Arriving TG 260 at 10:25 pm
Departing next morning on UA 890 at 6:40 am
(There's an earlier flight via SFO on ANA but I'm on award seats and well, you know the drill about avails on UA metal vs. *A. Bigger bummer is I was on a TG flight at 10:40am that was changed due to new schedules and an illegal connection).

I figure this 8 hours (or more like 11pm to 5:30 boarding is 6.5 hrs) really isn't enough time to leave the airport and barely worth the expense of the BKK Novotel if it's $210 or more. My understanding is the slumber rooms are only in the FC lounge (I'm flying Business and am *G).

So here's the question, how do I and my wife (who likes to crash at 10PM) spend that time? In the old Don Muang there were cheap sleep rooms in the airport behind security but I think the Novotel is the only option at the new BKK. Is there a better option than finding a corner of a Royal Silk loungue and lying on the floor to catch a few hours sleep between blaring TV's?

Actually there are several decently priced hotels around BKK (around USD $30-40 a night)...if you do not mind taking a 5-10 minute shuttle to the hotels. Hotels in Bangkok are extremely cheap right now since there aren't many tourists around.

Check this site out:

http://www.hoteltravel.com/thailand/...el_airport.htm

Thanks Nov but do you think with 6.5 hrs that makes sense or if I leave the airport do I really have only 5.5 hrs if I need to be back 2 hrs before deaprture?

I don't really know what your options are in the airport itself. To me, it's worth the $40 for a night. Plus. you don't really have to be at the airport 2 hours prior. BKK is pretty dead that early in the morning. I managed to check-in 25 minutes before departure once and I was running to the gate with 5 minutes to spare (not that you should check-in 25 minutes before ).

United usually departs from the closer D gates (D2/4) at BKK.

There's also the Louis Tavern Dayrooms in Concourse G airside. A four hour block is THB2200 for two people sharing.

So arrive in BKK, use the lounge for a while, grab a room around 12-1am for 4 hours, and head back to the lounge........

IIRC, it's first come, first serve, no prebooking.

I'd head to the downtown. It's more or less of 30~40 minute taxi ride.
Usually I leave downtown hotel around 5AM for 6:40 flight.
As a 1P, you can use C check-in, and use Royal Orchid Lounge.
Security at that time is virtually nil if you take the lounge exit, and normally UA departs from D2 which is as close as it gets.

I also vote for the Louis Tavern Dayrooms. By the time you actually get to a hotel and settle in, you'll have to get right back up.

Are you certain you can clear Immigration in Krabi? I know you can on a typical connection at BKK but I am not 100% certain given your itinerary. If you do not get stamped out of Thailand in Krabi then your options are pretty limited at BKK. You'll be landside waiting to check back in with UA. If you do clear Immigration in KBV I'm also not 100% certain you could gain entry to the TG lounges at BKK for the hour or so until they close at ~ 00:30? Nor am I sure you'll be able to get a UA BP in KBV?

Not sure why the hall monitors moved this thread since I am on a UNITED flight with a question about UNITED lounges and alternatives. Guess I didn't kiss the right butt. Oh well, sometimes FT is good, othertimes it gets moderated to the point of no longer being useful. My question was never about travel and dining in Thailand.

Do all the *A lounges close at 12:30? That would kill my hope of staying the night in the UNITED or THAI AIRLINES lounges.

I honestly think you'll get more direct accurate information here than lost in clutter on the UA/MP sub-forum?

The only lounges applicable to your stated itinerary are TG (*G) lounges. At BKK these close ~ 00:30 and re-open 05:15. They are all, with the exception of the domestic one in Concourse A, in the international airside/transit space accessible only after being stamped out of Thailand (as are the referenced Louis Tavern day-rooms). You'll need an international boarding pass, to be issued in Krabi, if you have any hopes of clearing Immigration there. (You can't get stamped out without an international boarding card issued at the some point as the Immigration point, the Departure section of the Immigraiton form is stapled to the boarding pass and then collected by the airline at the departure gate.) So then, you'll be a domestic passenger arriving BKK, and the UA counter does not open for check-in much before 04:00. Not sure if TG will interline any baggage through BKK for you.

So I am thinking any lounge questions are only applicable for your UA flight out of BKK, and you'll need to camp out in the check-in hall or get a room at a hotel as has been suggested.

If you can get a UA BP issued in KBV then you can clear Immigration there and remain in international transit in BKK, sleeping on a chair, the floor or maybe get a day-room? If you (re-)enter Thailand in BKK, after having possibly gotten stamped out in KBV, you may have to re-check-in with UA and even possibly pay the 700 THB airport service fee (unclear without details regarding your itienrary). Immigration will want to see a boarding pass issued at BKK (and not from the transit desks).

Sorry if this sounds altogether confusing. Maybe ring UA in Thailand (+66 (0)2 353 3939/3900)to discuss your options?

Makes sense to me.^