Originally Posted by
bp888
Would an hour be considered a decent amount of time? Are there places to sit in the baggage claim hall? I see in the map that SaigonCyclo linked to that there are shops/restaurants between baggage claim and the meet-and-greet area outside Customs, are the entrances to these shops at the public side?
My pleasure. Glad I can be of help-- returning the favor for all that FT has done for me and whatnot.
IIRC, there are a few seating areas inside the baggage claim hall. Nothing particularly comfy, but if peace-and-quiet is more important than comfort, this should work well. I think you'd be fine for a couple of hours. If someone came over to offer you assistance, you can just say you're waiting for someone and you'll be fine. I wouldn't worry at all. I've done it for a few hours at ICN without any problems.
I don't think there are any restaurants in the baggage claim area. I can't recall seeing any. The symbols on the maps probably indicate a small duty-free stand inside the baggage claim area, your last-ditch opportunity for duty-free shopping in the megamall that airplanes happen to park at. The others are just outside customs.
If you want a restaurant or the like to chill out in, your best bet would be to exit customs, go up to the departures level, then go up again to the SkyTerrace (or whatever it's called) up above the departures hall. That has a bunch of restaurants and should have nice views of the airport and airfield. You can watch for your friends plane to come in and use that as your cue to go downstairs to meet him at the exit from customs.