Applied for visa on arrival - charged $2 more than what was clearly written on the wall ($30). Was asked for tips again by the custom officer - which i didnt give but then officer 'smartly' told my friend who queued behind me to tip for two people (which he did, otherwise who knows what would happen in Customs in foreign country).
On departure, guess what, was asked for tips again by the Custom officer, which we pretend we didnt understand and had to stand there for a 2 minute staring contest. Duty free shop was more expensive than shops outside.
One star for the tidy neat environment that the staffs have maintained (worth tipping) and flights landed safely. ha ha.
Small but good airport, very nice architecture and organized. Counters are few so it takes a while to check in, try to be at the airport about 2.5 hours ahead. Unfortunately some people are writing on the toilet doors and destroying the public property.
Dmestic flights:
Not far from the town centre. Small in scale and efficient check in and passport control. Pleasant decor. Very clean bathrooms. A beautiful artisan shop selling quality goods but a tad expensive. Tarmac/coach before boarding the plane. Very helpful staff.
Airport it beautiful, but just paid $48 (in Thai baht) for a $30 Visa at immigration. Their reason was they don't care about conversion, they do what they want and dismissed me with a wave. Can't be much of a worse start to a country.
The airport itself is just gorgeous and very modern Angkor feel, but the immigration officers were extremely unprofessional, they just randomly priced the visa fees and I saw few of them playing their brand new iPhone X while processing the visa. What even worse is they shamelessly ask for tips. Going through Siem Reap airport is definitely the worst part of my entire journey at Cambodia.
The airport itself looks amazing but it's only because it has been built out of your "visa" money. The only thing they want when you arrive there is just the money, they don't care even about picture in the visa or what you fill in. If you don't have a picture you just have to pay even more. If you don't have USD but just euro, the exchange rate is 1:1 (you pay with 100 Euro bill, they'll keep 30 Euro for visa and return you 70 Euro!!-not dollar back)
Immigration : Often you will get lost thinking how many forms or where to get these forms,whom to ask and so on.
Once you enter this airport towards the visa application you will able to find these forms stacked in a counter/shelfit's just one form. Fill it up along with your 4x6 Photo and pay along with $30.
Collect your passport along with stamp towards end of the counter. Time taken for total process ~30Min.
Along with passport stand in line towards final clearance, Do collect one more form from that counter,which is exit and entry form. Get it stamped and Voila!!.
You will able to collect your checked in luggage only after all these clearance. Don't you worry it won't get lost. Safe trip and any doubt do let me know.
Definitely better than 9 years back. But no APEC lane in sight. Luckily the queues were short. I have to agree with the previous feedback, the customs officers look listless. 😴
The immigration staff is rude and look not enough sleep all the time for the early arrival visitor. The departure hall check in counter staffs are the same as well. They are not fully awake to handle early departure guests. The line for queue is NOT FUNCTIONING as per the purpose. People can just cut the queue simply and the check in counter staff just allow it to happen and ignore those follow the rules guests!!! It was an incredible experience in this BE LOVED airport!!! 😡😡😡😡😡
Small but working really fast! Before emmigration few ATMs so there is no problem with payments! Really clean and with good services. You can find yourself there! Just domestic terminal is really small nothing to do there but its still clean and good!
Don't come too early as they won't open the check in before 2hrs even for international flights; free unlimited wifi, ATM's, exchange money & baggage wrapping service available.
For drinks & food there's only Starbucks before crossing the passports control.
Once inside duty free, souvenir shop & food village accesible.
The usual corrupt and rude border officials that make you not want to come back to a country.
Make sure you have the exact amount of payment and don't expect change!
Numerous people on our flight whilst paying to go through were refused change, the money went into a suitcase thing and when asking for the correct change they shrug their shoulders play stupid.
When will these countries crack down on corrupt border 'officials'! I would hate to think what a land crossing would have been like.
Great looking, efficient and modern airport, just ruined by corruption.
Beautiful, new airport. Friendly, quick visa service. They'll charge an additional $2 if you don't have a passport photo available for your visa application.
I like the design and architecture of this airport, it gives you a feel of Cambodia. It is small but not crowded. It has a duty-free shops and Starbucks. I had a very smooth entry and exit from this airport. Unfortunately, my friend had a different story. He was blatantly asked for a tip by an immigration officer when he arrived to Siem Ream. This experience is giving a very bad impression about the city, considering that a lot of tourists come to this place. :(
Went there to travel to Korea (transit in Hanoi). Everything was quick, staff was polite. As I learned from the reviews price is expensive after the immigration and security checks (but there was no option before -_-). Still affordable, you have burger king (2 sets for 14.5$) Japanese restaurants (5ish $ for a bowl) relay (sandwich for 3.80$) and a coffee which offers sandwiches for 4$. There's a pharmacy too. The Wi-Fi is free and very good, you can find few power sockets and a smoking area between gate 3 and 4.
The airport is cute, giving you a picture of what's in in he country. Tourist tips! You can't pay the entry visa with card, so bring dollars (they charge you more for other currencies) and an Id picture, as if they have to take it, they charge you as well.
The smallest International Airport I have been too and my least favorite Airport in Asia after Bangkok. Despite its small size, the airport is generally clean and organized. Chairs are really a challenge especially if you came too early for your flight. Food selection inside the Pre Departure Area are good though its still very limited compared with other International Airports.
Small but very efficient. Visa on arrival process is painless so long as you're properly prepared.
Domestic terminal is even smaller, but just as good.
Pretty small and relaxing airport. The Premium Plaza Lounge in the International terminal is outstanding. Brand new and same design as the one in Phnom Penh airport. Note the counter only opens for the flights 2 hours beforehand, so don't go there too early.
Small airport, but clean and you get through quickly.
The architecture is awesome and unlike any other airport I've seen.
One of the customs agents tried to get a bribe from someone in my party, but act dumb and eventually they'll just wave you through.
A nice small little airport with better than expected bare necessity. There are several choices of F&B outlets. The duty free shop carry a good variety and the convenience store let you used up whatever Cambodian currency that you wish to clear before flying off.
Not too crowd when I arrive at the airport. Rather fast and efficient clearance at the immigration and customs, much faster than my expectations.
Very long queue at the immigration counters. They should put a lot more staff there to improve throughput. Take this extra time into account when planning your trip.
Where do I start? Check in staff wouldn't let us sit together because the flight was full. It was half empty and there was an empty seat next to me. Baggage refused to let my partner take her insulin through for her type 1 diabetes and we had to wait 30 minutes until someone finally allowed her to continue. Having travelled most of Europe and Asia this is the only place that has ever said anything. Just not set up to accommodate tourists.
Oh really do everybody wait 30 minutes to obtain entry visa and then 40 minutes to go through passport check and then 20 minutes to exit with customs declaration?? It could be done much better to save everybody's time.
Same way with immigration on the way out. Officers talk with each other, eat noodles, drink coffee and do millions things just not working.
And last thing: no one is smiling, like no Cambodia!
Small efficient airport with all the standard international airport shops. Make sure to do your homework and fill in all the forms to save time. You do not want to queue behind a big group. Once outside pick up a 4G simple card. Very cheap. I would recommend to ask your accommodation to arrange an airport pick up. Tuktuk to city is about $5 USD. Enjoy!