Thailand reopened to foreign tourists this month from a handful of nations, shortening the amount of quarantine time to one day. With Thailand now open, I am jetting off to Bangkok on a wild itinerary with one overarching goal: dinner on a Lockheed L-1011.
My Crazy Trip To Bangkok, All To Dine On An L-1011 Jet
I have not been to Asia since before the pandemic and boy have I missed it. Our beautiful world is full of lands of wonderful people and the thought of visiting Japan and Thailand again brings a smile to my face.
I figured it was time to resurrect my final Aeroplan redemption, a crazy booking I made nearly a year ago before the new Aeroplan program went into effect. It included a segments on EgyptAir and ANA forming a circuitous flight patten to Jakarta.
But ANA cancelled my flight to Jakarta: Indonesia remains closed to many foreign tourists and those who come must quarantine.
Although I considered just terminating the trip in Tokyo and flying home, I reached out to Aeroplan to see if I could change my destination from Jakarta to Bangkok (1,421 miles away) due the the flight cancellation…and my request was granted without repricing the trip.
My new masterpiece is not quite as beautiful as my original, but it will give me a tremendous opportunity to review a number of products I have never flown:
- Los Angeles – Washington in United Airlines 737-800 Economy Class
- Washington – Cairo in EgyptAir 787-9 Business Class
- Cairo – London in EgyptAir 787-9 Economy Class
- London – Tokyo in ANA 777-300ER Business Class
- Tokyo – Bangkok in ANA 787-9 Business Class
All for 77,500 Aeroplan miles. How’s that for traveling the long way to Asia?
I am most excited about traveling from London to Tokyo on the ANA 777-300ER, which features ANA’s latest business class suite dubbed “The Room.”
What you don’t see in the itinerary above is my layover times. 12 hours in Washington. Five hours in Cairo. Seven hours in London. 20 hours in Tokyo. I don’t plan on leaving the airport during the journey, which means that I’ll go several days without stepping outside.
The zenith of the trip will be dinner at Na-Oh in Bangkok, an L-1011 turned into a restaurant. I’ve already secured a reservation and really look forward to my first fine dining experience on an airplane…on the ground.
I’ll be posting first impressions about my flights in the days ahead: stay tuned! This is going to be an epic journey.
Sounds like fun – except maybe the first leg. I envy you.
That L-1011 restaurant sounds like a hoot! Hoping the long flight in Economy on EgyptAir isn’t too uncomfortable.
Isn’t foreign economy usually more comfortable?
They don’t know what “Bonvoyed” is over there…..
Epic is an understatement!! Pure torture and I love it. Can’t wait to read these reviews and summaries. You da man, Matthew….
I’m in Thailand now. Driving to Bangkok after an eastern Thailand drive along the Mekong. I flew LAX to SIN in economy as part of my journey over. Since entire rows in economy open I decided to save the business class Kris miles. Won’t do that again!
Still few western tourists here but many more Thai people traveling than when I was here last April/May.
From what I have read you cannot have an overnight layover in Tokyo even within the airport. How are you doing this? Would love to know!
He said he had a 20 hour layover in Tokyo, he didn’t say it was overnight.
Can you point me to the source about overnight layover is not allowed in Tokyo? I couldn’t find it online. I booked LAX to BKK with 17 hours overnight layover at HND in December and I’m worried now.
HND is no problem. Only NRT is a problem.
I believe that’s only for Narita airport which is closed at night. Haneda should be opened, and in fact has an air side hotel.
Correct. Haneda is open overnight, but the transit hotel is currently closed and the lounge closed for about four hours.
A good soapy massage in Bangkok will help your tired body.
Fantastic trip. 5 hours in Cairo may be a challenge. You might go for the VIP transfer as I have been left in a holding area multiple times trying to transfer in CAI. You are basically held until the transfer airline – in your case ANA – comes to get you or their counter opens up. You could also try to just enter Egypt, but would need a visa to do so.
Best of luck on this trip!
What an extraordinary trip. And for 77.5k miles. Looking forward to the report.
This is what I have been waiting for!!! I cannot wait to hear how it goes, and I am particularly interested in the “test and go” one night ASQ hotel and testing experience. Hoping for lots of information from you on what Bangkok is like now, headed there end of December. Thank you!!
I’ve had dinner on a L-1011 also. Not in Thailand, but when flying Eastern Airlines. I probably had a better view but I’m sure my dinner wasn’t as good.
Hi Matthew – Did you book Na-Oh online? I cannot find and acceptable phone number using USA country code, area code, etc. Were you able to get around this? I am town Dec. 4 – 7 and would love to have this experience!
I booked online and the restaurant confirmed via email shortly after.
I had an issue with the phone also. It is a formatting issue. +1 (212) 555-5555. The plus sign is the trick, at least for me
Thank you Mike1977 for cracking the code.
Nice. Which hotels are you planning to stay at?
Is only a few days stay or a longer period?
There are some pretty sweet deals right now in Bangkok
Quarantine at Hyatt Place followed by Grand Hyatt then Hyatt Regency.
I’m usually happy spending time at airports, plane watching, but those are some long times.
LHR – why not go for a quick visit to Windsor, half an hour from the airport. Quick visit to the castle, or pint and late lunch by the river. With midday arrival you won’t get caught in rush hour traffic.
HND – I don’t recall specifically what is near HND. A late pm arrival will preclude any museums etc but there are many fun experience restaurants (Robot Restaurant, Ninja Restaurant etc) or indeed any good restaurant, or just a stroll through one of many bustling parts of town.
Good suggestions but too much hassle to leave either airport. In fact, in HND I am not allowed to leave…even just to get to an airport hotel.
OMG, Matthew! How many days from leaving LA to arrival in Bangkok? Where did you shower, change clothes? I may copy you itinerary on my return flight from DC in June. (I’ve already booked it with Aeroplan miles but was planning to enter Turkey for the day for sightseeing. As of right now, Turkey isn’t on Thailand’s approved list so need to rebook anyway.)
Hey Matt, love your content. How was the transit experience through HND with NH? Any obscure requirements?
Will do a post on this. No obscure requirements. Not even a passenger locator form like UK.
You could fill out the passenger locator form in the UK and dip out into nearby Heathrow…could even catch you for a coffee!
Wish I had known you were around!
No worries, if you’re round Europe over Christmas and free I can try and come catch you!
Love this trip and look forward to reading all about it. Don’t envy the Economy flights. Were you able to upgrade these?
Nope, sadly those flights were stuck in economy class.
Is this long duration all OK on one PCR test?
Caution with Thailand arrival. Low %, but 11 people already since Nov1 in forced 2 week hospital stay for positive test and many more in quar for merely sitting close to a positive test passenger.
Yes, since I did not leave the airport (transit passenger), the test from the USA worked even though it was dated five days early. The test must be done 72 hours before your first leg.
How do folks find multi-legged journeys like this at sub-80K miles? Do you just search the aeroplan site and hope to get lucky?
As I explained, this booking was made over the phone prior to the Aeroplan program change in November 2020. It is no longer possible to book. Aeroplan now uses a zone/distance chart and my trip, at 19,153 miles, would cost 105,000. Still a very good deal as far as I am concerned.