Thai Air checkin overkill

[buffalo_bill]

Gentlemen ,

 

innovation is everything , here comes the latest Thai Air version of what they think is a decent way to issue a boarding card : if you are a biz or First customer , departure entrance No. 1 is exclusively yours . On the right is biz checkin where , by God the Almighty , you must personally use your own feet to walk to a counter to do the checkin . You even have to carry your luggage yourself , a case for the human rights commission in La Hague . If that was too much there are opposite the counters about 10 arrangements of 3 comfortable lounge chairs and a sofa where you can relax from the previous exhausture . No service, no newspapers , just seating . Since inside the airport is a huge lounge with service anyway I have no real idea what Thai Air wants to tell us by assembling useless furniture all over the place.

 

Things are different at the First Class checkin where there again maybe 10 of the above mentioned arrangements, although double in size . One chair would easily take 6 of my lovely Nok's including handbag . Sitting in opposite chairs a pair of binoculars makes sense otherwise you do not see whom you are talking to due to the distance . Once approaching the checkin area , a uniformed individual pushes you towards these chairs , grabs all you belongings including passport, tickets and disappears. Another uniformed individual is still there and keeps on smiling . Individual 1 comes back after 5 seconds and has your boarding card . Unfortunately I had lost control over this procedure and they checked all 3 pieces of my baggage, 2 of which I wanted back . Major issue but successful , took 20 minutes. After that Nok and myself were sitting there and didn't know what to do , so I took her to a taxi which is somewhere downstairs . I hope I find a nice little restaurant on the premises next time where you can watch each other through your tears .

 

Boarding continues by following a woman to immigration ; to buy departure tax you must first wake up another Thai woman who is dead asleep . Followed by an escalator down to the lounge . Because the First lounge is at the end of the biz lounge and the biz lounge is 1 mile long , Thai Air provides an electric vehicle to avoid you getting a stroke . This vehicle is of the slim type , similar to a version that carries disabled persons and can carry 2 people sitting high above the crowd and has a signpost saying " First Class " . A nice way to make new friends .

 

This vehicle drives all along the biz lounge , spectacular . In case you are travelling with family and kids, 2 of the vehicles would make an impressive convoy .

 

The Thai First lounge follows the principle that size is everything . A thousand seat arrangements and on the right a number of comfortably equipped separés with a tv , capacity 8 people or so . Sanuk at the airport .

 

BuBi

[kojis]

I did the new F check in routine and very much liked it, although that Royal silk lounge is indeed a bit loong to cross and we didn't get the small cars.

 

Didn't have to bother about filling up the immigration form and bying the airport tax, as an an attendant took care of it.

 

Very nice IMO, and size does indeed matter.

[magician]

 

Hell, I like it.

 

I cruise up in my limo, a guy takes my bags curbside, and walks me to the first available ticket agent. I have never had to wait. Not once, and I have transited the new airport three times in the past month. I always travel business class, so these comments apply to that class of travel.

 

Once at the counter, I sit down, my bag gets placed on the conveyer belt, and the formalities are typically completed within three minutes. It is very comfortable, very fast, very smooth.

 

I walk to the end of the counters and pay the airport tax, then to passport control. I usually have to wait about three minutes for an available agent. Then it is past the guards ("choke dee") and down the escalator to the lounge. Occasionally I will have to wait a couple of moments to hand them my boarding pass to scan, then I am set.

 

It is very, very smooth, and I congratulate Thai Air on getting it right. They make it very difficult for me to want to fly any other airline.

 

Coming back to BKK, it has gotten better each time. The first time, I was dismayed to learn that AOT has a monopoly on airport limos. I used to use Thai Air limos. They can no longer offer the service. I now use a gentleman who works for the Shangri-la Hotel. It is expensive, perhaps a 1,000 baht more per trip than using an AOT limo, but he is always early, he speaks English, the car is nice, and it is worth an additional $25 USD to me to enjoy a smooth transfer.

 

I did try to use the AOT service, but they did not have phone lines at the booth in the ground transportation area, and that meant that they could not accept a credit card. Cash only. This disappointed me. When I travel, I use a company credit card. If I pay cash, I have to go through a complex routine to receive reimbursement. Fine. I paid cash. The BMW was very plush, and the driver was good. But I had to pay cash. I now use my Shangri-la driver. I call him when my bags come up the baggage claim chute, and he starts moving to the pick up point. As I exit, I tell him which door.

 

I then have to cross the street, walking about 30 meters, as only AOT limos are authorized to pick up right at the door. Traffic on the far road is getting condensed....it just feels more like Bangkok, as tons of cars park there, leaving just one lane open for traffic.

 

Whatever. It is their airport, and eventually, I am sure that they will sort this all out.

 

One last comment: I returned from Australia a few days ago. It was completely smooth and painless. Business class deplanes first, so there is minimal wait at customs. Once, I was able to use the Fast Track Service. No line. Otherwise, the wait at customs has been about seven minutes. The formalities take no more than four minutes, and the baggage area is right there.

 

At this point, using BKK and Thai Air is a very comfortable, very smooth process.

 

My congratulations to AOT and Thai Air. They have earned a loyal customer.

[buffalo_bill]

magic man ,

 

I agree with you that Thai have got it right at the new airport . I do not need all that stuff to be honest but since it is there , fine . When the airport spa has been completed you can stay a fortnight inside the airport claiming you wait for your plane back to somewhere , use all their facilities fre of charge and pass immigration only on your last day to check in for your boarding card .This would be a way to spend a 14 days spa holiday free of charge in SE Asia .

 

I disagree with you that the AOT taxis have got it right , they have doubled their prices and I cannot see enough value in 1200 Baht riverside . Nok shares my opinion .

 

BuBi

[samak]

...use all their facilities fre of charge and pass immigration only on your last day to check in for your boarding card

BuBi

why pass immigration??? you can get your boarding pass for back home at the transit counter!

 

[magician]

 

 

Actually, BuBi, if you reread my post, you will see that I do NOT think that AOT has the limo operation down.

 

I think that they are priced ok, at 1200 baht (I do not mind paying that, to be honest). My bitch is that they were only accepting cash.

 

The way that I see it, if you pay cash, you are paying so that it can vanish into someone's pockets. This is another reason why I prefer a credit card. It is much harder for corrupt folks to siphon credit card remittances. To steal cash, all that they need to do is ditch the receipt.

 

I have lived here for three years. I am far from an expert. But I will do anything that I can to encourage and reward good, honorable business and service. I never accept a taxi driver who slyly quotes me "song loi baht" rather than use the meter, for example. The thing that those stupid bastards do not know is that I will pay them close to what they ask, anyway, in the form of a tip on top of the metered rate. When the ones who think that they are "smart" try their scam, however, I walk, and I wait until I find one honest man who agrees to take me where I desire with no shenanigans. And I tip that gentleman hard. I will never knowingly subsidize the mafia here, if I can help it. I never take a taxi from the Asoke side of Soi Cowboy, for example, on those very rare occasions when I crawl the Soi with visitors from out of town.

 

I love this country, and I love its people. I am genuinely pleased and proud of the new airport. I hope that AOT gets its shit together as far as the limos are concerned soon.