Asked To Show Boarding Pass

[softgeorge]

Came in on Qatar from Doha last month and before disembarking it was announced that everyone would be required to show their boarding pass. They were being checked by airport staff before you got into open areas of the airport. Fortunately, I located mine quickly but there was a scrum of people searching through their pockets and bags trying to find the things.

Maybe checking to make sure you weren't a stowaway.

[Derifo]

That's because some people depart with one passport and arrives with another one ( probably with a different name ).

[MJo]

At least 12 years or so, most likely longer, there's been sign in immigration asking you to present your passport, completed TM arrival form and boarding pass.

Years ago was asked couple of times and since then been presenting it automatic. Very common though for people being asked and wasting everybody's time by digging their pockets and bag's looking for their documentation...

[Artisi]

Believe in the past people were doing border runs at the airport by going through departures and then heading back to arrivals. Showing your boarding pass proves you arrived by plane.

And how do you get thru immigration and departures without a valid ticket etc to depart Thailand? Sounds like an urban myth.

Edited August 28, 2011 by Artisi

[lovetotravel]

Believe in the past people were doing border runs at the airport by going through departures and then heading back to arrivals. Showing your boarding pass proves you arrived by plane.

And how do you get thru immigration and departures without a valid ticket etc to depart Thailand? Sounds like an urban myth.

All you need is a visa. My first trip here was on a one way ticket.

[IAMSOBAD]

Why not ask to see your ticket and baggage claim? Duhhhh

Boarding Pass is for what? BoaAaaaaarrrrdddddding!

They love confusion! Land of Strange.

[genobkk]

No but it's happened to me before in the past. For that reason I always keep my boarding pass on arrival until I am out of the arrival area or the airport. Have no idea what or why they wanted boarding pass however.

I was once escorting a friend"s wife who was catching a connecting flight to the Phillipines. She had her two children with her and a lot of luggage. So I took them to the Thai connecting flights counter and made sure she got her luggage on the plane before I went through immigration. I was about 45 minutes later than most of the arriving passengers on my flight. I was questioned by the immigration on why I was so late going through immigration, and they asked me for my used boarding pass then. Never did understand why, but when they saw my boarding pass, they apparently belived me.

And that's why I always keep my boarding pass until I go through immigration.

It has happen to me before also. Once I had a hard time finding it, now I just keep it in my passport so they can look at it if they want

[Artisi]

Believe in the past people were doing border runs at the airport by going through departures and then heading back to arrivals. Showing your boarding pass proves you arrived by plane.

And how do you get thru immigration and departures without a valid ticket etc to depart Thailand? Sounds like an urban myth.

All you need is a visa. My first trip here was on a one way ticket.

Think you have missed the point completely - the response was commenting on how do you get thru the departure area which need a passport, ticket, depature card and a boarding pass so that you can exit thru arrivales ???

[ALFREDO]

the response was commenting on how do you get thru the departure area which need a passport, ticket, depature card and a boarding pass so that you can exit thru arrivales ???

You buy the cheapest one way fare you can find and than you check in go threw Immigration but do not fly, loose the (cheap) airfare one way.

I never checked the full possibility of a second way,

you buy a more expensive changeable ticket, check in with Internet at a Airport computer or maybe also at the counter and pass the Immigration, about three hours before the flight,

most airlines allow you to change your booking until three hour before departures. Than you cancel your check in by Internet or mobile and change your date.

You even can than cancel your flight with a small fine or in the right higher Bookingclass or Businessclass without a fine.

[sosisbesar]

Maybe there was just an problem with an onward bound passenger deplaning in Bangkok thinking he was in Hong Kong...

Huh? After also handing over a fully filled out Arrival & Departure Card specifying i.a. "Address in Thailand" & "Visa No."?

Maybe checking to make sure you weren't a stowaway.

Stowaway in this time and age of over-hyped airport security where you have to show your Passport and Boarding Card ad nauseam before you can actually board a plane? Sounds a bit far-fetched, doesn't it?

That's because some people depart with one passport and arrives with another one ( probably with a different name ).

That might well be a plausible explanation!

Why not ask to see your ticket and baggage claim? Duhhhh

Boarding Pass is for what?

Exactly what my question was about!

[tombkk]

I never checked the full possibility of a second way,

you buy a more expensive changeable ticket, check in with Internet at a Airport computer or maybe also at the counter and pass the Immigration, about three hours before the flight,

most airlines allow you to change your booking until three hour before departures. Than you cancel your check in by Internet or mobile and change your date.

You even can than cancel your flight with a small fine or in the right higher Bookingclass or Businessclass without a fine.

Interesting concept. I would think that the airline has to inform immigration if you cancel or postpone your booking after you have checked in. Or the "3 horus beforee departure" is only under the condition that you have not checked in in the meantime.

Hm. Would be worth investigating whether this is possible.

[samran]

Believe in the past people were doing border runs at the airport by going through departures and then heading back to arrivals. Showing your boarding pass proves you arrived by plane.

And how do you get thru immigration and departures without a valid ticket etc to depart Thailand? Sounds like an urban myth.

wouldn't have thought it was rocket science to work it out.

Dirt cheap ticket one way to anywhere outside of Thailand, check in with no bags. Get boarding pass, proceed through immigration. Head downstairs via the transit level, and back through arrivals immigtration.

Lost: Money paid for one cheap airfare.

Gained: Time not spent on a border run, a 30 day visa.

[theoldgit]

wouldn't have thought it was rocket science to work it out.

Dirt cheap ticket one way to anywhere outside of Thailand, check in with no bags. Get boarding pass, proceed through immigration. Head downstairs via the transit level, and back through arrivals immigtration.

Yes, but any Immigration Officer worth his/her salt would notice that you "had left" Thailand minutes before you had arrived back.

Your passport would be stamped as departed, you may have cleared immigration but you haven't departed Thailand, there would be no corresponding entry and exit stamps from your destination. All the information would be on the the immigration computer system, as you say, it's hardly rocket science to work it out.

I'm sure that Air Asia would be a bit miffed if they were waiting, albeit not for too long, for a passenger who had checked in and was now trying to clear immigration.

[JohnAllan]

Nothing, is the answer. They were doing this two years, or so, ago, then stopped. Now again, apparently? Stupid, really, as the boarding pass, unless flight attendants advise otherwise - they never do - is invariably left behind. It is, after all, for purposes of boarding the flight, not for handing in at immigration. The alternative that he didn't mention, is to show him your ticket.

[beechguy]

There is also the issue of people getting off onward traveling planes.

Maybe there was just an problem with an onward bound passenger deplaning in Bangkok thinking he was in Hong Kong.

The Thais have perfected knee Jerk reactions to almost every issue.

It's not just the Thai's, I've had to show them several places, some upon exiting the aircraft well before getting to immigration. Anyway, I've always kept them until finished traveling.

[tombkk]

wouldn't have thought it was rocket science to work it out.

Dirt cheap ticket one way to anywhere outside of Thailand, check in with no bags. Get boarding pass, proceed through immigration. Head downstairs via the transit level, and back through arrivals immigtration.

Yes, but any Immigration Officer worth his/her salt would notice that you "had left" Thailand minutes before you had arrived back.

Your passport would be stamped as departed, you may have cleared immigration but you haven't departed Thailand, there would be no corresponding entry and exit stamps from your destination. All the information would be on the the immigration computer system, as you say, it's hardly rocket science to work it out.

I'm sure that Air Asia would be a bit miffed if they were waiting, albeit not for too long, for a passenger who had checked in and was now trying to clear immigration.

Yes, the immigration officer would notice that you had just left. But if you do a border run, do you actually have to enter the other country or can you just walk around the thai immigration booth and re-enter right away? I think this is the same situation.

And yes, the airline will be unhappy if they are waiting for the last passenger who doesn't show up and thus causes them delays. But then, many airlines have a policy of closing the gate 10 minutes (or more) before departure, and if you don't have check-in baggage, they will just leave.

[Prajak]

So do I.

" ..I keep my boarding passes until the miles are credited to my mileage account, so no problem.."

[johnefallis]

On my last flight I was asked to show for my Boarding Pass by the Immigration Officer at Suvarnabhumi.

I normally throw it away in the plane as soon as I'm seated, but fortunately this time I had rumpled it into a pellet and stuck it into my trouser pocket.

He looked at it briefly and gave it back to me without a word.

I have travelled all over the world, and Immigration Officers have asked me for all kinds, such as (return) ticket, driver's licence, etc, but never for a Boarding Pass.

I'm still wondering what he wanted to check.

Any ideas?

*Yeah, maybe wanted to appear to be doing his job, maybe didn't even know what the boarding pass said. At least he didn't ask for a return ticket, which is probably what he was supposed to be asking for, so....shhhhh! Smile and keep walking!

[johnefallis]

wouldn't have thought it was rocket science to work it out.

Dirt cheap ticket one way to anywhere outside of Thailand, check in with no bags. Get boarding pass, proceed through immigration. Head downstairs via the transit level, and back through arrivals immigtration.

Yes, but any Immigration Officer worth his/her salt would notice that you "had left" Thailand minutes before you had arrived back.

Your passport would be stamped as departed, you may have cleared immigration but you haven't departed Thailand, there would be no corresponding entry and exit stamps from your destination. All the information would be on the the immigration computer system, as you say, it's hardly rocket science to work it out.

I'm sure that Air Asia would be a bit miffed if they were waiting, albeit not for too long, for a passenger who had checked in and was now trying to clear immigration.

*Haha, always wanted to learn rocket science!

[tombkk]

wouldn't have thought it was rocket science to work it out.

Dirt cheap ticket one way to anywhere outside of Thailand, check in with no bags. Get boarding pass, proceed through immigration. Head downstairs via the transit level, and back through arrivals immigtration.

Yes, but any Immigration Officer worth his/her salt would notice that you "had left" Thailand minutes before you had arrived back.

Your passport would be stamped as departed, you may have cleared immigration but you haven't departed Thailand, there would be no corresponding entry and exit stamps from your destination. All the information would be on the the immigration computer system, as you say, it's hardly rocket science to work it out.

I'm sure that Air Asia would be a bit miffed if they were waiting, albeit not for too long, for a passenger who had checked in and was now trying to clear immigration.

Yes, the immigration officer would notice that you had just left. But if you do a border run, do you actually have to enter the other country or can you just walk around the thai immigration booth and re-enter right away? I think this is the same situation.

And yes, the airline will be unhappy if they are waiting for the last passenger who doesn't show up and thus causes them delays. But then, many airlines have a policy of closing the gate 10 minutes (or more) before departure, and if you don't have check-in baggage, they will just leave.

I'm at the airport right now. Just as I left immigration (departure side), I saw a sign written only in Thai, saying that the airline staff are obliged to inform both immigration and the VAT-refund office of any "offload" passengers. Two telephone numbers were given.

[PattayaParent]

Could it be that you forgot to fill in the arrival flight no.?

No. Everything was filled out correctly. As I wrote, he didn't say/ask anything after he'd seen the Boarding Pass and just stamped my passport.

Had the same request arriving in Ha Noi last month, no idea why?

[paulian]

Two years ago, I had a problem with my mileage credit on Thai Airways. I did not get credit for a trip from LAX - Bkk and Bkk - LHR. They said the only way I could get credit was to mail them the Boarding passes, which may be another reason to keep them. Once I sent them the passes, which I luckily kept they gave me the credits instantly.

[tombkk]

Two years ago, I had a problem with my mileage credit on Thai Airways. I did not get credit for a trip from LAX - Bkk and Bkk - LHR. They said the only way I could get credit was to mail them the Boarding passes, which may be another reason to keep them. Once I sent them the passes, which I luckily kept they gave me the credits instantly.

This is the reason I keep the boarding passes. Sent them in a few times, usually when travelling another Star Alliance airline and the mileage was not credited. The boarding pass is considered the proof that you boarded that flight (actually, with the boarding pass showing your seat number, they can actually check whether you took that flight).

[ALFREDO]

I'm at the airport right now. Just as I left immigration (departure side), I saw a sign written only in Thai, saying that the airline staff are obliged to inform both immigration and the VAT-refund office of any "offload" passengers. Two telephone numbers were given.

Than its a problem.

[Wallaby]

wouldn't have thought it was rocket science to work it out.

Dirt cheap ticket one way to anywhere outside of Thailand, check in with no bags. Get boarding pass, proceed through immigration. Head downstairs via the transit level, and back through arrivals immigtration.

Yes, but any Immigration Officer worth his/her salt would notice that you "had left" Thailand minutes before you had arrived back.

Your passport would be stamped as departed, you may have cleared immigration but you haven't departed Thailand, there would be no corresponding entry and exit stamps from your destination. All the information would be on the the immigration computer system, as you say, it's hardly rocket science to work it out.

I'm sure that Air Asia would be a bit miffed if they were waiting, albeit not for too long, for a passenger who had checked in and was now trying to clear immigration.

Yes, the immigration officer would notice that you had just left. But if you do a border run, do you actually have to enter the other country or can you just walk around the thai immigration booth and re-enter right away? I think this is the same situation.

And yes, the airline will be unhappy if they are waiting for the last passenger who doesn't show up and thus causes them delays. But then, many airlines have a policy of closing the gate 10 minutes (or more) before departure, and if you don't have check-in baggage, they will just leave.

May also cause the airport to be shut down as a passenger went through check in then immigration but did not board the flight. Possible terrorist issue,

I have one of those new chips in my passport. I'm sure if I used it for a border run it would show where I departed and where I'm entering. If done at the airport it may look strange that I was coming in a few minutes after I flew out. Not sure I'd want the hassle if caught.

[Tokay]

sounds like a potential money maker...what is the fine for not having it?

A very good money maker.

[samran]

sounds like a potential money maker...what is the fine for not having it?

A very good money maker.

another panic merchant. And where is your evidence of immigration officials asking for cash to those who've left their boarding passes on the plane?

[merijn]

wouldn't have thought it was rocket science to work it out.

Dirt cheap ticket one way to anywhere outside of Thailand, check in with no bags. Get boarding pass, proceed through immigration. Head downstairs via the transit level, and back through arrivals immigtration.

Yes, but any Immigration Officer worth his/her salt would notice that you "had left" Thailand minutes before you had arrived back.

Your passport would be stamped as departed, you may have cleared immigration but you haven't departed Thailand, there would be no corresponding entry and exit stamps from your destination. All the information would be on the the immigration computer system, as you say, it's hardly rocket science to work it out.

I'm sure that Air Asia would be a bit miffed if they were waiting, albeit not for too long, for a passenger who had checked in and was now trying to clear immigration.

Yes, the immigration officer would notice that you had just left. But if you do a border run, do you actually have to enter the other country or can you just walk around the thai immigration booth and re-enter right away? I think this is the same situation.

And yes, the airline will be unhappy if they are waiting for the last passenger who doesn't show up and thus causes them delays. But then, many airlines have a policy of closing the gate 10 minutes (or more) before departure, and if you don't have check-in baggage, they will just leave.

May also cause the airport to be shut down as a passenger went through check in then immigration but did not board the flight. Possible terrorist issue,

I have one of those new chips in my passport. I'm sure if I used it for a border run it would show where I departed and where I'm entering. If done at the airport it may look strange that I was coming in a few minutes after I flew out. Not sure I'd want the hassle if caught.

You must be American to be so paranoid about flight security. :-)

[PattayaParent]

I am aware of some individuals buying the cheapest one-way ticket they can find, usually Air Asia. They go through immigration and loiter in the airport for several hours, coffee, internet, read a book, and never leave BKK. After sufficient time and coinciding with the arrival of an aircraft from the country they had a one-way ticket to, they proceed back through immigration and receive the 30 day airport visa on arrival. Thus avoiding the visa-run debacle and the 15 visa on arrival received at land entry immigration points.

This became very popular when the visa on arrival was changed to 15 days for overland travel. This may be a direct response to this activity.

Surely the required arrival/departure stamps in the passport, from the destination country would beat this.

I don't get stamps in my passport entering or leaving UK

[Rumpole]

Or any EU country.

Edited September 17, 2011 by Rumpole