Kacee

Not normally, but those who make their status exclusively on business travel may be flying Y for personal trips.

RTWFF

Depends on the duration. I certainly don't fly Business Class to/from any port in Cambodia, for example

skywalkerLAX

Certainly not going to waste money on the mediocre service that MH etc offer on KUL-BKK unless I buy one of the cheap RT's originating from BKK.

CX with the regional J Class on HKG-BKK was also terrible last week - never again. I tend to buy Y for anything up to 3 hours flight. What's the value in having status otherwise?

dsquared37

I'm top tier in both OW and *A and have had moderate success with vouchers since the changeover. Some airlines have explicitly said they don't give vouchers based solely upon status anymore, some have given them freely and, for my most recent entry, was told to roll the dice and give it a try. So far i've had no problems when attempting their use nor have I been asked for a BP in concert with the voucher. I'd be very curious to know if PG still gives vouchers to their Premier pax; I dropped status with them earlier this year after maintaining it for 7 years (and that's predominantly where my stash of old brown cards came from).

I'm also amused by the POV that Y pax should be cut off from priority lane access. IME entry has never been backed up more than 5 pax deep and the only reasons exit immi has been problematic is due to security. I guarantee monks will still be gaining access regardless of class of service, as will crew, wheelchairs and seniors in the know.

/shrug

BinSabai

and infants, pregnant females, disabled people, with diplomatic passports, BOI Privilege, Thai Elite, APAC Cards etc.etc.etc.

SKT-DK

To sum up: every man and his dog, then..

Although I have only ever had issues with the departure premium lane being a free-for-all, not arrivals - and I have only seen the "Only with First or Business Class" sign upon arrival, not departure... Wonder what meaning they attribute to the word "consistency"

dsquared37

Thainess.

/runs for cover

dsquared37

Exactly, Y pax are a pittance of those in line and hardly the problem. I'm trying to understand the angle of how the airport intends to make money on this because, let's be real, every policy implemented is about nothing more than how to put money in some self appointed VIP's pocket.

newshound

Can confirm they are getting hot on this, even the ambassador of a middle eastern country was getting grief from the immigration officer for not having his fast track card when I passed through on Friday night !

Thai-Kiwi

A diplomat should not require a fast track card if entering on the basis of his status through the Diplomatic/Crew/APAC lane ...

... so I am amazed that Thai officials would be giving grief to a diplomat (especially an Ambassador) about a fast track card unless there was something else amiss.

dsquared37

Demanding a fast track card to use fast track is not what I'd call getting hot, rather simply a necessity.

BinSabai

those have diplomatic passport and do not require a fast track card.... and an ambassador should get an escort as well… have seen much lower ranking officials or VIP's getting pick up and escort….

newshound

Well my point is that they should have just allowed an ambassador use of the priority lane without question but the escort had to remonstrate with the official for a while before she finally relented and processed him. I just found it quite amusing to watch it all go down, that's all.

Thai-Kiwi

Which priority lane, specifically, did you see this? Was it signposted as Diplomatic or was it Fast Track? Just wondering if the issue was not using the correct fast track lane (which shouldn't actually matter...)

tg911

Out of curiosity i had an online chat with a company who stated unlike some other company's they still provided fast track service to economy class passengers .
https://www.limousine.in.th/fast-track-immigration.html