Find cheap Thai Lion Air flights

Thai Lion Air (SL) is a low-cost carrier based at Don Mueang Airport (DMK) in Bangkok, Thailand. A subsidiary of Indonesia’s Lion Air (JT), this carrier operates both domestic and short-haul international flights from its hub.

If I’m honest, Thai Lion Air was only rarely my airline of choice when I lived in Bangkok, but there are situations where it’s the best option. I’ll share these and other insights below.

Cabin class, seats & legroom

Unlike other low-cost airlines in Southeast Asia, which have experimented with various premium seating options, Thai Lion Air is an all-economy airline. Well, with two exceptions.

Lion Comfort Seat

Thai Lion Air sells the first two rows of its aircraft as the Lion Comfort Seat. These include significant extra legroom and, due to their proximity to the front of the aircraft, ensure that you’re able to get off the plane quickly.

This is especially important on arriving international flights at DMK, given how notoriously long immigration lines here are. Getting off the plane a few minutes early could save you half an hour (or more!) at passport control.

If you're traveling with a carry-on bag that you’ll want to access right after take-off, Row 2 is a great option since it includes under-seat storage. Row 1, on the other hand, offers more legroom as it's the bulkhead, but lacks under-seat storage.

Lion Seat

If the Lion Comfort Seat is fully booked when you’re buying your ticket, snag an extra legroom Lion Seat in the four rows just behind it. If you can, choose a seat in Row 3 so that you’re still able to get off the plane very quickly.

Functionally speaking, I consider Row 3 seats to be the same as Lion Comfort Seats, even though they have slightly less legroom.

Exit Rows

Although the exit row (or rows on the 737-900) have extra legroom, Thai Lion Air has not monetized these. Instead, they reserve the assignment of these seats for the day of travel.

If you don’t purchase a Lion Comfort Seat or Lion Seat, ask airline staff at the airport if you can sit in the exit row. Note that unlike US airlines, Thai Lion Air is very strict about prohibiting under seat stowage of luggage if you’re seated in the exit row.

If you do go this route, it might be a good idea to plan on getting to the airport earlier than planned. You can always relax in the lounge (more on how to do that in a moment) once you’ve secured your roomy exit row seat.

Pre-flight experience

Here’s what you need to know about the airport experience when flying with Thai Lion Air.

Baggage policy and fees

Your baggage allowance on Thai Lion Air depends upon the type of fare you purchase. Cheaper “Lion Promo” fares generally exclude all checked luggage; passengers who purchase “Lion Economy” tickets will get at least one bag.

Like most low-cost airlines, Thai Lion Air has an aggressive public posture with regard to carry-on bags. Officially, your bag is supposed to fit within a bag sizer and be below 7 kg or 15 lbs in weight.

In practice, however, I’ve carried on both a medium-sized backpack and a small personal item and been fine, though your mileage may vary.

Thankfully, fees for last-minute bag checking on Thai Lion Air are pretty reasonable. So if you’re unsuccessful in your carry-on attempt, it’s unlikely to ruin your trip, as it might on scammier low-cost airlines in Europe and North America.

Check-in

Thai Lion Air has increasingly promoted the use of online check-in. However, I’ve found that its website can be buggy, particularly on international flights to destinations that require visas, like China.

Even when you are able to check in online, there are situations where the boarding pass fails to display, defeating the purpose of the check-in feature. Worse, I’ve personally found that trying to check in multiple times is unhelpful in resolving this.

If you are unable to complete online check-in, budget at least an extra hour at Don Mueang Airport to wait in line for airport check-in, which even for self-service kiosks can be very long. Because many passengers will be in the same situation, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to use sympathy to get your way to the front of the line, even if you’re running late.

Lounges

As an all-economy airline, Thai Lion Air does not operate any of its own lounges. However, you may be able to enjoy lounge access before your flight, under the right circumstances.

Specifically, if you hold a Priority Pass credential, you can avail either the Miracle Lounge or Coral Executive Lounge at Don Mueang Airport. Locations of each lounge are available in both the domestic and international terminals.

If you don’t have Priority Pass, you can buy access to these lounges for a reasonable fee. Given that all these lounges have free alcohol and buffet-style Thai food, I consider it worth the expense.

Lounges are also available at certain outstations, such as at Phuket (HKT) and Hat Yai (HDY) airports within Thailand. When in doubt, I find that the Priority Pass website is an accurate source of information about available lounges, even if you won’t be using a card to access them.

Onboard experience

Here’s what you can expect onboard a Thai Lion Air flight.

Wi-Fi and entertainment

Thai Lion Air does not offer any Wi-Fi service or entertainment of any kind on any of its aircraft. That’s the bad news.

The good news? Most Thai Lion Air flights are short, with domestic flights in Thailand almost all clocking in at under two hours. Even the airline’s longer international flights are 4-5 hours in length, which means the lack of entertainment isn’t dire.

If I’m going to be flying Thai Lion Air, I’ll usually cache any streaming movies or shows I want to watch on my device. Or, if I plan to work, I’ll load documents within my browser so that I can write and edit without needing an internet connection.

Amenities

Thai Lion Air does not offer any amenities. Notably, unlike many of its low-cost competitors, it does not sell blankets or pillows onboard. If you’re flying on a longer flight and think you might need something, I recommend visiting a Bangkok shopping mall like CentralWorld or MBK Center to purchase these before heading to the airport.

Loyalty programs, miles & credit cards

Thai Lion Air does not operate its own loyalty program. If you are a member of the Passport Club operated by the parent Lion Air company in Lion Air, you can credit flights on Thai Lion Air to your account.

Thai Lion Air does not also offer any credit cards. However, you can make sure you earn rewards for travel on Thai Lion Air by booking flights with a credit card that has a mileage multiplier for travel, such as the American Express Platinum Card or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

Thai Lion Air Fleet

Prior to the pandemic, Thai Lion Air operated a diverse fleet, which included widebody Airbus A330neo aircraft, and a Premium Economy class offering that was similar to what Thai AirAsia brands as business class.

These days, however, the airline only operates two aircraft types: The Boeing 737-800 and 737-900. As detailed earlier in this article, neither of these aircraft feature any premium seating classes.

I mention this because even on the Thai Lion Air official website, pre-pandemic pages with information about its former fleet are still published. In other words, I aim to set the record straight about what you should and shouldn’t expect when flying Thai Lion Air.

Thai Lion Air vs Thai AirAsia (and others)

I mentioned during the intro to this piece that I rarely flew Thai Lion Air when I lived in Thailand. Indeed, on return trips to Thailand, I only occasionally choose to fly Thai Lion Air.

Domestically, I tend to fly Thai AirAsia if my travel plans call for a low-cost carrier; I’m willing to pay extra to fly Thai Airways on international flights outside the Kingdom.

However, there are certain situations when it makes sense to fly Thai Lion Air. Firstly, when buying a very last-minute ticket for domestic travel. Thai Lion Air flights are almost never full, even during busy periods like the Loy Krathong and Songkran Festivals. Prices also tend to be stable, even for same-day travel.

Internationally, Thai Lion Air offers nonstop flights to an extremely impressive array of secondary Chinese cities, including Jinan, Ningbo and Zhengzhou. While some of these places enjoy service on AirAsia or Thai Airways, their short flight lengths means that I’m willing to fly low-cost to save money (and Thai Lion Air is almost always cheaper than all other Thai airlines).