This is a very impromptu booking and I did not have the idea at all until one fine morning in Bangkok. I was looking for ways to get back to Singapore. I flew to Bangkok without a return ticket lined up! It is as yolo as it is! Economy and budget tickets were way overpriced and I did not feel generous enough to splurge 24,000 KF Miles on a ticket, furthermore, saver tickets were not available. I could redeem them for Thai Airways on a Star Alliance award but was still feeling the pinch. It suddenly came across my mind that I had some Falcon Flyer miles earned from the Gulf Air error fare last year. I had about 15,000 of them and have more or less written them off. I could not find availability online and it turns out that you cannot redeem awards without your outbound or destination being Bahrain. A simple call sorts that out and I managed to issue a Falcon Gold ticket from BKK to SIN for 9,000 miles and 154 SGD in taxes and fees. I am delighted with this rate since I value those miles as 0. This would have cost around 900 SGD when paid in cash. I enjoy my medium-haul flight on Gulf Air previously and am looking forward to this. They have a solid hard product. I have already done an extensive review of the product and Gulf Air when I flew with them to and from Bahrain. This time around I shall just do a recap and share my thoughts on the soft product for a short-haul flight.

Checking In

Gulf Air counters open 3.5 to 4 hours ahead at Bangkok Airport, this depends on the flight. Get there early as this is one of the most time-consuming airports to depart from. Furthermore, Gulf Air’s ground staff ain’t known exactly for its efficiency. I experience it first-hand last year. Do cater more time getting to the airport given Bangkok’s horrendous traffic. Since I was travelling solo, I took the affordable train. It cost me a total of 59 THB and around 1hr 10 mins to get to the airport. Gulf Air check-in counters are located in Row P and the nearest entrance doors shall be 7 & 8. Upon arrival, I went to the counters and was told that the check-in will only open at 12.35 pm. It took a while before I was helped to and it is so lovely to have the gorgeous Gulf Air boarding pass in my hands. They have one of the nicest ones out there. Business class passengers have access to fast-track security and immigration. This is such a lifesaver given how long the queue is for immigration. It went through half the terminal. I was thru with Fast Track in 15 minutes. Gulf Air uses the Miracle Lounge for its premium customers. You can get better offerings with a Priority Pass.

Boarding Process

Boarding is scheduled for 3.30pm. Be sure to constantly check for updates as this flight is prone to delays. As expected the flight is never on time. Thankfully, it isn’t a lengthy one. Boarding started only at 4pm and there was a huge wait for checks by the ground staff. Boarding started with Falcon Gold Class as well as status holders. It is very chaotic and there are no clear lines on where to queue. I raced down the bridge to get some nice pictures of the cabin. Every premium flight is so exciting no matter how many times I have flown them before. I was welcomed by Karina and the IFM who then proceed to usher me to my seat. Welcome drinks were soon offered with a choice of Champagne, Orange Juice, Lime Juice or water.

The crew soon came by with the option of hot or cold towels, Arabic coffee and dates. I always enjoy having this when flying on Gulf Airlines.

Throughout the boarding process, Karina checks on me constantly and offer drinks refilled. Do try the lime juice if you have the chance to fly Gulf Air. This set is top-notch. Boarding took about 30 mins and business class ended up being about 80% full. After a fairly long taxi, we were finally airborne.

Gulf Air Falcon Gold Business Class

Gulf Air has one of the best hard products in the air! I love the APEX Suite for business class. I have a preference for this rather than those regional business class seats on SQ. The APEX Suite allows the airline to fit in more seats and despite the 2-2-2 configuration, every passengers and seats still get direct aisle access. For a full review, please refer to my previous posts. I will just share some pictures of the seats this time around. I was in 1K which is slightly affected by the aircraft curvature. It is slightly more narrow when compared to the other rows.

My thoughts on the product will be an improvement to their IFE system and complimentary wifi for premium passengers. That will be close to perfect.

The views were excellent and I kept myself entertained with the window.

The washroom is basic and nothing special.

Meal Service

Service started right after levelling off. Things were pretty fast given the short flight duration. For this route, they don’t offer a full meal but rather just do drinks and snacks. This makes you appreciative of premium airlines like SQ and their crew who can do a full meal service with multiple drinks offer. There is no official menu provided but all sorts of drinks are available. I got a couple of glasses of champagne and Gulf Air serves the Duval-Leroy Brut Reserve NV, a respectable choice in business class. I also got some Lemon Lime Juice, one of my favourite drinks onboard Gulf Air.

Soon the crew came by with a cart with all sorts of small bites and sandwiches. I got some prawn cakes, rolls and samosa. The snacks were delicious and I enjoyed the prawn cakes.

Conclusion

It is overkill to fly business class from Bangkok to Singapore. Although, the access to priority security and immigration did come in handy as the crowd is epic on the day of my departure. For a route this short, any airline would be great and even the budget is acceptable. It is certainly a good way to use up my miles earned from the error fare last year. The miles will probably have gone to waste if I didn’t use it too. Furthermore, even budget tickets were high. Gulf Air Business Class is one of my favourites and I enjoyed it on their long-haul route. The only issue with them is their reliability. You can see from the history of this route. I did luck out with a great set of crew and not a huge delay. I was well taken care of by Karina. Do not expect much on the meal service for this short hop. They can also improve by having complimentary Wi-Fi for business class passengers. Hard products like these make me wonder why Singapore Airlines installed the ridiculous regional business class seats on their 787 and 350.