Originally Posted by
horsewithnoname
I don't remember how long, but it was something like 3-4 hours each way, so not even close. Unless the delays at PEK are worse than usual that day.
I guess CA must deal with this all the time, but SQ probably gets mostly people who are flying to and then staying within China.
I was about to say "I know", but then realised the smileys were the opposite way around from what I was expecting
Thanks for the confirmation!
Just to add to your points:
With only a couple hours, I would not try to enter China proper, as that means driving twice with the monorail to the main building and back, passing the main security etc. - instead go for "transfers". It's made for international-international transit. They'll check your passport and boarding pass, you'll go downstairs, pass through a security checkpoint, and you'll be directly in the departures terminal (and next to the pretty nice CA lounge
)
Well, given I've had the TWOV usage quite a few times, and most airlines did understood it, I was a bit shocked to see SQ having such big trouble with it. After all, they're offerings lots of connections to China and thanks to *A/Code shares lots of further traffic, and it wasn't on Day1 of the TWOV rules that I showed up..
I know the smilies weren't meant entirely serious, but CA really has catched up. Their *A Gold lounge (Business class lounge) is way superior to the SQ product, where only the "Business" passengers will get a decent lounge. And for all classes, the new 777 from CA is really a good product, having absolutely nothing to hide from SQ. And since SQ is trying to even charge *G members for exit row seats, I've found the almost-always guarantee of getting an exit row (for free obviously) at CA the better deal.
But yes, SQ is still a very decent product, especially in the premium classes. It's just not THAT much of another world than it used to be