BKK Airport to Hotel?
 

We are flying to Bangkok on Air France from Florida in November. We will be there for 3 days before leaving on our Royal Princess cruise. I was hoping someone would help us figure out how to get from the airport to the Grand Hyatt. Thank you in advance. Vic

Two easy options: taxi or limo. Taxis are metered, and always make sure they use the meter (just like anywhere else). There are signs, in English as you exit customs for taxis. If you want a bit more comfort, go to the Limo desk in the area outside customs and get a Limo to the Grand Hyatt. "Limos" are simply larger cars, typically Mercedes. You pay for your limo at the desk, someone will take your luggage and lead you to the limo. Bangkok airport is very easy to navigate.

Thanks Kathie;

I have seen your messages before and plan on going to the jewelry store you recommended. Vic

Enjoy!

Kathie & others, Since we will be arriving at about midnight (tired & jet-lagged) & we are first time visitors, do you advise making arrangements in advance for airport pick-up or is it just as easy to get a limo from the limo desk at the airport? We were thinking of arranging with Julie's taxi. Has anyone had experience with her?

Yes, I have had experience with Julie and she is good. Her drivers generally speak enough Eng to make themselves understood and she is reliable. I would pre book a car if the price diff is small =- nothing like having someone waiting for me after a long haul flt.

How does one pre-book with a taxi company? Vic

Kathie, before we left for BKK, I had read all the posts similar to yours about making sure to use metered taxis from the airport. When we were there, however, our experience was very different. We arrived in BKK late at night from Koh Samui. I happened to ask a man at an airport counter approximately how much it would cost to take the taxi to our hotel and he told me 200 Bht. When we went outside, we stood in the taxi line with everyone else, but I noticed that the taxis were not moving forward. We were VERY tired and just wanted to get to our hotel, so we went up to a couple of taxis. They refused to use their meter, but did say that they'd take us to our hotel for 250 Bht. I figured that I'd be paying that anyway if the 200 Bht I'd been told was correct plus the 50 Bht fee I would have paid in the taxi line, so we agreed and went on our way. We never were able to find a taxi willing to use their meter GOING to the airport (2 trips) either, but still paid a fairly reasonable price since we had a general idea what it should cost.

Maybe it was just us, but insisting on only using a metered taxi to/from the airport was impossible.

jlaughs, I have to admit that these days I take the limo from the airport, and normally reserve a hotel car to take me back to the airport. Both of those are fixed rates. In the past I have taken taxis from the airport and they have always used the meter. Perhaps there has been a change to a flat rate into town (as is done from many airports). I apologize if I have given outdated info!

Kathie, I actually don't know if your information is outdated or not. I don't know about getting TO the airport, but I think what was happening with LEAVING the airport is that taxis seemed unwilling to move forward to pick up the next person in the queue. Maybe if they had, they would have had to use their meter. In our case, it seemed like a win-win situation for us and for the taxi driver. We didn't have to wait our turn in line, but still paid the same amount for the ride and he got an extra 50 Bht that would have been paid to the airport instead. Of course, the airport lost the 50 Bht, but I would have been willing to wait in line for our turn and pay the same price (200 Bht taxi, 50 Bht airport) IF taxis had been coming forward and picking up passengers. They just weren't.