E Loves Coco

As the title of the post states, I do love fresh coconuts. For those of you who are into such things as adorable babies drinking from coconuts and eating fruit, enjoy as you stay warm/dry during Winter Storm Saturn.

Bangkok Layover & Showering At the Airport

Flight #37 - Asiana Airlines 742 
Bangkok (BKK) – Seoul (ICN) 
Thursday, Mar 7, 2013 
Depart: 11:40PM / Arrive: 6:50AM (+1 Day)
Duration: 5hr 10min 
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200 
Seat: 5E and 5F (Business) 
Earned: 0 miles (2,281 miles flown)
Cost: 60,000 United miles + $50 / person Redemption Value: 6.6 cents / mile
Lifetime Miles: 74,413 miles

So it's Friday afternoon for me here in Seoul, South Korea. Earlier this morning, we landed at Seoul Incheon Airport (Flight #2 of 4 to get back to New York City) after narrowly getting out of Thailand despite overstaying our 30 day visa waiver. And now we're waiting for Flight #3 of 4 to start boarding.  Here's our itinerary for the long return home.

1.  Mar 7: Thai Smiles 748, Krabi to Bangkok, 4:50PM – 6:10PM, Economy Plus (1hr 20min)

5 hour 30 min layover at BKK Airport

2.  Mar 7: Asiana 742, Bangkok to Seoul, 11:40PM – 6:50AM (+1), Business (5hr 10min)

9 hour 40 min layover in Seoul/Incheon

3.  Mar 8: Asiana 202, Seoul to LA, 4:30PM – 10:10AM (+1), Business (10hr 40min)

3 day stopover in California

4.  Mar 10: United 912, LA to New York, 10:45PM – 6:59AM (+1), Business (5hr 14min)

Yesterday (Thurs), we flew from Krabi (KBV) to Bangkok (BKK) on Thai Smile, the failed attempt of Thai Airways to replicate (cheaper) European short-haul flights (no full service business class, but just an "economy plus" offering up front).

My father would have preferred the regular Thai Airways, but it was only a 1 hour 20 min flight so we didn't make a fuss. Plus, we used 60,000 United miles for Flights #1-3, so you can't really complain about paying only $50 USD / person for 17+ hours in business class (regular price $4,000/person).

The first flight into Bangkok arrived around 6:10PM, but as you can see above, our connecting flight didn't depart until 5.5 hours later at 11:40PM.  The layover isn't enough time to really leave the airport and head into Bangkok. Plus, my parents and I had already spent 5 full days in Thailand's capital city, so there wasn't much more we wanted to do/see. And frankly, I was getting sick of Thai food after eating it consistently for 4 weeks.

So we took advantage of the multiple passenger lounges within BKK airport. My father earned Platinum status on United Airlines last year, so he also had Star Alliance Gold status. Remember, many airlines all over the world are partnered with each other in 3 major alliances:

• Star Alliance (United, Thai, Asiana, Lufthansa, etc)
• OneWorld (American, British, Cathay Pacific, LAN, etc)
• SkyTeam (Delta, AirFrance, Alitalia, KoreanAir, etc)

So having Star Alliance Gold status meant that my father could go into any Star Alliance carrier's business class lounge at any airport as long as he was flying on a Star Alliance flight that day, even if he was flying coach or on another Star Alliance airline. Obviously, we could also go into the business class lounge because we were flying in business class, but that's besides the point.

So we were flying out on Asiana 742, but we've spent the past few hours in Singapore Airlines' SilverKris Lounge (best for food and quiet) and several of Thai Airway's Royal Silk Lounges in Concourses C and D.

What's so special about an airport lounge? Well, I'm glad you asked.

First, they have free snacks and drinks (soft and hard).

Second, they have free WiFi and computers/printers.

Third, they have comfortable seats and televisions.

Fourth, they have more experienced airline staff at the front desk who can rebook your flight if there's a delay or cancellation. 

Fifth, they have better (cleaner) bathrooms.

And finally, some lounges have special amenities like family/kids rooms for passengers with children, massage chairs, beds to rest/sleep in, and even showers.

So with an hour left before we were scheduled to board our 5 hour redeye flight, my father made a visit to the Thai Airways lounge Royal Silk Lounge in Concourse C and booked a reservation for one of the lounge showers and cleaned himself up before Flight #2 - the 5 hour redeye to Seoul.

Koh Samui Airport

Flight #35 - Bangkok Airways 145
Bangkok (BKK) – Koh Samui (USM)
Sunday, Feb 17, 2013 
Depart: 1:30PM / Arrive: 2:35PM
Duration: 1hr 5min
Aircraft: Airbus 319 
Seat: 1E and 1F (Economy) 
Mileage: 304 miles
Lifetime Miles:  71,711 miles

We got a taxi from the hotel around 11AM to catch our 1:30PM flight to Koh Samui (island).  This might seem a bit early for our flight but we didn't want to stress if we got caught in the famous Bangkok traffic.  However, it wasn't the car traffic that was the problem (took 40 minutes), it was the human traffic when we went to check in for our flight on Bangkok Airways.

Oftentimes, foreign carriers are usually in an alliance with other airlines like how Thai Airways is in the Star Alliance along with United Airlines.  And when you're an elite in one, you get many of the same benefits when flying on their partner airline (such as being able to check in at their business class desks, expedited security lines, free/extra checked bags).

But unfortunately, Bangkok Airways isn't affiliated with United (nor American nor Delta, for that matter).  They have a code-share agreement (meaning you can earn miles) with a few random international carriers, but nothing that would help my father.

My father glanced over to the empty Bangkok Airways "Blue Ribbon" (premium class) check in desk and sighed as he made his way over to the end of the long line in Economy.  The line wrapped around 6 times but since we were there early (11:50AM), we figured we'd still have plenty of time.

After finally getting our tickets (around 12:25PM), we went straight to the departure gates since the flight was boarding at 12:50PM.  Bangkok offers all economy passengers access to a club lounge (separate from their first class lounge) but we decided to pick up some fast food for the flight instead since it was lunchtime and we weren't sure they were going to serve anything on a 1 hour flight.

Surprisingly, however, they did serve a full meal and coffee/tea while in the air.  By the time the meal was cleared, we were descending to Koh Samui Airport, the "most beautiful airport in the world."

Koh Samui Airport isn't like other utilitarian regional airports.  It was built 30 years ago by Bangkok Airways specifically to access the island by air.  Before it was completed, travelers had to take a long train/bus ride from Bangkok and then take a ferry to Samui.

But now, it's an hour flight to a beautiful (and eco-friendly) airport that's designed stylishly like a tropical resort hotel property.  As Bangkok Airways said, "We want your vacation to start as soon as your plane lands."

And now, we were off to find our pre-arranged ride (van & boat) to Koh Phangan island...

Bangkok In Photos

By the time you're reading this post, I'll probably be en route to Koh Phangan with my parents.

From Bangkok Airport (don't even try to get me to pronounce Suvarnabhumi Airport), we're flying to Koh Samui Airport (USM) then getting on a boat to the hotel on Koh Phangan seen here to the left.

This trip starts the second half of our month in Thailand.  The first half was very active (excursions, animal parks, temple tours).

But the next few weeks will be more peaceful and relaxing (think of those lame Facebook pictures of people's feet overlooking sand and surf).

But to recap the past 5 nights in Bangkok, here's a handful of photos of our week in Thailand's version of New York.

St Regis Bangkok

Hotel Stay Details
Hotel: St. Regis Bangkok
Dates: February 15-17, 2013
Rate Paid: $219 / night 
Total $ Savings: $0 
Points Earned: 907 SPG Points

My father tells me there are 2 ways to budget for Thailand. The first is to Save Money because just about everything is super cheap (meals for $1-5, massages for $6, hostels for $25-30). The second is to Go Upscale but spend the same amount of money you would have in the US (because your dollar goes a lot farther in Thailand, you can enjoy some luxuries you may not be able to otherwise).

Staying at the St. Regis Bangkok is definitely the 2nd choice.  To give you an idea, the St. Regis in New York City runs $795/night for a weekend during high season in May.  The St. Regis in Bangkok for a weekend in high season in February cost my parents $219/night.

We switched hotels from the W Bangkok to the St Regis on Friday afternoon around 3PM.  My father's SPG Gold status got us a late checkout from the W so that we weren't stranded in between hotels (since the St Regis check in started at 3PM).  However, upon arriving, we were told that our room was not ready yet.

We were offered seats in the lounge and to have some tea while we waited.  Now, I'm not used to fancy luxury hotels but were they apologizing and giving us free afternoon tea or just providing an option?

Nevertheless, my father wanted to impress my mother (especially after a very lackluster Valentine's Day) and ordered the St Regis Afternoon Tea for Two for 1,030 THB total (about ~$34 USD).

(UPDATE:  When we checked out, there was no Afternoon Tea on the bill, so guess it was complimentary for the delay after all.)

My rich baby friends tell me that a comparable afternoon tea at the Plaza Hotel in NYC runs about $50-60...per person!

The last time my father had a proper tea service was in London years ago when he was 19 years old and recalled thinking it was something girls would enjoy, so he wanted my mother to have a nice proper tea experience.

Around 4PM, they came by to tell us our room was now ready.  We were on the 18th floor overlooking the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, a horse track / golf course.

The style was classic but modern and while we didn't have a ton of space, it was well laid out so that there was enough space for everything, including a crib.

My parents were very impressed with the entire experience.  They had been to a St. Regis before during their delayed honeymoon in Bora Bora, but this was their first city center experience, and it did not disappoint.

I personally could care less about the hotel room as long as it's sanitary, safe and has a bunch of stuff for me to pull down off the tables, but I was told that I'm a high class baby this weekend and was expected to act as such.