Avoiding Swampi Outbound, Worth Extra Time?

[THAIPHUKET]

You hear so may bad things, much of it is exaggerated, so what is the actual situation?

Normally I fly Chiang Mai - BBK - FRA. Out bound , I stay one night in BKK, leaving around 9am. Question=

Is the fast track to clear immigration working or is the situation so bad that I should consider flying, e.g CM - Singapore?

Coming back is no problem, don't have to clear BKK immigration, go straight to CM.

[craigt3365]

My neighbor does some kinda of fast track deal with immigration. Not sure if it's in or outbound. But he says it's fantastic. I can't remember the price, but it wasn't too expensive.

For a 9am flight, you'd be going through immigration around 7am or so? I've found it's not to bad at that time of day. I've also found outbound is not nearly as bad as inbound. My last inbound experience in March was horrible.

[lomatopo]

You hear so may bad things, much of it is exaggerated, so what is the actual situation?

Normally I fly Chiang Mai - BBK - FRA. Out bound , I stay one night in BKK, leaving around 9am. Question=

Is the fast track to clear immigration working or is the situation so bad that I should consider flying, e.g CM - Singapore?

Can you provide any detail re: your typical itinerary? Is your lay-over at BKK necessitated by schedule or preference? Does your BKK-FRA depart at 09:00 or the CNX-BKK flight? Do you have checked bags? Can these be interlined? What Class of Service do you have? Any airline affiliations/frequent flyer status? Are there any price differences CNX-SIN-FRA vs. CNX-BKK-FRA? Are you traveling after 10 August 2012, after which we expect any runway repair delays to be over.

The wait-times for both departing and arriving Immigration seems to be greatly reduced over the peak times reported a few months ago, although this is somewhat dependent on actual time of day.

Without a lot more detail it may be challenging to address your concerns. Guessing on a number of points I'd say you'd be fine routing through BKK, just make sure you do not have to make the DMK-BKK connection.

Coming back is no problem, don't have to clear BKK immigration, go straight to CM.

I confess I do not understand this comment. While it is correct that you can interline baggage through to CNX, and clear Customs there, you will still have to clear mid-field Immigration at BKK upon arrival from FRA. Obviously if any checked baggage is not checked trough to CNX you would have to clear regular Arriving Immigration at BKK, claim baggage, clear Customs, then check in with your airline at BKK, or DMK.

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[Upnotover]

Outbound immigration has been fine for a few months now, my last departure on June 11 going through at 06:30 took no more than 10 minutes for immigration and security.

[bangkokrick]

I arrived at departure Swampy on 19th June early morning around 9 am and was in the lounge by 9.10 am. Things have greatly improved.

[yermanee]

You stated that you always fly business class, so what's the problem ?

Business class = fast track immigration.

Yermanee

[Sateev]

You stated that you always fly business class, so what's the problem ?

Business class = fast track immigration.

Yermanee

Think he asked if 'fast-track' immigration was working, or not. If not, he was going to take his marbles elsewhere, and fly all the way to Singapore, to avoid a 15 (or 20 or 30) min line...

[bangkok101]

You stated that you always fly business class, so what's the problem ?

Business class = fast track immigration.

Yermanee

Fast track ONLY when departing BKK in Thai business class? Was fastracked incoming only once when flying Thai first class.

[kurtmartens]

I fly CM/BKK/DXB for work. I don't overnight in BKK, so I clear immigration in CM. However, when I used to live in BKK fast track was great for Thai business class. Do you have to overnight in BKK though? Its much easier just to clear in CM in my opinion.

[THAIPHUKET]

Not sure from your answers if business class fast track still works for non-Thai airlines. Will use QatarAir

But anyhow, the observation 7am should be no real problem is good enough, I stick to CM-BKK-FRA

Why stop overnight in BKK outbound? I am simply not willing to spend close to 24 hours in planes/airports. I rather take it easy and get a good sleep at the Best Western http://tinyurl.com/crk652m before flying on next morning for some 14 hours (with airports). Arriving in FRA around 6pm , at least for me, makes it much easier to have a long nice dinner and a restful night. I prefer day flights

[Postmaster]

Why on earth would you want to go direct to boring Chiang Mai without having a couple of nights in vibrant Bangkok with the fabulous nightlife and luxurious hotels after you have landed there. I love my few nights in Bangkok and would never miss it. I would prefer to live there than in boring Chiang Mai

[gk10002000]

You stated that you always fly business class, so what's the problem ?

Business class = fast track immigration.

Yermanee

How does business class guarantee fast track? You get off the airplane, walk the usual 1/2 mile and then what when you get to the immigration line? Is it labeled "Fast Track"? I never noticed a sign or line for that. All I saw was Thai or Foreigner signs.

Thanks

[yermanee]

You stated that you always fly business class, so what's the problem ?

Business class = fast track immigration.

Yermanee

How does business class guarantee fast track? You get off the airplane, walk the usual 1/2 mile and then what when you get to the immigration line? Is it labeled "Fast Track"? I never noticed a sign or line for that. All I saw was Thai or Foreigner signs.

Thanks

There are at least 2 fast track points at Swampy. Because you haven't seen them doesn't mean they don't exist.

Upon check-in one gets a voucher for this service. On arriving these vouchers are distributed by the crew.

All this for business class of all reputable airlines at Swampy.

Yermanee