Cheapest Route | $86 |
---|---|
Most Popular Route | USM to BKK |
Shortest Flight | 0h 45m |
Longest Flight | 24h 05m |
Bangkok Airways (PG) is a boutique regional airline connecting to over a dozen destinations in Thailand, China, Maldives, Cambodia and more via its primary hub at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport and secondary hubs at Koh Samui and Phuket island airports.
The airline delivers consistently great service on and off the runway, winning The World’s Best Regional Airline award by the global Skytrax rating agency for 8 years in a row in recent years.
For US travelers exploring Thailand and Southeast Asia, Bangkok Airways provides convenient connections to many regional tourism hotspots such as the Thai beach destinations Krabi and Pattaya, the Cambodian ruins of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap and the ancient city of Luang Prabang in Laos.
Unlike many low-cost competitors serving these routes, Bangkok Air includes a checked baggage allowance in its fares. While PG’s initial price may be at a premium to low-coster options, this premium includes checked bags, inflight meals on very short flights, lounge access for economy passengers and better service overall.
On some Thai domestic routes, Bangkok Airways is the only non-stop option. The airline owns and operates 3 airports in Thailand where it is the exclusive carrier: Samui Airport at Koh Samui, Trat Airport at Koh Chang and Sukhothai Airport in Sukhothai province.
Finally, if you’re looking to earn miles with regional flights in Southeast Asia, you’re better off going with Thai Airways, a member of Star Alliance. Bangkok Airways does not presently belong to any airline networks. However, it is possible to earn Avios miles for Qatar or British Airways with PG flights - more on this below.
PG fleet consists mostly of Airbus 319 and turboprop ATR 72-600 airplanes, with a few Airbus 320s on routes like Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Most of the cabins are economy only, but several routes also offer a business class service.
Bangkok Airways offers Business Class (PG calls it Blue Ribbon Club) exclusively on its Airbus A319 models. Although this is subject to change, these aircraft operate on 5 routes: non-stop from Bangkok to Koh Samui, Maldives and Phnom Penh and from Koh Samui to Hong Kong and Singapore. In this cabin, there are 4 rows of 2 x 2 seats each.
Bangkok Airways’ planes tend to be a bit outdated and this is true for their business cabin as well. The seats are not lie-flat. Instead, they are comparable to seats in the US domestic business cabin. Considering that these seats do not recline fully, the 47” pitch provides a good amount of space. The width is also decent at 22”.
Blue Ribbon Club fares typically cost 2 - 3 times more than Economy and include priority check-in, business lounge access and luggage allowance that’s 2x the economy size. Most of the flights with a business cabin last about an hour and, in my experience, are not worth the additional expense unless you’re looking to splurge.
I do recommend considering the Blue Ribbon Club fares on PG’s longer routes like Hong Kong or Maldives, which last ~ 3 and 4.5 hours, respectively.
PG’s Economy cabin seats are comparable to other regional airlines. Depending on the aircraft models, seat width varies from 18” to 20” and the pitch is 31”. If you’re flying on the ATR 72-600 models, try to get seats in the back of the plane as these models board and deplane from the back. I would skip the very last row on the ATR as it has no recline.
In Economy, PG typically offers 3 fares: Promo, Saver and Freedom. They go from having the most restrictive fare change and refund policies to the least. Do you prefer to sit in the first few rows? Take note that the only fare that allows selecting a free seat at the front of the cabin is the highest-cost Freedom fare.
Here’s what you need to know about the PG pre-flight experience.
PG passengers are allowed 1 carry-on bag of up to 15 pounds and 1 personal item. While many of their planes will allow larger carry-ons that easily fit into overhead space on international flights, be aware that on smaller ATR planes, your larger carry-on may be checked at the gate.
Bangkok Airways’ checked baggage allowance is smaller than most other airlines. PG allows 1 checked bag of 88 pounds for Blue Ribbon Club passengers and 44 pounds for Economy passengers. If you are carrying more, there is an option to pay for extra luggage at the time of booking your ticket.
In my experience, the airline is not strict with carry-on weight requirements. However, that changes for checked bags, so be sure to plan ahead and weigh your bags if you’re checking luggage.
Blue Ribbon Club passengers enjoy priority check-in and boarding on PG flights. Economy check-in tends to be quite smooth, particularly on flights to Samui or Trat which are only served by this airline.
If you’re flying on routes that have the business class cabin, Bangkok Airways sometimes sends an option to upgrade to the higher class of service on the date of departure. This is always subject to availability, but I have seen some good deals on these flights in the past, so it may be worth keeping an eye on your inbox on the day you fly.
Be aware that boarding is sometimes done via bus and tarmac, particularly on routes served by the smaller ATR planes. There can also be some confusion if passengers who fly this aircraft for the first time are not expecting to board from the back.
Here’s what you can expect on-board PG flights.
Bangkok Airways used to have inflight entertainment in the past, but this service is not available at present. There is no wi-fi either. Plan ahead by downloading your own entertainment options or bringing a book. I haven’t found the lack of entertainment to be particularly troublesome because most of the flights are so short.
Bangkok Airways stands out from its peers in terms of meals. Even the shortest 50-minute flights have meal service, both in Blue Ribbon Club and Economy cabins. You can pre-select meal options at the time of booking your ticket, including seafood and Asian vegetarian options. I usually skip the pre-selection and go for the standard option because the meals are consistently good.
There are no power outlets in the seats so be sure to bring your own portable chargers for your devices.
Perhaps one of my favorite features of flying with Bangkok Airways is that everyone, regardless of the class of service, gets access to a lounge. In a world where lounge access is highly status-driven, this is a refreshing change.
The airline operates a number of domestic and international departure lounges at several Thai airports, including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Koh Samui. There’s also a small and pretty basic lounge at the Male-Velana International Airport in Maldives. The Blue Ribbon lounges are reserved for business class ticket holders, while the Boutique lounges are open to economy passengers.
While the Blue Ribbon lounges typically provide better seating and food options (with dishes cooked to order), I still appreciate the dedicated space, hot drinks and snacks like the banana-leaf-wrapped sticky rice at the airline’s Boutique lounges. The Blue Ribbon lounge at Samui Airport is among my favorites because of how cheerful its tropical decor with white rattan furniture is.
Take note that for a fee that is slightly lower than a typical lounge-access ticket, you can also book some of the Blue Ribbon lounges while holding an Economy fare ticket.
Although Bangkok Airways doesn’t belong to any airline alliance, there are still several ways to make your flights with PG count. The airline has a loyalty program called FlyerBonus where you can earn points by flying with PG and several airline partners like Emirates, Qatar or Cathay Pacific. You can also earn points by staying at select hotels like the Anantara or renting a car from agencies like Avis.
Unless you’re based in Southeast Asia and plan to fly PG frequently, signing up for FlyerBonus probably doesn’t make sense. A better way to go is through the independent loyalty program called Avios, which partners with several major global airlines like British Airways or Qatar Air and other partners like Uber. You can use your Avios membership to both earn and redeem points on flights marketed and operated by PG.
Particularly on the redemption side, Avios often has great deals to redeem PG-operated flights through airlines like Qatar, although seat availability can be hard to find. In the US, card issuers like American Express include Avios transfer programs in a number of their credit card products. Points transfer at a preferential 1:1 ratio.
Finally, Bangkok Airways also participates in oneworld’s Global Explorer program, which allows travelers to book a round-the-world trip on a single booking while earning oneworld points.
This Cheapflights-commissioned article is presented as-is, for general informational purposes only, and may not be up-to-date. The opinions contained in the article are original to the author and reflect their authentic experience, which may vary significantly from the experience of others. Find more perspectives in our user reviews below.
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