Singapore - Weekend in Singapore, flying UA - accomodations and transfers

I've read through this thread on how to deal with UA's late (midnight-ish) arrivals -- http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/singapore/669327-ua-896-ua-803-arrival-times-sin-transpo.html

I am flying UA 895 (HKG-SIN), arriving around midnight on a Friday night, staying the weekend in Singapore (first time there), and then leaving on Monday morning on UA 804 (SIN-NRT) at 7am. Given the late arrival and early departure of both flights, I am thinking of doing something like this...

Arrive on Friday night and cab/limo it into town (~1am S$30-40). Stay in a downtown hotel (well, hostel...) for Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday night, head back to the airport ~11pm via MRT and then check in to a transit hotel there until 5:30/6am and then head off to my 7am flight.

Does this plan make sense? Can I checkin at a chicken on Sunday night and get a BP into the transit area to get to the transit hotel?

Arrive on Friday night and cab/limo it into town (~1am S$30-40). Stay in a downtown hotel (well, hostel...) for Friday and Saturday nights.
That part makes plenty of sense. You might be well rested and want to get out for some food at a Hawker Stand or hang out around Boat Quay/Clarke Quay area until it gets a bit later.

Sunday night, head back to the airport ~11pm via MRT and then check in to a transit hotel there until 5:30/6am and then head off to my 7am flight.
This part doesn't work. 1) There's no reason to head to the airport that early on Sunday nite, and 2) UA doesn't open for checkin until about 4:30am. So, NO, you can't get a BP to get airside.
There are no chickens in SIN, because you have to usually answer security questions and they put a sticker on your passport.
Good luck on your weekend!
Dave

This part doesn't work. 1) There's no reason to head to the airport that early on Sunday nite, and 2) UA doesn't open for checkin until about 4:30am. So, NO, you can't get a BP to get airside.
There are no chickens in SIN, because you have to usually answer security questions and they put a sticker on your passport.

Thanks for the responses.

How does one normally get back to the airport for the 7AM UA flight? Do I have to suck it up and do a cab super early? MRT doesn't start running until 5AM, which makes the connection somewhat tight.

Will UA let me checkin the night before?

How does one normally get back to the airport for the 7AM UA flight? Do I have to suck it up and do a cab super early?

Will UA let me checkin the night before?

I've been to SIN several times on UA and I always grab a cab for the early AM departure.

You can checkin online 24 hours prior to the flight, but I've never been able to print out a BP online.

Hm okay. Is there any good reason to stay near the airport (not necessarily a transit hotel) the night before as opposed to staying in the city and cabbing it in early?

Just stay at a hotel downtown or wherever.
Dont need to stay at an airport location hotel.

There is no traffic that early in the morning and it's a fast 20min ride to the airport.
Easy to get cabs as well.

Hm okay. Is there any good reason to stay near the airport (not necessarily a transit hotel) the night before as opposed to staying in the city and cabbing it in early?

I wouldn't. Streets are pretty empty that early in the AM so the cab ride is fairly quick. Stay in town and eat some good food. ^

Just checked my taxi receipts from my last two trips.

Trip 1: Left the Conrad at 04:52 and made it to Changi by 5:07 AM. 15 minutes, 18.7 KM.

Trip 2: Left the Conrad at 05:10 and made it to Changi by 5:23 AM. 13 minutes, 18.6 KM.

Drivers tend to go pretty fast that time of the morning. :eek::)

Haha, nice. How much did those trips end up costing?

Haha, nice. How much did those trips end up costing?

Both trips were 13.20 SGD plus 50% late night/early morning surcharge of 6.60 SGD = 19.80 SGD each or about $14.00 each at today's exchange rate.

You can spend $35 and stay in a Fragrance/Hotel 81, or you can priceline Conrad for $100. I do the former when by myself and the latter if I have a companion.

You can spend $35 and stay in a Fragrance/Hotel 81, or you can priceline Conrad for $100. I do the former when by myself and the latter if I have a companion.

Fragrance/Hotel 81 has really bad reviews on Tripadvisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294265-d607470-Reviews-Fragrance_Hotel_Selegie-Singapore.html). Is this really worth staying at?

(FWIW, I was planning on doing hostels in Singapore... should be around $20/night, I think. I don't mind doing hotels if they're a few bucks more and at least of the same quality.)

Fragrance/Hotel 81 has really bad reviews on Tripadvisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294265-d607470-Reviews-Fragrance_Hotel_Selegie-Singapore.html). Is this really worth staying at?
They're both large chains that function above all as short-stay hotels for locals consorting with prostitutes -- think Super 8. If this is your expectation and you don't plan on doing more than crashing in your room, you'll probably be (mildly) pleasantly surprised by what you get... but obviously there's nothing deluxe about them, and if I had even two nights to spend in Sg I'd consider other options.

(FWIW, I was planning on doing hostels in Singapore... should be around $20/night, I think. I don't mind doing hotels if they're a few bucks more and at least of the same quality.)
Around $20/night for a dorm bed, yes, but if you want a private room prices go right back to up Hotel 81/Fragrance territory.

If you do end up picking a hostel, you could do much worse than these guys, and they have private rooms as well.

* Sentosa View, 105 Spottiswoode Park Road (Near KTM railway station), ☎ +65-91009123 (book@sentosaview.com), http://sentosaview.com/ . Small but clean hostel located on the 23rd floor of a public housing block, the location is reasonably handy if you're coming from Malaysia by train but inconvenient for anything else, about 10 minutes walk (or a short bus trip) to Chinatown. Living room with TV, PC, free wifi, basic breakfast. No lockers. Dorm $20-25.

I was recently at Changi airport when the HKG flight arrived a bit early. It was pretty amusing to see a guy with only carry-on running for the cab line at 11:55pm, trying to avoid the 50% midnight supplement. Looked to me like he made it!

I was recently at Changi airport when the HKG flight arrived a bit early. It was pretty amusing to see a guy with only carry-on running for the cab line at 11:55pm, trying to avoid the 50% midnight supplement. Looked to me like he made it!
Unfortunately for the running guy, the midnight supplement applies proportionally to any trip that extends past midnight, so while you may save $1.20 on the initial fee, you'll still pay 50% extra for every km after 00:00.

Unfortunately for the running guy, the midnight supplement applies proportionally to any trip that extends past midnight, so while you may save $1.20 on the initial fee, you'll still pay 50% extra for every km after 00:00.

They think of everything here in SIN. The Straits Times today said a certificate to own a car for 10 years (required before you can buy a car) was going up to over US$20k on April 1. This is apparently in addition to 100% import duty on the vehicle itself.

They think of everything here in SIN. The Straits Times today said a certificate to own a car for 10 years (required before you can buy a car) was going up to over US$20k on April 1. This is apparently in addition to 100% import duty on the vehicle itself.

They had to prorate the midnight surcharges in the hour leading to it because it was causing quite a dearth of cabs from 11pm onwards, especially from 1130pm. Many drivers would take a break then, leaving long lines at taxi stands. Many empty taxi cabs would actually just cruise the roads, refusing to take street fares, instead waiting for booking calls (which incur a surcharge).

As for the increase in the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices, it's not a prescribed increase, but a projected one based on an estimated 40% decrease in the number of COEs due to quota adjustments need to correct missed projections by the authorities over the past few years (they projected more car deregistrations than actuals, and over issued COEs). From here on, the number of COEs available will be based on actual car deregistrations the previous 6mths (iirc), so everyone is expecting the price COEs to go up considerably in the near term.

On the inbound to Singapore you can use the transit hotel for six or eight hours, be sure you have a reservation. By the time you get up in the morning the MRT will be running and you can get in to town for S1.5 or so.

Outbound not much option as there is no way to get airside with a UA ticket until 4:30am. If your hostel has a 24 hour front desk have them call you a cab at about 4:30am.