I should have said in my previous message that we flew with Gulf Airlines this year - we usually go direct with Eva Air but booked this year's flights very late in the day as we were not sure that we were going. Gulf Air was the cheapest when we booked in March for August from London Heathrow. Had never done a one stop flight before as Eva go direct. And afraid I wouldn't ever again either. Gulf Air were ok - stopped in Bahrain and that's another story which really opened my eyes - knew we had a 5 hour "rest" but our onward flight to BKK was delayed by 6 hours - 11 hours in Bahrain Airport you can do without. So next year has to be direct so long as the price is right.