Bangkok Air-Thai connection at BKK: how much time?

In article .com,
cjra96 wrote:

What's funny is when you transit thru a US airport, even on the same
ticket, you have to collect and re-check your bags.

Nonsense. When you are on a domestic or domestic-to-international
connection in the US, you don't have to collect and re-check your bags
(unless it's something weird, like flying out of DAL to a non-Wright
amendment state).

That's possibly true, I'm not sure. But when you travel the opposite
(international-to-domestic in the US), you *do* collect and recheck
your bags.

In article . com,
Sprocket wrote:

That's possibly true, I'm not sure.

That's certainly true. With a few weird exceptions, if you are
transiting a US airport on a domestic or domestic-to-international
connection, you do not need to collect and recheck your bags.

But when you travel the opposite
(international-to-domestic in the US), you *do* collect and recheck
your bags.

Like any normal country, the US requires that inbound international
passengers clear customs with their luggage. Why does that bother you?

And you do *not* need to re-check your bags. If your connection is on
the same ticket, they are already checked to the final destination.
All you need to do is collect them before you go through customs and
drop them off immediately afterwards.

VS wrote:
In article . com,
Sprocket wrote:

That's possibly true, I'm not sure.

That's certainly true. With a few weird exceptions, if you are
transiting a US airport on a domestic or domestic-to-international
connection, you do not need to collect and recheck your bags.

But when you travel the opposite
(international-to-domestic in the US), you *do* collect and recheck
your bags.

Like any normal country, the US requires that inbound international
passengers clear customs with their luggage. Why does that bother you?

It doesn't bother me. Never said it did.

And you do *not* need to re-check your bags. If your connection is on
the same ticket, they are already checked to the final destination.
All you need to do is collect them before you go through customs and
drop them off immediately afterwards.

Your last sentence cleared it up. It's not exactly a "re-check" but I
have picked up my tools & luggage at Customs, and then took them to
another area many times.

VS wrote:
In article .com,
cjra96 wrote:

What's funny is when you transit thru a US airport, even on the same
ticket, you have to collect and re-check your bags.

Nonsense. When you are on a domestic or domestic-to-international
connection in the US, you don't have to collect and re-check your bags
(unless it's something weird, like flying out of DAL to a non-Wright
amendment state).


Huh? When arriving from an international destination, you must clear
customs at port of entry.That requires picking up your bags, going
through customs, and checking them again - not through the main
checkin counter, but you still have to pick them up and carry them to
the drop off point.

Sorry that wasn't clear.

In article .com,
cjra96 wrote:

What's funny is when you transit thru a US airport, even on the same
ticket, you have to collect and re-check your bags.

Huh? When arriving from an international destination, you must clear
customs at port of entry.

What's funny about having to clear customs at port of entry?

And you did not say anything about arriving from abroad. You said that
when you transit thru a US airport, you have to collect and re-check
your bags. That is simply not true.

That requires picking up your bags, going
through customs, and checking them again - not through the main
checkin counter, but you still have to pick them up and carry them to
the drop off point.

Indeed. How would your bags clear US customs otherwise?

Relax. Why so beligerent?

I should have stated it more clearly.

I found it kind of funny given the fuss about having to collect and
recheck bags in Bangkok, when that's the norm in the US. However, in
all the European airports I've transited through, I haven't had to do
that - because the smaller airports also often have customs stations.
So if I was transiting through LHR on my way to Manchester, I didn't
have to see my bags until Manchester. It was nice

It's also confusing for folks who've never had to do it before. They're
told their bags are checked all the way through. In theory they are -
they have tags, but they're not always told they have to stop and pick
up their bags and move them to another location. I've known a few
travellers whom, upon their first visit to the US, nearly lost their
bags because they didn't know.

In article . com,
cjra96 wrote:

I found it kind of funny given the fuss about having to collect and
recheck bags in Bangkok, when that's the norm in the US.

Actually, that's not the norm in the US. The norm in the US is that
you don't recheck your baggage when you transit through the airport.
If connecting from an international to a domestic flight, you need to
collect your baggage before going through customs, but then you drop
it off immediately afterwards. In particular, you don't have to walk
to a different terminal and stand in the check-in line with 500 people
to recheck it.

The reason I asked about BKK is that I have two completely separate
tickets, and will arrive to the international terminal on one airline,
and depart from the domestic terminal on a different airline. Not being
familiar with the airport, I wanted to know how much time I should
leave for the connection, that's all.

This situation is not the norm in the US (and probably not in BKK,
either), so I don't know why you felt the need to drag US into the
picture.

It's also confusing for folks who've never had to do it before. They're
told their bags are checked all the way through. In theory they are -
they have tags, but they're not always told they have to stop and pick
up their bags and move them to another location. I've known a few
travellers whom, upon their first visit to the US, nearly lost their
bags because they didn't know.

What were they thinking - that their bags will magically go through
customs without them?

VS wrote:

This situation is not the norm in the US (and probably not in BKK,
either), so I don't know why you felt the need to drag US into the
picture.

Geez, you're not very open to discussion eh? It wasn't a big deal,
really. Just a side comment.

FWIW - I've transited through BKK far more times than I can count,
always on different tickets. It's not a big deal.

It's also confusing for folks who've never had to do it before. They're
told their bags are checked all the way through. In theory they are -
they have tags, but they're not always told they have to stop and pick
up their bags and move them to another location. I've known a few
travellers whom, upon their first visit to the US, nearly lost their
bags because they didn't know.

What were they thinking - that their bags will magically go through
customs without them?

In many airports I've been through in Europe, you clear customs at the
FINAL destination, not the first stop. For example, I flew
ORD-LHR-Manchester, but collected my bags ONLY in Manchester, I didn't
clear customs in LHR. So if you hadn't had the experience of changing
from an international to domestic flight in the US previously, then you
may not know.

It makes sense given that the US has many more domestic than
international airports, but if your experience has been in other
countries which practise differently, and no one tells you otherwise,
yes, it can be suprising.

Not everyone does things the way it's done in the US.

That said, I've noticed in the last 5+ yrs or so, that airlines are
making this better known.

In article .com,
cjra96 wrote:

Geez, you're not very open to discussion eh?

Well, I asked a question about connecting from international to
domestic in BKK on separate tickets, and, instead of discussing it,
you said that it's just like transiting a US airport... even though
(as I now learned) it is nothing at all like transiting a US airport.

FWIW - I've transited through BKK far more times than I can count,
always on different tickets. It's not a big deal.

That's good to know.

In many airports I've been through in Europe, you clear customs at the
FINAL destination, not the first stop. For example, I flew
ORD-LHR-Manchester, but collected my bags ONLY in Manchester, I didn't
clear customs in LHR. So if you hadn't had the experience of changing
from an international to domestic flight in the US previously, then you
may not know.

Fair enough, you may not know, but doesn't a little lightbulb go off
in your head when an officer in uniform asks you for your customs form:
``Wait! Where is my luggage?!''

Not everyone does things the way it's done in the US.

Lamentable, but true.