The fast track vouchers are handed to passengers by the flight attendants shortly before arrival. Passengers are free to use them or not. I’ve seen quite a few vouchers left on the seats. If the main immigration hall at Suvarnabhumi Airport is empty or there are few passengers lining up, then I’ll use that hall. If however there are “vast hordes” of passengers and I recall there were vast numbers queuing out in the corridors before the main walkway up to the immigration hall when I arrived in October/November 2016, then I’ll carry on walking to the Fast Track area.Originally Posted by Oliver
But the complementary vouchers always come into their own on my return to London Heathrow Airport. My only recent experience is of Terminals 3 & 4, where, from time to time, there are an extraordinarily large number of passengers lining up in the corridors quite some distance from the border check area. Perhaps due to government cutbacks there are fewer Border Force officers on duty compared to previous years or maybe there are just a large number of heavily laden flights arriving early in the morning when I tend to arrive back in the UK.
I remember the scene vividly in April 2017, my most recent experience of arriving back at Heathrow Terminal 3. I have never seen so many passengers lining up; it was like a scene from a popular sporting event. I knew from memory that we were a long way from the main immigration area. The corridors were blocked with passengers. Then I spotted a very attractive Middle Eastern fellow passenger, whom I had taken particular notice of during our flight from Dubai. He walked past me and pushed his way through the crowds. I followed in his wake, assuming he knew exactly what he was doing. Many passengers were unhappy about us appearing to queue jump. I feared that some angry passenger or passengers would stop us and tell us to join the queue. We certainly got some very angry looks and I could hear passengers muttering about us. Then ahead of us in the jam packed corridor I saw two immigration officers eyeing us suspiciously. They stopped us and I thought, oh no, they’re going to send us back to the end of the queue. I am sure some passengers were hoping that’s exactly what they would do. The Middle Eastern guy showed them his fast rack voucher, which they inspected then allowed him to pass. I did the same and was allowed to pass. When we eventually reached the Fast Tract lane there were no more than two or three passengers at the border control booth, so we passed through very quickly. Phew! What a relief. But I rather doubt I would have had the courage to push through the crowds had it not been for the more confident Middle Eastern guy. Rather strangely, I don’t recall seeing any other passengers from my flight at the time we cleared passport control.
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