Camping out at Singapore Changi Airport
I’ll use this week’s no-GYM theme to go with something completely different:
I’ve travelled between the US and India something like 20 times in the past few years. From the Bay Area, it’s roughly equidistant to go via Europe or via Asia. I often have other stops to make elsewhere in Asia, but one reason I like to go westbound is because of the facilities at the Singapore Changi Airport. (Another reason is that I find the Frankfurt airport vaguely creepy, but that’s another story.)
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I typically fly on United from San Francisco, connecting in either Tokyo or Hong Kong, and arriving in Singapore at midnight. There’s a connecting flight to Bangalore at around 7:30am, which leaves just enough time for a few hours sleep, a workout in the gym, breakfast and e-mail at the business lounge, and picking up any last minute items at one of the many stores.
The Singapore airport has two transit hotels, a swimming pool, and two gyms on the terminal airside, meaning that you don’t have to go through security. This is a bigger win these days than a few years ago. I’ve also gone into town to stay at a “real” hotel, but while I’m on business travel I hardly do more than sleep, run, and wash at any hotel, and it hardly seems worth it.
The Ambassador Transit Hotel is bare bones, but offers much better sleeping conditions than any airplane bed, flat recliner or not. It can be difficult to book a reservation ahead of time, but there are a number of “economy” rooms, which are rarely fully booked, and even when they are, I have been able to get a room within an hour or so of waiting around at the desk. The regular rooms have between 1 and 4 beds, a small desk, television, and bathroom. The economy rooms are smaller, some do not have a television, do not have a separate bathroom, but are adjacent to the gym, where there are a number of shower rooms.
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Interestingly, the rooms have indicators pointing to Mecca, for the convenience of their Islamic clientele. There is also a small children’s play area on the ground floor, but I’ve never seen any families at the transit hotel. It usually seems to be business travellers, and people are just trying to sleep. International flights are coming and going around the clock, so the hotel books blocks of six hours at a time, which can be extended by the hour. It’s about US$35 for a room.
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Use of the terminal 1 transit hotel gym, showers, and swimming pool are included in the room charge, but can also be purchased separately. The transit hotel gym has a fairly new Precor treadmill (was finally replaced this spring), a stationary cycle, and a few weight machines, and a rack of dumbbells. The shared gym showers are much nicer than the ones in the rooms. They’re equipped with glass doors and soap dispensers, while the ones in the rooms have just a curtain, with a drain in the floor (so the whole bathroom floor gets wet), and little packets of soap (which are hard to open).
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The swimming pool is on the roof of the building, and is accessible through the Terminal 1 gym. The pool doesn’t open until something like 9am, so I’ve only used it on a couple of occasions when my outgoing flight was delayed.
The Terminal 2 transit hotel doesn’t have a gym, but the separately operated Plaza premium lounge and gym nearby is much nicer than the Terminal 1 gym. The desk can also supply you with exercise clothes, although you still need to bring your own running shoes. Their gym has several nice treadmills, along with a newer weight machine, hand weights, and mats for yoga. They also have showers, nap rooms, oxygen therapy, and a lounge with snacks.
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The view from the treadmill at Terminal 2 is more interesting, as you can watch all the people coming and going at the food court across the concourse. (They are also watching you, of course, while they munch on their noodles and french fries, and wondering at the fact that you were there when they arrived, and still there when they left…) In contrast, the view from the terminal 1 treadmill looks out onto part of the runway.
Terminal 2 is newer in general, and has all the Singapore Airlines gates. United and others are mostly on Terminal 1, which is older, but has been updated somewhat over the past few years.
Singapore is also the best place in the world to be stranded by a missed flight connection. It has cheap and reliable phone service, free wireless networking, and the equivalent of a midsized shopping mall along the concourses. Even without the transit hotels, you could quite easily live in the airport and get a lot of work done for days or weeks, sort of like Tom Hanks in The Passenger, except with credit cards and communications services.
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A number of airlines contract their business lounge service to the SATS premier lounge. This causes some confusion sometimes, as SATS is a unit of Singapore Airlines, but there are two separate (and much nicer) lounges for travellers flying SQ. If you’re on United and have access to an international lounge, you will be able to use the SATS lounge for free. It has a supply of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, chairs, and mostly pretty bad food. I usually bring my own food for travelling, and skip their snacks except for some nuts and chips. There are a couple of PCs for internet access (free), along with a large television and several telephones. I’ve never succeeded in getting the lounge phones to work for me, although I don’t have any trouble with the ones out on the concourse.
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The telecom rates to the US from Singapore on the pay phones are comparable to my US domestic cell phone service. Some of the phones have card stripe readers which accept normal credit cards, such as American Express, Visa, or Mastercard, while others take only cards from local phone companies. A 5 minute call to the US ends up costing around US $3.
Some other notes:
- There is also a small shower in the bathroom at the SATS lounge. I’ve never used it, as I always shower at the transit hotel. There’s also a new “Rainforest” lounge in Terminal 1, which looks pretty nice, and has showers, massage, aromatherapy, and some treadmills, but I haven’t had occasion to use it.
- Elsewhere in the airport, there are “quiet areas” where you can sleep, power points for recharging phones and computers, a theater for free movies, many electronics shops (good for buying connectors and cables before heading into India), a cactus garden, a free bus tour of Singapore, and lots of free wireless. Just be sure you’re running a VPN or something.
- During the SARS crisis, each gate at SIN had a thermal imaging scanner to quickly screen passengers that were running a temperature, which kept incoming traffic moving along. SQ was also distributing kits of information and a disposable thermometer to their passengers. Hopefully we won’t see the return of the process with an avian flu outbreak, but they’ve had practice now.
- There are armed patrols of Singapore troops all over the airport. It can be a little surprising to walk off your flight to be greeted by people with submachine guns, especially if they’re juxtaposed with some of the wacky entertainment (singing, dancing, variety) that turns up on the stage in the middle of the concourse bar area.
- The airport has a tram system running between T1 and T2. It takes around 20-25 minutes to walk at a normal pace, but if you run you can make it in 10, even with hand luggage. I’ve been the last person allowed to make my connecting flight out of Singapore more than once…
November 14th, 2005 at 8:17 pm
There one thing you have to know Singapore Airport is world nown and the price is expansive for the phone calls and hotel rate so usually people will camp out of the hotel nearby and go to changi village where is quieter and they have a hotel there i believe and bigger rooms..
November 14th, 2005 at 8:35 pm
Qiu,
I agree that virtually any hotel outside the airport will have nicer rooms, but I find the rate fairly reasonable for what you get, and the convenience of not dealing with the security lines getting back into the airport in the morning is worth it for me, since I usually arrive at midnight Singapore time and need to check in at the transit desk at 6:00am.
Travellers who are staying longer in Singapore might opt for the off-airport hotels, and/or the free tour buses that the airport provides (need 6 hours, though).
November 14th, 2005 at 9:37 pm
That’s why I’m always telling my mom it’s sad that it’s our own airport in Singapore that’s so good. We hardly get to use any of its facilities since we don’t ever stop in changi, haha…
November 14th, 2005 at 9:49 pm
I got the impression that some local people from Singapore come to the airport early when travelling outbound, so they can spend a few hours doing aromatherapy, massage, shopping, or spending time in the lounge. (The SIA would certainly encourage it.) I wouldn’t bother coming early for the pool or the transit hotel, though…
November 15th, 2005 at 5:08 am
Huh? I thought the services are not accessible by Singaporeans? I heard Singaporeans are barred from using the services provided to tourists or transit travellers only?
Correct me if I’m wrong someone?
November 15th, 2005 at 5:41 am
What camera are you using? Good photos.
November 15th, 2005 at 7:02 am
Jasper - The free city tour is restricted to passengers transiting through Singapore on Singapore Airlines, and the airline lounges usually require either membership or a premium ticket, but the stores, movie theater, restaurants, and other services are open to any paying customer as far as I know.
November 15th, 2005 at 7:07 am
Copper - Most of the pictures were taken with a Canon S70, a few older ones were taken with a Canon S50. It’s a good camera for taking on the road as it’s pretty rugged, has a good lens, and full set of exposure controls but isn’t as bulky as a digital SLR.
November 20th, 2005 at 11:14 pm
HJL: Thanks for this blog/info–very helpful as I’m going to SIN next month for the first time. If you were doing business in SIN (not transitting) and had to catch a 7:15am flight from Changi back to NRT and SFO, would you consider going to the airport the evening before, rather than have to leave the city super-early in the morning?
Also, I think I’m going to Bangalore in January but United doesn’t seem to serve. Who do you fly from SIN to get there?
Thanks, Mark
November 21st, 2005 at 12:53 pm
Mark -
It sounds like you’ll be taking the same UA flight I’m usually on coming back to the US.
On overnighting in the airport on the return - the main issue with going directly to the airport on the evening before is you’ll have to check out of your hotel in the morning and take your luggage around with you or make other arrangements. The transit hotel is also quite minimal compared to business hotels in the city, which may not work for everyone. I’d do it if I were travelling on my own, though.
If you’re arriving in Singapore late in the evening, you might also consider staying at the airport overnight, then checking in to a “real” hotel the following afternoon. I always feel wasteful when I stay in a 5-star hotel and basically just take a shower.
On travel to BLR - I usually take the Indian Airlines flight which leaves at 7:40am. You can’t check in at the transfer desk until 6:00am when it opens, but after that you’ve got an hour to grab some coffee and catch up on e-mail. It arrives in Bangalore at 9:30am and I normally go straight to meetings from there.
UA doesn’t go to India, as you’ve noticed. If you take their Star Alliance partner flights on Lufthansa or Singapore Airlines to Bangalore, the flights are nicer than Indian Airlines but the airport is a mess, and they arrive at 1:00am or so, which gets you into a hotel room at around 2-3am. I find I get more useful time on the ground if I overnight in Singapore. Bring an iPod or other amusement, there’s no in-flight entertainment system on the Indian Airlines flight.
November 22nd, 2005 at 8:31 am
Glad to know you think so highly of the Singapore Airport..we’ll even be opening a new terminal to reduce the congestion early next year.
To Joel - Some Singaporeans take the airport as a hangout - Starbucks, McDonalds, Coffee Bean - all popular students hangouts to date or study. Check it out someday.
Your Canon S70 - How many megapixels?
November 22nd, 2005 at 9:24 am
Ng Yu Hang - Do they allow people into the terminal airside without a ticket? I know they screen again at the gate area, but most airports only allow passengers or staff beyond the first security checkpoint these days.
The Canon S70 is about 7 megapixels (maximum 3072 x 2304). The lens system is the highlight for this camera though. It’s capable of producing a sharp enough image to make use of the sensor resolution, and the wide angle end of its zoom range is much wider than many similar cameras, making it possible to take photos like the ones from the transit hotel interior.
January 21st, 2006 at 5:37 pm
Thanks for the Changi camping info John Lee. My wife, who is a very light sleeper has the night of June 3/4 at the airport so your info will be put to good use.
Best Regards from Godzone.
June 22nd, 2006 at 8:30 pm
I have been to the changi airport many times but I didn’t know they have such a nice hotel there. Thanks for your info about camping at the airport.
July 18th, 2006 at 7:51 am
We will be at the Singapore airport for about 10 hours in Feb 2006. The info about the hotel is GREAT.
One question, are the rooms quite?
July 18th, 2006 at 8:49 am
In my experience the rooms have been pretty quiet. There are signs in the guest corridors reminding people to be quiet. Most guests are individual travellers catching a little sleep between flights, so the typical noises are from people coming and going. I have only stayed in the middle of the night between midnight and 6am, though.
If you’re there during daylight hours, you should try the pool if it’s nice out. The pool isn’t spectacular, but has good novelty value, looking out over the runway.
September 20th, 2006 at 8:13 pm
Hi hjl,
excellent summary of singapore transit! Thansk a lot for the information. I have a small query.
Incidentally, i note that i am on a similar trip via singapore to Bangalore from Tokyo. I will be reaching singapore airport in the midnight and board the morining Indian airlines flight. As suggested, i will take a brief snap at Ambassador transit hotel. I am told we can not pick up our luggage as we should not go through immigration for staying in the transit hotel. Is it so? I will be little uncomfortable leaving my luggage unattended for 6-8 hrs. I will have a valid singapore visa during my travel. Can u chare your experience?
September 20th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
Babu - both of the airport transit hotels are airside, so you should not exit the secure area of the airport. If you exit the secure area for some reason, you’ll need to have your passport and go through security again.
You will not claim your checked luggage in Singapore, you should have it checked through to Bangalore when you depart Narita.
The airline transit desk (also airside) will confirm your luggage transfer and issue your boarding pass. It doesn’t open until 6:00am, though, so you can’t do this when you arrive at midnight.
If you forget to check your bag all the way through, they can still find it and transfer it for you, the luggage handlers at SIA are pretty efficient.
September 20th, 2006 at 8:50 pm
Dear Hjl,
Thanks a lot for your instant response!
I am flying in two different airlines from Narita to bangalore in 2 separate tickets (ticket1: from narita to singapore by United Airlines: ticket2: from singapore to bangalore by indian airlines). I am afraid i will not be able to check-in my luggage till bangalore at narita.
As you have suggested, if possible and available, i will seek the help of airline transit desk for luggage transfer.
Thanks once again
Babu
September 21st, 2006 at 5:15 am
Babu - when you check in at United, just tell them you’ll be connecting to an Indian Airlines flight in Singapore and they will tag it with an interline transfer tag. I have taken that United NRT-SIN flight and connected to the morning SIN-BLR flight on Indian Air many times and have had no problems with interline luggage transfers.
As I mentioned in the previous comment, if you don’t tag it all the way through, the Singapore baggage handlers will just hold it overnight and can get it when you check in at the transfer desk.
September 21st, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Hi Hjl,
Thanks once again. I am happy to know from you that there is a provision to do interline luggage transfer at narita itself. That would be great!
Best wishes
Babu
September 24th, 2006 at 10:22 am
I was just thinking about taking a little trip to Singapore next week - also was hating the idea of renting a hotel room for the first night when the plane arrives at midnight and then the last night the flight leaves at 7AM - which makes checkin 4am-ish? I am a little old lady and have hung around some rather unsavory airports - but SIN sounds very civilized. Thanks for your post…
Peg
September 24th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Staying at the transit hotel on the arrival night can work pretty well if you’re staying in Singapore. Usually all I want on a late arrival is to get a good nights sleep, and you don’t need to stay at Raffles or the Hyatt for that. Staying at the airport also means you can get to sleep within 15 minutes of landing, rather than heading to the city and checking in to your hotel first. You can have a nice dinner or two with the difference in room charges for the first night…
Bear in mind, the transit hotel isn’t much more than a bed and a shower, and you should definitely make a reservation in advance. You can generally get a room if you walk up, but you may have to wait a while, which isn’t great at 1 or 2 in the morning.
November 27th, 2006 at 1:50 am
Just visited Singapore and spent the night at the transit hotel in Terminal 1.
When I reserve with email in advance (that’s what the hotel wanted), I was told that all rooms are full in both terminals. I wanted to try my luck and Bingo - they could give me a “Budget room”…it was about midnight…
After I filled out the forms, two more customer came, they claimed they had email confirmation that they have rooms here but the staff told that no more room ! Interesting…How could they give me a room when I have no valid reservation but refused two legit customers who have confirmation on hand?? Its my lucky day…
My room was built next to the glass wall facing the runway, and Changyi is really a 24 hour operational airport!!! I had really experienced that..Jumbo Jets leave every half an hour with full power! just timed exactly to break my sleeping cycles….So, try to get a room that has no “Nice Windows” if you wanted to sleep well…
Can’t sleep until 4AM, and the morning call was at 5AM for a 6:55AM flight…
Anyway, I enjoyed the stay, the common bathroom at the gym is clean and convenient, the bed was OK, the TV is kinda fuzzy but working with Discovery, CNN and other goodies, the bathing towel isunder the TV stand - you’ll need that for a shower! There iseven a bottle of water (free) in the room for you to enjoy!
What’s missing is Wi-Fi, tried but there was no signal inside the room….
January 30th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Hi..Would be travelling back to India from Hanoi next month and have a long layover @ Changi–a night definitely @ Changi and dont have a SIN visa and I guess Indian PP holders are not eligible for the VFTF…Would I need a transit visa to stay @ the Transit hotel as well?N hope transit passengers get to experience the whole changi experience or is it only selected parts?looking forward to hearing something on this…thanx
January 31st, 2007 at 8:51 am
You don’t need a transit visa for the transit hotel, as it is inside the security checkpoint.
If you’re there for a relatively long layover during daylight hours you might want to try the swimming pool or the bus tour of Singapore (it leaves from airside as well).
March 19th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Good blog,great tips. Definitely will come handy on my next trip via changi!
April 2nd, 2007 at 9:50 am
Would there be any issue with staying at the Transit Hotel and leave the baggage unattended overnight?
I plan to arrive at midnight and would like to stay at the hotel, but have a concern about leaving my stuff until 8:00AM. I wrote to the Transit Hotel but they said they cannot guarranty (and they should not).
Anyone has experiences, both good and bad, in this area?
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Steiner - yours is the typical case. You simply check your luggage through to the final destination at your starting airport, and it will be tagged for your connection. You never pick up your luggage at all.
This also means you may want to pack your toothbrush and similar toiletries in your carry on.
I usually fly in at around midnight, and depart at around 7:30am. You’ll need to check in at the transit desk, which will be closed when you arrive and opens at 6:00am. Among other things, they will issue your boarding card and confirm your luggage transfer for you.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:01 pm
To hjl,
Thanks for your reply. I wasn’t clear on my message. I am not transiting. Singapore is my final destination. I just want to crash at the Transit Hotel until the morning when I will exit the airport in a better shape. Therefore no luggage transfer to another airline is concerned. My luggage would be lying around somewhere after the plane arrives. Question is: Would there be any problem, both from an airport/airline/legal point of view as well as from a practical point of view (would it like like be lost) ?
April 4th, 2007 at 2:05 am
I just returned to Delhi from Hongkong via Changi.If you are travelling in any of the sector with low cost point to point airlines like Jetstar or valuair,you cannot check in your baggage to your final destination.Better check with your airlines for through check in of your baggage
April 23rd, 2007 at 2:10 am
Hi ..
I will be travelling from India (New Delhi )to autralia ( canberra ) via singapore with Qantas Airways. There is a halt of 5 hrs between the connecting flights .. would a bus tour of singapore be possible ? nd how much does it cost normally ..
I was also thinking of buying a digital camera from the duty free shops at the changi airport .. can u suggest me a good camera .. i like urs as well .. Canon S70 .. ne idea how much it would cost at the airport ?
nething else that would be worth visiting at the airport in that time frame ..
looking forward to a reply frm u ..
cheers
Anuj
May 8th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Thank you so much for all your informative posts!
I am flying with Tiger Airways (Budget Terminal) and Jet Star Asia (Terminal 1).
I land in Terminal 1 with JetStar at 11pm and leave with Tiger at 6pm the next day so I think that the Transit Hotel is perfect for this.
I’ve been told that these Budget Airlines will not do a interline transfer tag, so my question is:
Will the Baggage Claim keep my luggage for a whole night
OR can I just clear customs, get my luggage, and go back through customs again to reach the hotel?
(or will they ask me for a boarding pass that I don’t have so I will be stuck outside the terminal)
Last question: on the return I land with Tiger Airways in the Budget Terminal at 10pm and my flight from Terminal 1 is at 1pm the next day with JetStarAsia.
Can I get into the Terminal 1 Transit Hotel at 11pm the night before a flight or is that impossible?
If it cannot be done, are there other cheap hotels near the airport?
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANY REPLIES!!
June 1st, 2007 at 6:06 am
to Frenchy
Although Terminal 1 and Terminal 2’s transit area are linked by the skytrain, you can’t access the transit area of the budget terminal from the T1 and T2 area. So if you leave the transit area of T1 to get your bags, you can’t get back in to get to the Transit hotel.
Reserved room(s) will be held for 45 minutes after arrival of flight or 15 minutes after requested reserved time. So if u arive at 11pm that should be alright.
Cheap hotels around the airport.. Well they aren’t THAT near. The nearest one I can think off off hand is Hotel 81 in the JooChiat area.. And even then, I wouldn’t really recommend it. The area is a little shady. hope this helps!
June 14th, 2007 at 6:43 am
Hows the indian airlines flight from Bangalore to singapore and bangalore to bangkok. Do they serve alcohol or not?
how is the food.
June 14th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Nadaal - Indian Airlines flies A320s for service between Bangalore and Singapore. I have only taken business class (for non-Indian residents, the cost is only slightly more, since they charge NRI/foreigners a lot for coach), so don’t know about coach service. They do serve a full range of drinks in business class. I always take the early morning flight, though, so I generally stick with coffee and water.
Business class on these flights is pretty minimal. The seats have a small folding footrest and are slightly wider. There’s no in-flight entertainment, although I always bring my own anyway. The main features are having more space (coach is usually full and has narrow seats), and getting to passport control first when the plane unloads.
June 25th, 2007 at 3:55 am
could somebody tell me if we can leave our large suitcases at Changi, while we trip over to Vietnam for 2 and half weeks?
June 28th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
Anika - there are “left luggage” counters in terminal 1 and 2, although I’ve never tried using them for extended time away. They charge a fee per bag which depends on how long you leave items with them.
Here’s a link
July 6th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Hi John Lee,
I am flying from Bay area ( SFO) to india via s’pore. You know the baggage weight for one person in SIA ? I heard they are strict on this .. your ideas pls
-Raje
July 25th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
I arrived by NW into Singapore at 1:00AM. I checked in the Transit hotel (with reservation) and was totally impressed with the whole arrangements. The room was clean, comforatble and very cheap to compare with anything outside of the terminal.
The next morning I checked out at around 8:00AM and my checked lugages were waiting for me at the conveyor area. I took my stuff, got out of Custom without fuss. Then I went to the Budget Terminal for another Tiger Air flight.
Before making the trip I was concerned with leaving my stuff unattended over night. Now I don’t undestand why I had to worry that much.
Steiner, July 07.
August 1st, 2007 at 4:41 am
I am a little confused now.
I have made a reservation with the transit hotel (although haven’t had an email to confirm this yet) to stay for approximately 12 hours in between my two flights. My second flight is domestic with Silk air. Should I speak to someone at Gatwick when I check in (Emirates) to ask them if they can tag the baggage or speak to someone when I arrive in Singapore asking if they can hold onto my bag until the next morning.
I don’t want to end up losing my bag - this has happened to me before.
Thanks Alex
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:16 pm
[…] Recently, I made a trip to South Asia which involved a rather substantial transit in Singapore’s Changi airport from around midnight till the following afternoon. While I hate long transits, especially in the middle of the night, I found some decent information online on how to make my stay painless. In particular, I found Ho John Lee’s posting on the topic extremely useful and I recommend reading it if you will be passing through Changi. […]
August 14th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
I will be arriving in Singapore from Hanoi at 1.00am and not leaving for Perth until 3.00pm same day 14 hours flying with Tiger Airways and we cannot use the hotel at Changi Airport as we have to collect our luggage which makes us not transit passengers, anyone know of any hotel very cloise to the airport that is cheap for 2 weary heads to have a sleep
August 14th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Bev - as long as your connection is within 24 hours of arrival you can just stay in the airport and have your luggage handled by the airport baggage handlers. The transit desk will be closed when you arrive, but when it opens (after 6am) you can tell them your connection details and they will make sure your luggage gets to your flight. I usually try to have my luggage checked through at the originating airport, but I have also had connections that only checked the luggage to Singapore and then had the transfer desk deal with finding the bags and getting them onto the connecting flight.
I’ve never checked out inexpensive lodging options near the airport, so can’t help there.
August 15th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
I will using the budget terminal at Changi as flying with Tiger - can I buy duty free perfume as I am lover of Estee Lauder and is cheap at the airport does the budget terminal provide this service
September 15th, 2007 at 4:38 am
Hi John, would you happen to know about JetStar airline check-in policy? We’re gonna be flying to Singapore from Jakarta, arriving in the afternoon. Our next flight is on the next day to Siem Reap at 6am, also by Jetstar. In the meantime, we’re planning to explore Singapore during the day. I was wondering if I can get a boarding pass for the Siem Reap’s flight when I arrive that afternoon from Jakarta, because without it we can’t get back into the transit area and rest for the night.
Any thoughts? Thanks for your help!
September 15th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
I’m not sure if you can get a boarding pass from the transit desk until the following morning, but you should check with your airline and/or the airport to be sure.
If you’re just interested in seeing the sights, you should check out the free bus tours operated from the airport. They depart from airside, first come first serve, take a couple of hours, and are pretty good if just want a look around.
http://www.changiairport.com/changi/en/airport_guide/exp_changi/rest_n_relax/free_sgtour.html
September 27th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
I’m taking a stopover in singapore for 3 days in my journey to India. I’m carrying some stuff in checked-in bags to India, which attracts duty if entered in singapore. But I don’t actually want to take it to singapore, I’ll take it with me to India.
I don’t know if I can keep it in singapore airport somewhere (may be left baggage) before customs, so that I don’t have to pay tax.
in a nutshell, I want to know is there any facility to store your stuff on singapore airport, which is after baggage claim but before customs clearance??
any experiences????
January 19th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Thanks this was very helpful. We will stay at the transit hotel on our arrival to Singapore. Hopefully it is not a problem to stay there until we can check in to our hotel in town.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
HI, we will arrive Changi at 9pm and leaving for VN at 10am the next morning. Is there any way we can do in town during that time? ie. lookout, tours, eat out… and is it worth doing it or should just stay in the airport? First time in SING so any suggestion would be appreciated
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:46 pm
There’s a free bus tour operated by the airport, not sure if it runs in the evening. It’s geared towards transit passengers and goes by various Singapore points of interest.
As noted above, there are many diversions in the airport itself, but it won’t be the same as stopping by for a drink at Raffles or somewhere similar…
January 28th, 2008 at 10:52 am
i lost a camera in this airport a 8mpx Nikon with two flash card 512, 256m, a lot photo hong kong, vietnam, singapure,thai…a coulpe in few photos…please help…
the person in the airport very gentile and worry for me thank Singapore’s people.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I was planning to buy the cannon s70, when i came across this site. I am travelling to singapore next month and plan to buy this at the airport dutyfree. could you help me with how expensive it would be ?