Watch the video above to see our Thai Airways KL BKK business class review or keep reading. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more interesting videos.
Before I start this Thai Airways KL to BKK business class review, it is important these shorter routes don’t provide great value for money. However, I have earned a relatively large amount of Citi Points via my Royal Orchid Select Citibank card and decided to splurge on this occasion.
The Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur route award ticket requires 12,500 miles for economy and 20,000 miles for business class along with Thai Airways’ fees and taxes. The 7,500-mile difference seemed worth it to avoid the Suvarnabhumi Airport immigration meatgrinder. That didn’t go exactly to plan.
I’ll get to that in a bit. Let’s start at the beginning with our Thai Airways KL to BKK business class review.
Also Interesting: Can you drive an EV from Bangkok to Samui? A Thailand road trip
Thai Airways KL to BKK business class review
Getting to the airport
Getting to KLIA is pretty straightforward. You can take KLIA Ekspres which costs MYR55 and takes about 40 minutes. However, on this occasion, I opted for Grab. It was a holiday Monday, meaning rates were low. I also had a 10 percent discount coupon bringing the ride’s total cost to MYR 65. Seeing as my hotel was one station away from KL Sentral, the convenience of door-to-door service was worth the extra cost. It took a little less than an hour to get to KLIA.
Check-in
The check-in for business class was smooth, as is normally the case. There was no real wait to speak of. On the other hand, economy class was a zoo with a long line having already formed some three hours before takeoff.
Immigration at KLIA
This area was really quiet due in large part to the Monday holiday. I didn’t even bother looking for the lane dedicated to business class passengers since the normal queues were all so short. It took me less than five minutes to get my passport stamped and cleared through immigration.
Lounge
Once you pass immigration, you will immediately notice the massive renovations happening at KLIA Terminal 1. The main terminal is undergoing a ton of work, impacting the number of available lounges.
Passengers were directed to the Plaza Premium Lounge which seemed to be the only one in operation at KLIA, although I didn’t explore all that much. Anyway, the lounge was a mess.
For starters, there were way too many people in the space. The hosts checking people in were polite but visibly overwhelmed. Several people just snuck in. This certainly didn’t help matters. When you finally enter, the challenge becomes finding a place to sit. I had to do a few laps before someone left and I could grab a spot.
The food selection was carbs, carbs and more carbs. Even for Asia, it was a bit much. I had some flat noodles, fried rice and bread. After that, I snagged a few pieces of the small chocolate cake cubes. Nothing was memorable.
The drinks selection was commendable, though. There was a bar, espresso options and various soft drinks. Plenty of water was on hand as well. This is the only highlight of the Plaza Premium Lounge.
Beyond that, a password for free Wi-Fi is given to you upon check-in to the lounge. There is also a shower, but you must reserve this ahead of time. Overall, the lounge would have been fine had it not been seemingly overbooked.
Getting to the gate
TG418 was flying out of gate C16 which is located in KLIA’s satellite terminal. Normally, a tram would take you from the main terminal but that is being renovated and everyone was being shuttled over by bus. This was a nightmare setup. It’s not that there is a long wait or anything. The process is just super inefficient.
Once you arrive at the satellite terminal, another one of KLIA’s inefficient flaws rears its ugly head: conducting security checks outside the gate. This is so dumb and creates unnecessary people backlogs as people disembarking must navigate lines of people waiting to go through security.
I made it to the gate eventually, but this was not an enjoyable experience at all.
Boarding
Not much to say here. Boarding was quick and efficient, helped significantly by the fact business class was half empty. Once I reached my seat, a flight attendant provided me with a hot towel while asking if I’d like a drink. I ordered a ginger ale and always enjoy a nice hot towel.
Before takeoff, the flight attendant returned to take my dinner order. I opted for the prawns and snapper with dried tom yum sauce.
Seating
TG418 flies the Airbus A350-900 with its four-across-a-row business class seating. I opted for 15K which was a window seat. This is a really enjoyable layout with the seats being more than you could ask for on a short flight.
You get the recline and lay flat options, although the latter isn’t practical on a flight of this length. The only thing I didn’t like was the headrest. It is sort of awkward. For whatever reason, I couldn’t find a sweet spot with it.
Special mention goes to the Thai Airways pillows and blankets. These are outstanding—the best I’ve ever experienced in business class.
Takeoff
My favorite part of taking off from KLIA and heading toward Bangkok is that you get to fly over Kuala Lumpur. It is quite a sight at night. Everything was as expected beyond that.
Meal Service
Meal service began shortly after the seatbelt sign switched off and was brisk. Thai Airways certainly does its business-class presentation right with real silverware and napkins. On a two-hour flight, these details can sometimes get stripped away, even in business class.
As for the food, it was hit and miss. Let’s start with the good. The entrée of prawns and snapper with dried tom yum sauce was really nice with decent-sized prawns used. The vegetables were just there. Also delicious was the panna cotta and chocolate mousse dessert. And who doesn’t love a piece of hot garlic bread?
Now for the not-so-good. I have no idea why they crammed two very different starters into one concoction. It was confusing. Seriously, picking one and going with it would have been the better option here. You couldn’t even eat them separately because everything was mixed in one dish.
Finally, the nuts and dried fruit were perfectly fine. As was the ginger ale I had to wash everything down.
In-flight entertainment
The entertainment console Thai Airways uses on the Airbus A350-900 is very sharp. Unfortunately, the entertainment options are limited. Having flown with both Korean Airlines and ANA in the past month, the lack of selection here was very noticeable when measured against Thai’s competitors. For a two-hour hop, this is fine. But a long-haul route would be a bummer.
The touchscreen remote for the entertainment console is one of those things that seems cool but is also wholly unnecessary. I ended up swiping the screen more often than not. As for the headphones, they cancel out a decent amount of noise. These do happen to be kind of bulky as well with the sound quality being best described as middling.
Everything else
The ambiance on Thai Airways, with its purple and pink lights and unique color scheme, is always visually pleasing. It’s a minor presentation detail that adds an extra feeling of luxury. Additionally, the flight attendants do an exceptional job making sure your needs are covered without being overbearing. It’s a fine line to walk but they do so well.
The bathrooms are the bathrooms. There are a few different items in there to use should you wish.
Disembarkation
The flight landed on schedule at Suvarnabhumi Airport. This is where things start going pear-shaped. As we were taxiing, I noticed the plane was pulling up to a gate on the domestic terminal side of the facility. I thought this was odd. As it turns out, we were to be bused back over to the international side of the airport.
Usually, when something like this happens, business class passengers will be taken to the entrance separately from everyone else, so they aren’t waiting around for an entire bus to fill. That was not the case on this evening.
Business class passengers got onto a bus and then had to wait for it to fill up. It took like 15 minutes as people made their way off the aircraft. Eventually, we were taken back to the international part of the airport, and everyone made a mad dash to immigration.
There are dedicated immigration lines for premium passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Finding these is not easy because signage is lacking. What’s more, nothing was communicated about the entire process.
This was a major buzzkill. The main reason for me to upgrade to business class was to avoid this type of situation from playing out. Instead, I ended up waiting in line at immigration for 20+ minutes. What are we doing here?
Final Thoughts
From wheels up to wheels down, Thai Airways business class from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok is good. Look, the experience has its flaws, but the complaints are minor. I am also not going to hold what’s happening at KLIA against the airline as that is not under its control.
Disembarkation at Thai Airways’ home airport in Bangkok should be a breeze for business class passengers. It was not on this evening and that is disappointing. The experience should provide in-air comfort and on-the-ground convenience. The airline only managed to do one of those things well during my flight.
Would I give Thai Airways business class another chance? The circumstances would need to be right. There are some things it does well. However, when you are spending this much money or using this many miles, everything should be done well.
Keep Reading: What’s it like applying for a Thai visa in Kuala Lumpur?
