Originally Posted by
bkkchriss4
I was on UA882 on 2/22.
There was as always a dedicated 1k/C line, yes the line was long, but maybe only 20-30 people rather than easily 200+ in the Y line. There also was a dedicated GS/F line which had no one waiting and once you went thru the little security questions they were using for C check in as well.
I was at the airport at my normal 5:00 and was in the lounge at 6:00. They were handing out FastTrack passes which is new for United in BKK.
Yes BKK tends to be a bit of a mess in general, but try re-routing a cancelled 747 overbooked (as most of the BKK-NRT flights tend to be) onto a week of already overbooked flights! Not easy even in the best managed UA outpost.
FYI I was on a confirmed NC ticket. No problems. In fact I have always had good experiences on UA through BKK for the most part. Except for the ungodly early flight
Chris
Not to question your experience, but were you on the 2/22 flight or the 2/23 flight? Because if you were confirmed on the 2/22 flight as I was, which is the subject of the thread, then your experience was "unique". The C and F lines were the longest of any, probably because those two lines are nearest to the entrance to the UA check-in area and the heavy crowding left many people trailing outside and not knowing that the line ended up leading to the C and F check-in lines. I walked around that horrendous line and went to the shorter *A check-in line where I waited for almost two hours. And as I indicated, I arrived at the airport at 4:30 AM (you arrived at 5:00 AM). I too was confirmed in NC for the 2/22 flight. I received no fast-track pass and I did not see any other passengers receiving any either.
Regarding your comment about not being easy for UA to manage overbooking situations during a busy travel week, that would be a huge understatement, there were no UA personnel providing any information, or trying to organize the crowd in the hundreds. The only UA personnel presence outside of the counters themselves, were at two or three lines where they asked the purfunctory security-related questions and then gave those UA security stickers to place on lapels. But most lines did not even have those staff, as was the case in my line, so I faced no security questions or sticker (not that its an effective practice).