In most cases throughout South Asia, VIP immigration meet-and-greet is available, reasonably priced, and utterly gratuitous.

It’s wonderful to have when included free, such as provided by Thai Airways for all of their first class passengers in Bangkok – you’re met at the jetway and escorted (depending on distance, either walked or taken by golf cart) through VIP immigration with no lines, assisted with baggage, and turned over to your driver if one is waiting for you.

The first time I experienced this was back in 2006, Thai used to identify first class passengers at Don Muang airport with a card they would give out and since my wife and I were both given a card and I admit I turned back only one, I still have one. It was really need to be taken to a desk where my wife and I sat down and had them process our immigration. A Thai rep stood over the immigration official with a stern look insisting they tap away on their keyboard faster.

When I went to Bali in 2008 the service was supposed to be included with club level accomodations at the Intercontinental, but the hotel was transitioning databases and apparently my record and a handful of others got mixed up in the data migration so they didn’t have my arrival information in their system properly. No one met us. As an apology we were given spa credits. (We also hadn’t been pre-blocked into the promised particular suite, but that was rectified.)

The Intercontinental no longer offers the service, when it was discontinued they explained it as changes in laws and expiring contracts that could not be renewed, but plenty of private firms continue to offer the service and quite inexpensively.

It’s nice not to have long waits at immigration when arriving behind a number of large aircraft, and for inexperienced travelers it’s nice to have someone guiding the way. For more experienced travelers, though, it’s usually a service that’s hardly worth the price even when the price is modest (e.g. under $100 for two people). And I won’t usually pay for it.

But I’ve still had occasion to do so, for instance I wanted to try out JetQuay in Singapore before using them for my wife’s parents who hadn’t traveled in Asia before, plus it was reasonably priced when booked as part of a transfer package with the Intercontinental, less expensive than booking separately on my own.

And I’ve done it in Bangkok as well, I used Image Limo for the first time in April 2009 when I wanted to test out the service before setting up arrival services for a co-worker on a honeymoon and for some other good friends making their first trip to Thailand the following month.

Since we weren’t arriving in Thai Airways first, and since it wasn’t clear to me that we’d be getting fast track passes, I decided to try out one of the VIP escort services at Suvarnabhumi. In particular, I booked a meet-and-greet as well as round-trip car transfer with Image Limo. The car service was 1200 baht each way (this was billed as a ‘special’ rate but seemed in line with what I’ve paid for a car service on arrival in the past, though quite reasonable for something pre-booked). The meet-and-greet was impossibly expensive for a relatively unnecessary service in most cases at 3000 baht for two people (it’s less expensive for just one) but I was curious to see how it would work as I’ve only gotten escorts in the past from Thai.

A well-dressed Thai man was at the entrance to the jetway with a sign with my name on it when we arrived. He walked us through the terminal (no buggy ) to an special passport control area with no line that was walled off from the regular lines, I didn’t notice it as diplomatic passport control per se but may well have been. He clearly knew the officer on duty and nothing had to be said or paperwork handed over to justify our eligibility for the line.

Right on through passport control, our bags were already on the belt. I pointed to them, our escort put them on a luggage cart and walked us out to a waiting car (he rang them from inside baggage claim). The car was a Nissan Teana, they had the obligatory cold cloths and waters and mints, the day’s papers, etc. in the car, and we were off onto the expressway to head down to the Royal Orchid Sheraton. The driver did get himself a bit turned around once he exited the expressway, but the back streets at night can be confusing.

I’ve had nothing but good experiences with Image Limo, whether for VIP meet and greet or just airport transfers, which aren’t cheap but compare favorably to booking through a hotel of course or to grabbing an AOT car. If you don’t want to cab it or use public transportation, they’re a good alternative.

Bangkok Flight Services (which I never used personally) was a lot cheaper for the VIP meet and greet, but they’re apparently no longer offering the service.

Meanwhile I’ve been hooked in again to pay for the service myself because through June 4, Image Limo is offering “free” VIP meet-and-greet at aircraft door and fast track through immigration at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport when booking a roundtrip car transfer. (The deal isn’t on the Image Limo website but was included in their e-mail newsletter, just ask for it if you’re interested.)

Now, it isn’t really free. Their ‘normal’ roundtrip airport/downtown pricing is 2600 baht and the price was bumped to 3000 baht with the free offer. And the ‘free’ service includes only one person, additional people are charged at 1200 baht apiece. But if you’re solo, you’re paying 400 baht (~ US$13.20) for the service, which is phenomenal on top of getting a reliable car transfer. For two people it’s nearly $53 over cost of just car service to include the VIP immigration service, that’s a price point I’m comfortable with even recognizing that I don’t need the service.

Now, you have to book with them by June 4 but it can be for any date after that. They’ll bill you right away (in Thai baht, so I gave them my Hyatt Visa which has no foreign currency conversion fees), and it’s non-refundable, but you can change plans or cancel and use the funds as a credit. I’m not too worried about it in my own case as I go to Thailand with some frequency, and also send plenty of friends there, I can always use it.

I don’t get anything at all for the recommend, but I’ve found them to be a good reliable car service and this is pretty good pricing. Anyone have other suggestions, either for immigration fast track services or good car services in Thailand? I do know of course that you can manage to get cars cheaper, and it’s not for everyone, some will just prefer to cab it and do so at the cheapest cost, strategizing routes for the driver to take to reduce meter cost. That’s fair, not how I’m usually traveling, but I recognize this isn’t for everyone – I’m interested in all manner of deals, so share your thoughts?