Hi,
I'm going to be in Siem Reap in January (2011). My tour group (Backroads) strongly suggests that I leave a day between my departure from Siem Reap and my international flight. This "buffer day" is due to the fact that airline schedules are always subject to change. Has anyone scheduled a flight out of Siem Reap with the ultimate destination being the U.S. and experienced difficulty? Should I book a buffer day (and a stay in a hotel)?
Thanks for info on any firsthand experiences in flights departing from Siem Reap (REP).

Your tour company's "suggestion" sounds like they have booked you on separate tickets from REP to X and X to the US: this means that, if you miss your connection, you're screwed. What airlines and route are you flying on?

Anyway, this is Cambodia -- it's not so much that airline schedules are subject to change, as that airline companies operating in the country are subject to bankruptcy and disappearing overnight.

Actually, I'm the one booking the flights and they're just an "on the ground" tour company. I'm looking to book a Korean Air flight leaving Siem Reap at 11:30 pm and arriving at ICN at 6:40am, with a 4 hour layover before I board a 10:40 flight to JFK. This is all on Korean Air. Since it's the same airline, I assume that if there's a delay, I'll be taken care of... I was just wondering if anyone has ever experienced significant delays leaving Siem Reap and if a buffer day is indeed warranted. I'm guessing that my tour company is just being super cautious or is operating on outdated info...

The decision on buffer or not depends on your schedule flexibility (i.e do you have to report back to work in JFK on a certain day), and whether you can come up with a reliable plan B to get you back on track, should you have irregular ops due to weather, mechanical, or any other reason. In what you are proposing, I'd say there is no reliable plan B. The Korean flight leaves late at night, and there is likely no other option to get you into ICN in time to get a connection to JFK. If it is all on one PNR, then KE is responsible for getting you back to JFK on another flight, another route, another carrier etc. But if you are time-sensitive on return date to New York, you could have problems. I would certainly not do this without a buffer if I had inflexible plans and if I could not get this all on one PNR for protection. Keep in mind that flights out of REP in January are often booked solid. Though by road to Phnom Penh and flying out of there to somewhere is a possible backup option.

On the other hand, if the connection was something like: a 9 am flight on Bangkok Airways REP-BKK and a 9 pm flight BKK-NRT-JFK, I'd risk no buffer, as there are plenty of other PG flights if the original one goes by the wayside, and PNH or overland to Thailand/BKK is a backup option if all other flights are full, in order to still make the BKK airport for the flight out.

Hmmm, thanks jiejie. I think I'll look into morning flights out of REP. I'm under no time constraint at all, but one of the problems with flying to ICN is that the flights I've seen seem to be at night, so a screw-up in the first flight really does have a huge impact. BKK probably would be a better choice.

It is something to keep in mind. Cambo is still a developing country, so it is wise to watch this. You could fly to Bangkok for a day and then get a flight from there to Seoul -- that would, in my opinion, have a greater chance of no mishaps or interruptions.

I think that the issue is one PNR or two from REP to JFK.

If on one, you'll be protected by KE in case of irreg ops, and I honestly can't see any benefit whatsoever in introducing an additional stop (BKK) and additional airline (Bangkok Airways). If on two, then I'd concur with your TA and advise planning on an additional day in Seoul.

[My wife and I flew to/from Siem Reap on SilkAir (SQ subsidiary) from SIN, and it could not have been more dependable.]

I would especially avoid BKK at this time. If you have one ticket passage through ICN, Korean will take care of you if there is a misconnect. REP is a small airport and delays are not usually a problem, but flights are limited.