Frequentflyer99

I want to use a GUF2 to fly to an Asian destination which is not served by BA.

This will entail flying into one of HKG, SIN or BKK on a BA ticket and then connecting to another flight which will have to be booked on a separate ticket, and then v.v. on the return.

If using HKG as the gateway I could probably use CX for the onward connecting flight, although I assume that I will not be able to check my bags through from London.

My question is which of these gateways is the best in terms of logistics, assuming I have to clear immigration / customs and re-check my bags ?

I know HKG well and it would be my natural choice. I have not been through BKK for 10 or more years (when everything was very slow and chaotic) and have never been through SIN (shame on me !).

Any advice welcomed on which is likely to be the preferable option.

Any anecdotal experiences of trying to get through checking of bags from LHR onto CX if on a separate ticket also welcomed.

Swiss Tony

Don't forget about KUL...

Also, I know from past experience that if you go to the transit counters at BKK and SIN, they will go and fish your bags off the reclaim belt then re-tag them for your final destination.

SIN is probably best for immigration speed, then HKG so long as you get there before 5pm (I think that's the rule).

Badly policed priority immigration lines are my memory of KUL.

windowontheAside

You shouldn't have any problems checking bags through to another OW carrier on different tickets.

In the circs you describe, I'd pick the one that offered me the best combination of flight times, unless you have many choices to get to your final destination.

Too much travel

I'm struggling to think of a reason why a OW connecting flight via HKG (or indeed via KUL post March 2015) would involve a re checking-in...

DANNYB111

Does this not depend on what your final destination in Asia is...?

Japan is another option for onwards with JAL.

MrSimonR

I've done this many times - transitting through SIN/HKG/KUL/BKK for an onward flight to DPS.

For the best stress-free travel, I would advise staying overnight when you arrive at the BA gateway and continuing onwards in the morning. I have seen too many stressed and sweating passengers, worrying all through their 12 hour flights about missing their onward connections. It's just not worth it.

HKG has the Regal Hotel connected to the airport. BKK has the Novotel connected to the airport. SIN has a transit hotel (fairly grotty) within the airport.

If you wish to transfer straight through, then the best options are:
* A BA-CX connection at HKG, as BA will tag the bags through to your final destination. However, depending on where you are travelling to, there may be no same day connection.
* A BA-MH connection at KUL. Same will apply. The bags MUST be tagged through, as there can be incredibly long waits for immigration.
* A BA-XX connection at SIN. Riskier, as you will need to collect bags and re-check them (I don't think the transfer counter will fish our bags for on onward on JQ or other LCC). I would allow a minimum of 3 hours between flights and have a back-up plan (ie know when the next flight is, if you miss it, or buy refundable tickets even on the next flight as a back-up).

Frequentflyer99

Thanks for the helpful advice. I thought that people often encountered issues getting bags through checked by BA where the OW connecting flight was on a different ticket.

BA have refused to do it for me (at the F check-in at LHR where the agents are generally at their most helpful), when I had an onward AA flight on a separate PNR. I even got the check-in agent to ask someone else and they also said it could not be done

EuropeanPete

All the named Asian airports are reasonably friendly, reliable and round the clock - As someone else has pointed out, it really depends on where you'd like to go.

My favourite is probably HKG (partly because of the CX links), but as I'm more frequently in South East Asia I usually use either KUL or BKK.

Swiss Tony

In terms of airport hotels, note that KUL has a Pan Pacific attached to it (with a very speedy golf cart transfer available if you don't want to walk) whilst Changi also has the very nice Crowne Plaza landside in T3.

Jenzo

I thought that when arriving into the USA you always need to recheck your bag and clear customs so that is the reason why i think.

KARFA

Frequentflyer99, Jenzo is correct. If you are arriving at a US airport no carrier can check your bags onwards in such a way that you do not have to pick them up at your first port of entry. The agent may be able to check them through in terms of producing a bag tag which does say your final destination, but your bags will be put on the bag belt at the first port of entry for you to collect and take through customs yourself. After that you can bag drop at the check in desks for AA and your bag can go on to the connecting flight.

MrSimonR

That's not correct.

Your bags can be tagged to their final destination, even if transitting in the USA, even if you will be required to collect them and re-check them a few steps later.

Some US airports don't require you to collect the bags, if it has the ITI facility.

KARFA

Yes, we are saying the same thing but just to clarify what I put there is a difference between

1) checking a bag as in merely producing and affixing a bag tag to the final destination; and
2) checking a bag such that it is transfered from one flight to another without your intervention.

In Frequentflyer99 I would have expected 1) should have been done (has been done for me in the past with BA metal arriving in USA and conencting on to a AA flight), but 2) is not something which can be done when you are arrivng from outside the USA and connecting onwards.

Sam Bee

Called the Sama Sama now - they have also added an airside hotel, and one in the new Low Cost Terminal. I worked out it was my most stayed at hotel in the world (in terms of number of visits rather than length of stay) mainly due to always having to catch the daytime KUL-LHR MH flight.

Again I would say it comes down to destination - for example if it was Bali i've flown numerous times via KUL with a 3 hour connection via the low cost terminal knowing the worst case scenario is shelling out about Ł100 on a new MH / Air Asia flight, or Singapore for Jakarta due to their being a flight about every 30 minutes. And i've never missed my onward flight as buying a replacement tends to be cheaper than a night at an airport hotel (well, at Changi anyway!).

But if you were flying to say, Tioman, or somewhere with 3 flights a week, the advice would differ.

Frequentflyer99

To clarify, the destination is Vietnam, although undecided in which order to visit Hanoi and HCMC.

KUL does not seem to be an option, as this will be before the BA service starts (or resumes ?).

The issue with the BA / AA flights, was that the BA F check-in agents were adamant that they could not tag the bags through onto an AA flight on a separate PNR, which would have enabled me to use the quick bag drop at the US gateway once I had cleared local customs. It seems they were wrong (I thought I knew that at the time), but knowing they are wrong is no real help if they won't do it. From memory, I am not alone in having encountered this problem (I think I have seen other threads in which this has been discussed).

My preference would be not to overnight at the gateway if I can help it.