What is the line like at 3AM on a Thursday?

Who knows, give us a report back after your departure. On Monday at 1300 it was a cake walk except for the Russian whose wife had his paper work in a different line.

We were just there at 5am and there were about 15 people in each line. It went quickly though. Maybe a 15 minute wait.

We were just there at 5am and there were about 15 people in each line. It went quickly though. Maybe a 15 minute wait.

I had a similar wait last Tuesday. It was OK.

Peak hours are in the morning. My understanding is that there are usually about 70 or so international flights arriving and departing between 6 am and 10 am. There is a pool of immigration officers and they get shifted between arrival and departure on the morning shift. The big bottleneck is the 5 am - 9 am time slot. The other big bottle neck occurs for the late night flights around 10 pm. These are all big jet flights (e.g. AB 380, 340,330, B777, B747) so the passenger count is high.

I always go straight thru most ive had in front of me is 2-3 people................joys of Business class

Thanks for the replys. My flight departs at 6:05. The bars will close around 2:30ish so I figured that would put me in lIne 3:30 or so.

I'll post on Thur.

there are a couple flights for the US that depart around 5am, so just be there 2 hours in advance like you're supposed to and you'll be fine. i've taken that 5am flight so many times, it makes me sick to my bank account's stomach.

Peak hours are in the morning. My understanding is that there are usually about 70 or so international flights arriving and departing between 6 am and 10 am. There is a pool of immigration officers and they get shifted between arrival and departure on the morning shift. The big bottleneck is the 5 am - 9 am time slot. The other big bottle neck occurs for the late night flights around 10 pm. These are all big jet flights (e.g. AB 380, 340,330, B777, B747) so the passenger count is high.

Knowing this, they could increase their "pool" of immigration officers three-fold. Do they? Nope. Have they yet seen the necessity to train and employ more check-point folks for these ever increasing peak times {all the time}? Nope. This should naturally apply to queues arriving and departing - already infamous.

The lines in BKK were nothing compared to the lines at Narita. Unreal. Maybe 200-250 people trying to get through that interim baggage check before moving on to connecting flights. Took us at least 30 minutes to get through...

The lines in BKK were nothing compared to the lines at Narita. Unreal. Maybe 200-250 people trying to get through that interim baggage check before moving on to connecting flights. Took us at least 30 minutes to get through...

Narita is a joy for residents though. They have 2-4 dedicated gates for foreigners with residency permits and it usually takes me no more than 5-10 minutes to pass through.

Max2010

The lines in BKK were nothing compared to the lines at Narita. Unreal. Maybe 200-250 people trying to get through that interim baggage check before moving on to connecting flights. Took us at least 30 minutes to get through...

Ughh. I'm connecting in Narita.

where u going???? what are needs for people who goes back to their country and such? it sounds pretty frequent, those random business trips on companys expenses???

The lines in BKK were nothing compared to the lines at Narita. Unreal. Maybe 200-250 people trying to get through that interim baggage check before moving on to connecting flights. Took us at least 30 minutes to get through...

Ughh. I'm connecting in Narita.

Not to fear, my friend. The reference to Narita was the principle immigration and customs {final stop} mess. If you're making connections, you'll run through the transit check points, which are a breeze at Narita.

The lines in BKK were nothing compared to the lines at Narita. Unreal. Maybe 200-250 people trying to get through that interim baggage check before moving on to connecting flights. Took us at least 30 minutes to get through...

Ughh. I'm connecting in Narita.

Not to fear, my friend. The reference to Narita was the principle immigration and customs {final stop} mess. If you're making connections, you'll run through the transit check points, which are a breeze at Narita.

Actually, I was referring to the transit baggage check. Just went through it a few days ago. Worst I've seen it and I do this at least 2 times a year.

Peak hours are in the morning. My understanding is that there are usually about 70 or so international flights arriving and departing between 6 am and 10 am. There is a pool of immigration officers and they get shifted between arrival and departure on the morning shift. The big bottleneck is the 5 am - 9 am time slot. The other big bottle neck occurs for the late night flights around 10 pm. These are all big jet flights (e.g. AB 380, 340,330, B777, B747) so the passenger count is high.

Good information. That explains all the big line ups I have to wait through. But, arrival times at my destination are more of a concern for me. I don't want to arrive late in the evening somewhere and then deal with finding a hotel for the night. I also don't want big gaps in connecting flights. If I have to spend an extra hour standing in line at Suvarnaboomcrash then that beats sitting in an airport in Taipei for 6 hours waiting for a connecting flight..

The lines in BKK were nothing compared to the lines at Narita. Unreal. Maybe 200-250 people trying to get through that interim baggage check before moving on to connecting flights. Took us at least 30 minutes to get through...

Ahh the dreaded Star Alliance feeder line. Its a UA B747, then the ANA 767 and then the TG 747 disgorging their throngs.

It depends on what day of the week its is, we came back to the UK on a Sunday at 11pm, it was quite buzzy.But the people where dealt with very efficiently.Also i was allowed to go through the Thai only Passport control because my wife is Thai. The Thai passport control beckoned me to go through before anybody says anything.

It depends on what day of the week its is, we came back to the UK on a Sunday at 11pm, it was quite buzzy.But the people where dealt with very efficiently.Also i was allowed to go through the Thai only Passport control because my wife is Thai. The Thai passport control beckoned me to go through before anybody says anything.

Yet, have you noticed the, almost overnight, dramatic increases of the departure queues over the last year - never was like this before.

It depends on what day of the week its is, we came back to the UK on a Sunday at 11pm, it was quite buzzy.But the people where dealt with very efficiently.Also i was allowed to go through the Thai only Passport control because my wife is Thai. The Thai passport control beckoned me to go through before anybody says anything.

Yet, have you noticed the, almost overnight, dramatic increases of the departure queues over the last year - never was like this before.

I think its to do with the flite slots for take off. and the time zones.Only us Europeans seem to have to fly at silly times of the night.

It depends on what day of the week its is, we came back to the UK on a Sunday at 11pm, it was quite buzzy.But the people where dealt with very efficiently.Also i was allowed to go through the Thai only Passport control because my wife is Thai. The Thai passport control beckoned me to go through before anybody says anything.

Yet, have you noticed the, almost overnight, dramatic increases of the departure queues over the last year - never was like this before.

I think its to do with the flite slots for take off. and the time zones.Only us Europeans seem to have to fly at silly times of the night.

Daytime waits are just as bad...

This morning, 07h00, 3 people in line. Wait time 5 min.

The lines in BKK were nothing compared to the lines at Narita. Unreal. Maybe 200-250 people trying to get through that interim baggage check before moving on to connecting flights. Took us at least 30 minutes to get through...

Ahh the dreaded Star Alliance feeder line. Its a UA B747, then the ANA 767 and then the TG 747 disgorging their throngs.

Yes! That was it! I've never had to deal with this before. First time flying with UA/ANA with a connection there. It was crazy....

I always go straight thru most ive had in front of me is 2-3 people................joys of Business class

I don't get it. How does business or even first class relate to the topic? There are no immigration lines based on travel class.

fast track card handed over when flying business by SOME companies at check in or landing and yes, separate immigration counters

fast track card handed over when flying business by SOME companies at check in or landing and yes, separate immigration counters

The question is do Thai airports have this feature?

fast track card handed over when flying business by SOME companies at check in or landing and yes, separate immigration counters

The question is do Thai airports have this feature?

Yes which is why I mentioned it, I fly Emirates dont know about other airlines, Im straight thru in a minute however even if you do want to fly economy you can pay for this service and after a long flight from the UK for me its a real boon.

Search priority pass in google for Swampy airport many companies do this.

Ok. I got to immigration at 4am. Maybe 10 people in line. Same with the security check. Everything went ok.

The security screen in Narita wasn't bad either.

Only problem during the entire trip is I mistakenly took 2 cialis instead of 2 Xanax. Stupid mistake. Nor great for 18 hours of flying.