Budapest

The Transit Hotel's website says: "Please do not Clear Immigration and Customs as Ambassador Transit Hotels are situated on level 3 within the Transit Mall. Note: Luggage claim is after Immigration." If I don't clear Immigration, how do I get the luggage? Thank you for clarifying.

LarryU

You can retrieve your luggage after you clear immigration once you check out of the transit hotel. Your luggage will be waiting for you at your airline's lost and found counter.

Guy Betsy

The whole point of staying at the Transit Hotels within the airport secured area is that you are transitting through and your bags are checked onwards via Singapore - which means you don't need to collect your bags. You will be restricted from moving out of the terminal.

If you want to collect your bags and all that, you will need to stay outside of the secured area. The only airport hotel at Changi Airport is the Crowne Plaza - whose rates are more than what the transit hotel charges.

Alternately you may try some of the hotels near the airport - but they are not 'airport' hotels per se.

restlessinRNO

You can use the Transit Hotel in SIN even if SIN is your final destination. For example, UA flights arrive around midnight. I then stay at the Transit Hotel until 7am, then go through Immigration and Customs, and then go into town in the morning. As LarryU points out, you retrieve your luggage after you clear Immigration.

Efrem

If you're making an overnight connection, you can't clear immigration and re-enter without a boarding pass for your next flight. If you got one at your point of origin, you're OK: get your bags and come back in. If you didn't, you can't get one at SIN check-in counters until the day of your flight. If it's after midnight, you're still OK since it's now your flight date - if your airline's check-in counter is open. Failing the above, you have a few choices:

1. Carry enough stuff with you for overnight and check your bags through to your final destination. Best if your connection allows that.

2. Carry enough stuff with you for overnight, pick up your bags at the airline's baggage office the next morning, get your boarding pass, and re-enter.

3. Get an airport staff member to escort you to your bags and back in. They will let you retrieve medications and other absolute essentials. They will most likely not let you get PJs and clean underwear, even if you're already there for the meds, though this may depend on the person who escorts you.

4. As posted, stay elsewhere. Less convenient, and (unless you book a really long block at the TH) more costly.

slechta77

Can't help you with your initial question, since I've never check luggage through SIN

If you are going to stay at the Transit Hotel, make sure that you book the room well in advance. They tend to fill up pretty quick.

Also Terminal 1 is undergoing construction. They are doing it in the middle of the night so all you can hear is the jack hammer going until 3am... This was the case two weeks ago and I would assume that it will still be going on for some time. Bring some ear plugs or reserve a room in one of the other two terminals.

ans27

Just to confirm then:

For myself I arrive at Singapore at 1430 and have a connecting flight via Emirates at 0030.

If I arrive at Singapore at 1430, I can clear immigration and customs, pickup my bags.
Can I get a boarding pass for my next flight immediately (and therefore check-in for my next flight) and then re-enter(?) such that I can go into Transit Hotel for the remaining 6 hrs??

jpatokal

You're in luck: the Emirates early check-in counter opens at 14:45 per the Changi site, so this should be possible.

The other option would be to hit the hotel first, then do the immigration-bags-checkin rumba (they'll hold the bags for you), but obviously it'd be preferably to get the hassle out of the way first.

achman228

This thread seems to address the concerns I have when planning my trip next month. Because I'll arrive in SIN near midnight at T1 and depart next morning 8am from T2 on a different airline (NH), the transit hotel (C/I: midnight, C/O: 6am) seems to be a very good option compared to Crown Plaza (SGD200+) in T3. If NH allows me to check-in for the flight next morning, that'll be ideal as I can pick up my checked bags from the first leg, give them to NH, and go to the gate area with my new boarding pass - no hurry in the morning. However, I don't know if it's feasible. Therefore, I'd have to trust that my bags can be found and retrieved in T1 next morning after I check out the transit hotel.

A few questions:
1. If the transit hotel in T2 is better than T1 due to the construction, how much time will it take to travel between T1 and T2?
2. How much time does it take usually to retrieve the unclaimed bags? This will help me plan the check out time at the transit hotel.

Thanks a lot.

dsgtc0408

1. Really, it shouldn't take more than 15 to 20 minutes to get from a point in a particular terminal to anywhere else in the other two terminals. There's a skytrain that runs both ground and air side that is very efficient that way.
2) I'm going to leave this one to another poster to reply re the mechanics of this (I don't know, I live here so I don't run into this situation), although I note that this issue has been addressed in other threads. However let me ask you this: which airline are you traveling on to get to SIN? The question is whether or not that airline has an interlining agreement with NH. If it does, then you're all set. (BTW if you call that airline they should know the answer to your question.)

achman228

1. The travel time among terminals seem to be reasonable. Logically, I should stay in the transit hotel at T1. So I'd hope the construction will be completed by the time I travel.
2. My first leg on TG from BKK to SIN is on a different booking ref. Therefore, I don't know if they can check my bags to my final destination. If TG can do that in BKK, that'll make my transit in SIN much easier.

snod08

Since they are star alliance partners, TG will most likely be able to check your bags through. Make sure you have the details of both tickets when you check in at BKK.. There should be no need for you to clear immigration to retrieve / recheck bags.

dsgtc0408

I agree with snod08, this should be possible (I've done similar with UA/CA, also NZ/TG). When checking in at BKK, tell the check in agent what you would like to have done and show the NH ticket with ex SIN departure. There should be no issue on this but I suggest you call TG and confirm that it's workable. If not then we need to revisit your original question.

ans27

Okay for my situation,

I arrive at Changi T3 at 2pm and have a flight from T1 at 1am.

SO what you are telling me is that the easiest thing to do is:
1) Clear Customs and Immigrations upon arrival at Changi,
2) Collect bags
3) CheckIn bags for next flight (Emirates would have opened by the time I pick up bags)
4) Collect boarding passes
5) Go to Transit Hotel at T1

Some additional questions -
1) My next flight is from T1 so I would have to check in from T1 right?

Please let me know if above scenario is possible.

Thank-you for your help

dsgtc0408

The above scenario is possible but is not the only one. The key piece of information that you have left out is, which airline is bringing you to Singapore? If that airline has an interlining arrangement with EK, then you should be able to get your luggage tagged all the way to your final destination. In that instance you would not have to clear immigration and customs but would stay airside instead. So your scenarios:

1a) no interlining: follow the process you describe above.
1b) with interlining: stay on airside - take internal skytrain from T3 to T1. Look for transfer desk (basically check in counters) and have EK issue you the boarding passes.
2) either way, go to transit hotel.

Yes.