20 hour transit in Bangkok - issues?

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tennille

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Hi everyone. My children are about to embark on a flight to Europe, and they have a 20 hour transit in Bangkok (we booked last minute). They've already booked a hotel away from the airport, but they've been told (at the Australian airport) that this is a problem and they shouldn't be leaving the airport as they should be staying in a transit hotel. They wanted to go into the city (as they have 20 hours to kill) - has anyone else experienced this issue? Also - their bags are tagged through to Europe. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
I don't see any issue with heading into the city.

Did they want their bags tagged through?
 
Their bags have been tagged thru. Not sure what the person at the airline checkin desk in Sydney was on about. Can't see how the airline would even know they left the airport.
 
20 hrs ... Go nuts and go downtown or cancel hotel and rebook into Novotel airport and eat, swimming, sleep and use the free 2 way airport shuttle. Way too easy. Have fun.
 
It's just airline risk management. They want to make sure they don't miss the flight. Don't ask, don't tell.
 
Take some baht cash for the taxi or train transportation to/from the city.

How old are the kids?

I found when getting a cab to/from the airport that if you politely insist that you want "meter taxi" and ensure he turns it on and also take a photo of the taxi number plate & the drivers photo/ID credentials on the dashboard.

When you get into the taxi give the driver 100baht & say "tollway" so he knows you know that the tolls are 50baht & 25baht then he'll give you the 25baht change. That way it'll seem like they've been to BKK before.

Have a look at this thread which has some handy tips. For getting cabs to/from the city maybe start at the end of the thread and work your way back.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ions/bangkok-first-timers-your-1-a-66594.html
 
Thanks for the info. They are late-teen, and luckily have already organised a shuttle for their journey to the hotel. I think it was a matter of an over-zealous check-in person at the airport!
 
I regularly go into the City even on stopovers as short as 7 hours, and 20 hours is plenty of time in my opinion, so choose a city hotel.

Just be mindful that it is "technically" a transit only, you may be asked to pay 700BHT upon the return. I personally have never been asked to pay that fee - maybe because I have been flying F - but it is possible they do make you (and I have seen signs at immigration advising/warning of the 700BHT fee).
 
It's just a stupid person at the airport who had no idea. Happens all the time
 
Hi everyone. My children are about to embark on a flight to Europe, and they have a 20 hour transit in Bangkok (we booked last minute). They've already booked a hotel away from the airport, but they've been told (at the Australian airport) that this is a problem and they shouldn't be leaving the airport as they should be staying in a transit hotel. They wanted to go into the city (as they have 20 hours to kill) - has anyone else experienced this issue? Also - their bags are tagged through to Europe. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

As per Alanslegal - I suspect it's because their ticket doesn't include the stopover, and the tax hasn't been collected. However - it's not a problem. If they decide to go into the city anyway, they may be asked to pay the tax on departure. Unless the process has changed, they'll need cash for this (but they can take it out of an ATM if need be).
 
As already mentioned technically they are in transit and their ticket does not include the BKK airport departure tax.

In saying that I don't see any issues even though some people have had issues through the years.
 
Always go to town on medium stopovers. It's never been an issue and never cost me $. Actually, I've not even noticed the signs so I'll keep an eye out next time I pass through.

As above, I also realise I have never done this in economy though.
 
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