#24 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
216 reviews
This is the third in a series of five flight reviews involving Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. The trip spans 26th May to 3rd June, taking the author across three Southeast Asian destinations: Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok (then back to Singapore and later Manila).
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Choosing the carrier to fly with was tough. On one hand, you had Thai Airways: a widebody aircraft, lie-flat seat in business class, and extra Kris Flyer miles. Plus, as I would be flying with Malaysia Airlines on the previous leg, it would mark three different business class products that I would try. But on the other hand, flying with Malaysia Airlines a second time had its perks: the lower fare, its base in Kuala Lumpur, lounge access, and its chef-on-call.
At the end of the day, I chose the latter. And the multiple swaps in aircraft did not speak well for Thai so I knew I made the right decision and played it safe.
About a month before the trip, food selection was open. One could chose their meals online anytime from 30 days to 24 hours prior to the flight. I chose the steak option.
As I was reflecting on the flight times I chose, I felt I made a mistake in choosing when to depart. As I have been to KL previously but not Bangkok, I thought I needed more time. Although I had one free change associated with my fare, that would not include the fare difference. Both over the phone and at the airport, I got the same answer. Another disincentive was the forfeiture of my chosen chef on call meal. So with the hefty fare difference of over RM488 (US$105, £83, €97), I had to stick with my original choice.
TIP: If your Malaysian Airlines fare includes one free change, make the change as early as possible.
The fare differences add up! To get to the airport, I first took a taxi from my hotel to KL Sentral. Despite the name KL Sentral, it is actually on the western part of town. I purchased an RM120 (US$26, £20.30, €23.75) KLIA Ekspres return ticket which also included access to the Rapid KL public transport network for two days. At KL Sentral, I took the KLIA Ekspres to the airport. Unfortunately bag drop at KL Sentral remains closed until this day so it meant bringing my heavier bags with me.
I found the KLIA Ekspres to be an efficient way of travelling to the airport. It is relatively cheap but quick. No need to sit in heavy traffic. It also offers free wifi.
TIP: The KL Sentral-KLIA route is served by two railway services: the KLIA Ekspres and the KLIA Transit. The former skips all stations in between and calls only at the airport terminals and KL Sentral. The latter calls at all intermediate stations, including Putra Jaya. Fares between KL Sentral and KLIA on both services are identical but not interchangeable - you need to specify which service you wish to take. The latter is only useful if you will stay closer to an intermediate station than downtown KL. Furthermore, KLIA Transit does not offer the KL TravelPass, which allows access to local public transport.
We arrived in KLIA after 14.00. This was plenty of time for us to sort out stuff and explore the airport. The check-in lane was fairly light. Their business check-in area was also inviting. Those on business suite, which is the de facto equivalent of first class, also had their own lane and can wait comfortably.
When it was my turn to get served, it was done fairly quickly. I believe I asked to be reseated in seat 1A from 1D and the staff reallocated me there. They gave me my boarding card and I was on my way.
I continued to take photos of the land-side portion.
Passport control queues were short. What helped us was that business class passengers were able to use a dedicated lane.
Security checks would take place right at our gate. This set-up is now something relatively unique to international passengers flying out of KLIA (terminal 1) and Singapore-Changi (terminals 1-3). But it allows departing and arriving passengers to share most of the airside facilities.
Normally, an aerotrain would operate between KLIA's main terminal, where our flight would depart from, and the satellite terminal, which is where many wide-body aircraft are parked. However, due to an incident in the past few months, aerotrain service is suspended. Instead, shuttle busses would take over. It would take about three minutes to transfer between terminals by shuttle bus.
Once there I headed for the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge. Although it was labelled as an "International" or "Satellite" Golden Lounge, any Malaysia Airlines (and oneworld alliance) business class passenger bound for any destination outside Malaysia can use it (they just have to account for time it takes to go to the gate and terminal where their flight departs though).
Needless to say it was one of the largest lounges I have ever entered. Given the dearth of long-haul flights for Malaysia Airlines, there was plenty of space for everyone. I chose to sit next to the window to get good views of the aircraft. It had a noodle bar but other than that, food selection was relatively underwhelming for my taste. But I ordered a panini, had a biscuit, strawberry cake, and peanuts, and did not want to fill my stomach too much for the in-flight meal. This lounge had provisions for those with children, those who wanted to take a shower, even pray. What was missing though were computing and printing facilities. I spent almost two hours at this lounge.
However with that in mind, I rushed back to the main terminal. We returned to the main terminal shortly after 17.00. I had a quick stop at the regional Golden lounge. Despite its size, it offered most of the same facilities as the international lounge. But it was more crowded. After about five minutes, I made my way to the gate.
As I said, I cleared security at the gate's entrance. It was about 17.20 and alas, boarding has not actually started. The flight would be delayed. We would not begin boarding until right before 18.00, which would be way after our scheduled departure time.
At the gate, I would meet the cabin crew. We had some chit-chat and asked them about the aircraft. As I assumed it was the four-row business class, it would have in-seat monitors. But the cabin crew I spoke with knew their specific aircraft quite well. They said it was without the monitors or even any in-flight entertainment whatsoever. So I was warned.
Soon enough business class passengers were called to board but we saw a few passengers with status board ahead of us.
MH780 from KUALA LUMPUR to BANGKOK
Flight Number: MH780
Gate: H8
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Scheduled Departure Time: 17:45 (with a delay)
Aircraft Registration: 9M-MLL
Unfortunately the seatbelt sign remained switched on for the entire flight. It had restricted my ability to capture other parts of this flight that I would otherwise want to share. So I would be resigned to taking photos from my seat, which were relatively limited.
But this was indeed a different cabin from the one that flew me in from Johor Bahru. It felt dated. At first glance, it made me think I overpaid and one could be forgiven for thinking so. For a moment, it got me thinking that I would much prefer the refreshed cabin. Keep in mind, Thai Airways, for all its last-minute aircraft switching and varying cabin ages, guarantees at least a lie-flat seat on the said route. But the thing that saved me from rating the seat as the most mediocre used for this route is the relatively generous legroom of the 1A/1C bloc of seats. I felt we had more legroom than even the 1H/1K bloc. And the recline did not feel particularly tight at all.
No IFE whatsoever was provided on the flight. No seatback monitors, no in-seat power, no wifi. There was a hardware provision for rolling audio but no programmes. I found it bizarre because the much shorter domestic Johor Bahru flight had some IFE provisions.
I was lucky to have an enthusiastic and warm crew serve my flight. They knew which meals I ordered and were polite and professional in their demeanour. The purser was especially emblematic of Malaysian Hospitality. We got started with a pre-departure beverage and I simply chose water.
Even though the flight attendant knows our order, we were given a menu. That was fine as I was excited to see the "standard" choices. Looking at them, I felt lucky that I used the chef on call provision.
TIP: Be sure to use the chef on call provision. It is available 30 days to 24 hours before your flight and between then, you may change your mind about which food option you'd prefer. And if you decide to change your flight 24 hours before the departure of your original flight, you could forfeit your chef on call choice.
Soon it was time to leave the gate. The safety demonstration was live with the purser reading the safety features from a script. It was in English, which was different from the Johor Bahru-KL flight in which the live demonstration was done in Malay.
We would take off at about 18.30 local time. The fasten seat belt sign would remain switched on for the rest of the flight.
Not too long after take-off, it was time for the meal service. Like I said, the cabin crew remembered my chef on call order. They served me with beef steak. I ordered Coke zero, peanuts, and garlic bread too. Salad and muffins accompanied the meal. At this point in my entire trip, this has got to be the best business meal I have had. Very tasty meal and presentable!
Given the seatbelt sign situation, there was nothing much further to write about the flight. I spent the rest of my time working on my laptop and phone (to the extent that they were usable without wifi). I also tried to get some reading done on my iPad.
As the service was about to end and descent was about to commence, the purser came to us and thanked each passenger individually. I also felt like saying thank you to them for their warm service. They are emblematic of the Malaysian Hospitality the airline wishes to impart.
It was going to be a rainy evening in Bangkok. As I watched the view from the window, that was becoming more evident. All that was left to do was wait for the plane to land. It was exciting that in 2023, three years since my last overseas holiday, I would be moments away from unlocking a new country.
The seatbelt sign was switched off for the first time since KLIA. The crew thanked me again for flying with Malaysian Airlines. I was excited to see Bangkok for myself. Having watched several Youtube videos, I was expecting to see the priority or VIP lane apparent. Yet it was not obvious where it was. I had to ask around only to find out that to access it, one had to go through the main passport control lane. The arrows for business class passengers were found there. The queues at the designated lane were fairly short. Given how popular a tourist destination Bangkok is, one could appreciate what a business class ticket could do for them on the ground.
In addition, I got my bag quickly and headed for the exit. There were queues forming at the booths where incoming travellers would buy sim cards. But I took care of that already whilst at KLIA with the purchase of an esim. I made my way to the money changer and Bangkok Airport Rail Link. I changed my Malaysian Ringgits into Thai Bahts at a forex dealer called Super Rich.
Just like KLIA, Bangkok normally has two types of services: the local City Line which calls at all stations between the airport and Phaya Thai, and a more express line. However, the latter line is not running at the moment.
TIP: Thailand is a VERY cash-heavy society as far as foreigners are concerned! Make sure to enter with sufficient cash on-hand as withdrawing cash at Thai cash machines are very expensive (up to ฿220 or approximately US$6.35, £4.95, €5.80 plus your own bank's ATM withdrawal fees). Coming in with foreign currency banknotes are fine as you can exchange them at relatively reasonable rates though presenting smaller banknotes and lesser-known (or soft) currencies could be to your disadvantage.
You cannot pay the Airport Rail link fare electronically unlike its counterparts in say, Malaysia or Singapore.
RATINGS FOR THE FLIGHT
These are rated from 1 to 10 with ten being the best score. This covers aspects of the flight experience that Malaysia Airlines and its ground agents are responsible for with a focus on business class.
- Check-in (10/10): Great ambience at KLIA. An entire row was cordoned off for business class with long-haul (business suites) passengers getting their own desks apart from us. Staff was also helpful.
- Lounge (9/10): Plenty of seating at the international Golden Lounge. Whether you are flying long-haul or regional, you find consistent offerings. Though the food selection was slightly underwhelming.
- Boarding Process (9/10): One thing I do not understand was that there needed to be two lanes: one for business class and another for economy class passengers.
- Seating area (8/10): The seat is a standard recliner akin to what you would see on domestic US first class and Philippine Airlines' A321 business class. Nothing special, but a bonus about my seat is that it has more legroom than the other business class seats in the cabin, including the bloc opposite to mines.
- Food (10/10): Really, really delicious meals. I was glad to use the chef on call provision and order the steak. Lovely desserts. I got "eat all you can" garlic bread, same thing with peanuts. Now I await an admonishment from my doctor. Food service by this crew was pretty efficient.
- Cabin Crew (10/10): I don't recall a crew as enthusiastic as the one that served our section today. The purser greeted me by my first name and thanked me for flying with Malaysia Airlines. It was an appreciated gesture.
- Punctuality (6/10): There was a delay in the departure. Given my short stay in Bangkok, which is effectively one day, every minute matters.
- In-flight Entertainment and Connectivity (0/10): There was no IFE to speak of. Not even wireless streaming IFE. There were no outlets to plug or charge devices either.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 19 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Kuala Lumpur (KUL) → Bangkok (BKK).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Thai Airways avec 8.1/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 4 minutes.
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5 Comments
True, but I also get the impression that TG have a bad reputation for last minute equipment swaps so there would always be a risk of not getting the same product initially booked.
Seems you got one of the 737s with no IFE at all. The new cabins have streaming IFE and most with the older cabins have PTVs (at least until they get the new cabins), but yours had neither. Lucky you!
The meal looks quite nice got a short flight, however.
Thanks for sharing!
I knew there were four-row C cabins without IFE but I felt they were used mainly on domestic and flights to/from SIN. Now that I think about it, the only best part about that seat was that I apparently got an extra legroom, even compared to other C passengers. Had it not been for that, I could have rated the seat lower. And as I further reflect on it, it lacked a legrest.
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