While I was very happy to fly Singapore Airlines home from Bangkok in business class, the transit experience at Changi Airport was not what I was expecting…
My Singapore Changi Transit Experience
I booked Singapore Airlines from Bangkok to Los Angeles via Singapore in order to experience the ultra-longhaul Airbus A350-900 flight to Los Angeles, a flight I have not taken since it was operated by an all-business class A340-500.
The schedule left me with a five hour transit at Singapore Changi (SIN), which I had planned to use to work at the Singapore Airlines Lounge.
But when I arrived in Singapore, transit passengers were asked to remain onboard. Only about 4o people were on the BKK-SIN flight, including about a dozen transit passengers.
Airport staff boarded the aircraft and asked us to follow them. We were presented with a green bracelet and told to follow them. Other passengers connecting from a nearby gate joined us.
We headed out, past a beautiful Airbus A380 (now serving Kuala Lumpur but soon serving London) and onto a train. We were taken out to a remote gate area (A15) and essentially dumped. An airport staff told us to wait and we would be called when it was time to board our flight.
It wasn’t all bad – there were restrooms and a couple snack stands. You could also order food from your mobile phone. But I was not expecting to spend my layover cordoned off in a gate area, apparently because Thailand is deemed a high-risk country. Singapore divides nations into four categories and Thailand is currently a Category III nation, deemed high-risk.
I had thought about flying first class via Tokyo on the way back and am so glad I did not. Business and first class passengers were not treated any differently or even given a complimentary snack or water bottle.
I turn lemons into lemonade and parked myself down by an electrical outlet (there were very few, but I found one) and worked very productively for four hours without moving.
Flights were called one by one. Finally, my flight to Los Angeles was called about 1 hour, 10 minutes prior to departure. We began the long trek to the gate area, taking the train again then walking through the passenger terminal led by an escort. It was a very long walk, taking about 20 minutes.
Finally, we were simply dumped off at the gate: I guess I could have tried to go back and visit the lounge, but wanted to respect the system and also noted that the “clean” passengers had a yellow bracelet on.
After clearing security, I shortly thereafter boarded the flight without incident. Thankfully, I was not treated any differently onboard.
CONCLUSION
The Singapore transit experience was not what I was expecting. It seemed efficiently inefficient to me and I’m not sure why we posed such a threat when we had vaccine cards and a fresh negative test…but that’s the nature of transiting through Singapore right now.
Going back to the lounge would have meant padding through a security checkpoint at the edges where the gates meet the shopping arcade in Terminal 3. There is no way they would have let you through barring a health emergency and beyond that zone it’s deemed as a safe area. Unfortunately therein lies the Silver Kris lounges as well.
Mat, sorry, if you still struggle to understand that if you travel from a high risk country to the civilised world you have to pay the extra token or just stay there. Try your luck to fly from BKK to LAX on an other route and stay away from SIN. Good luck for your future travel from some one who did 500K++ before covid.
The COVID-19 numbers are better in Thailand than they are in Singapore…
Then better stay far away from Singapore as it might be to risky for you. Not easy to understand that you are willing to take the risk to pass by Singapore and then complain that they isolated you in an special area. It was only in your own interest to protect you !
Dude, just shut up. You’re just jealous. Matt deserves to air his complaints about the flight + perks he paid for. If you’re going to praise Singapore and it’s glorious safety, go do it on their government website
The covid-19 number are even better in india then Thailand. Just how candid and transparent are they in their number.
There was a huge covid cluster outbreak at the airport started by a passenger infecting a staff. I understand the airport is doing this to protect its staff first and foremost and they are rigorously segregated and screened as well. Passengers are affected by these regulations which is unfortunate but its not permanent so avoid the airport if you must for now.
Absurd
As the rest of the world moves on from Covid, Asia and Australia will be left in March 2020 with their archaic protocols in the name of “public safety”.
This is why it is important to resist mandates, mandatory vaccinations, etc. so we do not become like this.
I say this as someone who is fully vaccinated. I’m against separating people based on health status.
“I say this as someone who is fully vaccinated.”
Sure, Jan.
Aaron supports discrimination, state or private.
Of course we discriminate over anyone who hurts others; we typically call them criminals, and whether they kill you by bullet, blade or virus they’re all the same. This is something that developed countries understand and defend their population from.
Actually, underdeveloped countries think like this. North Korea, Iran, Libya just to name a few that criminalize this. Will Singapore track down the murderers that infected 500+ people that got killed as you said?
So, how should we be punishing Fauci and the CCP? Even folx on the left now admit that the virus could very well have come from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci prevaricated about his links to the lab. I wonder why? How should we be punishing fat folx who put extra stress on the health care system? They are literal murders taking away resources from deserving, healthy-but-unlucky folx.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/10/nih-admits-funding-risky-virus-research-in-wuhan
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/16/politics/biden-intel-review-covid-origins/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/wuhan-lab-theory-scrambles-politics/2021/05/27/55cbe448-bef6-11eb-83e3-0ca705a96ba4_story.html
https://www.ft.com/content/923e0256-7f7e-43ef-b4fe-64c066b8b70b
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/05/lab-leak-liberal-media-theory-china-wuhan-lab-cotton-trump.html
Thank you, Hans, for being against dividing people by health status.
Hans, the travel passport was a temporary measure in World War I, yet most people now see it as a natural prerequisite of travel and will argue for it.
At the same time, I do see a possibility that the world will self-segregate into compliant and uncompliant societies. The compliant ones will likely have the advantage of being aligned with larger, more powerful centers of governance.
You are coming from a high risk country and now have a high likelihood of carrying the virus. Why would you expect that Singapore, which has had a near-perfect response to the pandemic, would welcome you and your contagious disease into the business class lounge, where you would be free to infect healthy and responsible travelers?
Got it!
i had the same experience coming from JAKARTA on Oct 15 .. with connecting flight SQ38 to Los Angeles green band and Business Class
but coming back to Singapore from Los Angeles via Tokyo also with Business Class , I received purple band in Singapore Changi upon arrival and free to move and shop and use the Silver Kris Lounge ..
“a near-perfect response”…. if pandemic would end this winter and we go back to the before time, yeah you could say it’s was a perfect response. Here in United States, it’s not what it seems… every states, counties and cities, each had totally different responses to the pandemic, some did a complete lock down… some resisted and kept on going… some mandated masks and vaccines, some made any mandates illegal. Yet… all had different phases of surges in covid cases and death puzzling public health officials. Even the states that has a very high vaccine rates and strict mask mandates are experiencing latest surges. Australia is talking about locking down again. I think this pending isn’t something that you can avoid by temporarily hunkering down and wait for it to pass. It won’t pass. we will have to learn live with it. By implementing strictest restrictions, I think you are only delaying the inevitable. Learning to leave with it will be very hard. many people will die until populations eventually reach heard immunity through vaccinations, break throughs infections and natural immunes. FYI, my family is fully vaxed and we wear masks.
Tjp74, it’s
Live, not leave
Herd, not heard
Singapore currently has a rolling average of 38 covid cases/100k population which is significantly HIGHER than the USA’s average of 23. While they did control COVID early by basically completely closing their borders (which is only possible when you are an island country with one airport), this strategy was never sustainable and now they are finding themselves stuck. Even their own health officials have admitted that they must learn to live with covid, but they are struggling to unwind the massive restrictions that have been built into every area of their lives.
Singapore’s response has objectively been “near-perfect”: 612 deaths in a country of 5.7 m people, or one every 9,300.
Compare this to the US, with at least (they don’t count people who died because they were unable to get proper medical care due to hospitals being overrun by COVID) 765,000 deaths in a country of 329.5 m people, or one every 430.
If the US had the same response as Singapore, at least 730,000 Americans would be alive today. It’s not a typo; redo the math if you don’t believe me.
And even now that they’ve stopped COVID-zero, Singapore has lower daily deaths than the US: in the last week, they lost an average of 2.04 people per million, while the US lost 3.15; that’s 366 Americans dying every single day that would be alive under Singapore’s response standards.
Americans are fat. Singaporeans, not so much. COVID-19 is a killer of the old and fat. Follow the science. C’mon, man!
https://www.science.org/content/article/why-covid-19-more-deadly-people-obesity-even-if-theyre-young
https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n623
Obesity rate may add to the problem, but Indians are thinner than Singaporeans yet they died at horrendous rates. Singapore’s “near-perfect response” has more to do with the extra low number of cases and deaths than BMI.
India has a disproportionately high burden of lung disease. It is much poorer than Singapore and has much worse air quality in many areas. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. This is not so surprising.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(18)30409-1/fulltext
Coexisting with something dangerous implies doing something different than before; otherwise it’s giving in.
If you’ve ever been to a war zone, you know that coexisting with a war means avoiding high risk areas and going into bunkers when there’s an air raid, not continuing to live life as if a war wasn’t going on. That’s denialism.
It’s the same with viruses, and the earlier people understand it, the earlier places where denialism is prevalent will stop the incessant cycles of restrictions and deaths, one of which just started in the UK and most of Europe.
Singapore is a police state. Just admit that you like authoritarianism and fascism to keep you safe.
My comments are not directed at Doug.
I find that it is a joke to compare US with Singapore, or any nation for the matter. US is by far, one of the richest nation that failed terribly at managing covid 19. Just Google it, there are more than a year worth of negative news, many written by American!
While Singapore is small, other larger countries have did the same and manage covid 19 well. To say because Singapore is small and hence, it is easy to do it really show how weak the person is to look for comparable that suits to his/her situation and not look at the underlying issue.
That’s raw data without analysis that Singapore is a city whilst USA data is aggregate. Common sense will tell you that outbreak in a dense city is much faster than in outskirts. The media will always like to sensationalize news with numbers but end of day make fools of others
How would he be able to infect people when you are negative? You were saying that by allowing him to business class lounge, can transmit disease to others? Then nobody should travel, stay in your own bubbles.
That’s the kind of ridiculous response I would expect from a Singaporean who is brainwashed and subservient to the government control of social/intellectual/reasoned thinking and attitude.
Why how come most european countries are in a “safe” group 2 categories when pretty much all of them now have a super high infection rate? I deeply believe that it is driven by revenue more than anything. It is pretty discriminatory actually.
Near perfect response?? Do you not remember foreign workers dormitory?
Wait, you already left Bangkok?
You went through all this hassle to just stay 2 or 3 night in Bangkok.
Really don’t understand
I have a wife and two kids – this wasn’t a vacation, but a business trip. It’s not like I could have taken my entire family anyway when two of them are in school.
Just wondering, as transit passenger in Singapore, do you have to provide PCR Negative Test?
I was not asked to produce a negative test in Singapore, but did in Bangkok prior to boarding my flight to Singapore. However, I assumed that was due to my connecting USA flight.
Just to be clear, in BKK, without PCR Negative result, you will be denied boarding for Singapore, right?
That is my understanding. I had a PCR test and was specially asked for one even though the USA also accepted antigen tests.
Really appreciate you sharing your experiences.
Its not clear from your article if the transit experience in Bangkok was related to Thai procedures (ie.. any transit flight would have faced the same issues) or if the transit experience was specific to Singapore as a connecting point. Thoughts?
There was a typo. I’m only talking about Singapore here.
It was based upon what category the country you are coming from is. Thailand is cat iii (high risk) so the “quarantine” procedure was implemented. Had I entered Singapore, a mandatory 14-day quarantine would have been required.
Singapore Airlines, in the UK have long been marketing the transit experience of Changi without telling you that all transit passengers are treated in this way, you have to dig to find the information but it is there. As such, I’m avoiding what is one of the world’s most expensive airlines currently providing the poorest transit experience and mediocre service.
I can’t even find that information – it’s really a “bait and switch” and not at all what I was expecting.
You write this: But when I arrived in Bangkok, transit passengers were asked to remain onboard. Only about 4o people were on the BKK-SIN flight, including about a dozen transit passengers.
Do you mean “when I arrived in Singapore….”? You had left Bangkok and were transiting Singapore to get to Los Angeles, correct? Or did you transit Bangkok?
Got it. Thanks.
Hans nails it. Hey Joe, all SIN and AU have done is delay the inevitable and hold their citizens hostage for two years. Once they open they’ll have an outbreak. There is no way around it. Masks, vaccines, etc cannot stop it. The vaccine is a failure and all the virus theatre at the airport is foolish paranoia. Herd immunity is the only way out…..
Exactly right. It’s an airborne virus and those are notoriously difficult to control. Yes, the vaccine makes it slightly less likely that you’ll contract or transmit the virus; but it does markedly lessen your odds or ending up seriously ill from it. It does NOT cure Covid. And as soon as these countries that have locked down like hermits decide to open up, this virus will be waiting. There’s no way around it. Norway and Sweden have gotten it from the start: just let people alone and let it run its course. Sweden had bad numbers at first, now they’re a world leader. Unlike that idiotic shrew and what she’s done in NZ, for example.
Didn’t Norway have mush stricter restriction than Sweden with much less deaths per capita and less economic downturn than Sweden?
Yes, that’s exactly what happened. Last I’ve seen neighboring countries had 10x less deaths than Sweden *and* higher GDP growth/lower decline.
There’s no such thing as “10x less”. Perhaps you mean 1/10th as much/many.
Australia and other Asian countries got it right: they lived fairly normal lives until the vaccine arrived for them (from places other than the USA since it banned its export), are getting vaccinated and will reopen with minimal deaths.
Indeed, the US after losing 1 in every 430 people to COVID still has a daily death rate that is 1.5 the one in Singapore, who only lost 1 in every 9,300 people and currently has a new reported infection rate that is HIGHER than the (poorly vaccinated) US.
Next time originate in Singapore and check out their new Biz lounge that opens next week!
I look forward to doing so!
Next time you pass through Changi, I think you’ll almost be glad you have this experience to look back on. Obviously you’ll be enjoying the opulence of the airport then, but it’s kind of an amazing thing to have had to do this for one occasion.
It doesn’t look like Singapore is nowhere near ready to be open in the capacity that the western airports have been.
Too bad.
If you have transited SIN from the US outbound, it would have been better I take it.
One now has to consider the transit point for considering how to construct a trip. Are there any other such transit points that segregates like this?
I’m specifically thinking about NRT/HND, DOH, European capitals? Not looking to transit thru HKG.
I recently transited through Singapore from LAX en route to the Maldives. The flight I was on was a “Vaccinated Travel Lane” (VTL) flight where we were required to show proof of vaccination and a PCR test before checking in at LAX.
I was expecting a similar transit experience as what you described, but once we landed in Singapore we were allowed to deplane normally and go into the terminal with no restrictions. We were also not given any wristbands. This in spite of the fact that the USA is a Category IV country. I believe if you are on a VTL flight you will have a near normal transit experience.
https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/travel-info/vaccinated-travel-lanes/#
Thank you for the data point.
USA is category II.
https://safetravel.ica.gov.sg/shn-and-swab-summary
You are correct in that all passengers arriving on VTL flights or from Category I and Category II countries are allowed to mix and to use lounges (see https://mainlymiles.com/2021/10/17/transit-passengers-from-44-countries-can-now-shop-and-use-the-lounges-at-changi-airport/ — but the list Cat II countries is outdated)
However, you are incorrect in that the US is now Category II as reflected in https://safetravel.ica.gov.sg/shn-and-swab-summary#from (the official website of Singapore’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority )
What proof of vaccination did you have to give? I’m going on a flight, same scenario as you, but i only have a CDC printed card. I hope im going to be ok.
That seems to be acceptable for transit – I presented my LA County Digital pass. But to be safe, I would follow the requirements I outline in this post:
https://liveandletsfly.com/united-airlines-singapore-2022/
Did your digital pass contain a qr code or was it just a pdf document showing your records?
There was a QR code. SQ agents in BKK just took a picture of it, though.
Sounds like a wonderful Silverkris FCT experience to me. Don’t know what you’re complaining about.
How’s Steve?
Seems pretty pointless considering the fact that you’ll spend the next 15 hours on a plane with people coming from all over the world, if they really wanted to execute this farce properly they would segregate you on the plane as well.
Yep.
It was to avoid you getting anyone in SIN “infected”.
Once you are on a plane going away from SIN, they don’t care.
But I agree it’s a bit overkill.
This is the “we can live with it approach”, which is not willy nilly, do what you want, where a mask if it pleases you, get vaccinated optionally, don’t have tracing, gather in large groups, eat with many people in your party at a restaurant, etc.
I recommend that Matthew get a box of N95 masks to help his family. N95 masks are much better. People can do a cheap fitting test, which is:
1. feels tight
2. use 3 fingers on each hand to press the mask on the nose, not just 1 finger on each hand
3. fitting slightly higher on the nose is usually better
4. wear glasses or sunglasses and breath hard. If the glasses get fogged up, re-do steps 1, 2, and 3 to establish a better seal. If fog can go out, Covid germs can go in.
Then look at your calendar and get a booster. The hepatitis B vaccine is a 3 dose vaccine so Covid might be the same. It’s called a booster but actually, if there were years to prepare, may have been called a 3 shot regiment.
Thank you, Matthew, for reporting to us because willy nilly travel is not a good idea for us.
JAKE? other than being on the left side of common sense what is your problem?? Your comments (about US Healthcare) without data points!!!!
There was a “premium” transit holding area but perhaps that has gone now most passengers are now able to access the lounge. However from what my friends are telling me it’s very crowded so I don’t think you missed much until the new lounge and the *A Gold lounge are open and there is enough capacity for the peak crowds
Its all on the Singapore Airlines Website. Cat 3 and 4 countries are escorted to a holding area.
https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/travel-info/transit-through-singapore/
“Arriving at Singapore Changi Airport – Category III & IV Countries
All transit passengers will be provided with a wristband, which will give them access to the designated transit holding area at Singapore Changi Airport. The wristband will be handed out by ushers after disembarkation. Do be patient and practice safe distancing when disembarking.”
A bit of research prior to departure could have saved the disappointment!
You are correct!
It’s mentioned only in a fine print on SQ website, it is not mentioned in the official Changi website:
https://www.changiairport.com/en/airport-guide/Covid-19/transiting-through-airport.html
It is clearly 100% misleading which makes me quite upset since I just transferred a bunch of miles to krisflyer. Planned to fly from BKK to ZRH via SG. Luckily I didn’t book yet
Thanks for this little update! At least niw, i can know what to expect. I have the same trip coming up lax-bkk and bkk -lax through SIN with a 5hr. wait as well, i thought i could go visit the butterfly garden and have a shopping spree ! What a bummer!
Thank you for sharing your experience.
I think this leaves much to be be reviewed in terms of the process and procedures of the various stakeholders .. airport authority. Health authority, airport ground operations and the airline. How these come together to ensure safe protocol, and yet the passenger who is at the centre of the whole thing is taken care off too. In this respect I personally will think SIA has a big role to play. And not forgetting the writer is on a business class ticket. Thanks
Just avoid Singapore at all costs, Dubai is the next world hub, Emirates flies almost everywhere, great airlines, world class lounges and very logical when it comes to pandemic handling, Singapore gone nuts on Covid and now there is a chance you catch it in Singapore more that anywhere else due to their surge, most of the frequent flyers I know shifted from SIA Kris flyer to Emirates anyway and got a status match quickly, don’t waste your time in Singapore, Also duty free in DXB is awesome.
From Singapore, very sorry to you and everyone transiting through Singapore for the bad experience.
By the way you are not the only one to complain, my Chairman flew 1st Class on SIA to New York.
He complained about the * couldn’t care less * attitude by the Changi airport ground staff.
His family was literally order to fall in line and march off to their transit hotel.
On the way he was not allowed to use the toilet by the ground staff.
To tell the world Singapore is efficient and robotic, that is how our Civil service work.
It appears you have assumed alot in a time where there are many uncertainties.
It also appears you expected to be treated differently at Changi Airport because you took business class. I am not sure which airport will have a different set of regulation just because an individual fly via better class on an airline. I can only hope that you do not expect the law in each country to be applied differently just because of status/ wealth/ etc.
I may not have liked the process, but I made the most of it. I do think SQ could have done a much better job preparing me for the layover. I had no idea and shouldn’t have to search through a stack of fine print to understand there is no lounge access.
Concerning wealth, apparently duty free and lounges were too dangerous, but transit passengers from dangerous countries could book a room at the transit hotel…
I agree you do not need to look throught the fine print. Nonetheless, perhaps if you have taken the effort to ask SIA about the situation at Changi Airport, or even Changi airport itself, I am confident someone will respond to you. Also, I hope you are aware that SIA and Changi Airport are separate entity.
I am not sure the point you are trying to drive across on your 2nd para.
While I find your article give the wrong impression that it is SIA or Changi Airport are not doing enough, I can only hope other readers have an idea of what to expect.
Airports do provide different levels of service and customer experience based in things like the cabin class, lounge memberships, and so on. Some airports have separate terminals for first class passengers.
So, when an airport treats everyone poorly regardless of class, this is not the norm, and I think it’s appropriate to note that.
In principle, the law is or should be a universal thing. It if the same for everyone, at every place, at any time by definition. Airports don’t have to be like that; everyone’s needs and specifics are different.
Moreover, we see here how legislation, being law-like, resulted in a one-size-fits-all approach in this case. The author of the article explained how it did not make sense to segregate vaccinated and tested passengers based on broad categories when everyone would be sitting in the same plane for hours anyway. The problem with the legislative approach is that it lacks flexibility and generates collateral damages.
1. I think it’s appropriate to note that I am referring specifically to regulation and not services.
2. Legislation and law are the same thing.
3. Most often than not, legislative approach is not meant to provide flexibility. It is meant to provide a clear set of guideline / rules / etc. While I am not sure if these regulations have been legislated, regulation / guideline provided are often not meant to provide flexibility as well. However, our enforcement officer does practice flexibility as they will advise / remind individual where appropriate and take enforcement action if the individual insist not to corporate.
I am not sure where the author mentioned the below quotes in his article but it does appears he meant people are categorised based on the countries they come from. Or at least, it appears everyone from the same flight are allowed to stay together. If my understanding is correct, then I am not sure where it does not make sense. I also want to highlight that, being vaccinated does not mean you are not positive / you will not get the virus so that is beside the point. Having said this, if a reader is expected to read the entire comments section, then again, his article is lacking.
“The author of the article explained how it did not make sense to segregate vaccinated and tested passengers based on broad categories when everyone would be sitting in the same plane for hours anyway. “
There’s a pandemic raging….hello?
Not to be dismissive, but your government has wisely realized (in a broader context) that we must learn to coexist with the virus. It’s time to start trusting the vaccine and negative COVID-19 tests for transit passengers too.
I find that you are missing the point here. Singapore government has indeed mentioned that we have to coexist with Covid, and this is similar to many other countries. Having said that, it does not mean we shouldn’t have any form of safe measure for people who are entering / transiting through Singapore.
I think the key point here is, situation is still dynamic (e.g. US and EU still categorise countries by diff risk level and this is constantly updated) and it is prudent to expect changes even with all any Government had said. Also, it is unwise to expect everything go back to norm at an instant.
Did you check if it’s like this for all transit pax , whether it’s infra Asia to USA/EU or Aust. – EU etc.? ThY would be helpful to know.
“A pandemic raging”, two years of hysteria and paranoia and it’s death rate is less than common flu or dengue fever. The major proportion of reported Covid fatality is combined with age and significant other contributive health issues. I am in the high risk category and don’t wish to spend my remaining years like the last 2 with a hideous over reaction that history will adjudicate as being a chaotic global quagmire of govt and public stupidity and over reaction.
I would rather you stew in your ignorance, but unfortunately your ignorance kills others.
Firstly, COVID death rates range from 0.1% to ~3% by country. That is higher than flu mortality.
Secondly, COVID death counts are low because most countries opted to suppress viral spread. Without any measures, you would likely be floating your dead relatives down a river, like the Indians earlier this year.
Thirdly, high COVID cases overwork doctors and nurses, who shouldn’t have to suffer for stubborn never-maskers. Hospital services are affected across the board as a result.
Fourthly, COVID infection leaves behind serious complications for a significant minority.
Lastly, raging COVID increases the risk of a mutation that is both virulent and deadly.
Franky some of the rules in Singapore are complete nonsense. Thailand has a lower case rate per 100k than many other countries including Singapore.
Flew to London on the 5 Nov and after a waiting ages in an understaffed gate security line in found that departure lounge had every other seat closed off. I just don’t get that because a short while later people will be on the plane eating and drinking next to each other.
NOnsense and rules align beautifully in Singapore. The rules and process here makes no sense.
But remember the one party state and Lee Kuan Yew “you vote for us and you give us the right to control what you do, what you say and how you should think”.
They treat their citizens like kindergarten kids.
Not that Singapore is a free country with independent courts, but given it is an English common law country, in theory this is illegal since you are effectively being detained. It might be different if is was the police or border control doing this but I know more than a few good U.S. lawyers who would love a lawsuit in U.S. courts if a U.S. airport or U.S. airline ever tried to do this.
I think it is important to distinguish between being illegally detained and in this context, allowed to move in an specific area within the airport. While I am not sure how being allowed to move within a specific area for transit purpose considered as illegally detained or detained, the difference between pre-covid 19 and now is that the area of movement is definitely smaller.
I be surprised if in U.S. airport or on U.S. airline where any individual can simply walk into any area as an individual please. I be happy to see your few good U.S. lawyers walking into US airline cockpit or walk into U.S. restricted area and suit bring the airport / airline to U.S. court when, in this case, being detained. You can surely give it a try and walk into restricted area in the airport or getting into (or try) the airline cockpit since you sound confident by saying such thing.
A friendly advice, please do not try this in Singapore airport or on Singapore airline, or in other countries airport / airline. Personally, common sense tell me not to try it in U.S. too
White privilege seems to go a lot further outside of white men’s land….oh wait it doesn’t. Matthew hope you re feeling less nauseated now.
I wasn’t nauseated in the first place…
I believe the risk has nothing to do with your vaccination status. A vaccinated person can still be infected. The risk is determined by how a country has handled the pandemic. Percentage of population vaccinated, number of daily cases, reporting accuracies, etc.
When you may be carrying a virus that spreads airborne and kills, you are a biological weapon. Its no longer about segregation by health status. It is about segregating a weapon that has a higher possibility of “detonating” or a bigger “blast radius”.
Are you old? Are you fat? Those are the two most important questions to ask. Look at the age-stratified death statistics. Look at the deaths with comorbidities.
Oh Singapore and its rules. I am having hard time to book VTL from LAX to SIN between Dec 20 thru Jan 10, sinceI need to attend exchange student with NUS. The ticket price is $7K and actually you can go to Jakarta from LA only $700, on the same plane! Except there will be a connecting flight. Can I just skip the leg and exit on Singapore during transit? But I am afraid I cant even be roaming free, sin e it transit. How about the transit is 33 hrs? And I have to think to claim the baggage? Perhaps I can ask when check in @LAX to collect my stuff in Singapore? Ahhh so complicated. I can go to Jakarta, US still blocked.
I do agree that SQ should have alerted passengers that the lounge is outside of certain wait zones. However, please don’t mislabel this ‘bait-and-switch’; only a fool would enter a jurisdiction without first learning its COVID rules, and relevant information is only a hotline away.
I don’t think in terms of hotlines in 2021. It’s like saying why didn’t you send for information via post. Relevant information should be clearly and prominently disclosed. In that sense, it was bait-and-switch (but please note, I am simply making an observation, not demanding compensation).
That’s fair.
You would expect a seasoned traveller like youself to do proper research and due diligence, particularlyin the current world we live in. To enter Thailand you would’ve had to have done more research and jump through more hoops, but you just assumed you would have access to a lounge….
Ah but I get it, you run a blog and the more clicks = more revenue, so a clickbaity post is the way to go…
Didn’t seem to be a problem for my other stops on the trip (CAI,LHR,HND,BKK) so not sure why it was a problem for SIN…but always easy to attack the author…
Different countries, different rules, I’m not sure why that was a surprise to you…
The fact that other countries don’t have a “problem” is irrelevant. If you elect to travel through a country you agree to abide by its rules.
If you had done some research before your travel you would’ve found out about this. Singapore makes its rules very clear.
Hi Matthew,
While it is still unclear how effective the vaccine is against Omicron variant, it should be clear by now that the Covid 19 situation remains dynamic. While I hope for the best, it is prudent to be careful nonetheless.
If you have followed the news, you would have realized the two Omicron cases detected in Australia are from travelers who have transited in Singapore. As of now, we cannot tell if these travelers have spread the virus to others but, if Singapore has not implemented the safety measure (which you and others have disagreed / complained), I am guessing there is a higher chance the virus may spread.
So my point is, you and the other who have said all the negative things, it is time to realize that you should stop looking at the Covid 19 situation from you tiny lens. Government around the world main goal is the safety of its people and trying to strike a balance on economy as well. It is not to please the tiny group of people who expect things are for their convenience.
Similar to most of you, I am also very frustrated with the covid 19 situation and keen to travel as soon as possible. Hence, I can understand a lot of pent up frustration from many people and I wish that things stabilized soon.
My final comment to Matthew. It is disappointing how someone with a wealth of press experience has written this article which appears not to have been well thought through and it does show you did not do your research and you have not realised how dynamic the situation is. If you are not willing to read, understand and research on a topic, I suggest you do not touch on the topic of covid 19, directly or indirectly.
Thank you for this article- I came across this information after having booked VTL flights on SQ from Brisbane to Manchester (UK) transiting via Changi, due to travel July 2022. The outbound leg includes a 5h transit. I thought I would be able to wander around the airport, go for a swim, use the lounge (previously the things that make me choose to fly via SIN). However, what has thrown a spanner in the works is that 3 days before departing BNE I will have returned from a trip to NZ. Current rules state that to be eligible for VTL I need to have been in the country of origin for 2 weeks before travelling. I figured NZ is a fairly low risk country, but after seeking clarification from SQ they just pointed me back to their webpage. I can’t get a straight answer from the airline so I think I’ll be cancelling the bookings and looking to fly via the Middle East. If I have to fly for 24h and have the option of being able to walk around, get a shower, change clothes etc, I’m choosing that one!