Checking Out (1 Hr 10 Minutes)

[jaywalker]

Almost missed my flight today. Took around 70 minutes to get thru passport control.

Yep it sucked standing in line for 70 minutes.

I had to run to the gate.

Shitty airport is all I can say.........rather ridiculous.

Have been to 45 countries, so voice of experience talking here.

Why they they don't share International flights w/ good old Don Muang is a mystery....though not really.

Don Muang...........been in and out a gazillion times.............Never, ever one complaint...........SuvarnaBOOM or howerever they pronounce it is a NIGHTNARE.

Corruption, corruption, corruption. It's the only reason Svarnabumi was built & the only reason Don Muang is out of the picture.

Incompetents and corruption........been here a long time,

Thailand's airports are the hub of incompetence and crony-ism.

[PattayaParent]

^Agree, never had a problem leaving or entering at Don Muang.

And Thailand wants Swampy to be a hub of Asia? More like the joke of Asia.

[Jebhead]

I use the FAST Track service inbound and outbound now, can't be arsed with lines, it's bad enough having to travel all the time.

If you get the same guy at the fast track service a couple of times he might offer you a deal, wink wink, nudge nudge......

JH

[yermanee]

Well I haven't traveled to 45 countries same as you, but you must have been very lucky to have never had such a bad experience as at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Allthough I must agree that Don Muang in more ways than one had a more sympathetic feel to it than the new airport, I find that Suvarnabhumi is a lot more efficient and a lot more easy to travel to and from, than Don Muang ever was.

Apart from that I have had very bad experiences in some of the airports that I use regularly, in particular Schiphol Amsterdam, Paris CDG, Frankfurt Airport and my worst experience was at Dubai Airport.

But that just me.

Yermanee

[mikebell]

Do not mock BKK. My Thai wife's trip of a lifetime is about to come crashing down thanks to Immigration at LAX. They tell me one hour fifty minutes is insufficient time to collect our bags & catch our onward plane to LAS. It matters naught that I have paid for a hotel room in LAS which I will not get to use or maybe have to book another ticket after spending a night on the floor which at the age of 68 could be terminal.

Message to all tourists - 'We don't need your $$$.'

[theoldgit]

Took people to Suvarnabhumi last night for their late night flight to London, given the recent reported delays I advised them to get there early, which they did.

They were in the queue to clear immigration for a tad under 20 minutes, there appears to be no consistency in the length of the queues.

[eagleflyinghigh]

Do not mock BKK. My Thai wife's trip of a lifetime is about to come crashing down thanks to Immigration at LAX. They tell me one hour fifty minutes is insufficient time to collect our bags & catch our onward plane to LAS. It matters naught that I have paid for a hotel room in LAS which I will not get to use or maybe have to book another ticket after spending a night on the floor which at the age of 68 could be terminal.

Message to all tourists - 'We don't need your $$$.'

Your planning was wrong, for an US or Canadian connection I would allow at least 3 hours. This is no excuse for the North American immigration/customs inefficiency. Toronto is hell recently with up to three hours wait to get in.

At least in the third world (Thailand, Indonesia etc...) there are fast tracks and corruption coming handy and one has to be inexperienced and/or not very clever to wait for more than 2 minutes in BKK.

[fred110]

Do not mock BKK. My Thai wife's trip of a lifetime is about to come crashing down thanks to Immigration at LAX. They tell me one hour fifty minutes is insufficient time to collect our bags & catch our onward plane to LAS. It matters naught that I have paid for a hotel room in LAS which I will not get to use or maybe have to book another ticket after spending a night on the floor which at the age of 68 could be terminal.

Message to all tourists - 'We don't need your $$$.'

When I go LA to Vegas I allow at least 3 hours for security. You can book a later flight to Vegas for only $77 on Delta (or others).

[PattayaParent]

Do not mock BKK. My Thai wife's trip of a lifetime is about to come crashing down thanks to Immigration at LAX. They tell me one hour fifty minutes is insufficient time to collect our bags & catch our onward plane to LAS. It matters naught that I have paid for a hotel room in LAS which I will not get to use or maybe have to book another ticket after spending a night on the floor which at the age of 68 could be terminal.

Message to all tourists - 'We don't need your $$$.'

LAX is a clusterfcuk. You'd be lucky to clear there even in the 3 hours other posters have suggested.

[fred110]

Do not mock BKK. My Thai wife's trip of a lifetime is about to come crashing down thanks to Immigration at LAX. They tell me one hour fifty minutes is insufficient time to collect our bags & catch our onward plane to LAS. It matters naught that I have paid for a hotel room in LAS which I will not get to use or maybe have to book another ticket after spending a night on the floor which at the age of 68 could be terminal.

Message to all tourists - 'We don't need your $$$.'

LAX is a clusterfcuk. You'd be lucky to clear there even in the 3 hours other posters have suggested.

Well, I go lax to vegas every summer, 3 hr window, same on return. I have my belt put away, coins and phone in backpack, no problems. Good luck!

[Familyonthemove]

Yes - Swampy is very unpredicatable. Same as the traffic ... so I have to allow 4 hours to get to the airport and clear immigration, but sometimes do it all in under one hour and feel like a fool with 3 hours to spend in the airport ..... but other times I only just make it.

[Oberkommando]

Two weeks ago flying out mid-afternoon to PNH on Air Asia. Queued for 75 minutes to get through Immigration.

[chiang mai]

There's two passport/immigration areas at Swampy, when one is overloaded the other tends to be quite empty.

[kpmsprtd]

Do not mock BKK. My Thai wife's trip of a lifetime is about to come crashing down thanks to Immigration at LAX. They tell me one hour fifty minutes is insufficient time to collect our bags & catch our onward plane to LAS. It matters naught that I have paid for a hotel room in LAS which I will not get to use or maybe have to book another ticket after spending a night on the floor which at the age of 68 could be terminal.

Message to all tourists - 'We don't need your $.'

It's hard to tell sometimes the degree to which delays are caused by security theater madness versus general incompetence. At any rate, I am sorry to hear of your busted-up trip. I hope things get better in Vegas. Fortunately, there's still a lot more common sense left there than most places in the U.S.

[Northpoint]

I use the FAST Track service inbound and outbound now, can't be arsed with lines, it's bad enough having to travel all the time.

If you get the same guy at the fast track service a couple of times he might offer you a deal, wink wink, nudge nudge......

JH

Could tell me how to get the fast track service and how much it costs. Thanks

[Spoonman]

I flew out Sunday at 7.40pm, I parked my car at 5.30pm, I was at the flight gate by 6.00pm...........zero people about.

I arrived back this morning, flight landed at 9.00am, I had checked baggage but was in my car and on the motorway by 9.40am...........zero people once again.

Edited April 13, 2011 by Spoonman

[Mrjlh]

Edited April 13, 2011 by Mrjlh

[yermanee]

I use the FAST Track service inbound and outbound now, can't be arsed with lines, it's bad enough having to travel all the time.

If you get the same guy at the fast track service a couple of times he might offer you a deal, wink wink, nudge nudge......

JH

Could tell me how to get the fast track service and how much it costs. Thanks

Try here : http://www.thaifasttrack.com/index.php?p=1_10_Fast-Track

Doeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Yermanee

[samtam]

Thanks for the link about Fast Track. Seems to be for arrival. Do you know where you purchase for departure, and how much?

Edited April 13, 2011 by samtam

[yermanee]

Thanks for the link about Fast Track. Seems to be for arrival. Do you know where you purchase for departure, and how much?

It's the same for arrival as for departure.

Yermanee

[Northpoint]

I use the FAST Track service inbound and outbound now, can't be arsed with lines, it's bad enough having to travel all the time.

If you get the same guy at the fast track service a couple of times he might offer you a deal, wink wink, nudge nudge......

JH

Could tell me how to get the fast track service and how much it costs. Thanks

Try here : http://www.thaifasttrack.com/index.php?p=1_10_Fast-Track

Doeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Yermanee

Thanks a lot fore that useful information. I will give fasttrack a try. 1200 baht for the service won't break the bank.

[BoonToong]

Thanks a lot fore that useful information. I will give fasttrack a try. 1200 baht for the service won't break the bank.

1,200 Baht to save one hour? I will happily stand in a line people-watching, listening to my music, smiling and watching the world go by.

[samran]

Thanks a lot fore that useful information. I will give fasttrack a try. 1200 baht for the service won't break the bank.

1,200 Baht to save one hour? I will happily stand in a line people-watching, listening to my music, smiling and watching the world go by.

Some people, like me, occasionally value our time at prices far in excess if 1200 baht/hour. Is worth it if you value your time in such a way.

[samran]

Two weeks ago flying out mid-afternoon to PNH on Air Asia. Queued for 75 minutes to get through Immigration.

aw, given your rank, they were probably just doing things extra careful, lest you sack them all (or worse)...

Edited April 13, 2011 by samran

[yermanee]

Thanks a lot fore that useful information. I will give fasttrack a try. 1200 baht for the service won't break the bank.

1,200 Baht to save one hour? I will happily stand in a line people-watching, listening to my music, smiling and watching the world go by.

Some people, like me, occasionally value our time at prices far in excess if 1200 baht/hour. Is worth it if you value your time in such a way.

Precisely !

The older one gets, the more precious the time one has left. Better enjoy it, it's limited you know.

Yermanee

[Jebhead]

Thanks a lot fore that useful information. I will give fasttrack a try. 1200 baht for the service won't break the bank.

1,200 Baht to save one hour? I will happily stand in a line people-watching, listening to my music, smiling and watching the world go by.

Standing in line after long haul flights is not much fun! I travel a lot and hate queues, 1200 is not a lot of money to swan through immigration in 5 minutes as opposed to xxx minutes.......

JH

[Spoonman]

Thanks a lot fore that useful information. I will give fasttrack a try. 1200 baht for the service won't break the bank.

1,200 Baht to save one hour? I will happily stand in a line people-watching, listening to my music, smiling and watching the world go by.

Standing in line after long haul flights is not much fun! I travel a lot and hate queues, 1200 is not a lot of money to swan through immigration in 5 minutes as opposed to xxx minutes.......

JH

No checked baggage?

[yermanee]

Thanks a lot fore that useful information. I will give fasttrack a try. 1200 baht for the service won't break the bank.

1,200 Baht to save one hour? I will happily stand in a line people-watching, listening to my music, smiling and watching the world go by.

Standing in line after long haul flights is not much fun! I travel a lot and hate queues, 1200 is not a lot of money to swan through immigration in 5 minutes as opposed to xxx minutes.......

JH

No checked baggage?

Read again : - swan through immigration in 5 minutes -

yermanee

[Spoonman]

Read again : - swan through immigration in 5 minutes -

yermanee

Good for you, however swanning through in 5 minutes is rather pointless if you have to wait for your baggage, better to keep that 1200baht in the skyrocket, that's a longtime with a friendly beer bar hostess.

[yermanee]

Read again : - swan through immigration in 5 minutes -

yermanee

Good for you, however swanning through in 5 minutes is rather pointless if you have to wait for your baggage, better to keep that 1200baht in the skyrocket, that's a longtime with a friendly beer bar hostess.

I've never had any problems having to wait a long time for my luggage, but imagine how much more quickly you can be in the skyrocket, where ever that might be.

Furthermore I have my very friendly wife waiting for me, that's 1200 baht saved on a beer bar hostess. And please don't tell me there are cheaper available

And I think that it's up to me on what I spend my money. I'm not telling you that you have to use the fasttrack service I leave that entirely up to anyone who might think it's worth it.

But that's just me

Yermanee