Flying Bangkok To Koh Samui Business Class - Surprisingly Cheap!

Filed under: Bangkok Written by:Chris Mitchell.

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Bangkok Airways have recently added a Business Class section to their flights from Bangkok to Koh Samui. Turns out it's not much more to upgrade and you get great service for the extra money

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Recently I flew from Bangkok to Koh Samui on my way to Koh Tao with Bangkok Airways. I had a lot of luggage as I was bringing my full set of scuba gear with me, which weighs around 17 kilos on its own - only 3 kilos beneath Bangkok Airways' domestic luggage allowance. My total luggage weighed about 30 kgs and I knew I'd get charged excess. Bangkok Airways' newly opened Business Class allows passengers 10kg more - 30kg total - and the price is only 1210 Baht more than the standard economy fare. (That's about 19 UKP or $38US). (There is an even cheaper economy fare for flights leaving extremely early or very late but it's too inconvenient for most travellers). That is pretty much what I would have got charged for excess luggage, so I opted for the Business Class ticket.

You can see current Bangkok Airways flights and prices on Kayak.com and compare them with Thai Airways, the only other carrier to fly the Bangkok to Samui route.

Business Class (or the Blue Ribbon Club as Bangkok Airways calls it) only operates on a few of the airline's daily Samui flights - to get to Koh Tao, I had to catch the early one at 8am, which arrived 9.05. This meant I could catch the Lomprayah catamaran, which picks up customers direct from Samui airport at 10.30am and then departs around 12 noon.

Is the extra money worth it? I'd have to say yes. As well as the extra luggage allowance, (my bag was actually 33kg but the checkin lady didn't bat an eyelid), you get access to the Business Class Lounge, with complimentary food and drinks served to you; a member of staff comes to collect you when it's time to board and puts you straight through the departure gate with no waiting; a private minivan delivers you and other business class passengers to the plane before the other customers; and the business class seats themselves are nice and wide withe excellent in flight service for the hour journey. On arrival at Samui, business class passengers disembark first and are again accompanied by a member of staff to collect their luggage, which is also first to appear on the carousel. The staff will also help you make your connections to wherever it is you need to go.

To get all of that comfort, help and absence of stress for a mere 1200 baht extra, which I would have spent on excess luggage, seemed a bargain to me.

However, as I had an hour and a half to wait before my pickup for the ferry to Koh Tao, I was a bit annoyed that the Business Class lounge at Samui was apparently not open so I couldn't wait in there and was shown to a crappy open air and very hot restaurant. It would have been really impressed if they'd allowed me to hang about in the Samui Business Lounge as well. It wasn't really a problem as Samui Airport is busy expanding its retail section and there are several aircon cafes.

I came back down to earth with a bump once on the bus for the Lomprayah ferry. Customers are left to sit around waiting for around an hour once the bus drops them at the ferry departure point. If you have a big dive bag like mine you have to drag it over a makeshift ramp across the sand which is wholly inadequate for the job and then up a rickety pier - you'd think with the ton of money Lomprayah makes from its daily crossings between the islands it could afford to build something safer and more convenient. Once on the catamaran the journey via Koh Phangan was rapid and smooth - two hours later I was on Koh Tao.

I won't be able to fly business class every time I go and to and from Koh Tao, but this time round it was great fun and certainly it made flying a lot more pleasurable and hassle free.

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Posted on July 17th, 2008.