[dphillview]

This may be a bit of a 'fickie' question BUT we have a 6 hr stopover at singapore Airport (changi) before our onward journey to Auckand, and was just wondering if we will be required to take ALL our luggage with us, or if the 'checked' luggage/cases are transferred on to the next plane wiithout having to go thru customs etc!!
Have never flown this far before so have no idea how it works :oops: :oops:

We have a different flight numbers for each leg of the journey, so we are just hoping when we arrive at Singapore, all we'll have is our hand luggage and can stay in the transit hotel with that, and our 'hold' cases/luggage is transferred to the plane/flight due to AKL without any intervention from us!!

Please let that be the case...if not please let me know what we need to do!!!!!!!

THANKS

PS IS it true that if flying with Sing Airlines from Heathrow, we need to be there 4 hrs before the flight time???




Cheers..

A stressful Deb-bird
xx

PS Happy New Year to all of you, and may your dream begin!!!!!

[Wannaway]

I am pretty sure you can stay up to 24 hrs in Singapore and you don't need to collect your bags. I know we definitely checked this out at the time of arranging flights but as that bit of info is no longer needed my brain has assigned it to the bin. Lee will still remember tho' and I will get him to post here later today. There is a pool you can use (just need cossie),there's a cinema, you can have massages, catch some sleep in proper bed in the Transit hotel. All in all it's a fantastic airport if you have to stop over. I certainly don't think we had a 4 hr check in although we did leave home in plenty of time to make the flight. Again Lee will know for sure and he'll post later.

Nicky

[Diny]

Don't stress mate - it's all very simple and civilised.

When you check in at Heathrow your luggage will be checked all the way through to Auckland.

You can spend your few hours at Singapore without having to worry about anything other than your hand luggage.

As for check-in times at Heathrow for Sing. Air:

Yeah - they do request that you are there 4 hours before the flight. It use to be 3 hours but since the massive security tightening after 9/11, they request the early arrival.

However, I would be amazed if you arrived slightly later than the 4 hour slot and were told you couldn't check-in.

I'm one of those people who like to give myself plenty of time - tardiness and brinkmanship p**s me right off. You'll be amazed how quickly 4 hours will pass. By the time you've stood in the queue to check in, then said your goodbyes, have a drink and a bite to eat, then a mooch around the duty free shops. Before you know it you'll see the 'go to gate ***" request next to your flight number on the monitors.

And of course - it's a wonderful opportunity to do abit of top notch people watching !!!

By the way, Singapore Airlines are brill.

Happy new year.

Diny

[Wannaway]

You should not need to collect hold luggage etc when in transit in Singapore. They will check everything through to final destination provided your stop at Changi is less than 24 hours in length.

Changi airport is a brilliant airport, with wonderful facilities (as per earlier postings).

We flew from London Heathrow on Singapore Airlines and the check in time was three hours, although if flying economy may be best to check in four hours before the flight so that you get a better selection in terms of where you are seated (and seated together). as Diny says, 4 hours goes by pretty quickly, especially if you are happy to do a bit of shopping, have something to eat etc.

Lee

[dphillview]

Hi Wannaway and Diny

Thanks for your replies and words of encouragement :angel :angel

Sorry, just being a bit stressed and having just under 3 weeks to re-locate our whole universe to NZ...these things play on your mind :oops: :oops:

Have a room booked at Changi Airport for 6 hrs, so hope to sample the pool with the girls, whilst Pete can have some much need sleep!! (yeah right and It'll be my fault somewhere along the line if he doesn't) :uhoh :uhoh well...WHATEVER!!!!!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Have to say we've waited so long for this to happen, and have even had to put our flight dates back..and still find it hard to believe that in under 3 weeks we're gonna be outta here :eek :eek

Looking forward to it mind you..but panicking all the same that all the cleaning/packing/sorting won't be done on time...guess we'll have to get cracking!!!!

So thanks again for your advice..good luck to you too and all the best for 2005

Cheers

Debs
xx

[Diny]

Debs

I can imagine how you must be feeling. I'm starting to get very jittery and we haven't booked our flights yet.

I've been looking at the Changi transit hotel today. Must admit it looks alot smarter than I was expecting. But maybe the camera is lying ??? Let us know how you get on with it. Also - without sounding too cheeky, can you tell me how much it has cost you for a 6 hour block for the 4 of you (I presume there's 4). How far in advance did you book?

Now then ... stop slothing around on this forum and get packing !!!

All the best.

Diny

[shagen]

Hi Debs,

If you are checked on a Singapore Airline flight all the way to NZ (regardless of the number of flights you are changing), not to worry, you will not need to collect your luggage in Singapore. If you were not checked through then you might need to collect your luggage. Many of the airlines operating out of Singapore has early check in facilities including some allowing you to check in 24 hours before your flight takes off, so if you need to collect your luggage, you can simply check them back in with the new airline for the next leg of your journey.

And Diny, to answer your question, the transit airport in Changi is pretty neat. We stayed there once when we had to stop over before departing for London and had 8 hours to kill. The hotel is very quiet and cozy (read as small). If you just need to catch a few winks, that will be ideal. The budget rooms are without bath attached. You don't get the frills of the usual hotels like room service but they wake you up promptly for you to catch your flight. The rate is about S$58 net for a block of 6 hours for a single and up to S$86 for a tripple. Extension is about S$14 for every hour after the 6th hour. They are pretty fussy about children sharing a room with the parents and they will charge you for the child as an additional person (works out to be about S$20, I think).

You can check out the latest on their website at www.airport-hotel.com.sg

Have a good flight and all the best in New Zealand!

Cheers,

[voth30]

Dear Fellow Forumers,

Hi my name is Vincent and I am from Singapore. If any of you out there need any help while in Singapore, do pm me. I live just 10 minutes from the airport and I will try my best to do whatever I can.

Regards.


Vincent Ong

[richie & michelle]

hi debs


im flying in to singapore in feb but i noticed on the web site that the pool is only at terminal 1 and that there is major construction going on day and night . my flight from heathrow lands at terminal 2 so it might be worth checking. terminal 2 has showers and sauna
good luck any way
richie

[debnjohn]

Hello,
at the risk of telling you how to suck eggs, did you know you can check in with Singapore Airlines up to 48 hours before departure?
This is what we did last November; you can check in on the internet, which includes changing your seats if there are others available.
As for the 4 hours before-hand at Heathrow, yes, our tickets said the same and we were there in the queue 4 hours beforehand. However,the check-in desk didn't open until then! So to be pedantic everyone on the flight checked in luggage less than 4 hours before take-off!
Cheers,
and good luck,
John.

[funkstar deluxe]

yeah, I was gonna say the same.

If you are a kris flyer member - just sign up on the Sing Air website. (need passport no.)
You can check-in online up to 48 hrs before - and you can change your seats (within reason)

I really showed its merit when we turned up at Heathrow and saw the massive snaking queue for regular check-in, and 1 person infront of us at the "Internet check-in" desk - it took 5 mins!!!!

[dphillview]

Thanks for that...great advice re checking-in online :nice1 :nice1

Would love to do it, but have no idea what would be good seats for us..when I phoned reservations to request child meals, I enquired where would be best to sit and was told that 4 seats in the middle row would probably be best so they put a reserve on them...but as I've said not flown on a huge aircraft before so have no idea if that's good or bad or where is best to sit ie further forwards or back!!!! :oops: :oops:

If you have any ideas, I would be grateful!!

Have just had another thought...when we booked our tickets, it was via the internet and so have electronic tickets...what happens with luggage labels...can I get them in advance or can I get them at the airport??
Did anyone have any probs with the electronic tickets??

Thanks again

Debs
xx

[dphillview]

Thanks for that...great advice re checking-in online :nice1 :nice1

Would love to do it, but have no idea what would be good seats for us..when I phoned reservations to request child meals, I enquired where would be best to sit and was told that 4 seats in the middle row would probably be best so they put a reserve on them...but as I've said not flown on a huge aircraft before so have no idea if that's good or bad or where is best to sit ie further forwards or back!!!! :oops: :oops:

If you have any ideas, I would be grateful!!

Have just had another thought...when we booked our tickets, it was via the internet and so have electronic tickets...what happens with luggage labels...can I get them in advance or can I get them at the airport??
Did anyone have any probs with the electronic tickets??

Thanks again

Debs
xx

[debnjohn]

Thanks for that...great advice re checking-in online :nice1 :nice1

Would love to do it, but have no idea what would be good seats for us..when I phoned reservations to request child meals, I enquired where would be best to sit and was told that 4 seats in the middle row would probably be best so they put a reserve on them...but as I've said not flown on a huge aircraft before so have no idea if that's good or bad or where is best to sit ie further forwards or back!!!! :oops: :oops:

If you have any ideas, I would be grateful!!

Have just had another thought...when we booked our tickets, it was via the internet and so have electronic tickets...what happens with luggage labels...can I get them in advance or can I get them at the airport??
Did anyone have any probs with the electronic tickets??

Thanks again

Debs
xx

Debs,
don't worry about luggage labels, they'll give you that at the check-in.
The advantage with internet check-in is you atually get to see a plan layout of the plane, and you can decide for yourself what would be good.
For example, with young children I would advise sitting fairly near toilets, making it easier to 'nip-in' when the queue disperses.
The flip side is that if you sit too close to toilets then you're likely to have people tripping over your feet throughout the journey!
Is leg-room important to you? Some of the seats in the front row of bulkheads have extra room.
What about being able to recline without feeling guilty? If you get the last row in a bulkhead then you can have your seat right back, comfortable in the knowledge that you're not invading someone's space behind you. (It also eliminates having your seatback/stray hair grabbed and jerked back when someone gets up in the row behind you).
Hope that helps!
John.

[shagen]

Hi Debs,

If there are 4 of you, you will be better off with the centre row. Otherwise, the window seats would be nice as kids love to look out the window on take off and landing.

As John, we too prefer the front row bulkhead seats when our kids travel becasue they can't sit still in their seats and teh front row gives them enough room to move around their seats without annoying the front passengers. On a long flight, they are bound to get restless. The other downside to this is you usually can't move the armrest on these seats as they also carry the table, so you are less flexible in that sense.

All the best!

Cheers,