Thai Airlines, RAM etc

Are there any disadvantages to flying "exotic" airlines to mundane places,
eg., Thai Airways to Vancouver, Royal Air Maroc to Greece, etc?
Thoughts...?

www.freewebs.com/travel-deals

"emailalias" wrote in message
...
Are there any disadvantages to flying "exotic" airlines to mundane places,
eg., Thai Airways to Vancouver, Royal Air Maroc to Greece, etc?
Thoughts...?

www.freewebs.com/travel-deals



Now you don't want us to think you're a spammer, do you?

Leave the link off next time.

Now you don't want us to think you're a spammer, do you? Leave the
link off next time.

Good point.

In any case, this summer I flew Chicago-Amsterdam round-trip on Kuwait
Airways.

Advantages:
* nice clean A340 aircraft; a competent operation;
* responsive, attentive staff at airport check-in and onboard;
* it cost almost half any other airline for summer travel ($540).

Disadvantages:
* this is actually the "screaming baby" el-cheapo option from Chicago to
Bombay (it saves a couple hundred over the more direct Air India single-stop
London connection)--if you are far enough from the bassinet-laden exit row
your chances of non-screaming seating are only slightly improved
* they are sticklers about the weight of hand luggage in Chicago (7.5 kg.
max.);
* passengers MUST call in advance to reconfirm flights in each direction
and have fun finding the phone numbers;
* only a handful of people actually transit Chicago-Amsterdam--this is no
big deal except on the return, where those who have connected from Bombay to
Kuwait to Amsterdam have not changed clothing in quite a while--it can be a
very 'funky' cohort from the olfactory perspective (from Amsterdam to
Chicago 240 passengers were through-connecters, and 19 passengers joined in
Amsterdam);
* since 93% of passengers are connecting from Bombay & Kuwait, seat
assignments in Amsterdam are a matter of fortune--the airline does not allow
advance seat assignments; in Chicago if you get to the airport 4 hours
early you have a good chance of getting good seats, whereas in Amsterdam it
is simply pot luck with the 7% of seats still available;
* the flight was at least an hour late both directions; no announcements
were made in Chicago nor Amsterdam at the gate about delays; in Amsterdam
the airline uses KLM staff at the gate, who provide no delay information nor
"customer care" whatsoever--their only communications were to berate the
horde of passengers (the entire Bombay&Kuwait transiters have to leave the
aircraft, then pass x-ray, then mingle with the very few Amsterdam add-ons)
for congregating toward the gate too early; a cattle-call experience;
check that--a "funky" cattle-call experience.
* Did I mention that Kuwait is a 'dry; airline and does not serve alcohol?
One other oddity is that they serve the tasteless, dry roll with a thin
strip of meat or alternative as the FIRST meal when you first board on the
westbound flight; they later serve the hot dinner at the end of the flight
(thank krikey I had a bottle of Tabasco with me), about an hour before you
arrive in Chicago. Did I also mention that Kuwait is a 'dry' airline and
does not serve alcohol?