Checking through to Samui
 

Ok. I have heard in a few different places that, when traveling internationally into Thailand, it is possible to have your luggage checked through all the way to Koh Samui and clear customs there.

How exactly do you do this? We will be coming in from Chicago, flying business class -

Chi - LAX (or SFO?) United
LAX - HK - Singapore
HK - BKK - Thai
BKK - KS - Bangkok Air

In Chicago, will we be able to check our luggage through to KS from there, or will we need to visit Customer Service in one of the other airports and have them do it? If we try, will the ticketing agent just give us a blank stare and have no idea what we are talking about, or is this something that is done enough for them to know how to do it? I am sure we are increasing our chances of having lost luggage, but it is a trade-off we are willing to take to avoid having to collect our bags and go through immigration in BKK.

Also, someone mentioned that from BKK, we can go to the Bangkok Air lounge in the international terminal and catch a shuttle from there to the plane to KS. Is this true? Not knowing my way around BKK Airport very well (only been there once), I am not too sure about the layout and how getting around works.

If anyone who has done this can give me a step-by-step for dummies guide, I would really appreciate it. Also, if we can do this, how much time do we need between flights? We get in at 9:45 from HK. There is a 10:40 flight to KS, and the next one is not until 1:00. Probably a stupid question, but would it be cutting it way too close to try to make the 10:40, or is this doable?

Samui airport is a small private airport own and operated by Bangkok Airways. You will not be able to check in your luggage to Samui from Ohare. You will have to check it to BKK and go through customs there.

Bangkok Airways has two lounges, one in the international terminal and one in the domestic terminal. Once you arrive in Bangkok go get your bags and go through customs and proceed to the domestic terminal either by a covered walkway or a shuttle bus. Checkin your bags at the Bangkok Airways counter and then you can use their lounge at the domestic terminal. You cannot use the lounge in the international terminal because that is situated on the airside of immigration. Also you will not be able to board a Bangkok Airways domestic flight from the international terminal.

Hope this help.

Are you flying this way because of ff miles on Singapore? If not, there are much more direct routes to Bangkok. You can fly from Chicago to Tokyo and Tokyo to Bangkok which should save a lot of flying time.

Most European, Middle East and Asian airlines have an arrangement with Bangkok Airways which permits their passengers to not only check their baggage through to Samui, but to delay customs and immigration formalities until their arrival in Samui. The same with departure immigration for those with connecting flights from BKK.

In each case, passengers are not permitted to leave BKK airside. I regret that I haven't noticed if any US carriers enjoy such an arrangement, but I'm sure they'll let you know at check-in. The downside, of course, is not being able to visit BKK on the leg on which the thro' baggage arrangement is used. Your baggage can't be flown unaccompanied.

Enjoy Thailand and Samui.

Yeah, we are flying on ff miles, and this was the best routing to get us there in our time frame. Other routings had us getting in to BKK in the middle of the night and not being able to get out until the next morning, or had us leaving CHI too early (we are getting married the day before and didn't want to leave until the next night). Besides, with our routing, we get to fly Singapore business! We will spend the end of our trip in BKK, and since it is our honeymoon, we wanted to get straight to the beach. Our return routing is much more direct (BKK-Osaka-CHI).

I know Samui is now an international airport and you can go through customs there. I just don't know how to do it from the US. If Asian airlines have an agreement with Bangkok air, I wonder if going to customer service during our layover in HK and asking them to check through will work.

Needless to say, I probably should not book the earlier flight to KS, just in case it doesn't work out.

I remember someone on this board discussing their ability to check straight through, but I don't know where the poster was flying in from.

If it helps, there are daily flight with BKK Airways direct to Samui from both HK and Sin.

i have also read that you could do it but i had my doubts....and i am not sure i would want to do it....too many chances of it getting lost....i think i would try to check through to bkk and then place it with bkk air myself...as mentioned above the airport in samui is owned by bkk air and bkk air is sort of an orphan really....the problem being that you would have to clear formalities in bkk and then pay the departure tax upon re-entering i believe???....i have read of others who had to do this....

Oops I guess I was wrong and you can check directly to Samui:

http://www.bangkokair.com/before/#MinimumConnectionTime

Sorry!

More information:

Many airlines have signed a Through Check-in Agreement with Bangkok Airways for connecting flights to and from Samui Airport. The agreement allows airline customers to check their luggage all the way through Samui Airport to their final destination. Vietnam Airlines, Siem Reap Airways and Thai Airways International are among the participating airlines

Here's a variation of the same question. If we're flying on Bangkok Airways from Luang Prabang to Bangkok and then Thai from Bankok to Rangoon, do you think it would be possible to check through from LP to Rangoon, thus avoiding departure taxes and a couple of trips through immigration? Alternatively, will we have to check them to Bangkok and then re-check them to Rangoon after going through customs?

ccc, that shouldn't be a problem. You should be able to check your bags through from LP to Rangoon.

What was complicated about SJLBK's question was that they are going from an international to a domestic flight and until very recently, Koh Samui wasn't an international airport.