Those numbers would barely make it worthwhile for me. I had only one person ahead of me on my September trip and six or seven in June. As noted previously, there were vast hordes on Tuesday....but it still took only fifteen minutes. Of course, time of arrival is crucial. For the record, I'm on the EVA flight which arrives mid to late afternoon. Perhaps there are times when pressures are greater. If so, I withdraw my comment.
I've rarely waited more than 20 minutes to get through immigration.
On my next trip in march , im coming via Singapore arriving in bkk at 11am, Passport control is always chocker at that time so will be glad of the fast track
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.
The problem with Fast Track on arrival into Heathrow is that it is only valid for citizens from outside the UK / EU as clearly stated on both the Heathrow Airport https://www.heathrow.com/airport-gui...ces/fast-track and British Airways websites. If you are an EU or UK citizen they turn you back -even if you have a fast track card - and you have to go to back of queue for UK / EU passport holders or head for the electronic passport gates.
Which in my experience, across the EU, have about a 30-50% failure rate as the placement of your passport is absolutely crucial.
Placing the photo page on the glass the right way up (which some people don't even manage) is not enough : the glass area is larger than the detection area and you have to ram the edge of the photo page hard against the far edge of the glass area for your passport to be read.
Even then a considerable number of passports still fail to be read by the software. I read somewhere that the "chip" in the passport can fail and if it does it's tough titty and you'll be expected to fork out for a fresh passport.
Not so ...they are replaced free in those circumstances.
And before you favourite mod accuses me of publishing duff gen again, see here...
http://www.alphr.com/news/servers/10...-year-warranty
Up to date and accurate information is always welcome here Getefan2.
Last edited by arsenal; January 19th, 2018 at 19:36.
Where abouts is the fast track for leaving bkk , last time in Oct I went to go where it used to be and it turned out ,and it turned out to be a new ecom gate
Have I missed anyone posting the cost of this fast track service @ BKK ?
To be honest, my worst wait there has been about 30 minutes so far, so considering the bags will not be there for most of that, I wouldn't be prepared to pay much.
As for Heathrow, on most of the recent return trips to T2, I've had no queue and have gone through in about 30 seconds. Makes me proud to be British. At least until I get to the slow baggage handling service (where they don't even get the priority Premium Economy luggage out first).
Reply With Quote
