Booking the Trip: A Southeast Asian Path to India
Review: American Airlines Admiral’s Club LAX
Review: American Airlines Flagship Lounge LAX
Review: American Airlines 787-9 Main Cabin Extra Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita
Review: Japan Airlines Sakura Business Class Lounge Tokyo Narita
Review: Japan Airlines 777-200ER Economy Class Tokyo Narita to Singapore
Review: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge Terminal 3 Singapore
Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Singapore
Review: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge Terminal 2 Singapore
Review: Thai Airways A350-900 Royal Silk Business Class Singapore to Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Concourse E Bangkok
Review: Eva Air Infinity Lounge Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways 747-400 Royal Silk Business Class Bangkok to Mumbai
Review: GVK Domestic Lounge Mumbai
Review: Jet Airways 737-800 Economy Class Mumbai to Pune
Review: GVK International Business Class Lounge East Wing Mumbai
Review: Thai Airways 747-400 Royal Silk Business Class Mumbai to Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Concourse D Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Concourse C gate C1 Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge Concourse C gate C2 Bangkok
Review: Singapore SilverKris Business Class Lounge Bangkok
Review: Thai Airways A350-900 Royal Silk Business Class Bangkok to Singapore
Review: Qantas Business Class Lounge Singapore
Review: Qantas A330-200 Economy Class Singapore to Sydney
Review: Qantas International Business Class Lounge Sydney
Review: American Airlines 787-9 Main Cabin Extra Sydney to Los Angeles

YOUTUBE: American Airlines: Los Angeles to Tokyo
YOUTUBE: Japan Airlines: Tokyo to Singapore
YOUTUBE: Thai Airways: Singapore to Bangkok
YOUTUBE: Thai Airways: Bangkok to Mumbai
YOUTUBE: Thai Airways: Mumbai to Bangkok
YOUTUBE: Thai Airways: Bangkok to Singapore
YOUTUBE: Qantas Airways: Singapore to Sydney
YOUTUBE: American Airlines: Sydney to Los Angeles

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After spending a good amount of time in the GVK Business Lounge in Mumbai, it was time to board my flight.

Check out the lovely 747 I’ll be flying on! These will all soon obsolete but until then, gotta enjoy them to the absolute best. Here is the special thing about this flight. Like my inbound flight, I will be flying business class but sitting in a first class seat in the nose of the plane. But there is something extra special about this one. I’ll tell you the details in just a moment.

So after a 3-hour delay due to mechanical issues with engine #3, about 5 brawls at the gate which military personnel had to break up, a full 3 hours of the other Indian passengers screaming at the gate agents who work for GVK and not Thai Airways themselves, and a gate relocation to a bus gate, we finally climbed the stairs to our lovely 747-400 and an awesome surprise was in store…

BOM-BKK

Boeing 747-400

7/31/18

On my inbound flight from Bangkok to Mumbai, I had turned right into the first class cabin with the pod seat pictured below:

Well, I turned left into the first class cabin to get this seat. Let this settle in: On a 4-hour flight in Thai Business class, I am able to select the newest first class seat in Thai’s fleet.

This is awesome of Thai to allow this. Now let’s get to the seat itself.

The seat cushion was actually quite nice and comfortable. However the same cannot be said about the back padding which was alright but not that soft. The headrest was mostly decent and soft. The seat had a bit of a shake to it which it would move back and forth which isn’t good but that is fine because the shake is from the seat can lounge or go fully flat.

There was plenty of legroom in the front as well including to rest feet on the ottoman.

Where the seat number 2K is displayed is also where a clip releases an opening closet where if you have a coat to hang you can store that there. Each seat has a coat hanger inside which is nice.

On the right side, the tray table comes out of the console on the right and it is quite large.

The ottoman was fairly large and could also be used for partner dining if that is what you want.

After setting in, the crew came around with pre-departure beverages. Originally they only came around with water and orange juice, but I asked if they had any purple lime juice and they gladly brought it out for me which I appreciated. But because of the 3-hour delay and the humidity in Mumbai, I also was thirsty and asked for some water which they also gave me. All of this was done with a smile on their face which is all I can really ask for.

The seat also came with a soft blanket, and two pillows, both of which were soft and comfortable.

Towards the front of the seat and to the right, there was a storage area where the power port was and it was here where the “noise canceling” headphones and amenity kit were kept.

The amenity kit was a Furla amenity kit and was well stocked.

About the area where your shoulders would be, there was the TV remote, 2 USB ports, and also some extra storage area. There was also the headphone jacks for the headphones provided or a pair of your own.

The seat controls were touch screen and fairly intuitive.

 

It came with a nice brush, earplugs, mouthwash, a toothbrush with toothpaste, eyeshades, and slippers. The slippers are a really nice touch in business class, especially on a 4-hour flight.

There was also lip balm and body lotion.

Now let’s look at the menu:

 

The crew also distributed water bottles during the boarding process.

We had a fairly quick taxi and a normal 747 takeoff roll out of Mumbai. Shortly after we passed through the first layer of monsoon clouds, the crew turned the seatbelt sign off.

I took one more picture of the seat after I got up.

The crew had taken dinner and drink orders on the ground and I had asked for green tea which came with an assortment of nuts.

The nuts included walnuts, cashews, raisins, almonds, and some dried fruits which made it tasty.

Green tea was also quite nice.

The crew also come around with dinner right after.

My appetizer consisted of a chilled chicken and shrimp salad. The chilled shrimp was nice and refreshing and had a nice lemony zest to it. The chicken was also quite flavorful and with the sauce and veggies combined…a great way to start.

The main course consisted of rice with snow peas and chicken. The rice was steamed and there was nothing too complicated to it but it didn’t taste much without any of the spicy sauce. The steamed veggies were decent but there was not much flavor which I was fine with.

The chicken was super dry and way overcooked. The flavor at least was decent.

There was also a lot of bread.The garlic bread was quite tasty, however it was not that warm.

And after that was done the crew came and cleared my tray. They asked whether I wanted the Western or Thai dessert option and given that I was on Thai Airways, I wanted to have the Thai option. So I had the Tao Teung and the crew was quite happy to give it to me since it seems that the rest of the passengers in the forward cabin went for the western option. The dessert was something I’ve personally never had even having been inside the country of Thailand so I was excited to try this. It was dates in a cup doused in sauce and then chilled rapidly with crushed ice on top. The sauce together with the ice and dates made a pretty nice combination, however, after the ice melting a bit, the dessert tasted watery and diluted and I only tasted the texture of fruits but nothing more. It was still a nice dessert to try.

A chocolate was given to all after dessert.

At this point, I started to make my bed and one of the crew rushed over and insisted that she did it and so I let her and told her thanks.

I got a nice two-hour sleep and woke up to some heavy chops. I opened my window and…well…I know now why. Monsoon clouds are devils but they are seriously a beauty to see.

We finally exited the system and things calmed down a bit.

At this point, I just went for a walk around the cabin and caught the awesome view from the back wing and it came out to this.

Finally we began descent and so I took a few other extra shots.

At last, we touched down about 3 hours late given how delayed our departure from Mumbai was…

Overall, this was another great flight with TG. We had a great crew, great food, great seats for a business class ticket. I also got a good rest for a few hours so, with that in the account, I can’t really ask for much more. Great job Thai!