscreen or the control unit in the centre console. The control panel also has its own screen and can be used as a second monitor.
There are also programmes for children and information about Thailand. Another cool feature is Sky Chat, which allows you to chat with other passengers via your monitor.
Amenities
Thai Airways offers a great little amenity kit in Business Class, waiting for you at your seat when you board. The small bag contains toothpaste and toothbrush, moisturiser, eye mask, earplugs, shoehorn, lip balm, moisturiser, scented oil roll-on and socks.
Food, drinks & snacks
Thai Airways offers three main meal choices and two breakfast choices in Business Class on this flight. Our meal requests were noted before take-off and Fabi chose the salmon for the main course as I thought when flying Thai Airways to Bangkok I’ll have the curry! For breakfast I went for the tart and Fabi for the banana bread.
The main course on this flight is a hybrid, as we leave late at noon and arrive early in the morning, so the main course is basically lunch and dinner combined. After that, if you can manage, you can sleep and then have breakfast just before landing.
Service was super fast and less than 10 minutes after the seatbelt sign went off, the first drinks service was on its way through the cabin on a fully assembled trolley, serving drinks as requested, plus an amuse bouche and a packet of cashews. Before the service reached our row, another round of hot towels was handed out to all guests.
The main course was served immediately after the starter, and my curry was truly one of the best I’ve ever had. Unfortunately, it wasn’t particularly hot, but rather lukewarm – but still incredibly tasty!
The cheese and dessert came immediately after the main course and I was also served a very tasty portwine.
The flight attendant in charge of me obviously hadn’t been in this business for very long, but she did a really good job. She wasn’t acting like an experienced colleague, but did her job with great concentration and focus. Her charm fell by the wayside a little, but in the brief moments when she was able to relax, her charm and smiles burst out.
The sweet dessert, by the way, was different from what I had expected, but very, very tasty, and after the dishes had been cleared away, a third and final round of hot towels was served.
Thai Airways also offers the opportunity to order small snacks between the two main meal times. I was in the mood for a snack later in the evening and ordered some kind of hot dog, which was really tasty. I was able to order it from the flight attendant and was served about 15 minutes later.
Just two hours before landing, the lights in the cabin came back on and the first drinks round of this morning began. Of course, this was preceded by some preparations in the galley and as our seats were in the last row of the front cabin and therefore directly in front of the galley, the preparations could be heard for some time beforehand and at least disturbed my sleep quite a bit.
An hour and a half before landing, the lights were turned up to full brightness and the breakfast service started. One after the other, we all got our pre-ordered food and a second round of drinks. To be honest, I found my cheese tart rather strange – not bad, but not really tasty either.
Half an hour before landing, water and fruit were handed out.
Washrooms
Thai Airways offers 3 washrooms for its Business Class passengers on its Boeing 777-300 ER without First Class. One in the forward area near the cockpit and two between the two premium cabins. The design is the same as in other classes, but in addition to body lotion, eau de toilette is also available. A particularly nice touch is the small animal made of a towel that awaited guests. After meal service, additional toiletries have been made available at the washrooms.
Service at Thai Airways
The service was really great. My flight attendant was new but did a really good job. The food service was super fast and I’ve never seen so many flight attendants running through the cabin in order to get the service done as quickly as possible.
In the end, however, the final step to perfect service was missing and unfortunately Fabi and I didn’t get to eat together as we were served at different times.
But the detailed personal introduction at the beginning of the flight alone is exceptional and I think that’s really great!
Arrival
About 25 minutes before we landed, the captain made a short announcement with a good morning greeting, the local weather at the destination airport, the current local time and the remaining flight time. The cabin was then prepared for landing and the purser announced that our bags would be arriving on conveyor belt number 19.
After a rather bumpy landing and a not too long taxi, we were already at our gate and the jetbridges were quickly approached so that we could disembark through both doors. Thai Airways also gives priority to Business Class passengers and allows them to disembark before Economy Class passengers.
Destination airport
Bangkok’s Suvanabhumi Airport is Thailand’s largest airport and is constantly being expanded and renovated. Capacity has just been greatly increased by the recent opening of a satellite terminal.
This is, of course, where you enter Thailand unless you are in transit to another country and your bags are checked through to your final destination. Passport control is actually quite quick and business class passengers are even allowed to go through a separate priority check. It is never very busy and we usually get through quickly.
We opted for a grab for our onward journey to the hotel. There are now even two grab pick-up stations that you have to go to in order to get on your ride. Of course, there are also taxis, which are distributed centrally at the airport at a fixed price. But by far the cheapest way to get to the city centre is by public transport. The Airport Rail Link provides excellent connections to the airport – the train departs from the basement of the airport and is a great alternative for getting into the city quickly.
As I said, we took the Grab to our hotel – the Sofitel Bangkok – and despite the early hour, around 6.30am, it only took us an incredible 35 minutes. Quite a record!
Points
This Thai Airways flight TG 921 from Frankfurt to Bangkok BKK receives 9 out of 10 possible points.
Basically, everything was fine on this flight. The plane was rather out of date, but that’s OK. The service was good, but the finishing touches were lacking. All in all, though, everything was fine, so we only deduct half a point. The seat on this plane is also a classic, and actually perfectly fine, but unfortunately a problem for tall people wanting to sleep. We deduct half a point for this as well. All in all we deduct one point for both.
Recommendation
We can recommend Thai Airways Business Class to all groups of travellers. However, singles and business travellers in particular will find this aircraft very comfortable. If couples want to sit together, they should get a pair of seats in the middle – which will make for a great flight. Families who don’t mind being separated will also be well catered for. However, if you want to sit closer together with your loved ones, I would recommend another airline.
Tell us about your experience with Thai Airways in the comments. We are curious!
Conclusion
The flight with Thai Airways was really good and, apart from a few minor service issues, uneventful in the most positive sense of the word. The seat is getting rather old, but this airline is also working hard on a new seat.
Airline Homepage
Our crazy Bangkok weekend
We had a birthday to celebrate and wanted to try something crazy, so we decided to fly to Bangkok for the weekend!
This flight will take us to the Thai capital where we will be staying at the Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit and the Grand Hyatt Erawan before flying back home on Thai Airways. So stay tuned for this exciting short series and join us for a crazy weekend in Bangkok!
YouTube Review
We didn’t make a new YouTube review for this flight because we’ve flown this route before. That’s why I’m linking to a review of an earlier flight from May 2023. Of course, you’re still welcome to take a look and let us know what you think of the flight in the comments.
Discover more from Get Me EVRYWHRE
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.