Singapore - how much is a taxi from SIN to downtown?

I´ll be travelling to SIN for the first time and will be arriving at SIN at around 11p.m..
How much should I expect to pay for a taxi ride from SIN to the Fairmont hotel? Or would you rather recommend a private limousine service?
Am I correct that it´s not normal practice to tip?

Thank´s!

I´ll be travelling to SIN for the first time and will be arriving at SIN at around 11p.m..
How much should I expect to pay for a taxi ride from SIN to the Fairmont hotel? Or would you rather recommend a private limousine service?
Am I correct that it´s not normal practice to tip?

Thank´s!

No tipping. Correct.

Taxi at that time will cost around 30 Sing $ or so.

Private limo can vary ...some hotels charge 75$

use this local web service to see the actual rates by train/bus/taxis

www.gothere.sg

(i m not part of this company/service)

I remember it was around $15-20 USD.

THe OP will be riding after 11PM...there will be a 50% midnight surcharge.

A quick calculation from this website:

http://www.taxisingapore.com/external/taxi-fare-calculator/

Estimated Fare using meter at 23:14

Distance: 25.34 km. | Duration: 31 min.

first km S$2.80
10.0 km. x S$0.52 per km S$5.19
14.34 km. x S$0.61 per km S$8.69
waiting in traffic (~9 min.) S$2.59
Changi Airport & Changi Air Freight Centre S$5.00
Total S$24.28
on a Sunday or Public Holiday it would be S$24.28

THe OP will be riding after 11PM...there will be a 50% midnight surcharge.

Just to clarify, the OP might NOT be riding after 11PM (actually midnight). Changi clearance procedures can be very fast - if a passenger is walking off the jetway at say 11:05 it's quite possible for him/her to be home or wherever they want to be by 12 midnight (they can be waiting on the taxi line anwhere between 15-25 minutes later). In any case the midnight surcharge kicks in at midnight itself. So any part of the ride that takes place before midnight will not get surcharged.

yihao69's calculation above sound about right.

If you budget allows then you might want to check out the JetQuay service which provides a unique Changi experience from plane door to hotel via private terminal and controls etc. Not cheap but worth every penny. Your hotel will probably organise it for you.

An overview is here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/826035-trip-report-jetquay-singapores-private-terminal-service.html)

If you budget allows then you might want to check out the JetQuay service which provides a unique Changi experience from plane door to hotel via private terminal and controls etc. Not cheap but worth every penny. Your hotel will probably organise it for you.

An overview is here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/826035-trip-report-jetquay-singapores-private-terminal-service.html)

Funny, I was thinking about booking the Quayside service, but $250SGD is pretty steep imo for max. 15min of service.

I sent the hotel an e-mail inquiring whether they offer any package (i.e. limousine + Quayside service for a decent price), some hotels also offer this as a complimentary service, let´s see.

The Jetside service looks like great fun, but seriously, I´d never spend $1500SGD/US$1000 for a 5min drive even if I had that kind of money.

May I ask which of the three services you used and why you think it was worth the money?

If you budget allows then you might want to check out the JetQuay service which provides a unique Changi experience from plane door to hotel via private terminal and controls etc. Not cheap but worth every penny. Your hotel will probably organise it for you.

An overview is here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/826035-trip-report-jetquay-singapores-private-terminal-service.html)

Sounds like LH's F terminal @ FRA concept, except that one is only for use by F pax and HON.

Honestly if it were anywhere else, maybe I would have tried it just for the fun of it but Changi is so painless to go through that I just don't see the point, beyond the novelty factor that is.

Sorry not to respond earlier.

The IC organise my JetQuay service and the charge is $s150. This price was an increase over 2009 - I've used the service 4 times in 2010 at that figure.

The service I use is the meet on a buggy and the private terminal and the limo to the hotel.

Not certain what the 15 minutes is .... but they pick you up at the plane door, radio their friends your luggage details, take you to the private terminal where they wake up the private terminal immigration people. You wait for the luggage and have a drink or two .... the luggage is put into the back of the limo and off you go. In the IC case, the limo keeps in touch with the hotel and some management are waiting outside for you to take you straight to your suite where they check you in. In my case it means you don't see the luggage between your departure airport and the suite.

It is worth every penny (or $) ......

Just came in after 11pm. Processing through the airport was quick and the taxi line moved quickly. Taxi fare was 16.60 SGD and we were at our hotel downtown bfore midnight.
CF

Just came in after 11pm. Processing through the airport was quick and the taxi line moved quickly. Taxi fare was 16.60 SGD and we were at our hotel downtown bfore midnight.
CF

Thank´s for the update!

There´s nothing like first hand experience. ^

Friday the 5th Nov had taxi from Changi to Intercontinental Middle Road at 8.30pm. Cost S$17.10. Getting the taxi was easy and it moved. Returned to Changi on the 8th with a booked Taxi for 4.30am cost S$21.50. For the distance it was miles cheaper than Sydney Taxi's. I was most pleased.

Ray

~S$30 to Fairmont after midnight - relatively no traffic at that time. It does take at least 15 min depending on how many red lights you see.

~S$30 to Fairmont after midnight - relatively no traffic at that time. It does take at least 15 min depending on how many red lights you see.

Thank´s for the info and welcome to Flyertalk! :)

I´ve decided to let the hotel take care of transportation on arrival (incl. the Quayside service). I guess I´m wasting a bit of money, but I thought it would be an interesting experience after 30h of travelling.

I´ll definitely take a taxi on the way back to the airport.

If I needed to take an early morning taxi ride to or from the airport, at what time does the late night surcharge end?

If I needed to take an early morning taxi ride to or from the airport, at what time does the late night surcharge end?

6AM. Note that if you start a ride that is before the end of the surcharge period (eg 5:45 AM), the surcharge only applies up to 6AM. Yes, the opposite applies, ie if you start a trip at say 11:50 PM the surcharge kicks in at midnight, not before.

This surcharge is calculated by the meter; the surcharge shows up in the small number display underneath the big numbers and will count up automatically. When the cabbie stops the meter, the total including any surcharges will be reflected in the big number display.

Just a brief update:

I paid $25SGD from the Fairmont hotel to the airport in the afternoon, very clean car and affordable fare compared to other cities. ^

Just a brief update:

I paid $25SGD from the Fairmont hotel to the airport in the afternoon, very clean car and affordable fare compared to other cities. ^

Yep, my company uses Fairmont a lot and it always drives me batty when overseas colleagues insist on getting the hotel car pick-up at S$170. Jaysuz.

just tagging onto this thread, I get into SIN at around 23:45 on a Sunday and will need to get to the Swisshotel Stamford. Do taxis take credit, or do I need to plan to get cash?

--p

just tagging onto this thread, I get into SIN at around 23:45 on a Sunday and will need to get to the Swisshotel Stamford. Do taxis take credit, or do I need to plan to get cash?

--p

You can get cash at the airport. I did not see taxis who take credit cards.

The taxi chain (blue colour ones) all have credit card machines attached to the metres. There are time of day as well as pick up location surcharges. After midnight it is 50% on the fare and there is a Changi pickup fee.

The taxi chain (blue colour ones) all have credit card machines attached to the metres. There are time of day as well as pick up location surcharges. After midnight it is 50% on the fare and there is a Changi pickup fee.

Most, but not all taxis have credit card machines. The cabs that almost definitely will have a CC machine are cabs with the Comfort group. They operate under either as Comfort (royal blue, per the poster above) or as City Cab (lemon yellow). Other cab company's cabs probably take credit cards but I'm not sure precisely which do and which don't, there are so many new companies now. In any case be aware there will be a credit card surcharge as well as the other charges mentioned above.

There's a few proactive things you can do for yourself:
- at the airport taxi rank (queue/line) tell the taxi captain (at the glass door) you want either Comfort/City Cab because you need to pay by credit card
- when boarding the cab, ask if there is a credit card machine and whether it is working (they have been known to not work. It's not the cabbie's trying to chisel cash from the passenger, you see them struggling with the machine.)
- never take the Chrysler 300 cabs. Flagfall starts at S$5.00, not S$2.80 or S$3.00.
- negotiate a payment in US$. The cabbie might just take it but if you don't ask you'll never know!

My 0830 cab ride from Furama Riverside to Changi:

Meter fare 17.80
Curr booking 3.50 (call taxi co - priority; there was a long Q in front of hotel)
Peak hour 6.25
Admin charge 2.76 (credit card admin charge)
GST on admin 0.19

Total 30.50

Yes I was told about confirming the working order of the credit card machine before setting off.

thanks for all the responses. Just to follow-up:

I got in to SIN at around 1.45am. The lines at immigration were short and quick. I found an exchange booth and picked up some cash. The lines for taxis were almost empty, though judging by the how the rope lines are set up it looks like it can get quite long! While I wasn't looking for one, I ended up getting a Comfort Transportation cab and used my Visa card. Total cost to the Swisshotel was S$25.50.

The definitive mapping website for Singapore is http://www.gothere.sg.

In your case, see the taxi tab in the left info pane. Comes to around S$17
http://www.gothere.sg/maps#q:changi%20terminal%202%20to%20fairmont%20hot el%20at%2011%3A00pm%20on%2005%2F04%2F2011