Question for TPE experts - frustrating 'connection' today [flying China Airlines]
Was rather annoyed today... Given that CI don't have their own section and this could be applicable to TPE in general, I hope I get some clarity here.
Had the following flights booked (separate tickets quite obviously) today:
4V201 YNY-TPE (T1) 10.05-12.05 (Fly Gangwon from Yangyang in Korea); was at gate around 11.40
CI751 TPE(T1)-SIN 14.20-19.15
What happened:
1) got to the CI transfer desk in T1 and they refused to issue a BP
2) Was a J passenger, no checked luggage and no issues with the ticket or status for entry to Singapore
3) I sort of understood that they had an issue with the fact that I arrived on Fly Gangwon, "a low-cost carrier"
[ worth noting that my colleague who had a J ticket with TG to BKK was told by information desk that it's not worth his while trying to get a BP at the transfer desk]
4) ended up entering Taiwan, getting a BP landside and back through immigration (so wasted an hour or something with this process)
In what bizarro world does CI not issue a BP at their airside transfer desk? What difference does it make what airline you fly in on?
Is there a real reason for this? I get that airlines will not check bags through on separate tickets (well SQ do), but today's experience was strange.
Should I just have cancelled the CI ticket and booked SQ TPE-SIN to get a BP airside? (was trying to save money by flying CI...)
Safe to say I'm not overly keen to go via TPE any time soon (last time I did it on separate tickets was SQ to CZ a couple of years ago). Have never been a huge fan of CI to start with but no issues with the flight itself.