I would say that this flight felt very much like their pre-pandemic experience. Starting with check in, me and my dad both have Premier Plus status so we checked in at the business class counter very swiftly and with little fuss, we showed them our vaccination records which were no issue. All our checked bags were tagged with the priority tag. There was a considerable queue for check in - there were plenty of flights in the morning. Since Bangkok Airways provides lounge access for all their passengers, we headed there first, but being premier plus members we were able to access the business class section. We had a corner to ourselves with a very comfortable couch. The rest of the lounge can be described as a bit dark, but with a cosy atmosphere with pastries, Thai snacks, crudités and a few hot meal options made-to-order. Everything you can expect from a business class lounge. Boarding was handled quite well, and they used new boarding pass-scanning machines. This flight was near capacity, 142 seats out of 144 available on the A319. We were a family of four so we had seats 1CDE and F. There was somebody seated in 1A and the only empty seats were 1B and a middle seat in the last row. On the return the load was much lighter and I had the whole row 2 to myself, with the rest of the family in 1DEF. The first flight was operated by a slightly older plane, had a slightly tired interior but the seats were well padded, and the interior was clean. The second flight was operated by an ex-Royal Jordanian aircraft. The only indication that it used to be operated by RJ was that the door handles were in Arabic, otherwise it has been fully refurbished. The legroom was average, not unacceptable but not spectacular. This plane was relatively new and was spotless when we boarded. The service was the highlight of the flight. A hot meal was offered with a bowl of fruit. On the outbound the meal was a baked fish in white sauce with baked potatoes which was pretty good, on the return it was a very tasty chicken lasagna. The quantity of the meals is a bit small - understandable since they expect that passengers would eat in the lounge. There was a drinks cart that consisted of red and white wine, beer, soft drinks and coffee/tea. The wines were of particularly great quality. Service was quick and all the flight attendants were very polite and professional. Our bags being tagged priority meant that once we were through immigration, all our bags were waiting for us and we headed straight out. On the return leg check in was painless and the third party lounge in Da Nang airport was spectacular - different creative seating options, lots of delicious hot and cold food options, and a nice, airy feel. Overall, it’s easy to see why they have won the awards year after year. This flight in particular shows that they are willing to give passengers a great experience as if it was 2019 again. Finally, because we booked this trip a month early, we paid a similar price for the flight as a low cost competitor (flight only, no extras), so this was excellent value for money.
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