Review of Nok Air flight Bangkok Ubon in Economy

Airline Nok Air
Flight DD9324
Class Economy
Seat 46K
Aircraft Boeing 737-800
Flight time 01:10
Take-off 14 Dec 18, 14:45
Arrival at 14 Dec 18, 15:55
DD 25 reviews
ThomasDutch
By SILVER 548
Published on 3rd January 2019

Journey December '18 & January '19


While I just returned from Thailand in October '18, it was now time for me to head back to Thailand once again to start one of my bigger journeys of 2018 (a period of four weeks originally, but decided to add another week to it and travel to Singapore). I decided to book plenty of flights to different cities to explore in both Thailand and Myanmar together with my girlfriend. 

 A small tip regarding to airlines in Myanmar for domestic flights. In case you want to book a flight with them long in advance, expect your itinerary to be changed from what you originally booked it for. Two or three weeks in advance is sufficient as prices will be the exact same as you would have paid for like six months ago and be sure to verify your flight on their site 24 hours for any change.

So the routing below will give you an idea what my upcoming reports are going to be. Enjoy your read!



The start of DD 9324's Journey


As I spend some of my days in Ayutthaya for sightseeining (photos will be added to the tourism bonus section), I needed a way to return to Bangkok to catch my flight from Don Mueang International Airport to Ubon Ratchathani Airport in eastern Thailand. To travel back, you are given two options and that is to either take a minivan to Mo Chit station and hop on a taxi for a few minutes or to take a train from Ayutthaya Station to Don Mueang Train Station, which will give you directly access to the airport itself. I opted for the later one, even though it is slightly less comfortable for not having an air conditioning (You will find ones with air cond. if my flight was later by about 2 hours.).

So I headed by taxi to Ayutthaya Station and bought me a ticket for about  20 THB (Equiv. to 0.63 euro or so) to bring me back, which is definitely much cheaper than using a minivan in which I had to buy a third seat for my luggage and costs approx. 220 THB.


photo 1

At the station, I took the earliest train available. This would mean that I would be way too early in Don Mueang, but better to be safe than sorry as I don't want my flight to be screwed up by a massive delay. So meet the luxurious train that brought me back to Bangkok and on time!


photo 2photo 4-98

The ride itself is also shorter than taking a minivan and takes you about 40 minutes to complete. Luckily enough it wasn't too hot and most of the fans were actually working we were slowly moving our way to Bangkok with an excellent on-time performance. You could even buy snacks from the guy in the light blue shirt in case your hungry for cheap prices.

About 40 minutes later, our train reached Bangkok Don Mueang International Airport and the very friendly conductor himself helped us offload our luggage and showed us the way to the airport (even though we were already very familiar with it). Soon the Bangkok's BTS will be opened and giving you another way to go into the main city instead of using a bus. train or taxi only.


photo 5

With about four hours to spare prior to our flight, we decided to check in already and drop off our luggage at one of their desks as I am not in the mood to watch my luggage the entire time. Luckily enough it wasn't too busy at this time and check-in + drop off took only a few minutes to clear. 


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While it only took a few minutes, we decided now to head to the food court on the second level for breakfast as it is one of the most affordable and probably the best food option you could have in Bangkok Don Mueang.


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Breakfast was done and it was now time for us to proceed through security with about three hours to spare to boarding. Security is no issue here at all for domestic departure (International ones could be and is often very chaotic) and took no more than five minutes to clear. 


photo 8

To cover up some of our time, we decided to grab a drink at ''The Coffee Club'' and it would give us some time to sit at one of their tables overviewing a small part of the apron. Unfortunately it wasn't a busy pier, but you will see plenty of movement (not so many unique liveries though as most of it is Nok Air, AirAsia and Thai Lionair).


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HS-DBR, a four year old bird (Boeng 737-800) is docking at a gate after arriving from Chiang Mai International Airport


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HS-LTQ, another four year old bird (Boeing 737-900ER) who is being pushed back for it's flight to Ubon Ratchathani as well (would have been a better flight for us considering it's time and our arrival to Don Mueang).


photo 13

While me and my girlfriend both finished our coffee and paid our bill, we decided to head to our gate and hang out there for approximately two hours. The walk itself took about 5 to 10 minutes and was not spectacular as there are little to no shops during this walk, though it definitely is a friendlier airport to airplane spotters than Suvarnabhumi is.

While we reached our gate, it was still occupied by another aircraft of Thai Lion Air. HS-LTT, a Boeing 737-900ER and only 3.6 years old was boarding for it's flight to Hat Yai International Airport meaning that we had plenty of seats to choose from to sit down.


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Our location for at least 90 minutes.


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So it was just a wait for our aircraft to arrive and to do so, we simply stay connected by the free wifi of the airport and did some spotting of other aircraft, but like I said, there is not much variety over here  to cover up tons of photos.

HS-DBX, a 2.2 year old 737-800 is arriving out of Udon Thani as DD 9203


photo 16

HS-LAI, a 1.2 year old Airbus A330-300 of Thai Lion who is pushed back for it's flight to Phuket as SL 768


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And our ride is arriving as DD 7407 out of Trang. A 1.3 year-old Boeing 737-800 that was going to perform our flight to Ubon Ratchathani.


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Boarding started on-time and was speedy for a full flight. One of the good parts of travelling low-cost or in any other way is that overhead bins are not crowded and would not require you to wait for ages for someone to dump his trolley in the overhead bins and I would position myself to my seat 46K. I don't know the reason for it, but Nok Air seating no. are different compared to others. The first row does not add appear as 01A, B, C, D, E or K, but starts as 31.

My seat view and my leg room which is very very decent for an airline that classifies itself as a low-cost airline.


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And the literature you could find in front of your seat.


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The magazine of Nok Air itself, which was current and was focused on Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.


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The Safety card of Nok Air's 737-800


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And some shopping + food cards to order as it is a buy on board service.


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The flight was fully loaded and on departure time, the aircraft was pushing back to start our journey to Ubon Ratchathani Airport.


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About 7 to 8 minutes later, we were holding short for our departure runway with an A320 of Thai AirAsia taking off. You definitely need a magnifying glass by now to spot that aircraft.


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And 10 minutes after our departure time, we were rolling for take off with a quick easterly turn to proceed to our airport, which gave us a splendid view of Bangkok Don Mueang International Airport from Above, yet i'm still flustered how that golf course between both runways is considered safe.


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About 20 to 30 minutes, the flight attendants, who seemed a bit bored, came out and served us all the complimentary water. Something I haven't seen any other low-cost airline perform on short haul flights and they are always cutely decorated.


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After giving out the water, a new round was performed by them to sell us some food or drinks, but I usually never buy anything as it is very expensive and am usually full from the airport itself.


photo 31

By the time they finished their round of BOB, we had about ten minutes of left and the flight attendants quickly came by once again to try to sell their in-flight shop items.


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About ten minutes later, the pilots informed us that we would start our descent into Ubon and expected to be on ground within 15 minutes and told flight attendants to prepare the cabin for landing and so they did. A round of cleaning started and they came by to verify whether anyone was wearing his seat belts, the seats and window shades were in the correct position and according to Thai law had his electronics completely shut off (not me obviously!)


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The approach was ordinary and gave you views of forrest, farms and a few small rivers, but the landing performed by the pilots was very well done and a backtrack was required at the end of the runway. 


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Once vacated the runway with an Embraer 135 in the distance that was prepping itself for a military charter most likely.


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Deboarding of the plane itself was rather quick and would give me one last look at the plane that brought me over to Ubon.


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And all that was left to do was to pick up my luggage, which literally was already on the belt within one minute of deboarding my luggage. Well that's efficiency and probably the only one of the entire airport.


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Bonus : Click here display
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Verdict

Nok Air

7.2/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew7.5
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Meal/catering6.5

Bangkok - DMK

6.9/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.5
Services6.5
Cleanliness6.5

Ubon - UBP

6.2/10
Efficiency6.0
Access6.5
Services6.5
Cleanliness6.0

Conclusion

Nok Air is definitely an airline that is worth taking, even though they are losing money and an airline that is dear to me. They offer a LCC service with decent legroom and serve you complimentary water. Don't forget the colourful liveries!

Information on the route Bangkok (DMK) Ubon (UBP)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 3 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Bangkok (DMK) → Ubon (UBP).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Nok Air avec 6.7/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 6 minutes.

  More information

5 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 482591 by
    Arq 43 Comments
    Nok Air seating no. are different compared to others. The first row does not add appear as 01A, B, C, D, E or K, but starts as 31.

    Nok air were initially positioned as Low cost arm length of Thai Airways before that strategy drop and they operated almost independently. However, during their set up, THAI's 737-400 were lease and the seat number were adopted from Thai Airways, who use 1-10 for First Class, 11-29 as Business Class, and Economy class begin from 31 onward. ( They have Nok Plus class, back then too)
  • Comment 482593 by
    Pilpintu TEAM 997 Comments
    Hi!

    the routing below

    Wow! You're having a busy holiday! XD It's great that you are posting the reports almost "live"!

    which is definitely much cheaper than using a minivan

    I see you are quite an expert vacationer! :D

    better to be safe than sorry as I don't want my flight to be screwed up by a massive delay

    I insist: You're an expert. Nothing ruins your holidays like running around frantically because you're late, or - perish the thought - missing a flight!

    the very friendly conductor himself helped us

    Some people are amazing! Even in spite of the language barrier they find ways to be polite and friendly. I've experienced that and it's been very moving.

    I am not in the mood to watch my luggage the entire time

    It could be worse: You could have children to watch all day long! XDDD

    International ones could be and is often very chaotic)

    From the experience at our main airport here (SCL) I have learned that this oftentimes is not the airport's fault. Services like customs or safety check usually depend on other government agencies and there's little that the airport can do if they are not efficient.

    HS-DBR, HS-DBX

    I love that crazy livery!!!

    Our location for at least 90 minutes

    Cushioned seats! They are becoming so scarce! :(

    HS-LAI

    Lovely tail!

    Nok Air seating no. are different compared to others

    Very observant! Thanks to Arq for shedding light on the mystery!!!

    and they are always cutely decorated.

    Everything about Nok Air seems so... kawaii!!

    Nice views of the temples.

    Congratulations! I hope you enjoyed/are enjoying your trip.

    Thanks for sharing, and have a happy 2019!
    • Comment 482596 by
      ThomasDutch SILVER AUTHOR 633 Comments
      Had to adjust my tour slightly today as Chumphon would become no option to me. Currently it is or about to be hit by a storm called Pabuk. Even if the flights were going through, I am in no mood to sit in a hotel the entire day because of heavy rain, so I'll visit Singapore instead from Bangkok with Cathay and back! :) Thanks for your comments. Much apprecieted Nechus!

      My luggage can sometime be even more naughty than kids. trust me haha!
  • Comment 482954 by
    hometoyyz 539 Comments
    Hi ThomasDutch!

    Alright! Two down, 12 to go! (Yikes! Again… that’s quite the series!) Looking forward to these next few short domestic legs on somewhat more obscure carriers.

    I agree with you on the better safe than sorry, especially if something were to happen with train delays. And I had to laugh at that price — 20 THB! Nevertheless, the commuter train looks like a commuter train. Not that luxurious, but not all that different from what I take when I have to go into Toronto for the day.

    I think this imy first time seeing much of DMK. Good spotting, and that coffee drink looks pretty decadent!

    How can you say “not so many unique liveries” when Nok is around? One of the more unique liveries around, I dare say. And your ride is no different. The “beak” on Nok planes is so cute!

    The seat looks adequate for an LCC, and complimentary water? What kind of luxury is this!

    Between the seat shape and the yellow hew of the safety cards, it kinda looks like Lufhansa narrowbody in there.

    Very cool tourism bonus as well.

    Thanks for sharing this — looking forward to checking out the return flight a bit later!

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