How does Air China handle missed connection from another airline (in BKK)?
 

I have Air China booked BKK-PEK-YVR in April. Departure from BKK is 7:35PM. I need to book a separate ticket from HKT-BKK as I am ending my vacation in Phuket. My plan is to book this on VietJet as they are the cheapest option and fly directly to BKK for an easier connection. My two options are:

HKT-BKK arriving 11:50am
HKT-BKK arriving 2:55pm

Obviously, the later one will make for a much nicer layover in BKK of 4.5 hrs instead of 7.5 hrs. However, I am scared that if the VietJet flight is significantly delayed, I will miss my Air China flight home.

My question is, if VietJet fails to get me to BKK in time, will Air China just tell me too bad so sad or will they put me on the next flight? It seems they would have no obligation as it is my responsibility to get to the airport in time, but in practice, what is common?

I would be curious to give Thai VietJet a try. Just out of interest - how much is the ticket and how big are the cost savings vs. other operators (Thai Airways / Thai Smile, Bangkok Airways)?

I guess the other question you need to ask yourself is if my Plan A fails what opportunities do I have to rebook myself on another carrier? Going for the earlier flight might give you more options to recover.

The other option is to go back to BKK a day earlier and make an overnight stay of it.

I typically go through BKK on separate tickets a few times a year. Int'l to int'l almost always, so ideally like to avoid going landside - if possible - on shorter 'connections'.

I've never had any issues catching the next flight w/ anything from around 2h to 10h between flights.

I would be comfortable with the option 4.5h here - especially as there is no need to deal with immigration on arrival. Obviously would need to be prepared to buy a new ticket to Canada (or whatever the final destination is), but this is highly unlikely anyways.

If you have a bit more time, I would recommend going to the Novotel - either pay for a day room or just pay to use their gym (incl. pool, sauna).

You are better off to book Thai and have a 4-5 hours lay over, or come one day in advance and stay over in airport hotel for safety.

Air China is not very flexible on missed departure unless you are a Platinum card holder, which sometimes you get one time exception.

Appreciate the advice. I will likely book the earlier flight. The VietJet flight has only been more than 2 hrs late twice in the past 3 months, but the thought of missing the Air China flight home and re-booking for my family (kids 3 and 6) is too daunting.

I think that's a good idea. There's also plenty of flights HKT-BKK in the event your VietJet flight is delayed on the day.

Bear in mind that CA check-in opens strictly 3 hours prior to departure and is flight specific (i.e. you cannot check-in at CA980 desk for CA 716). No early check-in as in e.g. SIN.

Looks like a long, boring day ahead of you...

.

OP, have you tried calling CA to see what it would cost to change your flight to go straight from Phuket to Bejieng?

Not that this applies here, but have checked in airside for CA BKK-PEK. They had a separate counter for this flight, and it similarly opened 2-3h before the flight.

If I were you I would book tickets with TG or PG - they appear to be much more reliable in terms of delays etc.

You could also book the Vietjet flight (the later with 4:30h connection time) with a back-up plan to make a last minute purchase of tickets with TG or PG in case the Vietjet flight is seriously late. Often last minute domestic fares in Thailand are very reasonable unless high season or the flight being (close to) sold out. Most likely it will work out fine with your Vietjet flight but in the unlikely event that this flight is seriously delayed or cancelled there are other options to get to BKK in time.

In general, Air China will not/should not allow you to rebook for free in case you miss the BKK-PEK flight. As you are aware it is none of their business if your previous flight on a separate ticket is running late or cancelled and you miss the CA flight. I would expect you to being asked to pay rebooking fee + likely upfare to get on the flight a day later.