I've just booked an economy flight to Doha leaving Suvarnabhumi at 8.15 a.m.It says check in time should be three hours before departure.Assuming I check in online beforehand what is the realistic time I should be at the airport?

4 minutes ago, jayboy said:

I've just booked an economy flight to Doha leaving Suvarnabhumi at 8.15 a.m.It says check in time should be three hours before departure.Assuming I check in online beforehand what is the realistic time I should be at the airport?

Always good to be there as early as possible, especially if you have bags to check. Then it's immigration and you know there will be a lot of people flying out so expect lines. If you don't have any checked bags you can just go to security and immigration. For international you still might need to go to the checkout counter to verity documents. I'm always at the airport very early, so I can enter the line as soon as it opens. If you're leaving at 8:15 AM I would think 5:30 would be fine. 

Flown same route twice this year.......everything was a breeze, from checkin to gate about 30 mins........but I would still get there three hours before

19 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Flown same route twice this year.......everything was a breeze, from checkin to gate about 30 mins........but I would still get there three hours before

 

 

Security and Immigration is much quicker and more efficient than in the past.................nevertheless, I would also arrive 3 hours prior to an international flight - maybe 2 hours or so for 'local' flights to, say, Vietnam, Singapore etc

1 minute ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Security and Immigration is much quicker and more efficient than in the past.................nevertheless, I would also arrive 3 hours prior to an international flight - maybe 2 hours or so for 'local' flights to, say, Vietnam, Singapore etc

 

Self-checkin and self-luggage loading make a huge difference for sure.

Unless you have a good reason for getting there later, why risk it?

The traffic can be unpredicable, and missing a flight doesn't sound fun.

3 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

 

Self-checkin and self-luggage loading make a huge difference for sure.

 

 

Also changes in security procedures....not taking stuff out of hand luggage and not removing shoes. plus Immigration is much quicker on exit.

On 9/21/2025 at 12:57 PM, Will B Good said:

 

Self-checkin and self-luggage loading make a huge difference for sure.

Don't forget that security is much faster know as everything can stay in the bag and the automatic passport gates speeds also things up a lot.

I noticed a big improvements during my last few exists.

 

8 minutes ago, merijn said:

Don't forget that security is much faster know as everything can stay in the bag and the automatic passport gates speeds also things up a lot.

I noticed a big improvements during my last few exists.

 

 

Yeah I flew 3 weeks ago .... 8am departure Sunday morning.

 

From exiting the taxi to sitting outside the gate... 30 mins.

On 9/21/2025 at 1:33 PM, Will B Good said:

Flown same route twice this year.......everything was a breeze, from checkin to gate about 30 mins........but I would still get there three hours before

Same here checked in and through emigration in 30 min the last 4-5 flights, but still always there 3 hours before

On 9/21/2025 at 7:13 AM, jayboy said:

I've just booked an economy flight to Doha leaving Suvarnabhumi at 8.15 a.m.It says check in time should be three hours before departure.Assuming I check in online beforehand what is the realistic time I should be at the airport?

I always arrive at Suvarnabhumi three hours before my flight, and it’s always a smooth journey to the lounge. I’m sure that if I’m late just once, it will become a slow ride.  It's better to be safe than sweating it out. 

i prefer a night flight if i have choice  , wake up a 5 am for the last day of your trip , really hard  lol

With Qatar or Emirates, nothing less then 3 hours before...make it 3,5 hours even if you can. 

Keep in mind that you need to take a train now to reach the new terminal for the Qatar and Co flights, So even 4 hours before can avoid any unwanted surprises. 

4 hours before takeofoff at the airport is okay 

On 10/30/2025 at 8:43 PM, Sigmund said:

With Qatar or Emirates, nothing less then 3 hours before...make it 3,5 hours even if you can. 

 

Noted but any specific reasons?

Qatar closes check-in 60 to 90 minutes before the flight depending on the airport. They do not say which airports. You can check-in online, but you still need to check-in at the airport for bags. I would give it 2.5 hours at BKK. The new terminal takes extra time.

 

Doha is boring but clean, not many electrical outlets. Transfers in Doha are pretty efficient, you can pre-check with US  Customs.

36 minutes ago, cjinchiangrai said:

Doha is boring but clean, not many electrical outlets

Electrical outlets?  Surely they have them at every seat on the plane?

6 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

Electrical outlets?  Surely they have them at every seat on the plane?

An A-380, so probably. Not sure what other planes they might be using. My last Qatar flight was a 777. I don't recall outlets. The point was more that Doha airport is pretty quiet.

2 minutes ago, cjinchiangrai said:

An A-380, so probably. Not sure what other planes they might be using. My last Qatar flight was a 777. I don't recall outlets. The point was more that Doha airport is pretty quiet.

It's been a while for me, I used to hole up in the French bistro place to the right of the teddy bear,  couple of pints of Stella and as I recall electricity available under the bar top.  Happy days, though some years ago.

On 10/30/2025 at 4:43 PM, Sigmund said:

With Qatar or Emirates, nothing less then 3 hours before...make it 3,5 hours even if you can. 

 

I do these routes very regularly - (departing 5-6x per year)...  I always get there approximately 2 hours before departure and still find myself hanging around for a long spell once air-side. 

 

That said - arriving 3 hours early is not going to hurt for those who err on the side of 'anxiety' when it comes to travelling and timing...  once through and air-side there are plenty of places to grab a bite to eat and drink.

 

Note: QR now (nearly always) depart from the S (Satellite) terminal - so additional time will be required to get the mono-rail across (its also usually nice and quiet over on the satellite terminal).

 

 

22 hours ago, cjinchiangrai said:

Transfers in Doha are pretty efficient, you can pre-check with US  Customs.

 

If you're referring to preclearance then it's not available in Doha.  Only Abu Dhabi in the Middle East has this.