PeterRS

True, but there are dozens of departing flights in the evenings and many passengers with luggage have to take taxis. These are the taxis which then go into the queue to take arrival passengers into the city. Frankly I have never seen any difference in the queues on a Friday night compared to others. But there are usually queues. As others suggest, forget the costly fast track arrivals service. As a biz class passenger the only benefit it will give you is the buggy from the airport gate to Immigration. But once through, you will spend longer waiting for your bag. So it's a waste. Just remember that the Fast Track Priority Immigration has its own special entrance close to the main west side Immigration area.

You are assuming that your flight will arrive on time. Having frequently arrived close to that hour, I would not bet the bank on it. Lots of arriving aircraft and often delays prior to landing. That usually uses the East gates but I have frequently seen Thai aircraft at the west, especially if it is an A380. There is no Thai dedicated terminal. About 3 gates are pretty near Immigration but Thai does not use them. If you really want to get to Screwboys, book the fast track service. If you happen to be over 70 or are travelling biz class, you will have automatic access to fast track with no need to pay. But that will not help much with the transfer to the city. With lots of arrivals the chances are you will have to wait at least 20 minutes for a taxi.

Last point on the A340. List price when it was withdrawn from the market was approximately $250 million. According to the website Aircraft Value News, there are so many now out of service that the value of the first model - the A340-300 - is virtually only for scrap. THAI purchased the -500 and -600 models. But according to the same website, the value of an A350-500 has plummeted by 90% over the last 10 years. http://www.aircraftvaluenews.com/aircraft/airbus-a340-300/

According to various websites, THAI purchased 10 A340s. All were retired between 2012 and 2015. One was sold to the Royal Tai Air Force. The other nine remain stored somewhere! Therefore unsold! Currently it still operates 8 747-400s with an average age of 19.4 years, Whilst that is not 'old' for a 747, their maintenance costs must be higher than they used to be. Anyone who has been on one of those planes will know that they are also in desperate need of refurbishment. Like many of the older 777s, business class has the recliner seats that most airlines got rid of some years ago. If you cannot offer flat beds, you will inevitably suffer lower passenger numbers, especially when THAI's prices are generally higher.

Corruption must inevitably have been involved in the purchase of the A340s, as with many other types of aircraft. THAI operated part of that fleet on the non-stop routes to LAX and JFK which THAI eventually suspended. Even so, lots of other airlines purchased it because at the time of its introduction ETOPS was extremely limited for twin engine planes. According to wikipedia 377 models of the aircraft were sold and 60 remain in service. THAI needed a minimum of 4 aircraft on each route because only 4-engine aircraft were authorised to operate most long haul routes, especially over oceans. That they were unprofitable for THAI was only partly a result of fuel burn. THAI simply could not sell enough seats - and it had designated a lot of these seats as business class at premium price. It was unfortunate for Airbus and the airlines that the Extended Range Operation Procedures were changed not many years after its introduction. From that time the ETOPS range for twin engine jets was extended from 1 hour up to 3 hours thus rendering the twin engine A330s, 777s and later the 787s and A350s not just possible but quite a bit cheaper to operate for ultra long hails. By the time THAI wanted to sell its A340s, the price of second hand models had plummeted.

Flights had to be diverted but only because Pakistan closed its airspace. India did not. For a few hours it closed some airports in the far north of the country. This might have had an effect on overflights - in case they got into difficulties and had to land. But Mumbai was never closed. As has been pointed out, it's perfectly easy to overfly China. Routes obviously have to be negotiated and flight times arranged to coordinate with those of airlines flying to Europe out of China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and even Taiwan. In an emergency situation, I am certain this can be done quickly. But is is certainly not free, as one poster has suggested. Airspace over any country belongs to that country. Fly over it and you have to pay for the right. 4 years ago each aircraft overflying the USA had to pay a fee of US$56.86 per 100 miles. Also, for airlines flying from airports east of Bangkok, overflying China is a considerably shorter route to Europe. As for aircraft not having enough fuel, that is extremely unlikely. All long-distance airliners have plenty of room in their tanks for a couple of hours extra flying time. To my mind, THAI was remembering the situation of the MAS 777 when the captain chose to overfly Ukraine when other airlines all took a slightly more northerly route. That resulted in a missile bringing down the 777. With the Indian and Pakistani air force having dogfights in the region, there was a very real reason for avoiding the Kashmir region.

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Chase operates in some Asian countries as J. P. Morgan Chase. But I think I am right in saying it does not get involved in consumer banking in most of the countries. A bit like HSBC which pulled its consumer banking business out of Thailand some years ago. HSBC now only handles commercial clients. So those banks wouldnt be issuing ccs. Some smaller banks might offer a few thousand miles (less than 5,000) if you sign up for a cc linked with the bank and an airline and spend a certain amount in the first months. But the perks are minuscule compared to those offered by US banks for US citizens. I joined Priority Pass for one year. In Asia it is mostly a waste. Unlimited access is US$429 annually. I found the lounges were absolutely packed most of the time. Just imagine the number of biz passengers who have to fly coach departing each day from Singapore, Bangkok., Hong Kong and other major hubs. Before the crash of 2008, many of these businessmen would be entitled to biz class. Now they are forced to downgrade and they are the ones who mostly use Priority Pass. The lounges just are too small to handle the numbers.

I believe that is a perk offered mostly to ccs provided by US based banks to US residents. To my knowledge very few in Europe and Asia offer these. And if they do, you have to pay quite a bit for the privilege or spend a major amount monthly. There is also the Priority Pass with lots of lounges around the world. But that means coughing up $99 annually plus $32 per visit or $429 with unlimited free visits. Problem is these lounges are often packed and sometimes you are denied entry because they are full. It is not only specific Priority Pass members who have access. Some other credit card users are also able to access Priority Pass. If anyone knows a regular cc that offers ounce access in Europe and Asia, Id l;ove to hear about it.

The snack bars and coffee shops at BKK are outrageous in their pricing. I once had an earlyish flight to Europe which I knew did not serve breakfast after take-off. Lunch at 10:00 am departure time is ridiculous. So I had a simple breakfast in the departures area. Absolutely rip off and I have never wasted money like that again.

Agreed. And thats before you consider all the extra bottles of Duty Free booze the flight attendants try to flog on board. But increasingly airports are looking at Duty Free on arrival which saves much of that extra weight on the aircraft. Sydney has had this system with a large stock of items for about 2 decades. Unfortunately prices are often quite a bit higher than at your departure airports! I find the same is true in Singapore where prices on entry are higher than prices on the same goods on departure. BKK has a small Duty Free on arrival section. The real problem with purchase on arrival is that the time taken to locate what you might want results in your ending up at the back of a long Immigration line. What I find almost ludicrous about Duty Free shopping in general is that most travellers happily buy a bottle of gin or scotch which saves them perhaps less than a handful of dollars. For all the time taken checking prices and queuing to pay, I fail to see how that bottle is worth it! The only real savings tend to be with the high end products. If you like an occasional glass of Krug or Dom Perignon, you can easily save $40 or more. But then you are most likely to be flying biz or first and price is hardly an issue for you!

Getting rid of the price gouging by King Power will be a major boost - if the AOT resist the financial "incentives" King Power will no doubt offer. Hong Kong changed its duty free operators last year ousting DFS (Duty Free Shoppers), now part of the LVMH Group, which had more or less pioneered mass market duty free in the Asia Pacific region 60 years ago and opening down town centres. The two new consortia now running most of HKG's duty free operations have not only slashed prices on many goods (a bottle of ordinary Moet champagne is now cheaper by more than 20%), the booze and tobacco operator offers guaranteed cash back if the goods can be found cheaper at any other regional airport. Thats double cash back - twice the price you paid. King Power obtained its concessions at BKK and the other major airports in the Kingdom without any tender process. Seoul's airport at Incheon had 12 bidders!

Ha! Maybe not! I can see dozens of flag waving, whistle blowing security guards encouraging passengers to move quickly across the taxiway in lashing monsoon rain as an A380 bears down on them!

As I understand it, Terminal 2 was actually put on hold several months ago. One reason was that the Thai architects who designed it are alleged to have copied ideas for the basic design from elsewhere. There was also concern about its location.. But there is also the large satellite to Terminal 1 which I believe is already under construction. This is located between the runways, south of the main Terminal, its gates and taxiways. If I remember correctly, I saw work being done on that site the last time I departed. The design calls for 28 new air bridge gates and it seems these will be exclusively for THAI and Bangkok Airways planes. The satellite will be connected to the main Terminal by underground people movers.

The UK adopted facial recognition at least 2 years ago. It is also one of the countries with the most surveillance cameras of any country per head of population. 1.85 million CCTV cameras are in place - thats 1 for every 32 citizens!

The Rabbit card has evolved in much the same way as the Octopus card in Hong Kong and the Oyster card in London. The Octopus card is actually more than 20 years old. I also like the Rabbit card - the more so when I see the increasingly long queues of people for single ride tickets at certain stations. I cannot believe anyone living and using the BTS regularly in Bangkok is prepared to do that every time he takes a BTS ride.

To each his own. I stayed once at the Avalon. Hated the room. The hotel staff screwed up payment with my credit card. Would never stay again!

I have stayed a few times, the last about 4 years ago, Excellent resort with its own private part of the beach. We prefer the upper rooms as the ground level ones are a bit dark. The restaurant is also good at reasonable prices. They ran an on call shuttle service from the police box. Not sure if that has changed with all the changes on that road. The owner's wide, Deb ("Mrs. Rabbit"), who appears on the website video really looks after her guests, Very gay friendly.

With the General Election in April and every party spouting hateful homophobic rhetoric, I would not go near Jakarta or Indonesia in general at least until the outcome of the election is known. When a countrys Defence Minister labels the emerging LGBT community as "an act of war to subtly undermine the sovereignty of the state" and likens it to a form of "nuclear war", thats the time I make sure I do not return. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-lgbt-insight/criminal-code-revamp-plan-sends-chill-through-indonesias-lgbt-community-idUSKBN1FT2IO

Things have obviously changed. 4 years ago I took Qatar to Europe because the price was good and I could get to a secondary destination without changing at a hub airport. It cost 97,00 baht biz class. I had bought about 8 months in advance. Then during the Bangkok Travel Fair I noticed a special promotion of the same route at the same time for 77,000! I assumed I was screwed but decided to call Qatar's Bangkok office just to check. The lady could not have been nicer. I could cancel my first ticket but there would be a penalty - all of 3,000 baht! She also confirmed there were seats at the new price. It was all sorted out in about 5 minutes and I saved 17,000. But prices have gone up a lot since then. A word of warning about purchasing through another OneWorld carrier. My understanding is - and I hope someone will correct me if I have got this wrong - you are still bound by the Qatar fare rules and regulations. That is definitely true if you use another OneWorld carriers miles to get a Qatar flight. Once the ticket is issued, you will get no help at all from BA, AA, CX or whoever you booked it through. This happened to me 2 years ago and they washed their hands of any responsibility when a big problem arose. I got zero help and was told only Qatar could help! They didn't!

The inability to check on availability of upgrades prior to purchasing a ticket is nuts! Qatar is a OneWorld airline. So I assume its miles can be spent on other carriers in the Alliance. n recent years all carriers and most hotel chains have been revamping their mileage/points schemes. Travellers now have to spend more to gain less. And if my experience is anything to go by it is becoming more and more difficult to use them. I decided three years ago to get rid of all miles and this year my hotel points. I don't travel long distance much now and upgrades are not much use to me for short /medium range flights. I search around for cheaper fares. If you book far enough ahead, its surprising what good deals can be had.

HOw strange. I usually find exactly the opposite! I expect it has something to do with times of departure and arrival. Normally I depart mid morning and the Priority Lane seems to have a lot of biz passengers. I mostly arrive in the evening. You have to fight your way through hundreds waiting for visas on arrival but Ive rarely had to queue for more than two minutes. I hope I never find myself behind a tour busload of over 70s!

Just a reminder that anyone 70 and over is entitled to use the Priority Pass Lanes. No need to have a biz or first class ticket.

Anyone arriving during this period had better be prepared for longer Immigration queues at peak times. Those departing should arrive earlier than usual at both BKK and DMK.

Ive got news for Trump! But then of course, he cant read! https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/01/30/this-is-why-global-warming-is-responsible-for-freezing-temperatures-across-the-usa/#14b6241dd8cf