Nok Air

Bangkok to Chiang Mai return. 747-800 both legs. Comfortable enough seats and flight was spot on time. First time I have flown on Nok and I thought it was very good value for money. The only minor points to mention were the bus to and from the plane at when departing from and arriving at Don Muaeng yet so many airbridges were available. So this is a mystery to me. Also the cabin staff making announcements (and pilots too!) need to remember to speak their English announcements slower much of their announcements were incomprehensible because they try to speak too fast and mis-pronounce many words yet some "lower ranking staff" onboard spoke excellent English surely it is best to have the most competent English speaker make the announcements.

HKT-DMK 29 Dec B737-800. I used to be a big fan of Nok but in the past year have been disappointed. Check-in at HKT was the usual disorganized mess without appropriate lines. Agents were not polite which is unusual for Thailand. Gate boarding was the usual chaos and crowding without enforcement of the carry on rules. Flight left on time and landed on time perhaps because this was an off peak hour flight. Landing into DMK was not reassuring with unusual landing bounce and hard braking. (weather conditions excellent). The obligatory crowded bus ride to the terminal was not fun. Although I was on a full fare ticket I was grateful I did not have the preferred seats because the screaming children were seated right behind the preferred seat section. Not very thoughtful of the airline to place small kids in that zone. People pay for preferred seats to avoid the noise. I don't know why Nok provides a "snack" consisting of a hotdog roll and plastic cup of water. Most people seem to toss it and it is wasteful. Announcements from the flight deck were inaudible and in fractured English so it was a wasted effort. Seat comfort was fine and leg room was as good as any mainliner. My experience with Nok is that the travel experience is superior to Air Asia it's main competitor on the route and much better than Thai Smile. Nok offers a much better fare most days. Baggage delivery at DMK took approx. 30 minutes which never used to happen as the bags would often be unloading within 10-15 minutes. For a short commuter flight Nok is fine. However the quality of service seems to have fallen off over the past year and management needs to get out and provide some coaching/encouragement to its personnel.

UBP-DMK on B737. If you like Ryan Air you'll love Nok Air. they've simply taken old Ryan Air planes put on a little smile and you have a new low cost carrier. 16 of their 18 planes are old Ryanair planes with absolutely no leg room all beat up and tired and this was one of them. The equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig and it just doesn't work. This airline is thoroughly second or third class.

DMK-UBP in economy. I travel frequently between Bangkok and Ubon and have used all three carriers on the route. Have found Nok to have the most frequent service however ran into a serious problem with their mobile website functionality which wouldn't allow me to pre-purchase additional luggage before the flight during online check-in. This limitation then 'forced' me to purchase the additional baggage at airport which was priced ten times higher than the online rate (I paid 1200 baht vs 150 baht online). Absolutely no sympathy from surly unfriendly Nok staff the 'all smiles' airline. They told me I should've known and bought the baggage at ticket purchase. This is preposterous as I bought the ticket two months prior and had no idea how much luggage I would have. I don't mind paying a premium but absolutely resent the idea of being extorted into paying a premium due to their own website lack of functionality. Given the frequency of my travel on Nok I would've expected them to be more reasonable and understanding but there is a complete lack of commercial sensibility with the employees basically suggesting that I'm a fool. I am a fool for choosing Nok and would recommend Air Asia or Thai Air on the route unless you like to be taken advantage of humiliated and extorted by draconian policies extortion pricing and rude employees. Their employees all explained this away as Nok being a 'low cost carrier' which is a spurious explanation as the high cost of baggage makes them a 'high price / low service' carrier and other 'low cost carriers' such as AirAsia and Jetstar allow you to buy additional baggage online during check in Nok Air does not.

As per my previous reviews booked 2 flights Bangkok to Buriram in October. First flight cancelled with minimal notice - was emailed 8 hours in advance but did not see and arrived Don Meaung with option to go via Ubon or get money back at later date and make own way there. Chose Ubon option with a handful of other passengers but Nok did the bear minimum of point to point transfer so people were being dropped off in Buriram airport with no public transport and 35km from town 3.5 hours later than due. We ended up taking another passenger to town in our car as a courtesy to him not the airline as he would have been stranded. Return flight learned lesson and checked email evening before. Flight brought forward 2 hours with no explanation. No contact on issues other than email so if not had checked would have missed flight. Catching a flight on Thai Air Asia (on time) from Don Meaung to Chiang Mai later that evening all 7 Nok Air flights departing i noticed had various delays from 20 minutes to 65 minutes. Next time I'll choose Nokchanair bus instead for the journey it may look a lot longer timewise but often in reality now isn't.

Flew Chiang Mai-Bangkok (Don Muang). A pleasant experience which is usually the case with NokAir. Smooth check-in smooth walk to aircraft smooth flight smooth staff. Catnapped for the hour-long flight. People have been writing adverse comments re transfers to Suvarnabhumi and vice versa. I have done this innumerable times and found it comfortable and hassle-free and have never been stuck in traffic in Bangkok.

Bangkok Don Muang to Udon Thani return 30 Oct 2 Nov. iPhone app didn't work so had to use phone booking which was OK. Check in easy but 30 minute delay outward and 20 minute delay return - various excuses given. Nice clean planes and pleasant service. All in all a very good service but would use Suvarnabhumi next time.

DD7217 31 May B737-800 (Winglets and leased from Air Berlin) Surat Thani (URT) - Bangkok (DMK). Check-in a breeze staff however have to get on with the world and make an attempt to learn the English language. Boarding was by the Step Ladder organised people seated from the forward to mid zone were showed to the forward door and people seated mid zone to the back were shown to the rear door. Immediately on takeoff there was a medical emergency and the crew acted in a prompt and efficient manner announced for a doctor on board and had things under control. after the emergency was settled the crew even made notes as sequence of events so s not to forget while reporting I guess. Snack served to all pax was a large Sweet Cookie and water. Cannot ask for anything more for the price they charge.

Perfectly acceptable service great prices snacks in-flight included with option to buy other items. Easy online booking system. No inflight entertainment but unnecessary for a short flight. Nok outclasses Air Asia for example. DMK to Chiang Rai. Don Muaung is a great airport to access and negotiate.

DD7507 23 Feb HKT-DMK B737-800 (Leased from Ryanair). HKT airport only 2 check-in counters for this flight (1 not operational) girl sitting on the inoperative counter busy applying make-up. Poor girl on the working counter struggling hard to complete check-in for all the 150 odd pax. Again inflight crew great but again Inflight safety demonstration only in THAI. Legroom is very poor the guy in front reclined what he could his seat was straight in my knees. Great for a short hop of 1 hour or so but never for a longer flight.