Originally Posted by
EarthTrekker
I've been in contact with THAISmile Airlines, and they are providing us with a credit for future flights.
Sorry i just saw this thread, but I think you did well there, as my understanding is that they were technically correct in directing you through main immigration, as CIQ is only valid for TG>WE (whereas JQ>TG on separate tickets would've been fine)
I've come in on various airlines and connected through the CIQ shortcut on separate tickets with Thai and Bangkok Air with no problem, but when I tried 2 weeks ago QR to HKT on Thai Smile, they said they would only print boarding passes if I was connecting from Thai. I presume it's because WE is low cost (my fare was something like 20 USD!); if I had been booked on the same flight with a TG code (more than 3x the fare), the adjacent TG desk would have happily issued the BP
To be fair to WE, that's the same policy that virtually all other LCCs have - you can't interline onto Southwest Easyjet or Ryanair, and they don't have airside transfer desks - you have to go to the main check in
Luckily in my case I had a screenshot of the online check in boarding pass on my phone, which CIQ security was able to scan and let me through anyway (I was then issued with a paper BP at the gate)