need advice on getting from US to HKT; minimum connect time to transfer BKK dom/intl
 

Am trying to fly family from different points in the US to HKT for my wedding using miles. For some reason flights inbound seem fine (plenty of sensible connections from mideast or Asian hubs direct to HKT). However, the return flights seem to not have a lot of options that i see on expertflyer other than Cathay who don't seem to release seats until close in which probably doesn't work for us.

Is the best bet to fly a local carrier HKT to BKK then book an award ticket from there? Would i be able to interline bags from HKT to the final destination for all alliances or would I need to pickup bags in BKK and re-check and finally, any thoughts on minimum time needed to clear domestic arrival to int'l departure.

Finally, in the cases that I can get people from US into BKK on an award but not into HKT, any thoughts on minimum connection time needed to go from int'l arrival into bkk to domestic departure? (same interline questions apply here as well). Any other nuances i should know about the transfer?

sorry for all the questions but have been banging my head on a wall for the last few hours.

thanks
DrG

No need to bang you head about this. Connections works very well at BKK, even when on separate tickets.

If you book HKT-BKK on TG, your bags will certainly be tagged to final destination. TG at HKT is doing this very well and frequently, even for non Star Alliance partners. I dont know for PG. Please keep in mind that there are 2 airports in BKK; your international connection will be from BKK rather than DMK. Please make sure you dont book a low cost carrier to/from DMK.

When connecting from HKT to internation flights at BKK, you will clear immigration at HKT. There is no addition check at BKK - just follow the signs upon disembarkation, take the escalators up and clear the security check, then you be on departure level. You may need to pick-up your onward boarding pass at a transfer desk BKK (airside transfer desks), but that will not take you long.

I believe the minimum connecting time at BKK is 75 min. No need to plan excessive lay overs at BKK. If your int. flight to BKK for some reason is delayed you would be able to rebook your domestic ticket for a modest fee or if everything fails, buy a new ticket (domestic fares in Thailand are very reasonable so it will not be a disaster even if you were forced to buy a new ticket to HKT)

thank you so much. Just to clarify, if someone were to have two separate tickets. One domestic from HKT to BKK and separately an international ticket BKK to somewhere outside thailand, is it still as you describe above? (clearing immigration at HKT?) I'd imagine not in which case i'm wondering the process involved once you land from your HKT-BKK flight in BKK airport.

thanks so much.

If departing HKT on TG/PG there is a very good chance the onward (BKK-XXX) international flights can have bags interlined. So long as the bags can be sent on their way from HKT you can access immigration there and avoid doing anything in BKK save transfer security.

If, for whatever reason, checked bags need to be picked up in BKK then pax would need to collect their bags and head upstairs to the 4th floor to check in and re-check their bags. Then to go through immigration in BKK.

The second scenario is more involved and time consuming but not horrible. It really depends upon which airlines are involved.

I was about to post the same thing. Not all local carriers to HKT fly out of Suvarnabhumi. If you're trying to connect and have to transfer across town at the wrong time of day, good luck with that.

As dsquared37 already explained even on separate tickets you will clear immigration at HKT if bags are tagged to final destination (this requires an interlining agreement between the carriers, but most legacy carriers have interlining agreements with at least TG = TG would be able to do this for most carriers departing BKK)

I have done this a few times from HKT and CNX with separate domestic tickets on TG and it works like a charm. When you land at BKK you just follow the signs for international connections (rather than exit/baggage claim area) and you will get to the departure gates/transit area - it is not complicated at all.

Thanks so much SK AAR, Tchiowa and dsquared. This is extremely helpful. We are flying with my future mother-in-law (who is older and not fluent in english or thai) HKT-BKK but we are staying in BKK while she is flying onward. Given that she can interline bags and that the int'l connection seems pretty straight forward at BKK i feel much more comfortable about things.

DrG

Thru check on separate tickts
 

Hi, I'm about to go this route myself soon (currently have LHR-BKK TG award flights on J, and looking to book HKT-BKK on a separate TG economy ticket for the return journey, with 2.5hr connection in BKK before heading on to LHR) and have some related questions.:

1) At HKT check-in, I would be getting boarding passes for both segments (HKT-BKK and BKK-LHR) despite being on separate tickets, yes?
2) In case of IRROPs and I miss the BKK-LHR segment, would TG cover me?

Sorry if this has already been asked before, but info is hard to come by on TG website! Many thanks!

http://suvarnabhumiairport.com/en/22...-boarding-pass

http://suvarnabhumiairport.com/en/10...-boarding-pass

http://suvarnabhumiairport.com/en/10...ernational-ciq

Yes

Most likely yes (but no guarantee). Most likely the TG check-in agent will link your reservations when you check-in at HKT.

I would book this itinerary without hesitation.

Thank you transpac and SK AAR - most useful!

delete