Suvarnabhumi: International arrival to domestic check in, within 75 minutes?

[albhol]

We are landing in april with Emirates (A380) at 07:35 am in Bangkok and would like to fly on to Khon Kaen immediately. The connecting flight would be at 09:35 am, we would have to pass the immigration (we can use the immigration for the Thainationals), pick up the luggage, move to the domestic airport and do the check in, all within 75 minutes - is it possible?

[Kadilo]

I would say yes if you are using the Thai national immigration line. I regularly travel on to Udon after arriving from International and usually make it through in a similar time frame. On occasion I've missed my connection due to a massive immigration queue but the exception rather than the rule. The move to domestic from immigration is just up 2 flights of escalators and check in/ security is usually quick.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[cornishcarlos]

If you check in online for your domestic flight, in advance, I reckon you should be ok. If you were going through the non Thai immigration line, I wouldn't risk it.

Problem is, even a 10-15 min delay arriving with Emirates, will put you on the back foot :)

[ukrules]

You mention moving to the domestic airport, does this mean you need to go to Don Mueang airport ?

 

Or maybe you just need to check at Suvarnabhumi airport on a different airline.

 

This information will provide the answer to your question.

[steve187]

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

You mention moving to the domestic airport, does this mean you need to go to Don Mueang airport ?

 

Or maybe you just need to check at Suvarnabhumi airport on a different airline.

 

This information will provide the answer to your question.

no mention of domestic airport only domestic check in, so from that he must be staying at Suvarnabhumi, no way would 2 hours allow time to travel to Don Mueang

[DGS1244]

When you transfer you go through immigration but your luggage continues to your final destination and goes through customs there when you arrive. Quicker as you do not have to wait for it from the international flight.

[cornishcarlos]

3 minutes ago, DGS1244 said:

When you transfer you go through immigration but your luggage continues to your final destination and goes through customs there when you arrive. Quicker as you do not have to wait for it from the international flight.

 

That is only if you are flying domestic with the same airline as you arrived on. As Emirates don't do domestic flights within Thailand, it doesn't really apply in the OPs case..

[Peterw42]

7 minutes ago, DGS1244 said:

When you transfer you go through immigration but your luggage continues to your final destination and goes through customs there when you arrive. Quicker as you do not have to wait for it from the international flight.

That would only apply if you checked your luggage through at the original check-in, and would only be an option if one ticket (code share) covers the whole trip. 

[Juan B Tong]

Get a better travel agent next time.

[Suradit69]

5 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

Problem is, even a 10-15 min delay arriving with Emirates, will put you on the back foot :)

Yes, the O/P is working on the assumption that passengers and luggage will be off the off the plane at 07:35.  Maybe a bit optimistic.

[PoorSucker]

Thai smile 09.35 from Swampy? 

Emirates has code share with Thai Airways. 

Don't know where you are departing from but you can book Emirates flights to Khon Kaen. 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

4 hours ago, steve187 said:

no mention of domestic airport only domestic check in, so from that he must be staying at Suvarnabhumi, no way would 2 hours allow time to travel to Don Mueang

The OP did mention domestic airport:

pick up the luggage, move to the domestic airport and do the check in

 

I'm assuming though that he meant domestic terminal.

[Nemises]

I tried doing the exact same thing as the OP wants to do, but failed because there was a 1hr delay in the departure time of my flight to BKK. Fortunately I chose Thai Airways for the flight to KK because TA gave me a later flight to KK without extra any cost. Hope this helps. 

[Gillyflower]

Actually there needn't be any problem at all.  I have a 3 plane trip to CM - 2 Air France and 1 B'kok A/ways.  At the first check-in, the luggage goes through to CM.  When I get to B'kok, instead of turning left to go to Immigration, I go straight on to Transit.  The first two times I was the only person at Immigration, the third, only one person.  There are three desks, with a person in front who checks your papers.  Then you go one step further to Immigration.  That's it!!!

 

The first time I actually had an official who took me to where I had to go.  You then look for your gate.  B'kok Airways has a lounge where you can drink, eat and have a comfortable seat.

[KhunBENQ]

9:35h to Khon Kaen is the Thai Smile flight from Suvarnabhumi (as already mentioned above).

In the past it was clear that baggage will not be checked trough.

I doubt that something has changed even KKC is now installed as an international airport.

 

Years ago I would have said "75 minutes, no problem" (assuming the incoming flight is on time).

Now with the excessive mass influx: the immigration check has become a lottery and the most important uncertainty.

Can be 10 minutes, can be 2 hours and more.

I last flew domestic from Suv. on Jan 29th, so I could only watch immigration on departure.

Crowded like mad, first hall closed due to overcrowding.

 

"In April": on one hand it is not high season for international arrivals, good.

On the other hand: I assume you come for a Songkran family visit?

What day do you arrive?

Domestic travel will be very busy starting 10th or 11th.

Later flight (13:00h) might be full when trying to rebook.

Edited February 10, 2018 by KhunBENQ

[Kadilo]

13 minutes ago, Gillyflower said:

Actually there needn't be any problem at all.  I have a 3 plane trip to CM - 2 Air France and 1 B'kok A/ways.  At the first check-in, the luggage goes through to CM.  When I get to B'kok, instead of turning left to go to Immigration, I go straight on to Transit.  The first two times I was the only person at Immigration, the third, only one person.  There are three desks, with a person in front who checks your papers.  Then you go one step further to Immigration.  That's it!!!

 

The first time I actually had an official who took me to where I had to go.  You then look for your gate.  B'kok Airways has a lounge where you can drink, eat and have a comfortable seat.

I always thought you could only do this if you were flying with the same Airline throughout. 

The transit thing confuses me as when I come the only people I see using it are the people with these CIQ stickers which I assume they get from their original destination. 

Also Khon Kaen is not listed on the destination for use for the transit line at the airport. 

Ill be honest the whole process confuses me and I'd be grateful for any clarification on who, how one can fly in international and transfer domestically without going through the main immigration. 

Loke the OP, I am always in the lap of the gods as to how long the immigration queue is as to whether I'm gonna make my next flight on time. 

 

[albhol]

1 hour ago, PoorSucker said:

Thai smile 09.35 from Swampy? 

Emirates has code share with Thai Airways. 

Don't know where you are departing from but you can book Emirates flights to Khon Kaen. 

 

Yes, but I booked the flights separately.

 

I would not have had the pain if the flight had not been re-scheduled from 10:40 to 09:35.
THAI AIRWAYS offered me a free rebooking for the 13:00 flight, I intend to ask to be able to claim this if I miss the flight. The risk remains that the next flight is already fully booked then...

 

 

@ All: Thank you

 

[albhol]

29 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

9:35h to Khon Kaen is the Thai Smile flight from Suvarnabhumi (as already mentioned above).

In the past it was clear that baggage will not be checked trough.

I doubt that something has changed even KKC is now installed as an international airport.

 

Years ago I would have said "75 minutes, no problem" (assuming the incoming flight is on time).

Now with the excessive mass influx: the immigration check has become a lottery and the most important uncertainty.

Can be 10 minutes, can be 2 hours and more.

I last flew domestic from Suv. on Jan 29th, so I could only watch immigration on departure.

Crowded like mad, first hall closed due to overcrowding.

 

"In April": on one hand it is not high season for international arrivals, good.

On the other hand: I assume you come for a Songkran family visit?

What day do you arrive?

Domestic travel will be very busy starting 10th or 11th.

Later flight (13:00h) might be full when trying to rebook.

Arrival on 04. april

 

By the way, I asked ThaiAirways to pick me up at the plane and escort me through the immigration, the confident part of the answer was:

"The connecting time 2 hours is enough to pass immigration, collect your baggage
and check in again at 4th Floor Departure Hall at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport."

Edited February 10, 2018 by albhol

[KhunBENQ]

April 4th is far enough from the buzz around Songkran and a Wednesday.

So be optimistic

 

Edited February 10, 2018 by KhunBENQ

[yardrunner]

5 hours ago, DGS1244 said:

When you transfer you go through immigration but your luggage continues to your final destination and goes through customs there when you arrive. Quicker as you do not have to wait for it from the international flight.

not always, my first flight some years ago using air france and thai airways to khon kaen i had booked the flight all the way through and was told in the UK oh no problem your baggage will go to Khonkaen but when i reached Bangkok went to heck in on my flight to khonkaen and was asked if i had any luggage, and when i said it was booked all the way through they said no and i had to have an armed escort back to the baggage claim area

[Bangkok Barry]

2 hours ago, Kadilo said:

I always thought you could only do this if you were flying with the same Airline throughout. 

The transit thing confuses me as when I come the only people I see using it are the people with these CIQ stickers which I assume they get from their original destination. 

Also Khon Kaen is not listed on the destination for use for the transit line at the airport. 

Ill be honest the whole process confuses me and I'd be grateful for any clarification on who, how one can fly in international and transfer domestically without going through the main immigration. 

Loke the OP, I am always in the lap of the gods as to how long the immigration queue is as to whether I'm gonna make my next flight on time. 

 

 

Here's an idea. Why doesn't the OP call Emirates and ask them?

Edited February 10, 2018 by Bangkok Barry

[DGS1244]

7 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

That would only apply if you checked your luggage through at the original check-in, and would only be an option if one ticket (code share) covers the whole trip. 

Sorry wrong, I have a relative who regularly does exactly what I have said and the two flights are definitely NOT code share. The only criteria is that you have to arrive and leave at the same intermediate airport.

[ukrules]

9 hours ago, steve187 said:

no mention of domestic airport only domestic check in, so from that he must be staying at Suvarnabhumi, no way would 2 hours allow time to travel to Don Mueang

It literally said this in the OP :

 

Quote

pick up the luggage, move to the domestic airport

Edited February 10, 2018 by ukrules

[Peterw42]

32 minutes ago, DGS1244 said:

Sorry wrong, I have a relative who regularly does exactly what I have said and the two flights are definitely NOT code share. The only criteria is that you have to arrive and leave at the same intermediate airport.

When you check in for a flight they put a destination airport tag on your bag, the end of your trip/ticket with that airline (or a code share partner), They have no idea you are holding another ticket for another airline. Why would they magically tag your luggage to a destination they are not taking you to, or transfer your luggage to a flight they know nothing about. They are not getting your bag off the carousel and transferring it to another airline they have nothing to do with.

 

An airline will only take you or your luggage to a destination that you have a ticket to, with that airline. A code share connecting flight is the same airline (using another airline) to get you and your bag to the final destination. 

 

Edited February 10, 2018 by Peterw42

[Lacessit]

Probability of success vanishingly small. Too many variables.

[BernieOnTour]

You might wish to reduce the uncertainty of immigration processing times ...

I assume, you are flying eco and not business (which would allow you to take the Fast Track Immigration / VIP channel ).

 

In former times, I sometimes used BFS to go through the "VIP" channel to reduce waiting times at Immigration.

Link here:  https://www.bangkokflightservices.com/home/bfs-services/premium-airport-services/

[albhol]

 

 

On 10. Februar 2018 at 10:02 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Here's an idea. Why doesn't the OP call Emirates and ask them?

EMail response from Emirates: "The luggage can not be checked through".

 

 

On 10. Februar 2018 at 1:07 PM, Lacessit said:

Probability of success vanishingly small. Too many variables.

Will try, because my flight EK374 hardly arrives late, rather 15 minutes earlier - only today a bit later...

 

 

5 hours ago, BernieOnTour said:

You might wish to reduce the uncertainty of immigration processing times ...

I assume, you are flying eco and not business (which would allow you to take the Fast Track Immigration / VIP channel ).

 

In former times, I sometimes used BFS to go through the "VIP" channel to reduce waiting times at Immigration.

Link here:  https://www.bangkokflightservices.com/home/bfs-services/premium-airport-services/

Good hint

[mtls2005]

While the 'official' I-D MCT at SBIA/BKK is 75 minutes that typically applies to a routing on one single ticket, which affords one a bit more 'protection' re: irrops.

 

Given that it is April, not sure when but if around Songkran then expect flights to be over-booked. Personally, I would book the later flight, just to be safe. If your flight arrives early, and you were to clear arriving immigration, get your bags, clear customs and get up to level 4, you could ask about re-booking to the earlier flight.

 

For Thai Smile...

 

For Domestic flight, Counter check-in will be open 2 hours prior the scheduled flight and will be close 45 minutes prior the scheduled flight. The gate will be close 10 minutes prior the departure time. 

 

I arrived Friday evening on an EK A380 chock-full (FAs said 615 pax), and while I made it to - a long walk from the 380-capable gates in the G concourse and through Immigration in 20 minutes, my bags didn't come out for another 15 minutes after that. 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2018 by mtls2005

[albhol]

Dear Passenger,

With effective of Thai Smile Summer Schedule from 25th March to 27th October 2018

Please be informed that the following flight
TG2042 (Operates by Thai Smile WE042)
Bangkok to Khon Kaen has been re-scheduled as follows, 

-TG2042/04APR Departing Bangkok at 1015 hrs.

originally booked departure 10:40 has been brought forward to 09:35, now back to 10:15

 

 just had to wait :)

[KhunBENQ]

And now hope they don't change their mind again

And the good news is that they have 5 flights daily then.

They once had 6, than 4.

Edited February 21, 2018 by KhunBENQ