Arrival experience at BKK on SQ...?

[slickalick]

I usually fly TG HKG-BKK-HKG but am flying SQ this weekend (almost double the miles at less price than direct!) to BKK and have some questions for those who frequently fly the BKK route.

I usually arrive BKK in mid-morning, but my SQ flight arrives at 5:30pm.

1) Is BKK immigration/visa counter extremely busy in the late afternoons? Is it worth paying for the fast track/meet & greet at this time?

2) Which gates to SQ use in BKK? Far from immigration or not? I'm travelling with my dad who can't manage to stand in lines or walk for too long.

Would appreciate your advise. Thanks.

[SQ238]

I usually fly TG HKG-BKK-HKG but am flying SQ this weekend (almost double the miles at less price than direct!) to BKK and have some questions for those who frequently fly the BKK route.

I usually arrive BKK in mid-morning, but my SQ flight arrives at 5:30pm.

1) Is BKK immigration/visa counter extremely busy in the late afternoons? Is it worth paying for the fast track/meet & greet at this time?

2) Which gates to SQ use in BKK? Far from immigration or not? I'm travelling with my dad who can't manage to stand in lines or walk for too long.

Would appreciate your advise. Thanks.

All my SQ flights have arrived at BKK using gate D2, this is as about as close as one can get to immigration, so a short walk for BKK.

I have never arrived at 5.30pm so I cannot give you an accurate idea of immigration. I did however arrive at about 4.00pm the other week on Cathay, the closest immigration to the Cathay arrivals was full so I walked down to the next immigration point and it was almost empty, this is the one that is closest to your arriving SQ flight, I really do think it is just pot luck. If immigration is busy you can try the next one down or make sure you get in a single line that is being serviced by two officers, I'm not sure how to best explain what I mean but have a good look when you are there and it will become clear how the lines and desks work.

SQ238.

[Kyo]

1) No idea, don't usually arrive at that time

2) Usually gates D1-D7... if only I could fly SIN-HKG-BKK for cheaper... I've normally had D4... not far at all from immigration, but unless your dad is in a wheelchair, if there's a queue, expect to join the line like everyone else. (the lines seem more swollen for night flights, at any rate)

[soarbeyond]

All my flights into BKK have arrived at D4. The immigration has always had long queues due to the lack of immigration counters that are open.
One more thing,the road traffic is killer at that time

[slickalick]

Thanks for the responses. So getting to a meeting near MBK by 7:30pm is cutting it really thin i guess...?

[pogonation]

Thanks for the responses. So getting to a meeting near MBK by 7:30pm is cutting it really thin i guess...?

Cough up $1000 for a helicopter transfer

[sqdazz]

you may or may not make it.


perhaps another option is taxi to the On Nut BTS station and BTS into MBK. May or may not work out quicker!

[Kyo]

For me, I would be quite confident of a 7:30PM arrival at MBK.

I think it's not far-fetched. Yes, bearing in mind it is peak hour, but coming from Suvarnabhumi, you can take a taxi (roughly 200 baht + 50 baht airport taxi stand fee) via the Tollway (70 baht in total) to Victory Monument. From there, you can do one of three things:

1) Continue in cab to MBK, join the traffic jam (30 mins, very rough estimate)
2) Continue in cab to Victory Monument station (5-10 mins, a little bit of a jam to get to the other side), and switch to the Skytrain (+ 8-10 mins)
3) Get off where convenient, hop on a motorbike taxi (not workable if you have bulky luggage) and get there within 5 mins...

[MAN Flyer]

I've been into Suvarnabhumi dozens of times since it opened and every time it's on SQ they have always used the low number D gates bang in front of immigration so it's a very short walk. In fact SQ and *A have got themselves a pretty good deal at BKK as they put all the *A carriers there like LH, OS, LX etc.

As for queues, that'a very unpredictable. However, the numbers are back up again for sure as the queues are nearly always sizeable now. I have arrived into Bangkok three times in the last 10 days, including at 16:30 last night, and the queues have been very big. Thankfully the first time was in TG F so I got escorted and the other two I used the unused SQ CIP passes. Are you travelling in J ?. If so you'll get the passes for the Fast Track, which are very handy. If in Y I would have a quiet word with the crew to see if they can give you a couple of passes.

As for getting to MBK for 19:30. Well, I'd be confident of making it but the traffic is a real PITA at that time. If you have to be there at that time then I would also consider getting to a Skytrain stop and using that.

Either way, explaining that you are arriving on a flight at 17:30 and are making your way through the rush hour traffic and asking whoever you are meeting to 'bear with you' re timing is usually expected. Not all meetings in Bangkok happen on time, especially if they are coming to see you....