Transit at Phuket (HKT)
May 2, 2017, 4:44 am
#91
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Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 139
Took TG927 Frankfurt-Bangkok. A HUGE mistake , admittedly of my own making by not looking at the timing. I knew it was via Phuket but didn't notice it's 2.5-3 hour stop. I'd assumed 60 or 90 minutes.
Phuket was complete chaos/shambles: 1 immigration officer for arriving transit passengers, dreadful lounge, no showers.
Arrival in Bangkok, bus to terminal, luggage took more than 70 minutes to the belt (and that for J, heaven knows when the last bag came out).
In the air, ok; on the ground, bloody awful.
Phuket was complete chaos/shambles: 1 immigration officer for arriving transit passengers, dreadful lounge, no showers.
Arrival in Bangkok, bus to terminal, luggage took more than 70 minutes to the belt (and that for J, heaven knows when the last bag came out).
In the air, ok; on the ground, bloody awful.
May 2, 2017, 9:10 am
#92
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: SE ASIA
Programs: SQ KF GO, OZ GO, QR PC PLAT, TG ROP SL, LCAH SL, IHG SPIRE, Marriott BONVOY GO, HILTON GO
Posts: 641
Updates from my Turnaround trip over Easter
I have no experience with immidiate turn-arounds at HKT, but I think your safest bet is to approach the staff (TG or contractor staff?) awaiting in/at the end of the aerobridge and explain your situation.
Just to let you know that there is contradicting information here on FF whether one can stay airside upon disembarkation at HKT when doing a transfer/turn-around. I guess you will have to try it out yourself, but pls let us know how it turned out for you.
Just to let you know that there is contradicting information here on FF whether one can stay airside upon disembarkation at HKT when doing a transfer/turn-around. I guess you will have to try it out yourself, but pls let us know how it turned out for you.
To make a long story short - I can't say whether there is a transit connection route as after waiting & explaining my situation to the airline & the immigration staff, I just gave up and went straight to Immigration as there was no long lines and I managed to exit in less than 5 min.
I would like to read about the experiences of a Thai speaker who tried this and post an update. Perhaps certain parts of what I had said to the ground staff was lost in translation when it was repeated to the Immigration officers
Or perhaps there really was no other way to transit without exiting immigration.
May 2, 2017, 9:23 am
#93
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: SE ASIA
Programs: SQ KF GO, OZ GO, QR PC PLAT, TG ROP SL, LCAH SL, IHG SPIRE, Marriott BONVOY GO, HILTON GO
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ex-HKT deals are awesome!
I tried this in October 2016 when I bought one of those HKT-KUL-LHR deals in J. It was impossible.
I flew MH in J KUL-HKT. At the F check in counter in KUL I tried to get them to call ahead to arrange it but they couldn't (they never seem particularly awake at that counter though). They also couldn't print my HKT-KUL-LHR boarding pass.
In flight I befriended the purser and asked him to ask the ground personnel to facilitate a transit as I was flying straight back on MH to KUL. He tried very hard in my presence when we landed, but the ground staff were adamant that there was no way to transit and were not going to make an exception.
The only bright spot was that I avoided the horrendous immigration queue by using the shorter queue for people who need special visas, on the thin grounds that I needed a transit visa.
Edit: I've just noticed you're on immediate turnaround. That's a very challenging situation. I'd rebook your flight if possible. If not possible, make the staff on board the incoming aircraft aware so they at least might wait for you slightly longer before declaring you a no show, but be aware that check in may well have closed by the time you clear immigration. Exit immigration can also be rather slow.
I'll be delighted to hear if there is now a transit facility, but the above is my late 2016 experience, and it's why I wouldn't try an immediate turnaround.
I flew MH in J KUL-HKT. At the F check in counter in KUL I tried to get them to call ahead to arrange it but they couldn't (they never seem particularly awake at that counter though). They also couldn't print my HKT-KUL-LHR boarding pass.
In flight I befriended the purser and asked him to ask the ground personnel to facilitate a transit as I was flying straight back on MH to KUL. He tried very hard in my presence when we landed, but the ground staff were adamant that there was no way to transit and were not going to make an exception.
The only bright spot was that I avoided the horrendous immigration queue by using the shorter queue for people who need special visas, on the thin grounds that I needed a transit visa.
Edit: I've just noticed you're on immediate turnaround. That's a very challenging situation. I'd rebook your flight if possible. If not possible, make the staff on board the incoming aircraft aware so they at least might wait for you slightly longer before declaring you a no show, but be aware that check in may well have closed by the time you clear immigration. Exit immigration can also be rather slow.
I'll be delighted to hear if there is now a transit facility, but the above is my late 2016 experience, and it's why I wouldn't try an immediate turnaround.
Because I didn't want to miss my onward flight to KUL/LHR, I had changed my connecting flights so that they were no longer an immediate turnaround (I now had 3-4 hrs in between flights) in both directions.
There are several uncertainties at play here for such a turnaround e.g. immigration lines, check in counter, OLCI & BP etc. but when things go right (as they did during my trip), the tight turnaround can be done.
I guess one would have to weigh the benefits & consequences of such a decision - tight turnaround times @60 mins. or a long wait in the lounge or airport of @3-4 hours.
So while I can't tell u of a new transit facility or route for connecting pax because I didn't find it, I can confirm that MH pilots will hold the plane for late arriving bags as well as pax coming in from Immigration, and the airport bus will even ferry just 1 pax from gate to the airplane.
Something useful to note for other members who may want to try such a turnaround in the future.
Good luck & thanks again to all those who posted of their past experiences at HKT!
May 2, 2017, 9:48 am
#94
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 905
Thx for sharing your experience with TG927 transit at HKT
I'm considering a similar flight next year, TG953 CPH-BKK which departs in the evening but is via HKT. I gather from your post that you had to leave the aircraft and also to clear immigration at HKT (and continue to BKK as if you took a domestic flight).
There was no possibility to bypass immigration at HKT and to clear at BKK?
Did you have to collect bags at HKT, clear customs and re-check-in bags for the flight to BKK?
You mention that there was 1 immigraton officer for arriving transit passengers, but assuming that transit passengers at HKT are likely to be very few, there was a long queue for immigration at HKT?
I'm considering a similar flight next year, TG953 CPH-BKK which departs in the evening but is via HKT. I gather from your post that you had to leave the aircraft and also to clear immigration at HKT (and continue to BKK as if you took a domestic flight).
There was no possibility to bypass immigration at HKT and to clear at BKK?
Did you have to collect bags at HKT, clear customs and re-check-in bags for the flight to BKK?
You mention that there was 1 immigraton officer for arriving transit passengers, but assuming that transit passengers at HKT are likely to be very few, there was a long queue for immigration at HKT?
I should have known this wasn't going to be a great experience when the checkin lady in Frankfurt asked me " You know this is via Phuket"? ( with raised eyebrows).
I guess there were about 40 transit passengers, more than half from business cabin. It was all very odd, up, down, around....roped-off areas, closed doors and finally a bad lounge with poor aircon and nowhere to sit.
The last straw for me was the luggage delivery delay: more than 70 minutes actually standing at the carousel; we saw 2 flights come and go at the next carousel. Maybe that's beyond Thai's control but it's not a great look when any passenger has to wait that long, let alone more than 20 J passengers flying/transit for 16 hours.
May 2, 2017, 7:40 pm
#95
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: BKK
Programs: TG ROP Platinum, M&M Senator, IHG Platinum, Accor Platinum
Posts: 8,322
it's a nice idea to please thousands of tourists by flying from European destinations through Phuket. But if they piss off many more paying business passengers with improvised and insufficient services, long lay over and waiting, this will backfire!
May 11, 2017, 3:02 am
#96
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Global
Posts: 5,998
Update - My HKT Transit Experience Today
Just a follow up to add to the knowledge of this thread.
(Side note: My BKK-HKT flight 1 week ago gated at the international terminal and we walked to domestic for luggage and exit.)
Short version - TG gets an A+ on the ground. Arrived at the airport about 12:20, at the "lounge" 12:40.
Long version...
My flight is HKT-BKK-International. (BKK-International is in TG first)
Arrived at 12:20 pm. Walked to the Silk counter. There was no baggage pre-screen. No line at Silk counter. The agent offered to put me on the earlier flight at 1:30 pm. I happily accepted.
At BKK...
We were at a bus gate. (aka International gate)
Without the escort/van/buggy/etc probably 20-25 minutes or more longer.
All and all an excellent ground experience from TG. ^^^^
Thanks to all here who gave me advice before the flight.
(Side note: My BKK-HKT flight 1 week ago gated at the international terminal and we walked to domestic for luggage and exit.)
Short version - TG gets an A+ on the ground. Arrived at the airport about 12:20, at the "lounge" 12:40.
Long version...
My flight is HKT-BKK-International. (BKK-International is in TG first)
Arrived at 12:20 pm. Walked to the Silk counter. There was no baggage pre-screen. No line at Silk counter. The agent offered to put me on the earlier flight at 1:30 pm. I happily accepted.
- Bags checked. He handed my passport and boarding passes to a TG lady behind me. (Startled me a bit.
) She proactively said she would walk me to the front of the line at customs and security. - Walked me to the ticket check line and opened the area to the left to let me pass through. Probably a 5-minute line without an escort.
- Walked me to the far left crew line for customs and then the security line. The regular line looked to be about 10 minutes for customs.
- Walked me to the "lounge" and told me to find a seat. She checked me into the lounge and handed my bp and passport back.The lounge is as others have described. We departed out of a domestic gate.
At BKK...
We were at a bus gate. (aka International gate)
- Sign with my name upon exiting. Led me down to a waiting van, bypassing the bus.
- Took a (relatively long) buggy ride from there up to a security area to rescreen. (Didn't seem like the CIQ area. Maybe it was.) There was a short line there, but, I get the feeling if it was longer, he would have taken me to the front.
- Walked me to the FC lounge.
Without the escort/van/buggy/etc probably 20-25 minutes or more longer.
All and all an excellent ground experience from TG. ^^^^
Thanks to all here who gave me advice before the flight.
Aug 9, 2017, 12:48 am
#98
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: BKK
Programs: TG ROP Platinum, M&M Senator, IHG Platinum, Accor Platinum
Posts: 8,322
if you fly international (to any international destination or transit in BKK and then further to a international destination) you check in at the international terminal
TG927 is coming from FRA and continue to BKK. So if you fly only HKT BKK, you check in at domestic terminal
Nov 15, 2017, 9:54 pm
#101
Join Date: May 2013
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Guess I should have scrolled back Will update with new experience to see if anything has changed. I am doing 1h50min turnaround. (Rebooked from 50min...)
Will update with new experience to see if anything has changed. I am doing 1h50min turnaround. (Rebooked from 50min...)
Nov 16, 2017, 6:41 am
#102
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: SE ASIA
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1 hr 50 mins is plenty o' time
Let us know how it went, though I suspect things haven't changed since I was there last Apr.
If u think it's taking too long to ask questions then just head out via immigration and tell the officer that u are transiting ...
It helps if u are traveling in J or if u have the APEC card.
Which airline and wru heading to?
Feb 15, 2019, 12:39 pm
#103
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
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Posts: 11,809
TG953 from CPH
Contemplating buying a CPH-BKK return ticket on TG (although expensive). If I choose TG953 CPH-BKK with a technical stop in HKT, will I be able to get off at HKT? (without risk of no-show and my return flight being cancelled by TG). It is one flight No. and one ticket coupon for CPH-HKT-BKK, so there will be no unused flight/coupon to no-show for. As I recall it from previous TG953 flights all pax have to disembark at HKT and clear Thai immigration and customs. I assume this means that even checked luggage will be off-loaded at HKT and you have to collect it at the luggage belts and drop it off at a counter after you have cleared customs?
The reason for asking is that CPH-HKT/BKK-CPH is far more expensive that CPH-BKK return.
The reason for asking is that CPH-HKT/BKK-CPH is far more expensive that CPH-BKK return.
Feb 15, 2019, 2:53 pm
#104
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I don't know how it would turn out in terms of ticket validity, but you would definitely be missed. I'd expect TG staff to try really hard to find you.
Feb 15, 2019, 4:20 pm
#105
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You can buy a cheap BKK-HKT return for THB 2400....if HKT is really where you want to go?