Airlines

[aquamann]

Hi, my wife and I are thinking about a dive trip to Phuket and looking at flights there it looks like the cheapest and best schedules out of Portland Oregon are with China Air. Is anyone familiar with them or does anyone have any better suggestions for getting to Phuket from the Portland area?

 

[scubamickey]

We flew China Air out of Alaska when we went to Nepal. Within a month of them crashing 2 planes. The planes are in great condition and lots of personal in-flight entertainment. The flight attendants aren't very friendly and it shows they live in a communist country. For example, they make you put your sit upright if you are eating. We tried reclining several times and they literally came to my husband's seat and shoved it into the upright position. Seat up, tray down, eat now.
Very controlling. The food won't kill you but you may want to bring your own stash.

We laugh about it now but we were ticked off at the time. For $1400 a ticket I will damn well recline to eat my dinner if I want to!

Options are limited when heading out of the Northwest. Bite the bullet and tell the story later.

Irene

 

[drbill]

I flew to Hong Kong and SE Asia with them. Thought the flight was great. I didn't get the same "seat up" treatment, but I flew a red eye and I don't think we had any meal service but I don't remember.

 

[reefwreck]

We flew China Air out of Alaska when we went to Nepal. Within a month of them crashing 2 planes. The planes are in great condition and lots of personal in-flight entertainment. The flight attendants aren't very friendly and it shows they live in a communist country. For example, they make you put your sit upright if you are eating. We tried reclining several times and they literally came to my husband's seat and shoved it into the upright position. Seat up, tray down, eat now.
Very controlling. The food won't kill you but you may want to bring your own stash.

We laugh about it now but we were ticked off at the time. For $1400 a ticket I will damn well recline to eat my dinner if I want to!

Options are limited when heading out of the Northwest. Bite the bullet and tell the story later.

Irene

Just to clarify, Taiwanese carrier, China Airlines, is not to be confused with China's Air China. Being a Taiwanese carrier, China Airlines is about as "anti-communist" as you can get, if that really matters. China Airlines has a modern fleet. Flights from North America to onward points in Asia will likely mean transiting in Taipei, Taiwan. As Irene alluded to, there have been some issues with their safety record in the past.

 

[mark99]

Best way to compare fares is Expedia or Travelocity, they give you a chart of all the possibilities laid out lowest to highest. I've flown to Phuket several times on Cathay Pacific, they do a very professional job. For your connection from Bangkok, consider Bangkok air, they have nice new planes and are smaller and not the "cattle call" that Thai Airways can be. If you haven't been to Phuket before you can PM me with any other questions and I'll try to help.

 

[thien]

our friends coming to Phuket every year from LAX via China Airlines. They are one of the lowest price option for the trans-pacific flight, you also may want to look into EVA Air, also out of Taiwan, though I think they fly out of Seatle.

If connecting in Bangkok to Phuket, Bangkok Air is one of the best. However, if you are carrying dive gear, another option is Nok Air, book Nok Plus class and get 60 lb of baggage, and you can change your ticket without fees.

 

[Zippsy]

...... For $1400 a ticket I will damn well recline to eat my dinner if I want to!

....and to hell with the damn commie behind me trying to eat his meal with my seat in his face.

I hope you don't mind that I finished your sentence for you. BTW, doesn't Singapore Airlines, regularly voted the best (and most expensive!) airline in the world do the same thing? They must be commies down there too, right?

 

[scubamickey]

....and to hell with the damn commie behind me trying to eat his meal with my seat in his face.

I hope you don't mind that I finished your sentence for you.

Actually, I think it was a retired teacher from Ohio who was sitting behind us.

 

[ssra30]

Singapore Airline would be ideal. They have direct flight from LA to Singapore. From there you can fly directly to Phuket so that will save you a bit of time and hazzle with layover in Bangkok. However they are not the cheapest. My friend got some pretty good deals through Korean Airline coming to Thailand from LA recently. If you come through Bangkok, I personally would avoid Bangkok Airways. Yes, their plane is smaller but they certainly have the agenda to pack as many people in as possible so the seat is very cramp and being 6 ft tall, it was not the happiest flight in my life plus they are just as expensive as Thai Airways.
I do like EVA Airline a lot especially if you are willing to spend just a little bit more for their Deluxe Economy. Last time I flew, I think the seat was may be a couple of hundred dollars more expensive but a lot bigger and lot more comfortable. Certainly make a long flight a bit more bearable. Some body told me that Singapore Airline has similar deal with their direct LA-Singapore route but I am not sure. I think EVA fly out of LA, SF and Vancouver (?Seattle).

Sitting upright when you eat is supposed to be for courtesy to your fellow passengers especially if the person is very tall or rather large. Econ class is cramp enough as is and trying to eat with the front seat reclined back fully is another not so happy moment during long journey. Some people don't care, I generally try to sleep through most of the flight and I have not seen any airline food that I regret sleeping through

In the big scheme of things, I rather have a seat reclined in front of me rather than a screaming baby anytime

 

[Tommer]

Is anyone familiar with them or does anyone have any better suggestions for getting to Phuket from the Portland area?

others are right, China airline are own and run by the Taiwanese not the communist mainland China, i have flown from LAX to Phuket with China Airline for the past 5 years and are satisfied with them plus next month November will do the same also, but this time number of factors has changed:

1. price has gone up about $150 to $200 dollars due to the oil cost
2. After the Tsuanmi, China airline has cutting back their daily flight from Taipei to Phuket, which means this time the day i travel i have to stop at Bangkok first than transfer flight to Phuket.

but of course there are other airlines to consider with such as Eva, Cathy Pacific, Thai Airway (not sure they stop in Portland?), Singapore (the most expensive one and the best service according to the survey), it's all matter of personal preferences